Local post office holds my package hostage

Updated: 12/21/12 4:18 PM

On December 13, 2012, my mom alerted me that I should've received a package (Tracking # 9405 9036 9930 0076 5111 62) from her.  The tracking update she was sent said it was delivered in two separate updates, but I was home all day and nobody delivered a package to me.  There was nothing in my mail box either.

The next day I went to my apartment complex office and was told that the USPS carrier was new and attempted to deliver a package to our office.  Our office hasn't accepted packages since a fire in the old office building in July which our normal carrier and post office knew.  The carrier scanned the package as delivered and told my office manager it would be redelivered the next day.

I called the USPS customer service hotline (800 - 275 - 8777) and initiated a claim.  I was told I would be updated on the issue within 24 hours.  I never received any communication about this in that time frame.

On the 14th, I received no package.  I did leave a note in my mailbox about the issue but that was ignored by the carrier.

After the carrier left and I realized I still did not have my package, I called the local post office (8700 E Jefferson Ave, Denver, CO 80237 - 303 221 5209) to inquire about it.

I spoke to Kathy who seemed put off from the get go about my call.  After she let me explain the issue to her, she seemed agitated and told me that she was a supervisor.  She told me that the carrier on route that day was our regular carrier and that he was "a weirdo."  She said my package should be on his truck if it was to be redelivered and that if I did not receive it by the end of the day to call back first thing in the morning.

That evening I still did not receive my package.

On the morning of the 15th, I called Kathy back and she immediately put me on hold.  She picked up several times after confirming my address, and then another gentlemen who I believe identified himself as Jim, asked me to explain the issue to him and ask me my address again.  It seemed there was an issue of which route my apartment complex was on.

A third gentleman answered the phone but did not identify himself.  He said what sounded like he was told to end the call with me to which I got angry and asked what was going on.  I was put on hold again, and then a few minutes later he picked up and asked me once more to explain the issue.

I explained it to him.  He told me he was off the day before and nobody had told him about the incident.  I explained in detail what happened again, that I left a note about it in my mailbox, and then he told me that my regular carrier was on vacation.  He said he would look for my package and if it didn't arrive again to call back on Monday.  I was then hung up on by him after confirming my address and name one more time.  I didn't even have a chance to explain if they found my package, I would be out for the day and wouldn't be home to receive it.

I then called the 800 number back with my case ID to update the ticket.  I was told by the representative that there was no update to it, that the post office in question would update it when available and that she added what I reported about the incident.

I was then advised to escalate the ticket to the local Colorado/Wyoming consumer affairs office on Monday morning.

As of the evening of December 17th, I have yet to hear back about my case ID which I was told would be responded to within 24 hours.  It had now been more than 48 hours.

My note in the mailbox has gone ignored by every carrier who has delivered since the 14th.

I have submitted a ticket via USPS' web site on the issue, detailing the above.

On the morning of December 18th, I called the USPS customer service hotline to follow up on my original case.

The woman who updated me on the case said that a note had been put out to all carriers on the route - called a "carrier alert" - to be on the lookout for my package.  Beyond that, there was nothing else that could be done.  I continued to relay my concerns that the local post office did not care after my conversations with them to track down the package.

The woman told me that I could file a claim on the package since it had insurance no earlier than 45 days from the "delivery date" of December 13th.  I could do that online or in person by mail and either my mom (sender) or me (receiver) could do it.

At 1:15 PM on December 18th, I received a call from Kathy at the post office saying they had located my package.  In the voicemail she left, she said "I really don't appreciate what you wrote in your complaint" and that my package is "gonna sit here until you pick it up."

At that point, I was livid.  I called the 800 number back because if I called Kathy back, things would not have ended well. There is no reason why I should be required to go pick up a package they didn't deliver and were supposed to in the first place.

The woman I spoke to at the 800 number said there was no reason why the package shouldn't be redelivered as it was their fault this issue occurred in the first place.  She placed a delivery confirmation for me for December 19th.  She also assured me that the post office could not refuse the redelivery.

I was called at 5:26 PM the same day from the local post office location but no voice mail was left.

The carrier arrived on December 19 around 4 PM.  My package was not delivered, no attempt was made and no redelivery slip was left in my mailbox.

I called the 800 number again and spoke to a gentleman by the name of Devon.  He listened to my concerns and after I threatened to take the voice mail Kathy left public, then transferred me to a supervisor named Michael.  He read over my case, then listened to my concerns and apologized for the situation before escalating my claim.

He also scheduled a new redelivery for December 20th. 

He advised me to call Consumer Affairs with the new, escalated case number first thing in the morning.  He said someone would call me back about this and when I asked if it would be the supervisor Kathy, he said no, it should be the Postmaster at the local post office.

I have yet to call Consumer Affairs in the hopes that the post office would do the right thing and deliver my package after their mistake.  If I do not receive my package today, I will be contacting them first thing on the morning of December 21.  I have also reached out to the local media in the Denver metro area detailing my situation with this package and post office.

At this point, I want my package hand delivered to me at my apartment and an apology issued by the post office.  There is absolutely no reason why I should be held accountable for my package when the original carrier and then the post office continued to make the matter worse by refusing to acknowledge, apologize and rectify the situation.  Instead, they went out of their way to make this entire situation worse which is where I find myself now.

Latest update: December 21, 2012

At 2:34 PM, December 20, I received a voicemail from Kathy at the local post office and was asked what she should do with my package.  She already knows and has been told for two days what to do with it by having it redelivered.

I called the 800 number again, I explained if I don't receive it by the end of the day tomorrow, I will be filing a police report against her and the local post office.  The representative created another redelivery for tomorrow, confirmation #: COR21713462.

I finally got a hold of someone at consumer affairs (Sandra) who looked at my case and said she'd call the post office back to figure out what is going on.  I was told from the get go to just "go pick up your package."  This call was less than two minutes.  She then called me back not a few minutes later to tell me she's shocked that the mail carriers deliver packages to our apartments because they aren't supposed to do that.  I told her it happens all the time and she seemed not to believe me.

She called me back again and I was told that they weren't allowed to deliver to individual apartments and that was against postal policy.  I argued with her and then we ended the call when it was clear neither one of us were going to get anything out of it.  She did offer to get her supervisor but I was too angry to continue any conversation with consumer affairs.

It was very clear that this woman did not read the entirety of my claim, did not care and immediately sided with my local post office.

Wendy, her supervisor, called me back about ten minutes later and asked if they had permission to leave the package at my door and it was normally against policy.  I gave them permission, told her I'd be here all day and let her know the carriers here do it all the time and all anybody needed to do was tell me that.  I kept getting told this was against policy but they would make an exception.

I find it very hard to believe that they can't deliver to my doorstep in my complex, because I have had several packages - insured, uninsured, delivery confirmed, etc - delivered directly to my door since our office has been unable to accept packages.  I've watched all week thanks to working from home the various postal carriers deliver packages to individual apartments.  This was completely dismissed by consumer affairs as if I was lying about it.

In fact, when I scheduled each and every redelivery with the 800 number, not once was I told this was against policy. They knew I lived in an apartment in a complex and the package needed to be delivered to my door.  I would think if this was truly against policy in a case like this, someone - including Kathy at the local post office - would've said so instead of just leaving threatening voicemails and asking me what she should do with my package.  Asking me what she should do with my package indicates there are multiple options, such as picking it up, having it delivered or even having it returned to sender.

Kathy could've very clearly indicated this to me the day she found my package (six days ago), instead she purposefully has kept this package from being redelivered despite multiple redelivery setups for it authorized by the postal service customer service hotline (this includes regular rep and a supervisor who set up a redelivery.)  If this was such an issue, it would've been indicated to me from the get go, NOT once I called consumer affairs.

I also wish to point out Kathy told me that if my package was meant to be redelivered to me the day I reported the incident, it would be on the truck and redelivered.  She did not indicate at that time either that I would have to pick it up.  It wasn't until AFTER I filed a complaint that I was told I had to pick it up.

I have contacted all three major news networks in Denver, along with The Denver Post about this issue.

We will see if consumer affairs can actually get this post office to hand deliver my package.  If not, well, we go to Plan B.

Latest update: 12/21/12 4:19 PM

Vindicated!

As soon as the postal carrier arrived today, he immediately delivered the package to my door, apologized for the issue and even played with my cat for a bit.

Thank you to everyone who helped share, comment and support me through this fiasco.  I couldn't have made this happen without you.