HOUSTON – More mail delays. The never-ending story continues for Houstonians. A local woman wants answers from the US postal service.
“They have got a big problem and it’s just…ridiculous.”
Lisa Stout says she was nearly left in the dark after her energy bill payment took almost a month to arrive. Reporter Re’Chelle Turner reached out to the postal service about the problem, and they did not answer our questions. They sent us a statement,
USPS Response:
The Postal Service is continuing its efforts in the Houston area to improve our processes and address sporadic issues in order to ensure reliable and efficient service. We offer our apologies to any residential or business customers who may have experienced issues with their mail and package delivery. We also appreciate the hard work and commitment of our employees as they work around-the-clock to deliver the excellent service our customers need and deserve. The mail in Houston continues to move and improvements are made every day. We will continue our intense focus on fully implementing the strategies integral to our overall transformation and modernization efforts in Houston and around the country.
Stout is old school and likes to mail in her bills through the post office. She became worried when January’s check didn’t clear.
“You can’t be messing with people’s credit,” she said.
Lisa Stout reached out to Turner this week about her energy bill that almost didn’t post to her account.
“I mailed it off at the beginning of January like the 4th or 5th and it was due the 16th and my husband just happened to be balancing our checkbook and he goes the TXU bill has not cleared,” she said.
Stout says she also never received her Amazon credit card bill in the mail and was past due for February.
“And I was going okay why am I getting an Amazon bill, I haven’t spent any money, not since Christmas. I look at it and it’s got a past due amount with late fees and interest,” she said.
Turner spoke to a retired postmaster and asked him about the postal service getting back on track.
“Well, I don’t know if it would be someone at war higher up to do it. I think they need more help; they need more training and need to hold some feet to the fire,” the man said.
The retired postmaster worked for the postal service for almost 40 years and says the on-going mail issues are a big problem.
“I don’t know what to say but they sure do need to do something. I wish I could help them in that way,” he said.
The retired postmaster says post offices need more workers.
“I really think they are understaffed and some of the stations that I know of you go in there and there is one window clerk and 20 people in line. You go in others; they are just understaffed,” he said.
Turner also asked the retired postmaster about packages going back and forth between the sorting facilities in Missouri City and North Houston before they are delivered.
“My opinion is that North Houston and that other facility in Fort Bend are sending out that mail back and forth just so they can tell their bosses that they cleared out that day. That’s just a hunch of mine,” he said.
“They need to get their act straight before someone’s credit ends up getting ruined especially someone who has good credit,” Stout said.
Stout says Amazon waived her late fees and interest fees. As for her TXU bill, it finally cleared on January 30th, but she had to send a credit card payment. She says TXU credited her account.