Should You Be Worried About Mail Theft By USPS Postal Service Employees?

Yes, you did read the title right. Now, you must ask yourself the question. Why? It’s because it’s happening and has been happening for quite a while now. USPS Postal Service Employee theft is a major problem that’s increasing with time. I can tell you about one case in particular, yes, mine’s!

I’ll start at the very beginning. I noticed theft by USPS mail carriers before Christmas of December 2013. We are located in Chicago and relocated from the Southside of Chicago to the Westside about the beginning of 2012. We moved into a small apartment where theirs basically about 40 tenants in the building, although it’s actually a nice building and quite. So now you’re probably wondering if the tenants may have been the potential thieves of our mail and packages. That’s not possible, simply because within the building every tenant has a personal mail box which can only be accessed with a key. Besides the tenants having a key to the mail boxes, the only other with keys to the mail box and access on a daily basis was the USPS Mail Carrier.

The first few instances of mail theft were highly upsetting, and upon filing a claim with the United States Postal Service we were told a claim wasn’t possible without the packages being insured. That meant our packages and mail were easier to steal, and there was nothing we could do about it. Many of the companies we order from do not insure packages, however, they do send packages with tracking numbers. The most recent theft was tracked online with a tracking number and quickly noticed that it was being sent to the wrong area.

When I noticed my package was being sent to the wrong area code, I immediately contacted the company from which I’d ordered. The company stated and sent a copy of the address for which they’d sent my package, and turns out they shipped to the correct address. I contacted the post office on Laramie that services my area and they told me they hadn’t received my package, the mail carrier responded that this often happens on her route, and that I should contact the other post office location on Madison to find out what’s going on before they give my package away. I even talked to whom I believe to be a supervisor, and he told me that it’s possible the company I ordered from placed the wrong zip code on the package. I told him that’s not possible, and I had proof.

I found myself canceling plans to travel out of my area to another Postal location on Madison to track down my package for which they had somehow received. I gave the Laramie Post Office and employees the benefit of a doubt, thinking maybe the company did slip up. But then I came back to my senses because it’s been happening so much. What I expected to find when I picked up my package was exactly what I got. The package handed to me had my correct name, address, apartment number, and zip code on it. How does one package with my correct information travel beyond my local post office to one out of my area I asked? I received nothing but a funny look from the employee there.

I put it off for days, but I recently filed a complaint against the postal service and those I spoke with. I figured if I let it go and they were allowing their employees to steal from residents in the areas, I’d be doing the wrong thing and it was bound to keep happening. I am awaiting a call to hear back from someone in charge who can do something about this I hope the parties involved in the USPS Westside Chicago postal theft can have action taken against them. I have heard stories from others of missing packages and purposely miss-delivered packages. What’s the world coming to when postal employees are thieving like those on the streets? I would like to receive compensation for my stolen packages, but I know for sure I will never order from a company that doesn’t insure their packages. Even then, if packages are insured, some postal employees might steal anyway. I am not saying all postal employees are thieves, but out west it’s bad!!!