USPS mail holds

[Muse]

I did this successfully online when I left town maybe 2 years ago. But last time I tried to do this was this last Thanksgiving and for some reason it didn't work. I set it up online to stop mail coming and not deliver the mail until the following Monday. But when I got back Saturday night, there was a bunch of accumulated mail.

I am planning to be out of town for almost a week shortly and want them to hold my mail and deliver after I return. Is there anything I can do to make this come off? IMO, my current mailman (they seem to rotate people occasionally) is a dolt. He's young enough but he doesn't think. I see evidence of this in the way he delivers my mail, where he leaves packages, etc. When I say something, thank him, whatever, I get no smile. He's just gruff. Does my mail hold not working have anything to do with him? Or is this handled by the USPS independent of him?

 

[deadlyapp]

I believe the mail hold is on the post office level - not the delivery level, so it likely has nothing to do with him.

I put a hold in for my mail for a week and a half and had no problem with it. Picked up my mail at the post office a day or two later after I got back. Mail resumed on it's own.

I'd just have them hold it at your post office, rather than deliver it all at once when you return.

Could always leave a note inside your mailbox in case the mail still gets to the delivery person - and he could return it to the PO for holding.

 

[spacejamz]

No issues doing online mail holds for me...I do it about 8-10 times a year when I travel for work...I even get email notifications when my hold ends and my mail service will resume.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I leave the country at least twice a year for a week or more. I've been doing this for over ten years.

It's completely hit or miss as to (1) whether they're really going to hold your mail, (2) whether they decide to start holding your mail immediately or if they'll start on the day you ask them to start, (3) whether they'll deliver your accumulated mail when it ends, and (4) whether they'll continue delivering your mail one the hold ends.

It's a pretty manual process at the post office. Someone needs to notice a piece of paper and to remember to abide by that piece of paper and then to toss that piece of paper once the hold is over.

In my experience, the post office is not very good at doing mail stuff. After putting in a mail hold for a few weeks, I have come back to a packed mail box and a note telling me to empty my mail box.

Idiots.

 

[Muse]

I leave the country at least twice a year for a week or more. I've been doing this for over ten years.

It's completely hit or miss as to (1) whether they're really going to hold your mail, (2) whether they decide to start holding your mail immediately or if they'll start on the day you ask them to start, (3) whether they'll deliver your accumulated mail when it ends, and (4) whether they'll continue delivering your mail one the hold ends.

It's a pretty manual process at the post office. Someone needs to notice a piece of paper and to remember to abide by that piece of paper and then to toss that piece of paper once the hold is over.

In my experience, the post office is not very good at doing mail stuff. After putting in a mail hold for a few weeks, I have come back to a packed mail box and a note telling me to empty my mail box.

Idiots.

Yup. Well, this time I think I'm going to try something different. Maybe stop the mail delivery a day or two early and squack like a stuck pig if any comes before I leave. Also, arrange for me to pick up when I get back. I can leave a note in my mail box, but that dolt of a mailman I have a feeling will just ignore it, not read it or do anything sensible with it.

I have a similar issue with the newspaper. One time they continued to deliver it and throw it on the sidewalk and someone vandalized the house. It wasn't serious but it got my attention and has made me worried ever since and determined to not let my house appear unoccupied when I vacate the premises. I request the newspaper guy to throw my paper on the porch, not on the ground in front of the porch, which is 2 steps from the sidewalk. The delivery guys (I think there have been several over the years) always get lazy and get cavalier about their tosses or outright forget if I don't call and complain, and I have called dozens of times... the last time being about 2 weeks ago and he's already gotten lazy again. I do this partly because I don't trust them to honor the hold. At least if they don't honor the hold and they do toss on the porch, people from the sidewalk won't see.

 

[Exterous]

I guess it really depends on your local people as the two places I've lived I've not had a problem. We use it about 3-4 times a year

 

[Capt Caveman]

Yup. Well, this time I think I'm going to try something different. Maybe stop the mail delivery a day or two early and squack like a stuck pig if any comes before I leave. Also, arrange for me to pick up when I get back. I can leave a note in my mail box, but that dolt of a mailman I have a feeling will just ignore it, not read it or do anything sensible with it.

You could act like a normal person that has been having issues with their mail by either one speaking to someone at the USPS customer support number or email them - https://www.usps.com/help/contact-us.htm

Or walk into your post office and speak to a human being.

I'm sure you're going to create a new thread on how to speak to a person.

 

[lxskllr]

Take your mailbox down. When you get back, pickup your mail and put the box back up.

 

[Muse]

You could act like a normal person that has been having issues with their mail by either one speaking to someone at the USPS customer support number or email them - https://www.usps.com/help/contact-us.htm

Or walk into your post office and speak to a human being.

I'm sure you're going to create a new thread on how to speak to a person.

You're being a jerk. I suppose you already know that. Good luck with that.

 

[Muse]

Take your mailbox down. When you get back, pickup your mail and put the box back up.

From what I've seen from my delivery guy I imagine he'd just throw the mail on my porch and walk the other day, each day.

 

[Muse]

Take your mailbox down. When you get back, pickup your mail and put the box back up.

I'm thinking stop my mail a couple days early. If it still comes I'll walk into the post office and complain, but I'll remove the mail box either way. Similar for the newspaper, but a day early (the day I fly out).

 

[kranky]

Have never had a problem with a mail hold. I do it online and tell them to hold until I pick it up in person. It's always worked properly. Our mail service has been pretty great over the years. Two weeks ago I got a piece of mail for a guy up the street - a letter size plastic envelope that had stuck to a letter size plastic envelope I received. I can't remember the last time before that I got someone else's mail, it's probably been a year.

 

[Muse]

I can't remember the last time before that I got someone else's mail, it's probably been a year.

It happens to me several times a year.

This mail hold I set a couple days ago. I printed out the confirmation. What I did was stop mail 2 days early (i.e. two days before I leave town), with mail pickup at the PO after I return. If I get mail on the first day of the scheduled hold I will go into the post office with my confirmation and that mail and do a WTF, please sort this out now!

 

[Muse]

No issues doing online mail holds for me...I do it about 8-10 times a year when I travel for work...I even get email notifications when my hold ends and my mail service will resume.

So, I go on my short 5 day vacation. The USPS had sent me a letter that said this:

Mail Hold Request

Confirmation Number: <my number>

Action: Customer will pick up all accumulated mail upon return.

Begin
Fri 02/16/2018

End
Sat 02/24/2018

I return on evening of Sat. 02/24/2018 to find my mailbox stuffed with mail. I'm WTF, they didn't hold my mail!

I actually left town on Monday, 02/19/2018, but placed the hold starting Friday, 02/16/2018 so I could see if they were delivering mail on Friday. If so, I'd go into the post office on Saturday and complain. No mail came Friday, I'd thought I was probably OK. But why was my mailbox stuffed on Sat. 02/24/2018?

I see my mail man a few days ago and ask him what happened, I had a hold request on and it didn't work. He goes, we always deliver the accumulated mail on the last day of the hold, which for you was 02/24. I'm dumbfounded, I had specified that I pick it up, as you see above. I said, OK in the future I'll know how to do it (I'm thinking, I will have to specify a day AFTER I return, not the day I return). I'd just assumed that a hold day (Sat.) would be included as a day NOT to deliver mail. And why they didn't honor my request to pick it up myself, I'll never get.

 

[eng2d2]

So, I go on my short 5 day vacation. The USPS had sent me a letter that said this:

Mail Hold Request

Confirmation Number: <my number>

Action: Customer will pick up all accumulated mail upon return.

Begin
Fri 02/16/2018

End
Sat 02/24/2018

I return on evening of Sat. 02/24/2018 to find my mailbox stuffed with mail. I'm WTF, they didn't hold my mail!

I actually left town on Monday, 02/19/2018, but placed the hold starting Friday, 02/16/2018 so I could see if they were delivering mail on Friday. If so, I'd go into the post office on Saturday and complain. No mail came Friday, I'd thought I was probably OK. But why was my mailbox stuff on 02/24/2018?

I see my mail man a few days ago and ask him what happened, I had a hold request on and it didn't work. He goes, we always deliver the accumulated mail on the last day of the hold, which for you was 02/24. I'm dumbfounded, I had specified that I pick it up, as you see above. I said, OK in the future I'll know how to do it (I'm thinking, I will have to specify a day AFTER I return, not the day I return). I'd just assumed that a hold day (Sat.) would be included as a day NOT to deliver mail. And why they didn't honor my request to pick it up myself, I'll never get.

I went on business last week from Monday and returned Friday. I have same experience as yours. I can’t believe it. I did what everyone advice on this thread.

I also sent a package to a ghetto area and guess what the mailman did? He left it on the front door instead of putting in the mailbox locker. The package was stolen.

 

[rh71]

Out of the 5 or 6 times I've done it, they failed once. I didn't want them leaving a package when I was away on Saturday and they delivered it (and mail) anyway. I called to straighten it out the same day after seeing it on my door cam and they were just apologetic and said they'll fix it so it doesn't happen again.

I trust it about... 80% of the time.

 

[Muse]

What I pretty much always do is refrain from ordering anything in a package when I think it might be delivered when I'm out of town. I don't trust the USPS or delivery services on that stuff. A lot of time they are smart enough to not leave a package where you can clearly see it from the sidewalk (people walking by very very often glance toward my front door from the sidewalk), but it seems like 1/2 the time they just leave it in front of the front door, the dopes.

Well, I can only recall one time when a package (it was Amazon, IIRC) was said to be delivered but I never saw it. They sent me another. That was a few years ago. Used to be they required signatures a lot of the time but it almost never happens anymore, I don't know why. Maybe the delivery services (talking UPS and Fedex) decided that it's more cost effective to take their chances not requiring a signature than all the extra time and effort involved with leaving next day delivery notices or going around the back of the house, which they used to do at times too.

They may have systems in place to assess their risk from address to address, it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Muse]

I also sent a package to a ghetto area and guess what the mailman did? He left it on the front door instead of putting in the mailbox locker. The package was stolen.

IIRC, mail theft is a felony by federal law, not a trivial offense. Don't know how much it happens.