Mailman ?

[denisem]

***ALERT ALERT*** I'm about to show my stupidty.

What's this clipping to the box? You clip it to the outside of the box unprotected? Doesn't it get rained/snowed on?

I've lived in MI, FL - at single home residences, you have a mailbox with a flag. Put the flag up, they know there's outgoing mail. Apartments & condos (sometimes) have a bank of individually locked mailboxes, but the mailperson opens the whole thing at once & does their thing.

 

[kacaju]

I always leave my mail in my mailbox for the carrier to pick up.
I also grew up with the mailbox at the driveway so you put the flag up. Here, my box is on the house. I have to leave the mailbox open with the letter upright for them to pick it up.

I never go to the post office or a public mailbox unless I either need the letter to go out early (my mail is not delivered until 4pm here) or we have a sub and they deliver early.

 

[hambirg]

***ALERT ALERT*** I'm about to show my stupidty.

What's this clipping to the box? You clip it to the outside of the box unprotected? Doesn't it get rained/snowed on?

I've lived in MI, FL - at single home residences, you have a mailbox with a flag. Put the flag up, they know there's outgoing mail. Apartments & condos (sometimes) have a bank of individually locked mailboxes, but the mailperson opens the whole thing at once & does their thing.

Well, we have a clothes pin that we clip the mail to on the outside of the box. That seems to be what most people do around here. The box is attached to the house on the porch so the weather isn't really a factor. I really wish we could just have a box on the street with a flag. Ugh!

 

[tigercat]

Your Mailman (lady) takes outgoing mail????? Never heard of that.
tigercat

 

[denisem]

Well, we have a clothes pin that we clip the mail to on the outside of the box. That seems to be what most people do around here. The box is attached to the house on the porch so the weather isn't really a factor. I really wish we could just have a box on the street with a flag. Ugh!

Thanks! I'd never heard of this, even with relatives in other states. Crazy how we learn something new every day!

 

[Coconut36]

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.

I do this as well simply because I am uncomfortable with it being left in my box as it is on the street and the end of our yard and kids are known to open them and rifle through them (I also leap out the door as soon as I know it arrived).

That said I do not think it is crazy to expect them to check for outgoing mail if you have followed the procedure to send it (flag up, mail clipped outside the box) and they can visually see as they approach you have outgoing mail. Last I checked their services were not exclusive to delivery only.

 

[kacaju]

Your Mailman (lady) takes outgoing mail????? Never heard of that.
tigercat

To be honest..I never heard of them NOT taking it.

 

[World Showcaser]

Why wouldn't you just put it in a post box? Maybe that's just a Canadian thing? Every community here has a box or two on the side of the street that you put outgoing mail in.

 

[kacaju]

Why wouldn't you just put it in a post box? Maybe that's just a Canadian thing? Every community here has a box or two on the side of the street that you put outgoing mail in.

not where I live, in fact I would have to drive to get to one. Much easier to put in in the mailbox...I have been known to drive around with mail in the car, because I forget to run to the post office to drop it off.

 

[Coconut36]

Why wouldn't you just put it in a post box? Maybe that's just a Canadian thing? Every community here has a box or two on the side of the street that you put outgoing mail in.

I am sure it varies from place to place in the US but that isn't the norm here. Closest one to me is at a Circle K at the main intersection near my house. Not even walking distance..you have to drive to it.

 

[sookie]

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

dude, its their job. of course she should have stopped. I would definetly complain! our tax dollars at work... i pay a mint each month to keep these people in jobs (i send a lot of mail).

we have flags here...

 

[kimblebee]

Wouldn't it get really heavy for the mailman to be picking up everyones mail as well as carrying mail to deliver? How odd.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

I'm not sure why people think she didn't do her job. It clearly states on the website that they will pick up mail from the mailbox at your door only IF mail is being delivered.

No mail being delivered means no mail will be picked up.

 

[disykat]

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.

Posting again, in case people missed it.

 

[DeaverTex]

We've been lectured by more than one mail carrier that they aren't required to pick up mail left for them, and occasionally even that they aren't supposed to. I suppose it depends on where you are. (We have a mailbox attached to the house. All new neighborhoods around here are required to have a community mailbox, and from those they pick up mail routinely.)

 

[rewok]

To fellow Canadians: the mailman will pick up your outgoing mail if you leave it upright in your mailbox! DH step-dad was a mailman for a long time, so I know they do. I know it isn't customary however (not sure what is the real "obligation" either). I often stick back in there wrong addresses & mail for previous owners, but I never put my outgoing mail in there, I just drop it in a regular curbside box. This way I know it will be picked up at X time.

P.S. I have lived in the city/suburbs my while life, no idea about rural places

 

[topolino]

The answer lies in the quote from the USPS posted by a PP. The quote clearly stated that outgoing mail will be picked up IF you have mail.

That's your answer. The OP's mail lady was right in this case.

 

[crashbb]

dude, its their job. of course she should have stopped. I would definetly complain! our tax dollars at work... i pay a mint each month to keep these people in jobs (i send a lot of mail).

we have flags here...

Actually, if you read the quote for the USPS, it is not her job, she shouldn't have stopped and there is nothing to complain about.

Well, you can complain about the rule, but you cannot complain that she did anything wrong, according to the stated rules.

 

[MichelleVW]

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.

I always thought it was both ways too.

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.

That is so weird. I'm 44 and have lived in Ohio, Texas, Alaska, North Carolina and North Dakota and I have always put outgoing mail in my mailbox for the mailman to pick up. Why in the world would I run to the post office just to mail a letter?

 

[Sadie22]

I have seen newspaper articles that police and mail officials now recommend you not leave items on or in your home mail box for mailing but instead deliver them to a secure postal service box or to the post office due to identity theft issues. Also, some people would leave a note in/on their box stating when they would be on vacation asking the postal carrier to hold their mail. This was an invitation to thieves.