Online shoppers might joke that their habit only hurts their wallets, but it turns out, it could actually be hurting someone else: The number of mail carriers attacked by dogs is the highest it’s been in three decades. [More]
Former USPS Worker Joins Carrier Hall Of Shame With Mail Hoard Dating Back To 2000
By 2.23.17
We’ve all had a hard time keeping up at work at some point, maybe you get overwhelmed and things just pile up. But one former U.S. Postal Service worker admitted that he failed to deliver thousands of pieces of mail to residents over at least 14 years. [More]
The Mail Carrier Hall Of Shame Inducts A New Member Accused Of Interfering With Mail
By 8.18.16 — Updated: 2.23.17
Are we shocked to hear that a Florida mail carrier was accused of unloading hundreds of pieces of mail into a pizzeria’s trash bin? Not so much, because we’ve seen this happen enough to induct this latest suspect into the Mail Carrier Hall Of Shame, which is a thing we just made up. [More]
UPS Testing Saturday Ground Package Delivery
By 7.15.16
With FedEx and the Postal Service expanding their weekend delivery options as more Americans go online to buy stuff, UPS is finally getting around to a test of offering Saturday delivery for ground shipments.
[More]
U.S. Postal Service Asks To Continue Grocery Delivery Experiment Until Fall 2017, Expand To More Cities
By 7.12.16
Looking for more revenue sources, the U.S. Postal Service would really like to put their delivery fleet and employees to work delivering pretty much anything that someone will pay them to deliver. That includes groceries, dry cleaning, and pretty much anything else that will fit in a USPS vehicle that can be lugged to customers’ doorsteps. A test of “customized delivery services” began back in 2014, and the USPS has asked to extend it until October 2017. [More]
USPS To New York Town: Hey, Sorry For Delivering Blood-Stained Mail
By 2.19.16
Sometimes mail shows up ripped, twisted, soaked through, or otherwise damaged and you think, “Man, this is a bummer.” But residents of one New York town found their mail had been altered in a more disturbing way: it was smeared with blood. [More]
NYC Postal Worker “Overwhelmed” By Holiday Deliveries Accused Of Dumping 1,000 Pieces Of Mail
By 12.30.15
If you live in the New York City area and didn’t receive as many gifts and holiday cards this year, there could be a reason for that beyond the usual U.S. Postal Service mistakes: according to a criminal complaint filed in Queens, one mailman was under so much seasonal pressure that he just dumped about 1,000 pieces of mail in the trash. [More]
USPS Testing Service That Shows Customers Photos Of Their Mail
By 12.7.15
If you’ve ever been waiting with breath that is bated on an important piece of mail, you might have wished there was some way you could take a peek at your mailbox from afar. Because many people can’t stay home and wait for the mail to arrive, the United States Postal Service is testing a “notification” service that sends customers photos of the contents of their mailbox by way of their email. [More]
Head Of Local Post Office Shows Up At Guy’s Door To Personally Apologize For USPS Package Tracking Mix-Up
By 10.1.15
Remember Tony? He’s the guy who was waiting around for a package to be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, only to find that the online tracking said a carrier had attempted to deliver it while he was out briefly — an event that video from his home security system proved never happened. While it’s still unclear what exactly led to the contradicting tracking info — something many, many of our readers have said they’ve experienced — there’s a happy ending in this case at least: Tony says the new postmaster in charge of his local office showed up on Wednesday to personally apologize to him for the mix-up. [More]
USPS Says It Tried To Deliver My Package, But Home Security Video Shows Otherwise
By 9.29.15 — Updated: 5.25.17
UPDATE: Tony says his local postmaster arrived on his doorstep the day after his story was posted on Consumerist, to personally apologize and get more information about his situation. [More]
Postal Worker Accused Of Delivering 22,000 Pieces Of Mail Straight To His Garage
By 7.23.15
Tempting though it may be for a postal worker to swipe any of the millions of pieces of mail flying around the country, most refrain, and our packages and letters get where they’re supposed to go. But every once in a while, we have the misfortune to hear about a mail carrier gone rogue. Like a Philadelphia postal worker who authorities say squirreled away tens of thousands of pieces of mail. [More]
NYC Mailman Accused Of Stealing More Than $1M In Tax Refunds In Years-Long Scheme
By 7.2.15
Is there some kind of greedy bug sweeping through the New York City mail system? Okay, probably not, but for the second time in two months a postal employee has been charged by federal prosecutors with taking part in a scheme to pad their own pockets. The most recent case involves a mail carrier who allegedly stole more than $1 million in tax refunds. [More]
USPS Driver Shows Off Athleticism By Throwing Package, Running Lap Around Delivery Van
By 3.26.15
Wait a minute — are the Delivery Driver Games coming up and no one warned us? Why else would a United States Postal Service worker appear to be fine-tuning her athletic prowess by chucking a delicate package onto a porch before a quick lap around her delivery van? [More]
USPS Trying To Finally Replace Old, Gas-Guzzling Fleet Of Delivery Trucks
By 2.13.15
In an effort to stop effectively pouring money straight into the gas tank, the United States Postal Service has taken the first step toward retiring its fleet of decades old, gas-guzzling trucks. The agency spent more than $539.7 million on fuel in its last fiscal year, partly because some of the trucks are just so darn old. [More]
USPS Proposes Price Increase For Postcards, International Mail; Cost Of First-Class “Forever” Stamps Unchanged
By 1.16.15
The United States Postal Service’s quest for financial stability might be hitting consumers’ pocketbooks come April if the agency’s proposed price increases gets the go-ahead. [More]
I Thought I Had Real Mail, But It Was Just A DirecTV Ad
By 9.25.14
I do most of my communicating with loved ones electronically, which makes it a rare treat when I get actual mail that isn’t a bill. Who doesn’t like a nice card? When Justin’s wife received this envelope resembling a greeting card from someone named “Chris Thomas” in California, he didn’t dismiss it as junk mail. It seemed legit. [More]
Canada Post Can’t Deliver Your Package Due To Bears
By 9.25.14
There are all kinds of reasons why the post office may not be able to deliver your package today: maybe it requires a signature and you’re not home. Maybe the post office can’t get access to your apartment building, or can’t get in the gate. Or your mail carrier ran away because your home is apparently guarded by a bear. [More]
Letter Mailed In 1931 Turns Up At Post Office, Gets Delivered 83 Years Late
By 7.2.14
Like a message in a bottle, tossed up on the shore by the tide after sailing the oceans of time (It’s summer, it’s hot and water sounds awesome), sometimes misdirected mail shows up to remind us of the past. And when it takes 83 years to show up from wherever lost letters go, it’s bound to make for a good story. [More]
