Complaints grow about mail service in Raleigh

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- At first, it was just a handful of complaints about slow - or in some cases, no - mail service in a couple neighborhoods in Northeast Raleigh. Since then, dozens of people have told us about other problems they're experiencing with the US Postal Service.

In Raleigh's Barton's Creek Bluffs, Gerry Franzen told the I-Team his mail Thursday night didn't arrive until after 10 p.m.

"If you're working from home," Franzen said, "which a lot of people are doing these days, you're not getting stuff in a timely manner that you need specifically to even do your job. It's just frustrating. Last week there was one day where we didn't get any mail at all either. It's not showing up."

That was a common complaint among Franzen's neighbors.

Paige Van Lenton said her family is waiting on an important check and starting to sweat. "We asked for a college dispersement. We've been waiting on a real check to come so that we can pay our daughter's out-of-state college tuition which is due."

Lenton's husband also gets medication for high blood pressure through the mail. "It could really have health implications."

Just down the road, Amy Shaw is more concerned with missing bills.

"It's kind of one of those things where we're just getting wind of it," Shaw said. "You go so fast every day, you don't really pay attention to it, and then it's like, 'Dang, I didn't get any mail today.' Everybody on the street is talking about it."

The I-Team reached out to the Raleigh Postmaster General Linda O'Dell-Strong. A public relations representative from Charlotte returned our call and provided ABC11 the following statement:

The Postal Service is committed to making safe, timely and accurate deliveries. We continually review our staffing and scheduling and make necessary adjustments in order to enhance our services. We expect to deliver more than 15 billion pieces of mail nationwide during the holiday season, our busiest time of the year. As we do every year, we have hired seasonal workers and we are flexing our network- early morning, evening and Sundays as warranted.

Raleigh customers who have questions should contact their local Post Office or call consumer affairs at 919-420-5230. The earlier customers notify us of possible issues, the sooner we can resolve them. We also recommend Informed Delivery, a service that gives customers a preview of incoming mail before it arrives by sending emails to users with images of the outside of letter-sized mailpieces.

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