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Are you getting your mail stolen?
04/25/2009 7:58 AM by John M
A reader writes:
The same day as the shooting, I had two packages stole from my front porch on 25th Street in the middle of the day. One was ripped open and the bag left, the other just stolen.
I have reported it to both the police (who said they can’t do anything, because its a federal crime) and the post office, who informed me they can’t do anything because I didn’t have insurance. I was unaware that having insurance was the only way that stealing mail was illegal.
Any other reports of this kind of thing happening?
As someone who works for an online store, we see this fairly frequently around the country (though I can’t make any comment about Church Hill). It’s probably not a statement about surrounding crime levels; a parcel sitting on a porch is just an easy target whose theft is nearly impossible to trace. You can do the following:
– Fill out from PS Form 2016 at the post office or online at the US Postal Inspectors Web site, if you like. This reports the theft and purportedly is used by the post office to determine if theft is common or follows a pattern in a certain area. It may make you feel better, but they’re not going to pay a claim. (In general, the USPS never pays a claim unless the package was insured, and even then it’s an uphill battle.)
– The police just didn’t want to bother filling out the paperwork for an item that they know they will never be able to recover. Even if you did have insurance on the package, the post office would be reimbursing the sender, and if they’re a business they would forward the refund on to you and re-ship; but for the police, whether or not the package was insured has nothing to do with its “reportability” as a crime. That said, again, it’s not like they would actually be able to do any investigation about it.
– If the package was from a retailer like an online store, if you contact their customer service, they’ll usually refund your money or re-ship the items, even though it wasn’t their fault. Mis-delivered packages are a calculated cost of doing a mail-order business. At the business that I work for, for example, we’ll do either but also flag the customer’s account as needing “signature required” for all future deliveries.
– Finally, I always recommend that people have their packages delivered to their work and not at a residence. If you really want it delivered at home, you can leave a note for your mail carrier to leave the parcel as “Left Notice,” in which case you’ll have to take the little peach slip the post office to pick up your package.
Hope that helps!
I never had anything opened, but have left mail to be picked up in my box and noticed that it wasn’t in the position I left it in. Someone definitely handled it.
Maybe I should put a mousetrap in my mailbox! That’d fix ’em :-p
your mail stolen? maybe it is some kind of uspo administrative-operational error. i dont know if my mail is stolen but i do know that i consistently get mail delivered at my address that is clearly addressed to another location. why would i get mail for emporia when i am in richmond or for north hamilton street when i am in church hill? maybe the postal service is run by crack heads?
This is related, but not specifically to mail theft – my girlfriend and I each have a motorcycle that we keep on the sidewalk outside our house. I have never had an issue with my bike being messed with, but hers has gotten constant attention from thieves and other unsavory characters – yesterday her license plate was stolen from the back of the bike. She’s also had her cover stolen, and had the bike moved halfway down our block and left between parked cars (now she locks the steering and leaves it in drive so this won’t happen anymore).
I guess the point is similar to Nick’s – both of these are easy targets almost asking to be messed with. Anyway, if you happen to see a bike or scooter with license plate 510759, post a reply & location! Thanks!
Slightly unrelated, but while we’re on the topic of missing mail, I have collected over 100 pieces of mail that is not addressed to me. How difficult is it for the mailperson to remember my name and/or address? I’ve recieved mail addressed to about a half-dozen people, none of which are me. I usually let it accumulate and then I’ll take the 1st class pieces back to the PO.
I must say though, by far, without question, Church Hill has the WORST mail service I’ve ever encountered.
I constantly receive mail for my neighbors one block over. I take it to them, with hopes that they do the same for me! I’ve had mail returned from OUR POST OFFICE, saying that 23223 is not a valid zip code. And worst of all, they just flat out don’t come- I put little red Netflix envelopes in my box for pickup, and sometimes they sit there for days.
All that being said I still don’t think calling anyone a Crackhead is a constructive criticism nor a suggestion improve service.
We have our share too. Our route use to be considered the “training route” but not sure if that is still the case?
Sometimes there is zero in our box and wonder if the mailman is just too lazy to walk up 2 flights of steps to get to the porch? And then they can’t find the box half the time – which has been in the same location for the past 23 years so just throw it in front of the door! And we too still get mail addressed to people who haven’t lived at the house for the past 10+ years or mail for the 1/2 address even when clearly labeled as such.
You pay for postage hikes and get less. Use to be you could simply address an envelope to a company and city without a street address and it got to its destination. Even letters addressed from Virginia to New York would get there in 1-2 days… not any more! Takes a week sometimes to get to the next block and leave off a tiny piece of an address and it gets sent back (a month or two later) – if at all!
Pitiful service.
Eric
well, i know fore sure it was stolen. Its strange, because I live on 25th which is a highly visible street with a large police presence. someone had to go onto my porch, and sit there, open my mail, then throw the bag back. But took the other one.
The worst part is that it was wool roving. SHEEP HAIR! So, you can guarantee that it was thrown in the trash. I scored all the streets in a two block radius looking in trash cans, in abandoned yards, to no avail.
The police…when they called were VERY condescending.
He said, first, I should have called because he could have had 15 officers out looking for my mail. Which is crazy, since he had just told me how busy of a night it was and I knew about the 21st shooting. No way 15 officers were going out to look for my roving.
Then he tells me I shouldn’t have endangered my children, who were in the stroller, by going out to look for it. Since when is taking a walk in during the early evening, in day light too dangerous to go look in trash cans?
Lastly, he tells me it isn’t his case, its federal and I should call the Post Office.
Then the post office tells me they can’t do anything, because its not insured. I told them all I wanted was a report to be made. The lady’s repsonse, “well ,we don’t know who stole your mail” then she walked away and another man came out to help me.
I realize I won’t get any money back. The people I bought from are Etsy sellers, so they don’t account those kinds of loss. I’m just SOL.
I have had my package service stopped (although, one was delivered today anyhow) and have changed my shipping on paypal to go to my mom’s address.
Teresa, that really sucks! I have all of my packages delivered to my business just to be safe and have for years.
I can relate with one of the 5 cars stolen years ago from our house. It ended up in a high speed chase and ditched. The Richmond police never fingerprinted any of the vehicles but the one in the high speed chase ended up in Hanover county and they did which lead to an arrest. The Richmond Police are slackers when it comes to following up on cases and blunder more than I care to say. Then waste manpower by overkilling a response to minor incidents.
Just like the city will send out 5 trucks and a team of workers to take 3 hours sitting around to replace 1 brick in the sidewalk. Total waste of taxpayer dollars at work!
I have had several extended conversations of late with the USPS and most recently with the post master on 25th St. The reason the service is dismal, both in the lobby and on routes, is they are down many, many positions. We had the perfect mail carrier, Mike, when we moved here. He transferred to an easier route after many years. Since then our mail was being delivered as late as 7 pm, and then we would need to re-deliver it to the rightful owner. My neighbor also expressed a problem getting her magazines late. I talked to several of the subsitute carriers and I was told the mail is delivered by a carrier who has already done a full route and has to work overtime to get everyone’s mail out. At that time one carrier told me they were down 6 full time carriers just for this area. We no longer get our mail at 7 pm, but we don’t have the same carrier who knows the names and streets etc. Also, the post master told me he is to have 7 positions in the building and only has 3 filled. I asked why we couldn’t have a self-service machine or at least a stamp vending machine to assist with the long lines-he said they spread those out where they feel they are best utilized. I thought we would definitely qualifiy… I also asked about the condition of the building-peeling paint etc-they lease the building and can’t get the owner to do anything-including a leak in the rear of the building every time it rains. The post master seemed to be glad that I had complained-like his hands were tied and maybe this would now get someone’s attention. Additionally, he hates the bullet-proof set-up as much as I do. So all of this was passed on to the district inspector and maybe it will have some sort of a positive outcome. Should you want to contribute your comments you can submit a customer complaint at: 1-800-ASK-USPS or follow the links to email them via http://www.usps.com
Wow… leased building? You would think being Federal Protected that it would be built as a Federal Property and maintained as such? I would also think the owner has certain guidelines he has to adhear to being Federal to protect the safety of the mail?
With so many people out of work, why are they having problems filling positions? Years ago war veterans were given first choice – not sure if that still holds?
I had a few packages delivered to my house years ago. Then one day I found an Amazon box ripped open on my doorstep. They must have seen the books and figured it wasn’t anything that could be fenced. Now I have all packages delivered to my mother’s house.
About 6 months ago, a Netflix movie never showed up but I found some of the wrapper on the sidewalk. After that incident I bought a bigger mailbox so the Netflix envelopes can’t be seen. No problems so far.
I went on line and sited the building for the peeling paint. I got a message back today saying the issue was “CLOSED.” I called and asked why and was told….”the inspector went out and said there was no problem.” I left him a message since it is in fact an eyesore. We’ll see. Perhaps I don’t understand the code violation for the exterior of a building.
Derek and Becky, the code violation for peeling paint is, peeling paint is a violation. A friend of mine got a notice about it.
However, before you pursue that one, here’s another suggestion, one I’ve been meaning to pursue myself for at least a year and keep forgetting to do: there’s a post office down on Main Street heading west just before 7th Street. They have a sign inside at the counter that they try to get all customers helped and on their way within five minutes, and if they fail to do that, please call…and there’s a phone number. I once commented that I wished the post office on 25th St. would try to be faster and more efficient, and the clerk told me to CALL THAT NUMBER, she said, if more people would complain, management up the chain would understand and do something about it. She said they have had quite a few complaints down there on Main Street about our post office up here, but most people don’t follow up. So here’s my idea: I’ll try to remember to go down to the Main St. post office and write the number down – if you do same, and we both call and complain, maybe something will be done about a lot of things – long lines, peeling paint, bullet proof glass, etc etc.
Having said all that, I’ll go write a note to self to follow up on Monday. I work within walking distance of that post office. I’ll post here when I’ve done my part, thanks.
I live on 23rd Street and consistently receive mail addressed to 22nd, 24th, 25th, and other addresses in Church Hill. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to deliver mail to he correct address. I always mark the envelope that the address is incorrect and place it back in the box but I have to worry about what’s happening to mail that should be delivered to me! I just hope that others who may receive my mail would be kind enough to give it back to the carrier so that it can be delivered. I have to keep track of when bills are supposed to arrive so that I can ensure they are paid on time and God only knows where my mail is being delivered to if I don’t get it…seems like there should be some oversight here. They may be short several full time employees but that’s no excuse for just delivering mail to the incorrect address.
I s/w the inspector, now that he understands that the property is leased he can move forward. The city can not site a federally owned building. So he will site the landlord-he said it will be taken care of, but it will take time. SO I will help him locate the actual owners name, he only has the LLC as reference.