I filled out the USPS address change form online. This cost $1.00. I filled it out on July 28th, and noted that it should be effective immediately. I got the confirmation letter at both my old and new address, and received what I think is the copy of the form that my old local post office got to tell them to forward.
I still got mail at my old address YESTERDAY.
I called my old local post office today and the woman there told me I should take my name off of my mailbox or else they would just keep putting mail in there. I think she was giving me a load of crap.
Did I not request that mail no longer go to that address? Did I not receive written confirmation that all of my mail would be forwarded to my new address? Is it true that every piece of mail will still have to go all the way out to the old mailbox before it even has a chance to be forwarded? Can’t they route the mail before the carrier gets his hands on it?
I think it takes 10 business days to make to transition I don’t KNOW why. Each time I’ve moved its happened. I’ve enve tried filling out the card in advance and putting the start date 10 days hence, & sure enough My mail was forwarded in 20 days!
My guess is either the postmaster or the supervisior did not give the carrier the forwarding card or the carrier is not paying attention. Your name on the old mailbox has no bearing on the problem.
Thanks, and the people at 1-800-ASK-USPS agree. They recommeded I call the Consumer Affairs Office to bitch. My old roommate was able to take my name off the box, though. But you know – what if somebody with the same last name moved in after me? Then the entire (apparently non-existent) system would crumble!
Although, LK, are you saying that the forwarding does depend on the carrier’s actions?
It depends entirely on the actions of the carrier at your last address. All mail will be sent first to your old address. The carrier there, if there is a forwarding card in place, will see the card in his “case” (desk with big vertical racks used for sorting mail) and set aside the mail to be forwarded. After that, it gets sent to a central forwarding office to be routed to the proper address.
My husband - who is a letter carrier for the USPS - had a few questions, which I listened to and am reproducing here.
Did you live in an apartment? Apartment parts of routes often are seen as not as desireable, and may have different carriers handling them every day. This may lead to them overlooking the forwarding card at times.
How much mail have you missed? All of it means that the card wasn’t put in the case. A piece here or there probably means the carrier overlooked it. Your ex-roommate should put the mail back in his mailbox (and yes, removing your name from the box helps then), and the carrier should pick it up and check the case for a forwarding card.
Was some of the missing mail marked also with “or Current Resident”, or was it all solely for you? He gets problems with people on the other side of that, who just see the name of a previous resident - overlooking the “or Current Resident” line - and complain that this isn’t their mail.
This is why change-of-address cards are also a very important part of moving. Besides delivery errors, forwarding orders will eventually expire.
When I was in college, I went to the local state college and thus just lived at home. Then my dad got transferred, so my mom and he moved to DC, leaving me at the house. (I know, dumb idea. But that’s another story.)
Anyways, when they moved, they filled out a change of address card and specified that only EWB and LCB were moving.
Right after they settled in was my 19[sup]th[/sup] birthday. My dad sent me a card. He received it 3 days later.
I had to send a change of address to their new PO to get my mail re-forwarded to me.
Ferret Herder hit the nail right on the head. The problem may not be the fault of your regular carrier but the sub carrier. Junk mail cannot be forwarded so if it has your name and also current resident it will be delivered as addressed. If the mistake is with first class mail then there is no excuse for that to happen. All carriers will make a mistake every now and then but it should not happen very often.
Heh. Come to think of it, we regularly got first-class mail there for several residents previous to us. Even with our own names on the box. I do not really have any confidence in the Glen Burnie Carrier Annex. Oh well. I told all mah mail-sending peeps the new address anyway.
