ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Some Roanoke County residents saw some relief on Wednesday after a week of postal delays.
A 10 News viewer reached out to us saying she and her neighbors in the Triple Crown Estates subdivision had received packages but not any mail since Aug.14th.
“I’ve got informed delivery so I can see what I’m supposed to be getting within a day or two and so I’ve got bills and things from the insurance company,” Deb Bosley-Neff said. She was told their normal carrier was on vacation. And there was no substitute.
“We’re not the only neighborhood that’s not been receiving mail these past two weeks,” she said.
Bruce Marquis lives nearby and had a very disappointing birthday last Saturday because of the delays.
“I had family members mail me birthday cards at the beginning of last week, and to go your mailbox on your birthday and not find any mail … that didn’t make my birthday any better,” he said. “It’s also the just the general mail … other things that are part of our daily rhythm that we depend on U.S. Mail to deliver.”
Bosley-Neff and Marquis both filed complaints with the USPS. 10 News followed up.
Around an hour after our interviews on Wednesday, neighbors reported the mail had been delivered. Not only that, but USPS representatives also went door to door personally apologizing to those who filed complaints. They also offered a direct number to the Roanoke Carrier Annex so that they could report future concerns.
In a statement to 10 News, the U.S. Postal Service said:
“The Postal Service strives for service excellence on behalf of our customers. Post Offices are staffed, and routes are regularly covered. One rural route was recently impacted due to an employee absence; however, mail is now being serviced to that route daily. We thank our customers for their understanding and continued support.”
Virginia had been the worst state or district in the country when it came to on-time mail delivery after the Postal Service launched a reorganization effort.
That is slowly improving. But the state is still fourth from the bottom.
“We hope that Washington would understand that people across the country depend on their mail delivery and put more emphasis on the fundamentals of what the post office is supposed to do.”
In the meantime, the neighborhood is grateful local officials are taking steps to make things right.