The familiar blue and white logo of the United States Postal Service has brought a feeling of dread to some of the residents of a Jersey Shore town lately. For the past 4 months, neighbors along a mail route extending to the bay area in Margate City have experienced irregularities in their mail delivery service -- and it's affecting their lives.
“I would just like some consistent service, relatively on-time delivery, and mail delivered to the correct address…I don’t think that’s asking for a lot,” says Bruno Munizza, one of the residents affected by these mail errors.
The route, comprised of primarily full-time residents in a city that has a widely seasonal occupancy, was originally considered a traditional route, meaning that a single mail carrier serviced the region.
Four months ago, however, the route was changed to an auxiliary route, which means different mail carriers service the area each day. This constant change prevents a mail carrier from learning the addresses of their particular route, leading to simple mistakes in the delivery of the mail.
Since the change in the service, residents have reported not receiving mail for days at a time, mail being delivered in the middle of the night, missing checks and bills and untimely prescription deliveries.
“I missed one month’s check,” says Fran Munizza, Bruno's mom. “I am a senior citizen and every penny counts.”
Another resident, Sondra Altman, says her mail is consistently delivered to Winchester Avenue, but she lives on Winchester Road. When she and her husband both had medical testing done on the same daty and were supposed to receive their results by mail. Her husband has already received his results she says, but Sondra’s are lost in the mail.
“I drew a map of where my house is located so the substitute letter carriers would know where to deliver my mail,” says Sondra. “I’m right down the street from the post office, the mailmen park in front of my house. Is it unreasonable to expect my mail to be delivered to my address?”
For Celeste Nicolo, her mail delivered numerous times to an address on Frontenac Avenue instead of her Franklin Avenue home, which is also down the street from the Margate City Post Office. She claims she's gone two days without receiving any mail at all, causing her to pay her bills late.
“We [Nicolo and her neighbors] are running around delivering mail to each other’s houses,” Nicolo says. “I don’t think we should be doing the Post Office’s job.”
A representative from the United States Postal Service says that customers have contacted the Postmaster in Atlantic City, who oversees the Margate City Branch. Consumer Affairs for USPS is currently assisting one customer along the route. The manager of the Margate Branch Post Office has also promised to investigate.
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