CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The United States Postal Service (USPS) offers a feature for residents called Informed Delivery. The idea behind it: customers sign up and set up an account. Once it's all validated and good to go, the USPS sends a notification to an app or an email when a piece of mail or a package is set to arrive. For letter-sized mail, customers see a grayscale image of the item, while tracking numbers and shipping information about packages is available.
It's a handy feature to keep track of incoming mail, but what if that package or letter isn't at your house when you go check?
That's an issue faced by Penney Lendzian in east Charlotte. She moved into a new development in December 2021 and has had her share of postage problems.
"Last week, I went to my box and there was a package in my box, and it was not addressed to me," she said, also noting she's sometimes not getting the mail she's alerted to.
She told WCNC Charlotte reporter and weekend anchor Jane Monreal the issue involved mail routes, specifically with a neighboring division.
"The problem was the addresses on our end of the street were in the mail route for the other development," Lendzian said.
In fact, that other subdivision is just a few feet from her home, marked only by an orange cone. However, the residents in the neighboring development get their mail at a nearby pod of mailboxes, while Lendzian gets hers from a different pod. She decided to start asking questions.
"I put an email out to some of the neighbors saying 'Is anyone else having an issue with the mail,'" she said.
Turns out, she wasn't alone. One woman told WCNC Charlotte she got a piece of mail from Aug. 1 more than two weeks later. Another neighbor said no mail at all.
Lendzian decided to go to her Post Office for an explanation. She was told postal workers would look for it and promised she'd be getting mail. But she said the ongoing issues with mail delivery meant she had to re-order prescription medication and an Amazon package.
What's more: Lendzian said her tax refund is still missing.
"They mailed it on the 20th of July. It was in my Informed Delivery on the 27th," she said. "And I still don't have it."
WCNC Charlotte reached out to the USPS for an answer. It provided the following statement:
We are in the process of making route adjustments which we periodically must do when new addresses get added to the routes of our letter carriers. Until the route adjustment is complete, we have implemented a process to ensure delivery is consistent. We apologize to this customer for the inconvenience. Customers with delivery questions can contact their local Post Office or call 1-800-ASK-USPS.
Lendzian said she's called the number many times and has left negative feedback a few times when prompted.
"They keep closing cases. I actually got [a response] today saying 'we're looking into the last case you did. Someone will be in touch with you,'" she said. "Usually, then what happens I get a survey saying 'tell us how our service was.' I have filled a few of those out and haven't been very nice about it."
While Lendzian said she's been getting her daily mail so far this week, she's doing what she can to avoid using the USPS as much as possible. For example, she is now paying her bills online instead of sending payments through the mail.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.