(WXYZ) – On Monday, the 7 investigators showed how thousands of packages had bottlenecks at the Allen Park USPS distribution center. We now take a closer look at the unprecedented delays in sending holidays to the post office and what you can do in the face of this missing package.
RELATED: “It has mail from wall to wall.” Packages caught in traffic at Allen Park facilities
Tractor trailers have lined up on the street trying to deliver and pick up packages at the Detroit U.S. Postal Service Network Distribution Center in Allen Park. The 7 investigators counted at least 50 of those massive tractor-trailer trucks trying to enter the Allen Park plant on Monday.
Post workers say there are wall-to-wall packages inside, and inside the Detroit post office, they say there are also stacked letters from wall to wall.
“Almost nowhere to walk, nowhere to place that mail and carry it smoothly,” said Keith Combs, president of Local 295 of the American Postal Workers Union.
USPS officials say a combination of quarantined workers for COVID-19 and unprecedented holiday mail volumes have made it nearly impossible to deliver on time, not just in Michigan, but across the country.
“I think they shouldn’t be offering services that they can’t meet,” Jason Plowman of Troy said.
Plowman says he paid extra for sending priority mail guaranteed for 1 to 3 days to deliver time-sensitive court documents. Instead of three days as promised, he says the package was shipped from Madison Heights to Allen Park, and two weeks later it finally arrived in Troy court.
“I’m walking around the flat, worried about work: what will I do if I don’t arrive on time? Do I have to do all this again or make phone calls? “, He said.” It’s just a big pain in the ass. “
When he filed a complaint online, he had another surprise.
“You can’t get a refund with that kind of service,” Plowman said.
A written statement sent to the seven investigators by Elizabeth Najduch on reimbursement options states that “Priority Mail Express is the only service backed by a postage guarantee if we do not deliver or attempt to deliver the mail as promised. Customers can request a refund at USPS.com. Make sure you have the tracking number and mail receipt available. “
A recent report from the non-partisan USPS general inspection office found that over the summer, the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, and senior executives launched cost-cutting strategies, but did not they did “no analysis of service impacts …” before making these changes, causing problems across the US
These changes to the USPS began throughout the time Patty Pietka was waiting for her hearing aid supplies. They were sent from Farmington Hills to Byron, Michigan, on August 4th.
“There are so many people who depend on the postal service for their prescriptions, hearing aid supplies and medical supplies,” Pietka said.
This package is still missing.
“This has never happened before! I could always trust him, ”Pietka said.
Here’s what USPS officials say you can do if the packet is missing or stopped during traffic:
When email service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns. We are happy to work to resolve any specific community issues when we are notified and encourage customers to contact their local post office. Customers can also go to our usps.com website and click “Contact Us” at the bottom of our homepage.
Each email will be carefully documented and appropriate steps will be taken to strengthen the service. In addition, the official U.S. Postal Service Twitter account, managed by USPS headquarters social media staff, can help. To get customer service, tweet @USPSHelp. The postal service will continue to diligently investigate customer concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D-Southfield) says she spoke with the postmaster general last week about those delays and vows to follow up with him on holiday delivery difficulties.