| Updated: 10/05/2010 9:49 am |
Published: 10/04/2010 10:44 pm
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Dusty Calvert has rented his West Tulsa home for more than two months, but he says his mailbox has been empty every day. He says the U.S. Postal Service has done nothing but give him the runaround since his landlord moved the mailbox from a post next to the street to up on the front of the house near the door.
"Well, the landlord asked me which one I'd rather have: the curbside or the one on the house," Calvert said. "And so I looked down the street and everybody's got them on the house. So I said well, give me one on the house. He told me the one that used to be here recently always got damaged, so I didn't want that happening."
After more than two months went by in which he received no mail, jCalvert called the post office to find out what the problem was. He says they were not very helpful.
"She said 'well, you're not understanding what I'm saying, until you get one on the curb you're not gonna receive it.' I said, but I've got one on the house, so I need my mail. And she just kept going over and over, 'you're not understanding what I'm saying.'"
Calvert says the reason they gave him seemed odd to him.
"She said that they're starting to put everything curbside. And when it's 90% it will be mandatory."
Fox 23 could not get a representative from the U.S. Postal Service to go on camera with, but an official did say over the phone that the situation was simply a miscommunication, and that the letter carrier simply didn't know where he had moved his mail box. The official said Calvert's mail delivery would be re-established the following day, but Calvert says the situation had already caused problems.
"Well, I've already gotten all three of my bills' cut-off notices. I've got a week to pay them or gonna be cut off. So without receiving that mail, knowing my bills are gonna get cut off.. I just paid rent... I've got less than a week to get this caught up now and I need at least two weeks to get the bills paid."
Calvert does say he's relieved the problem has been fixed, though.
"That's great, I'm glad I called you guys [Fox23 News]. I don't think it would have been resolved without it."
The official with the U.S. Postal Service said letter carriers prefer curbside mailboxes because they are easier to reach and make delivery more efficient, but said boxes on the house are completely acceptable. The official went on to say the U.S. Postal Service has no general requirement, nor any plans to require people to have curbside mailboxes at their homes. But she said if a person does move their mailbox from next to the street to closer to the house, that a written notice to the letter carrier will help make sure there is no confusion about where they should deliver mail.
