USPS

Missing Mail? Milford Business Owner Says He Didn't Get Deliveries for More Than a Month

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A Milford business owner is speaking out after not receiving mail for more than a month.

Since November, Daniel Thornberg says trips to check his business’ PO Box have been a guessing game as he wonders whether there will be any mail inside. The answer lately has been almost exclusively, no.

“I would go to the box and there would be nothing in it. It would be completely bare. No mail at all, not even one or two stragglers,” said Thornberg.

He said between late November and last week, there was no mail delivered and as a result, he wasn’t receiving customer payment checks. That led to a wave of other problems. His bank account began to dwindle as he still paid out employees and bills for his business. He said at one point after not getting mail for more than a month, he considered taking out a pay day loan.

“The bills keep coming. So no matter what, I still have to pay these bills. These paychecks, these holiday bonuses were going out and here I am barely able to pay bonuses,” he said.

He said he reached out to USPS about the delays, but they weren’t much help.

“They had no answers for me. It would be oh, well COVID is going on. Operations are a little slow."

A USPS spokesperson said Daniel’s situation is under investigation but didn’t elaborate on the specifics of how the pandemic left him no mail for more than a month.

“We certainly want to apologize...Every time we fall short of customer expectations. We’re not immune to the pandemic. We have been dealing with unexpected employee absences due to COVID and we just continue to flex our resources to get the mail moving in and out," said Amy Gibbs, a strategic communications specialist for USPS.

Daniel said his customers and the people he does business with have been understanding about the abnormal delay caused by his mail issues. Sometime last week after calls to the post office and frantic efforts to stay afloat, about a hundred pieces of mail did arrive, including checks he could no longer cash because too much time lapsed.

“There was really no answers and for me its like, okay, you don’t have to apologize to me. I’m not looking for anything on your end. But at the end of the day, at least an explanation because I’m sure I’m not the only business,” said Thornberg.

Thornberg said despite the big mail delivery he got last week, he still has missing checks that haven’t arrived.

USPS said customers who have issues receiving mail should reach out to them immediately so they can begin investigating to determine the source of the delays.

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