Overland Park residents frustrated with inconsistent mail delivery
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Mailboxes in one Johnson County neighborhood have been empty for weeks.
Homeowners in south Overland Park have complained they’re not getting their mail consistently. They’ve asked the United States Postal Service for help, but they’re not getting much traction.
“We’ve had mail delivered twice in the last two weeks,” Peter Pierson, who lives off Metcalf Avenue in south Overland Park, said.
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Pierson has complained to the postal service, saying his mail has been delivered only six times since Thanksgiving. Most of his bills are paid online, but other items have to be hand delivered. He said he and other neighbors received mail on Tuesday for the first time in weeks.
“I empathize. I know they’re doing the best they can. This has to be a difficult situation for them as well. I’ve stood in line for 45 minutes or more, and listened to other people who are very angry,” Pierson said.
Pierson is among the Overland Park postal customers who are being sent to the USPS annex near 161st Street and Metcalf, which sits a few blocks from his home.
Customers complain the lines to pick up mail can be long. When FOX4 visited there on Tuesday, six or seven customers were standing in the queue. They complained sometimes, the line spills out the door into the parking lot.
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Scott Pearl, who lives in a different neighborhood nearby, also receives his mail at that postal annex. Pearl believes the mail isn’t being delivered due to staffing shortages. Published reports indicate customers in other U.S. cities are experiencing the same.
“Sometimes, they have my mail and sometimes, they don’t. It’s inconsistent as well,” Pierson said. ‘It’s pretty frustrating. Bills are being paid. All we want is for people to do their job and deliver the mail to our mailbox.”
The U.S. Postal Service recommends customers experiencing delays in delivery to file reports on the USPS website. FOX4 asked about the Overland Park concern on Tuesday, but the postal service wouldn’t address it directly.
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Pierson said someone with the postal service advised him to get in touch with his elected officials to ask why this is happening. He adds that he’d be willing to cut back to mail service every other day, if it means dependable deliveries.
