HOUSTON — Local business owners continue to tell their stories about how they've been impacted by mail delays at USPS processing centers in Missouri City and north Houston.
Jentry Kelley is the founder of a Houston-based cosmetics brand that has grown into a full-service salon and product line that ships globally.
“We started 12 years ago. We sell skincare, makeup, makeup brushes and we focus on a really natural look that we educate women on how to use,” she said.
Kelley told KHOU 11 News that her company had its best sales ever in 2023, thanks to a two-day 25% off promotion after Christmas. However, when those packages were shipped out, Kelley explained they got stuck at a USPS sorting center in Missouri City.
“We didn’t know there was a problem yet. We hadn’t heard any of the news stories, so all of those packages, 1,288 to be exact, got on the mail trucks and never made their way to our customers' homes,” she said.
For weeks, KHOU has reported on Houston’s mail delays and, as of Tuesday, more than 5,000 people had reached out to us with their concerns. Many said they had problems contacting USPS to resolve their issues -- Kelley included.
“USPS is not being communicative with business owners or the people who receive these packages to let them know what’s going on. No one has really told us,” she said.
Kelley explained that she’s still tracking delayed packages, but this week, many of them started to arrive. For customers who continue to wait, she hopes to find solutions. Her concerns also extend to new orders that are seemingly not being scanned at Houston’s postal facilities, leaving customers with no tracking data.
Despite all her shipping woes, Kelley said she feels there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“Some of the ones we shipped out in the first week or two of January are starting to arrive, the problem here is the reputation of my business,” she said. “We want to get our products out to our customers but this is not something we can fix.”