Postal Question (Was this acceptable of the mail carrier?)

[Wendygurl]

I keep getting mail for a guy who I'm assuming once lived here

blas you may find that it is an advertisement or something and that it is a random name that the system uses. Is it first class mail? I get loads of those in the mail I am delivering and it may be the same name at multiple addresses. Just a thought?

[blas]

I wrote them an e-mail. If that wasn't enough, then I'll probably get another letter within a few weeks, because it's usually just once or twice a month that they send me something.

I googled the business, they lease storage units and apartments. So I'm positive now it's a bill for something he rented and they want their money. But seriousy, several months now of sending notices or bills and no response other than getting your letters back? Wouldn't they be calling him threatening collections or lawsuits? In the e-mail, I gave them the property management company's name and phone number, so they could call and see if there were records of where he moved after here.

Pardon the threadjack, I am just going to hope that that worked.

[Mytical]

Google the companies name, find a phone number. Call the company, be firm and let them know to stop sending the mail..that is my only suggestion.

[blas]

I don't mean to steal the thread, but ever since August/September, once or twice a month I keep getting mail for a guy who I'm assuming once lived here. The first two or three times I got the letters (it's from a business downtown) there was a ? mark handwritten by the guy's name and my address.

I admit that a couple of times I did write "Does not live here" "Wrong address" and "Return to sender", but I still kept getting mail for this guy from that same place even after that, but not more ?s written on the letters.

I don't even know what to do anymore. Since late October or November, I just put the letters into the outgoing mailbox, because writing on them did no good. I never get the same ones back again, but they just keep sending them to me over and over again.

I know it's illegal to mess with the mail, so I don't want to open it or anything, but I don't even know what the hell to do or who to call or what to do about it. Once or twice a month I still get stuff for this guy. Back in October, after I'd written on the letters, I got 3 in a row the next time around, that's why I stopped writing on them, I figured it was retaliation. My best bet right now is they want money from this dude. Funny thing is, I've lived here for almost 4 years, never had mail for this guy before, and before me, two girls lived here for a year or two, so this guy must have been before them, or maybe even further back than that. At earliest, he probably lived here in 04 or 05!

Seems like this place downtown is adament that this guy lives here, and the postal service never did anything about the ones I wrote on or all the ones I've just put back into the mailbox.

[Wendygurl]

If the mail carrier wrote the number on the mail with a question mark it is because they were unsure because either the number did not exist or the name was no good so they went with the more reasonable answer which may have been your home.

No one should write on the mail except for the mail carrier and then it is for code purposes or clarification. If the person no longer lives at the address and it does not say current resident then just put a post-it or something on it.

We get loads of mail and sometimes we are unable to keep up with everyone moving in and out. New people have an even harder time since they may not know anyone.

[Midnight12]

I've only done that when I couldn't fit them in safely. Stuff one never knew.

Lexia, by doing that your getting real close to tampering with mail.

I never opened the evelope, only held it up the the light. The paper inside was thick enough I could not see anything, just the size of what was in there. I swear I did not attempt to read what was in it or open it or look at anything else beyond to determine if it was a letter. Will cease from doing so as I really try to adhere to not opening other's mail without permission. I still feel bad about the whole thing.

[MoonCat]

I had a major brain burp once with the mail. This was years ago. It was October 31st, we were going out for the afternoon and on the way out the door I grabbed the mail and tossed it in my totebag without looking at it. Came home later, hung up the bag--forgetting all about the mail--and didn't use it again for several months (March?)

Looked inside and found the mail. All of it was junk mail but one item, which looked like a check from social services, addressed to a house with the same number as mine but on the next street over. I was

I was horrified that I was going to be charged with stealing mail, had no idea what to do with it. Finally I just tossed it in the nearest mailbox. I figured the original recipient would have gotten a replacement check by then and wouldn't be able to cash this one anyway. I really felt bad but I was afraid to call the post office.

[Aethian]

I've only done that when I couldn't fit them in safely. Stuff one never knew.

Lexia, by doing that your getting real close to tampering with mail.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Periodicals. You roll up a magazine and place it in the hooks rather than try to stuff it into the box. They're actually called magazine hooks at a lot of mailbox vendor sites.

Not that my last carrier ever did that... I got a lot of scrunched up magazines.

^-.-^

They never put my magazines in the hooks.

[Andara Bledin]

Ya know I have yet to figure out the meaning of those hooks...

Periodicals. You roll up a magazine and place it in the hooks rather than try to stuff it into the box. They're actually called magazine hooks at a lot of mailbox vendor sites.

Not that my last carrier ever did that... I got a lot of scrunched up magazines.

^-.-^

[BookstoreEscapee]

Ya know I have yet to figure out the meaning of those hooks... I have on one of my routes the sweetest little old lady who finally needed to get a box at the house. To combat short arms she placed in the bottom a cloth covered foam brick that had to be pushed down she made it so tight. Then for a flag a red strip of felt was hot glued to the front of the box. When she has out going the felt is draped over the front of the box.

I've contemplated devising some way of keeping things from falling to the bottom. My cousin got married the year before last; his wife's shower was in April and I got the thank you - postmarked early May - in December because it had gotten bent and pushed to the bottom of the box. Finally it got knocked loose and I felt it in there. My other option is of course to ask the complex to move it down a little. We're on the second floor, so the mailboxes are just mounted one above the other on the wall next to the door (there is one outside door for every 2 apartments). I've noticed some buildings have the upstairs box to the side and just a few inches higher than the downstairs box rather than one above the other, which would be much easier for me, being only 5'4".

[Midnight12]

the person they had address it to either gave them the wrong address or something because we barely make it to the 500's and as far as I know we have it. However alot of the houses back there are either vacant now or people won't answer or something. I didn't open the envelope but holding it up to the light it didn't look like a letter but a thin piece of paper or check. So doing what I thought was a good idea wrote on it return to sender instead of going the further step and double checking.

So...i probably screwed up someone getting paid or something worse.

[Stormraven]

For the record, at least with our carriers, if we leave something in the box that isn't brand new mail, it won't get picked back up unless we do write something on it.

They've left mail in our box that didn't belong to us for three days before I finally wrote 'not at this address' on it - only then did it get removed.

[draggar]

Question - do house numbers in the 500's exist on your street? Sometimes if the house # doesn't exist they'll try to make a guess on where it belongs (other times they'll send it back non-deliverable).

With some handwritings, a 5 can look like a 3 and vice versa.

[Midnight12]

Please in the future do NOT write on the mail piece and instead place back in mailbox with flag raised to indicate the piece is to be picked back up. Writing return to sender on a item that is not yours can make it difficult to get it delivered to the correct address.

I did not know that. Will keep that in mind. I owe an apology to the mail carrier. And probably was an invalid address.

Also maybe with the hooks on the box that hangs, maybe they are to hold the newspaper? This was of course before the seperate news paper box attachments were created. Just a guess.
Will follow Bookstore's example and use a sticky note in the future