Is forwarded mail making it? People are having issues, post office responds

Problems at the post office. Two women from Parma can't believe what they've gone through just trying to get their mail. A simple form has created a complex problem.

"Some of my bills haven't come through,” said Joanne Hout. "I'm worried about my social security"

She filled out a change-of-address form back in November. She was moving out of Westlake and into some Parma apartments. And her friend Vicki Gibbons did the same thing. Same day. "Also, now that it's going to be tax time, I'm looking for information to do my taxes," said Gibbons.

However, they said they haven’t seen their forwarded mail for months now. They went back to their old apartment building and saw their former mail carrier.

"It was a pile like this and she gave it to us,” said Hout. “She said she never got the change of address."

"And then she said that she would make sure that the change of address got through," Gibbons told us.

They made calls to anyone and everyone at the post office they could. "When they don't call you back or you've just talked to them and they talk to you like they don't even know what you're talking about, that's the most frustrating part,” said Gibbons.

"They keep saying they'll call us back. They don't call us back,” Hout told us.

A recent check on ConsumerAffairs.com shows more than 6,600 consumer reviews and complaints. The overall rating is one star for the postal service.

The post office told us the mail is being delivered correctly and that some companies won't forward bills. Reps told us if the women aren't getting calls back, they're not sure why, but the post office will put a 30-day watch on their mail to make sure things are done correctly.

For Hout and Gibbons, mail is an important connection they have to family and friends.

"We just went through the Christmas season so I know that there's a whole bunch of cards and things like that we didn't get,” said Gibbons. “So, there's a pile of mail somewhere sitting."

And on top of all this there's a bit of irony. Hout’s late husband was employed by the U. S. Postal Service. "He worked for the post office for 36.5 years…carrying mail, being a clerk downtown," said Hout.

The post office told us marketing material like catalogs will not be forwarded to a new address. It also suggests making contact with known businesses ahead of time to make sure bills and materials are sent to your new address.

Here’s a statement we received from the Cleveland Post Office:

The Postal Service is committed to ensuring quality service and mail delivery to all customers. If there are customer concerns, we strongly encourage customers call our Customer Care Center at 1-800-275-8777 (1-800-ASK-USPS) or by using the “Contact Us” link on http://usps.com. When we are made aware of customer issues we work quickly to resolve them.

Our records indicate that the Change of Address Orders are in effect, and that their mail is being forwarded from the old address and delivered to the new addresses. Regardless, the Midpark Post Office will be closely monitoring mail delivery to these addresses for the next 30 days to ensure the process is running smoothly.

General info regarding Change of Address orders:

• USPS stops delivering mail to the previous address on the designated start date and begins the forwarding process to the new address. Customers should start receiving mail at the new address within 7-10 Postal business days from the designated 'start date'.
  • • Once the Change of Address is effective, mail is forwarded to the new address as quickly as possible.  However, as there is no estimated delivery time for forwarded mail, the Postal Service recommends informing mailers of the new mailing address as soon as possible.

Information on the forwarding of specific mail classes is as follows: