Dear Post Office

Dear United States Postal Service,

I have been very displeased with my service through the US Postal Service for the past few months. The first major incident was in September when my brother sent an iPhone from California to my home in Utah and when the package arrived the contents were gone, just a large, taped up spot on the front. When I reported this, the worker that I spoke with dismissed my concerns after she learned that the package was not insured, a service that my brother was never offered when sending the package. We reported this issue and after submitting an official request that this item be searched for, was never contacted again. This was a loss of about $150.

The second major incident was when my husband was sending a package through media mail to New York, this shipped in October. There were 54 magazines that he had sold on eBay and a few days after they were shipped we realized that the package must have opened, because a few of them returned to our address. Not all of them returned and we had to return all the money that the buyer had given us, because they had not received any of the magazines. This consequently cost us $90, the cost of the shipping, plus the sunk cost of the magazines. This was also very unfortunate because the packaging itself was approved by an employee at the postal office and we were told it was the sturdiest and best option for shipping.

The most recent incident was the most detrimental. I have been applying for a job in South Korea and after filling out and submitting all of the applications (background checks, apostilled documents, and passport copies included this was a cost of around $100) I went to the post office on November 5th and requested that it be shipped in whatever manner could assure that the documents arrived at their destination. I was assured that they would arrive in 5-10 days. I sent this document 1st class instead of priority or express because I was assured that first class mail should arrive just as securely.  20 days later, however, I was informed by my future employers that the documents never arrived and as my employers need time to file my documents for my visa, they may not arrive in time even if I am able to go about getting them filled out and sent again. This could cost me my employment.

This is unacceptable. I have never once been offered any sort of compensation or consolation for any of my loss and reporting issues has never had any impact on it either. I feel that if a service is paid for, i.e. delivering a package, then it should be fulfilled without having to buy all the add-ons, the add ons are for extra service, not the basic service. If I were to order food at a restaurant I would be given what I ordered, not told that because I didn't order dessert I wouldn't get my meal. I feel that my packages and envelopes should not be treated as disposable. If I wanted to rip up an envelope, put tape on it, and stick it my mailbox, I could do it without having to pay you to do it for me.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Pipkin