Occasionally mail is delivered to the wrong address or other minor things happen with peoples' mail. At one Richmond, Virginia Post Office, major things are happening way too often. Residents are complaining about not receiving their mail on time from the East End Post Office located at 414 North 25th Street, Richmond, VA 23223.
Post Office complaints
One of the main complaints is that the East End Post Office opens and closes at random times. One man says the post office closes some days for no reason, and his mail isn’t getting to him. He said the post office’s sporadic closures affect his business.
He explained:
“For about the past week, the post office has not been open to its full hours sometimes, actually most times, with no notes on the door saying that it’s closed or when anybody wanted to get their mail.”
The man added:
“We’re a small business, so if I don’t get my invoices and don’t pay them on time, it could affect my credit, and if I don’t receive my checks from customers, then it could affect making payroll. There’s a big trickledown effect that I don’t think the USPS really understands.”
Last Friday, the doors to the post office finally opened after many who live in the area complained that the post office had been closed off and on for the past week.
State-wide mail problem
The problem isn’t only in the East End but across the whole state of Virginia. Last week, Senator Tim Kaine sent a letter to USPS officials to press them on why these persistent issues are occurring and how they will fix them.
Senator Kaine said:
“When it gets to medicines and social security checks, and veterans benefits checks, when it gets to people are supposed to get bills that they pay on time to keep their credit rating strong or to avoid a foreclosure, and then they don’t get the bills ‘til quite late, and then they start running into problems with their credit or other things, this late mail delivery has a huge impact on people’s lives.”
Senator Kaine asked if there are region-specific bottlenecks and, if so, how to address them. He also asked what he and other lawmakers can do to reduce the issues.
After NBC12 inquiredhe, the USPS said in a statement:
“There have been some instances recently where that location had to open late or close early due to an unforeseen staffing situation. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank customers for their understanding and continued support.”
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