USPS Mail Hold = lost mail?

[Anonymous]

We went away for a week and I put a hold on our mail, requesting that it be delivered upon return. The mail never came and the PO says they don't have anything for us. Where the hell is my mail?

So, do you put a hold on your mail when you go away or do you have a neighbor collect it or do you just let it pile up?

[Anonymous]

We have always put it on hold and have never had a problem. Hope yours turns up!

[Anonymous]

I just had my mail held for 10 days and had no problem. USPS left a big bin of mail on my porch the day I came back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have always put it on hold and have never had a problem. Hope yours turns up!

+1. We have done this countless times and it was always seamless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have always put it on hold and have never had a problem. Hope yours turns up!

+1

[Anonymous]

We too have had problems with lost mail after a vacation hold, so we don't do it anymore.

[Anonymous]

We always put our mail on hold AND ask a neighbor to check the mailbox, because typically, the post office ignores the hold and delivers the mail anyway. I learned my lesson years ago.

[Anonymous]

Is this WML?? If not another FB friend of mine had the exact same thing happen this week.

[Anonymous]

We had a mail hold recentlyand I had to harass the mail carrier when we got back to have our held mail delivered. They also lost a couple of held packages for a few days. Eventually we got stuff from them but it makes me wonder if we really got everything. Next time we will be asking the neighbors to pick it up for us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this WML?? If not another FB friend of mine had the exact same thing happen this week.

OP here -- nope! That's not me.

Thanks, all, I'm in N.Arl and our mail service is pretty abysmal.

I'm thoroughly annoyed!

[Anonymous]

Who did you ask? Do you know which post office your mail carrier is at? Make sure you go to the right one and ask. It is probably there, but the back offices are not well organized. I would ask every day until it turns up.

[Anonymous]

When I lived in DC, "mail hold" tended to send my mail into some sort of purgatory - post office could never find the stuff. One time the held items showed up three months later, with all sorts of notes and rubber stamp marks on them - not sure where it had gone during that time. Another time while I was away the mail carrier unilaterally decided I'd abandoned my mailbox (in an apt building), and put a note to that effect in the box, so nothing got held or delivered - it just disappeared.

Currently in NOVA, and delivery is hit or miss. Though we haven't had mail hold problems, we frequently get neighbors' mail, and one time even had delivery that was off by one house - everyone on our block got their next door neighbor's mail.

[Anonymous]

I guess it depends on your post office. We live in Laurel and have good mail service from the USPS. I've lived here 21 years and for the last 10 or so years, I've gone out of town 5-10 times per year, almost always holding mail and it arrives nicely bundled with rubber bands on the day it is supposed to arrive. I've had one or two longer times I've been away and they have left my mail on my doorstep in one of those postal bins on the day it was supposed to be delivered. I've never had problems with home delivery (although we've had problems occasionally when we went to the actual post office, but not home pickup or delivery). We always tip the mail carrier well because the woman we had for 5+ years and the guy we've had for the last 2 years have both done a good job.

[Anonymous]

Reviving on old thread here.

I'm from NY - not even from the DC area but just know that you're not alone in having the Post Office loose your held vacation mail.

Not long ago I came back after a 2 week vacation to find that ALL my held mail had simply "disappeared".

My carrier assures me it was actually being held and said there was about 12 pieces there the night before I came in to collect it, but then, it just "went away".

I got the expected level of useless service from them. They used the word "indepth investigation" and I communicated with several employees. That was 5 weeks ago. Plenty of promises but absolutely nothing of substance.

I'll never again use Hold Mail. I'd rather risk my mailbox overflowing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who did you ask? Do you know which post office your mail carrier is at? Make sure you go to the right one and ask. It is probably there, but the back offices are not well organized. I would ask every day until it turns up.

This. Only the office that holds the mail knows it is there and the back area is a total chaotic mess. Go to the post office, ask for your mail and repeat. It is probably there, just pushed into a corner.