# We are not your mail collection service **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595 "2026-06-03T17:51:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/101 "2026-06-08T16:18:35Z")
Not as far as I can see. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/102 "2026-06-08T16:33:37Z")
I had never heard of such a thing. Live and learn! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/103 "2026-06-08T17:00:23Z")
When **DesertWife** and I moved to Carson City we lived for a few months in a small apartment complex – eight units – while we were looking for a place to buy. A lot of people moved in and out all of the time and nobody had been there for as long as a year; we lasted about six months. As a consequence we got _a lot_ of mail for the previous inhabitants, mostly junk mail which we’d toss or if something was first-class and looked like it might be important would write _Not at this address_ on it and drop it off at the post office. Curious, we started writing the names down on a list and it grew to about two-dozen. One Saturday morning there was a knock at the door and it was two deputies who were looking for somebody. “Nope, not here; wait a second,” and I fetched the list. “We’ve never gotten any mail for them. Either they gave a fake address or it’s been a _long_ time since they lived here.” They thanked me and left. We’ve been at this address a decade and still get the occasional owner here, almost all junk mail by this time. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/104 "2026-06-08T17:02:10Z")
It’s worth remembering the OP has problems w both UPS and USPS. Very different internal procedures and very different laws apply to each. USPS is contracted at money-losing prices (guess who arranged that) to perform last-mile delivery for some, not all, UPS packages. I do not know if those deliveries fall under USPS mail laws or not. Bottom line: there are two distinct problems here needing two distinct but perhaps similar solutions. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/105 "2026-06-08T17:48:27Z")
> [@billy-jack](#): > > It is illegal to throw away, keep, open, or delay the delivery of someone else’s mail. What mail? I don’t remember getting any mail. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/106 "2026-06-08T19:36:00Z")
Tee hee! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/107 "2026-06-09T14:22:08Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Seriously, what do you suggest they do, given everything they’ve already done? They should do what they’ve already reported they are doing - returning the misdelivered mail to the USPS. They’re just now covering up the address so it doesn’t show up back in their mailbox again. > [@AHunter3](#): > > They’re all going back in a mailbox with the original address covered up, labeled “Return to Sender”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/108 "2026-06-09T15:52:20Z")
I always thought “return to sender” was a joke, part of a song, a trope. I didn’t know it was real. Ding, ding, ding, wake up beck.😁 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/109 "2026-06-09T15:55:57Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The OP isn’t being a jerk here, they’ve done a lot more than I would have in a similar scenario. They have no legal obligation to deliver the packages, & they can’t even get to the house due to it being in a gated community. And, from the OP, attempts to get the other party to stop using the incorrect address have apparently been ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/110 "2026-06-09T16:03:22Z")
I read, online(sorry), if you use the “official postal code: ANK” if gives folks at the sorting locations specific instructions. - It means “attempted, not known” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595/111 "2026-06-09T16:29:32Z")
I think you read it wrong-_You_ don’t put “ANK” on the mail, _they_ do when they can’t deliver it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-not-your-mail-collection-service/1030595.md?page=5)