WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The U.S. Postal Service is working to address delivery delays after some Hoosiers say they have not gotten any mail for more than a week.
“It’s been since Jan. 2,” said Norman Long, who lives in West Lafayette. “And it’s critical because I run a business out of my home. And without mail, you can’t run a business, you can’t get invoices, you can’t get checks, you can’t pay bills.”
John Rayman owns a landscaping business a few miles away and said he hadn’t gotten any mail in a week.
“Finally, I went to the post office where we were told there was an employee shortage, they didn't know where our mail was, we couldn't pick our mail up, and they didn't know if they could deliver it ... maybe up to a month,” Rayman said.
On Facebook, people from other communities – including Lawrence - claimed they were only getting their mail a few times a week.
In a statement, the U.S. Postal Service told 13News that “local management is aware of the delivery issues … and is taking steps to address the concerns.” It goes on to say, “our workforce, like others, is not immune to the human impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload and we are proud of the efforts of postal employees as they define essential public service every day.”
Thankfully, Rayman didn't have to wait a month.
13News was there Wednesday as a carrier arrived with a stack of mail.
"I understand there are issues,” Rayman said. “I face them too: employee shortages, people home sick. But if we don't know about it, that greatly affects us. It affects how we interact with our vendors, our clients. Allow us to prepare."
As for Long and his next-door neighbor, Richard Gast, they put their name on a list at their local post office and got a call the next day to come back and pick up their mail.
“And I said, 'do I need to come back tomorrow?'” Long said. “They said, 'No, it'll be delivered.' That was yesterday. We didn't get any yesterday. And we haven't gotten any mail today."
So for now, they're once again waiting.
Full statement from the USPS
The Postal Service is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers and we apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced. Local management is aware of delivery issues in (town) and is taking steps to address the concerns. We appreciate the patience of our customers and the efforts of employees during challenging times.
Our workforce, like others, is not immune to the human impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload and we are proud of the efforts of postal employees as they define essential public service every day.
When mail service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns. We gladly work to address any specific issue from the community when brought to our attention and we encourage customers to reach out to their local postal station. Customers can also go to our website usps.com and click on “Contact us” at the bottom of our homepage, or utilize this direct web address: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Every email will be carefully documented and appropriate action taken to strengthen service. In addition, the official Twitter account of the United States Postal Service, managed by the Social Media staff at USPS HQ, can provide help. For customer service, please tweet @USPSHelp. The Postal Service will diligently continue to investigate customer's concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.
