Stopping The Mail While Away~True Story

[w7wv]

This really happened to us many years ago. Someone asked me for the story and I though this forum might enjoy it too.

This is a true story of the Postal Service’s commitment to get the mail through, even it you don’t want it.

A few years ago, my wife and I purchased a new home. We poured a pad on the side of the home to park our large 5th wheel trailer. Unfortunately, the pad was also where our rural style mailbox had to be located for the Postal Service. We lived in town, but the new rules said they did not have to take it to the house itself. Curb delivery in a rural route box was the only option. So I got smart and placed a 1 ½” tee with a couple of short pieces of pipe on it within the cement leaving the threads just at ground level. Then I used a 1 ½” pipe to support the mailbox and simply screwed it in and out when I needed to pull the RV in or out. This really worked out nice.

After several extended trips in the RV, we were having a lot of problems with the Post Office not stopping the mail, as requested. I talked to them until I was blue in the face and nothing and I mean nothing was going to stop the U. S. Postal Service from delivering my mail, even if I did not want it!

So, one day we were pulling out with the RV for a trip and we decided to just leave the mailbox in the garage while we were gone. Why put it back and then pull it again when we come home. That’s extra work! Of course we had stopped the mail for journey so it should have no impact.

When we got home from our vacation, we had a rather nasty note from the Postal Service on the door of our home. They said that they noted that our authorized mail receptacle had been removed and they could not deliver the mail recently and that they were holding my mail for us. It also stated that I could call them when I had a proper receptacle in place again and that they would resume the normal delivery service to our home.

So, it appears that if you don’t want mail, and you either don’t want to fill out that notice or they won’t abide by your wishes when you do, just adopt my method and install a removable mail box for when you travel.

[k3mp]

Ken, you should not have had that problem...they could hold the mail for you...as a matter of fact on www.usps.com, there is a place in there to hold the mail...and it is all done electronically, an email is sent to the PO who delivers your mail...its worked for me for years...Sorry to hear you had this problem...I have been working for the PO but in vehicle maintenance for 30 years as of June 9th and am sorry to say that the service really has gone down hill, it seems that the younger people coming aboard do not have the pride and respect as us older folks do.

[w7wv]

That's the whole point. They would not hold it. I could mail the request to them. I could hand it to them in my local office.
I complained to the Postmaster at the local office on numerous occasions that they were not holding my mail as requested.
I retired from US Civil Service myself and never heard of anything like this.
When it dawned on my that if I just left the mailbox off the Tee I had installed in the driveway of the pad and just set it in the garage while we were gone there would be no place to deliver the mail.
That worked and confused them at the same time.
Thereafter I just pulled the mailbox and left it in the garage. When we got back from an extended trip I went to the PO, picked up my mail and they started delivery again.
We did this for 5 years until I moved from that location. :D

[N7OQ]

See there is more than one way to skin a cat.

[KC1BUD]

Great story. Once the snow plow knocked down the post and flattened the box, my wife put it in the garbage because it was garbage day and the box was ruined. Due to the weather the garbage man didn't make it down the road and my wife saw the flattened box after work and said you don't suppose, sure enough there in the box was the day's mail.