TYLER, Texas — Many people experience the inconvenience and frustration of lost or undelivered mail.
Residents in the Eaglewood subdivision in Tyler called the CBS19 Helpline after their mail was not delivered for two days last week, and they have yet to receive an explanation as to why.
"We always have a problem with our mail here," Steven Stuart said. "I don't understand why, because we're less than five miles from the post office that delivers this route."
Stuart says this is the fourth time he has been skipped over by the United States Postal Service.
“They’re a government employee," Stuart said. "Our taxes pay their salary. I just want my mail. It’s crazy.”
Stuart says mail service to he and his neighbors resumed last Wednesday. However, they have not received the mail that should have been delivered on Monday and Tuesday of last week.
"My mail is scanned every day, and I get an email of what’s coming, and I had all these bills coming in the mail and I didn’t get them. So I need my mail," Stuart said. "We depend on our mail."
There are 42 homes in the subdivision.
Stuart says after not receiving their mail, he and others called the local post office. In their case, it is the South Broadway Annex post office location.
He says he was redirected to the city's main post office located on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
"They keep giving excuses. 'We've got employee problems. People are out sick.' Hire somebody. Get somebody from another route," Stuart said.
CBS19 reached out to the USPS media representative for East Texas. The representative provided the following statement:
“The Postal Service appreciates its customers and always strives to provide the best possible service to them. We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced by customers living in the Eaglewood subdivision of Tyler, TX. Local management is working with customers to resolve their concerns and is committed to making continuing improvements in delivery service. We appreciate our customers’ patience as we continue to successfully resolve their concerns."
According to the USPS Office of Inspector General, anyone who has not received expected mail within two days has a few options.
First, it is recommended you do as Stuart and his neighbors and call the supervisor or manager at the local post office.
Another option is to file a complaint with the Postal Service Consumer Affairs Office. For the East Texas area, that office is located in Coppell near Dallas.
The number for that office is 1-800-ASK-USPS.
If neither of these resolves the issue, another complaint can be filed online at www.usps.com/help.
If you have a problem you would like us to help with, call the CBS 19 Helpline at 903-600-2600.