Mailman ?

[hambirg]

Soooo. . .I just happened to be out on my porch today when the mailman (it was actually a mail lady) breezed by my house. I had a Netflix movie in the box to go out. When she slowed down for the neighbors I ran the movie out to her and she said, "You didn't have any mail today." She's not my normal mail person. And I live in the city, so the mailbox is on the house and not out on the street with a flag that you can put up for outgoing mail. But this really rubbed me the wrong way. Am I wrong?

What if I had something important like a CC or mortgage payment in the outgoing mail? So just because I didn't have any incoming mail you weren't even going to stop and see if I had anything outgoing?

Have any of you noticed similar behavior? It's not like I'm going to call in and complain, but it kind of irritated me.

 

[marlynnp]

When I lived in the city you didn't put outgoing mail in your box at home. You had to walk it to the post office box down the street or drop it off at the post office.

 

[Goofyluver]

Around here, if you have outgoing mail and your box is on your house, you clip the mail to the outside of the box. Otherwise, how are they supposed to know?

If you don't alert them, why would they stop?

 

[Squirlz]

If it's that important then it's up to you to make sure it gets out. Expecting the carrier to stop when you have no mail is pretty silly.

 

[disykat]

When we had a mail route with our box right on the house, the mail carrier only came if we had mail. We did not expect the mail carrier to stop at our house to check for outgoing mail. Personally, I think that's an unrealistic expectation. I'd be curious what the actual rules are.

We could clip outgoing mail to the mailbox, but it was only picked up if the mail carrier stopped to deliver.

 

[hambirg]

Around here, if you have outgoing mail and your box is on your house, you clip the mail to the outside of the box. Otherwise, how are they supposed to know?

If you don't alert them, why would they stop?

That's what I do. And the movie was clipped to the outside of the box.

 

[hambirg]

When we had a mail route with our box right on the house, the mail carrier only came if we had mail. We did not expect the mail carrier to stop at our house to check for outgoing mail. Personally, I think that's an unrealistic expectation. I'd be curious what the actual rules are.

We could clip outgoing mail to the mailbox, but it was only picked up if the mail carrier stopped to deliver.

That's why I asked. I expect them to stop for outgoing mail. . .and maybe I'm wrong. BUT I thought mail service was both ways.

 

[daisyduck123]

Personally, I think that's an unrealistic expectation.

Same with me. I'm in my mid-40s & never once in my life have I left mail in my mailbox for my mailman to pick up. I always drop it in a mailbox or at the post office.

 

[Mermaid02]

That's what I do. And the movie was clipped to the outside of the box.

She should have seen it and picked it up since it was clipped on the outside of your box. I think she saw it was "just" a netflix movie and decided to skip you.

 

[It'sOffToDisneyWeGo]

My DD20 just told me this story a few weeks ago. She said she told her boyfriend to put some outgoing mail in the mailbox and he had never seen that done before? We always put outgoing mail in the mailbox and it is picked up. We live in the same town as her boyfriend so I guess everybody believes different things.

 

[mickeym96]

not 100% sure on how city routes work, but I believe that if they don't have mail for you they don't have to stop. For rural routes, if they don't have mail for you they don't have to stop unless you have your flag up on your box indicating that you have out going mail.

 

[C.Ann]

Around here, if you have outgoing mail and your box is on your house, you clip the mail to the outside of the box. Otherwise, how are they supposed to know?

If you don't alert them, why would they stop?

Yes - this is what I used to have to do on my former home..

 

[C.Ann]

That's what I do. And the movie was clipped to the outside of the box.

Sorry - I missed this.. In that case, yes - she should have stopped..

 

[kcool]

It is interesting to read all the different ideas on how this should be handled. I was upset about the same exact thing the other day. I had the kids walk it down to our mailman. We also clip ours on the outside of the box. Hmmm....

 

[MariDisney]

This is from the USPS website:

Outgoing Mail

The United States Postal Service makes every effort to pickup and deliver your mail. Outgoing mail is picked up:

For curbside delivery if the flag is up or if there is mail to deliver.
For door delivery if there is mail to deliver.
From the outgoing mail slot in a Cluster Box.

 

[hambirg]

not 100% sure on how city routes work, but for rural routes, if they don't have mail for you they don't have to stop unless you have your flag up on your box indicating that you have out going mail.

See that's why I asked. It was clipped to the outside of the box.

Admittedly, I grew up in an area that had mailboxes on the street and you could put the flag up. The mail carrier always stopped. So I guess I assumed that if I have outgoing mail. . like a flag up, or it clipped to the outside of the box, that the mail carrier should stop.

 

[happygirl]

I would be a little miffed esp since you had the package clipped to the mailbox.

 

[kcool]

It is interesting to read all the different ideas on how this should be handled. I was upset about the same exact thing the other day. I had the kids walk it down to our mailman. We also clip ours on the outside of the box. Hmmm....

 

[Buckalew11]

They only have to stop if they have mail to deliver to you OR your flag is up or mail is clipped to the box. If you have a regular mail box, have outgoing mail, forget the flag that day for a pickup, the only way they have to stop is if you are getting mail delivered that day.

She may have not seen it or she may have decided not to stop. Often mail carriers will intentionally have light days and only deliver first class mail because they want to end their day early or finish without doing OT. My dad was a mailman, supervisor, and Postmaster for 30+ years and this tended to be an issue for certain carriers on Saturdays especially. :/

 

[hambirg]

This is from the USPS website:

Outgoing Mail

The United States Postal Service makes every effort to pickup and deliver your mail. Outgoing mail is picked up:

For curbside delivery if the flag is up or if there is mail to deliver.
For door delivery if there is mail to deliver.
From the outgoing mail slot in a Cluster Box.

Hmmm. .. interesting. So I guess my assumption that outgoing mail would be picked up is wrong, based on my experience growing up where we had a box on the street with a flag.

It is why I asked. It just seemed wrong to me since I have always thought that outgoing mail would be picked up. Learn something new everyday.