Some days, the mail arrives in the 9 p.m. darkness at Pamela Hunt’s house on Proctor Avenue in South Burlington. On some others, it arrives days late.
Important documents and checks have been lost or stuck in limbo. And Hunt says her efforts to get answers by contacting the U.S. Postal Service carrier station on Pine Street in Burlington have often been unproductive.
“I feel when you do call the post office, they don’t seem to really care, and they don’t seem to know what’s going on, either,” Hunt told Seven Days.
She’s not alone. Hunt is among several people in the neighborhood just south of the Burlington line who have taken to Front Porch Forum to express frustration with erratic delivery.
“I’ve called Pine Street to complain and just get a song and dance. Something has to be done,” another Proctor Avenue resident wrote on Front Porch Forum February 16.
Burlington postmaster Jason Salgo did not respond to messages from Seven Days. A woman at the counter of the Pine Street station said on Tuesday that Salgo was not in the office and that no one else could comment.
Steve Doherty, a Boston-based communications officer for the U.S. Postal Service whose territory includes Burlington, blamed short staffing for some of the problems.
“We’re currently bringing carriers from around the region into the Burlington office to maintain regular, reliable service to our South Burlington customers,” Doherty wrote in an email. “Meanwhile, we are aggressively seeking applicants for an additional 13 City Carrier Assistant positions to bolster our local pool of resources.”
The USPS will hold a job fair at its Essex Junction processing facility on March 21 and 22 in hopes of boosting the ranks, he added. Doherty said Salgo was too busy to talk to the media.
“Because our local management are focused full time on customer service and delivery matters, they will not be available for an interview,” Doherty wrote.
In years past, staffing problems have contributed to complaints about delivery in other neighborhoods, including Burlington’s South End.
The work schedule has grown to include evening and Sunday package delivery. To help customers track mail, the postal service offers “informed delivery”: email notifications that contain digital images of letters and packages with a set arrival date.
But this service, too, can be unreliable, customers say.
Paul Engels, a South Burlington resident who lives on Orchard Road , has been notified to expect mail that “didn’t show up” as promised, he told Seven Days.
“That’s happened several times like that,” he said. “It arrives the next day, maybe.”
Still, Engels feels that service in the neighborhood has improved in the past few weeks. And along with other residents, he understands that delivery was impossible when a February 7 storm dropped more than 10 inches of snow.
But the problems seem to go deeper than snow drifts, Hunt said.
“If they are short staffed, it would be nice if our neighborhood wasn’t the one that was suffering,” she said.
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I live in the development behind the National Guard entrance to the airport (Country Club Estates) and there are some days when the mail doesn’t come until 7pm or so. I’ve had a W2 delayed as well as other mail. Informed Delivery lists a piece as arriving that day but sometimes I don’t see it for days. Inquiring about it didn’t get an answer.
PATRICK ST IS IN THE SAME BOAT, SPORADIC DELIVERY ANYWHERE FROM 1:OOPM TO 7:30 WITH A DIFFERENT DELIVERY PERSON EACH DAY WHICH ENCOURAGES MISDELIVERY OF MAIL.
This is the Exact same situation in Winooski! It’s very frustrating. We have also gotten mail delivered at 9:00pm. Sometimes we only get mail maybe 3 days out of the week. Having informed delivery tell me I should be getting mail more than the 3 days that mail actually does come.
I’ve been an RCA with the USPS since 2007 and I can honestly say this happens in many neighborhoods. I get mail to deliver from a processing facility within 60 miles from my home office that should have been delivered days prior. Or, like back in January I delivered a package back to a customer that mailed it the previous July! Where was it all those months?? And guess who has to take the heat more times than not! Be nice to your mail carrier, we can only deliver what we get.
The last time this “reporter” wrote about this topic the Letter Carriers Union spoke to her to give her the information about what was really going on. She misquoted me to suit her own narrative and i nearly lost my job. No wonder no one from the USPS would talk to her
Its the same here in Burlington. I live on Church St. and sometimes it comes about 2:30 and other days at 9:00 at night. I thought it was just the carrier but now I see. The priority express is usually on time, they say it’s out for delivery and doesn’t come until the next day. Now I know the reason why.
I hardly get any critical mail via USPS, it’s been years since I’ve even seen a paper check. I’d recommend to these people to wake up and welcome to the 21st century. Paper checks, paper bills, paper docs, all obsolete via secure online instantaneous delivery.
Give the USPS a break, they do an amazing job and don’t get nearly enough credit and put up with way too much crap.
Another angle to this story could have been “Do you know anyone who would like to get paid to exercise while receiving amazing federal benefits? The United Sates Postal Service is hiring!” How hard can it really be for people to understand there is a shortage of mail carriers? Which neighborhood does Pamela Hunt think should “suffer” instead of hers because of the shortage? Instead of focusing your article on whiners, why not focus on the opportunity for people looking to start a new career, while helping their neighbors continue to get their mail for FREE. Instead of wasting time complaining about the oldest and most trusted federal agency in America (and the only one explicitly authorized in the Constitution), why not use the time instead to clear the snow & ice off your walkways and away from your mailbox. Make sure there is a clear covered spot for your packages, and remember every time you hit “order” on amazon it is usually the USPS that will deliver the dog food and paper towels to your door because you were too lazy to pick them up yourself. How dare anyone complain they are getting their mail at 9:00PM? That carrier has probably been out since morning, and it may even be the postmaster that cannot take your call because they are trying their best to get the mail delivered. The next time you see your mail carrier, try giving them a big smile, offer a drink or snack, and say THANK YOU!
TERRIBLE service in “small town” rural HUNTINGTON too !
“If they are short staffed, it would be nice if our neighborhood wasn’t the one that was suffering,” she said.
As though they’re the only neighborhood being impacted? This has been happening in the Old North End for the last year or two AT LEAST and I was told to only expect mail delivery every other day due to understaffing (which tbh wouldn’t be a problem if they stopped testing for cannabis). But I guess it only matters when it’s people with money /who own property?
Get a post office box, then it will be more consistent and on time. Other wise, be patient like the rest of us. There is NOTHING in the mail that I am in a hurry to get.