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Someone returned by mail (no return address, postmarked in Honolulu) a check I wrote w/a note saying it was found "by the mailboxes." It was for a magazine subscription, but we also paid a # of other bills that day. We used the outgoing box at 3rd & Maku'u. At first I thought, oh what a good samaritan, but it's still weird in that the orig. envelope and statement wasn't there, which means it was opened. Ok, so it's Monday and these were mailed on Friday. None of the other checks we mailed have been cashed yet. Don't know whether to resend in my payments or wait to see if they make it to where they were going - all were to companies (like HELCO) -
So this check got loose 1 of 3 ways:
A I dropped it
B The postman dropped it when he took mail out of the box
C Someone broke into the box.
If it were A or B, a good samaritan would just put in the outgoing slot.
Keaau post office says they're going to check the box to make sure it's secure. They'd recently replaced the backs, but you never know. The bank says they can put stops on the checks I mailed that day, gratis, bc they may have been tampered with. I'd like to avoid that in case the remaining checks are really en route to where they were supposed to go.
Still, it's unnerving. Last checks I had go missing resulted in an identity theft attempt on our bank account. How clever - steal some checks then send one back saying you found it (that way, target won't take action to protect their account).
Or am I just paranoid?
FYI, if you've had a similar experience, Kea'au P.O. wants to know about it.
Whatever the outcome, I'm not using the cluster boxes to mail out anymore.
Worrisome!
Just some thoughts that may or may not be helpful:
I've switched to electronic bill pay or pay by phone. I use Check Free for HELCO. (I don't use the bill pay offered by the bank, because I don't keep enough of a balance for it to be free.)
I've not had a problem with Check Free and have been using it at least five years.
My other utilities I have on auto pay, and I do not put my mortgage payment into the mail system because I want to know what day they will get it.
All in all, I've gotten to the point where I don't put checks in the mail except for the water bill, which isn't on Check Free. And guess what, I had one get lost last spring, even though I always drop mail at the box at hilo main or to the inside of my local station. Time to put it on auto-pay too.
My medical stuff, if I don't pay at the visit, I call them and pay by phone. Almost everyone will do that for me and mail me a receipt.
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I have had three checks disappear now - one in 2008, one in 2009, and one a month+ ago addressed to me, and checks never received back by sender either. I think ours was missorted - as we occassionally get the person's mail above us - which i just drop back in the outgoing box.
Also someone published personal info out of context that they would have only known by opening a piece of our mail.
I have been tempted to dump the RR box I have for a safer one at the PO itself. I do like KathyH and pay as much on line as possible, and ask people to pay me on line also. I am trying to get the RR box to basically be only junk mail. I also use UPS/Fed ex a lot, and pretty much only use USPS with a tracking number. Took our loan payment in July 10 days to get to Las Vegas. Priority gets it there in 3 although they say 4-5 days. Seems to help.
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Make sure you report that to the local Postmaster & yes electronic bill pay has become a better way now that the cost of the stamp is nearing 50 cents. I sent my sister a personal check in the mail once and it was cashed by some one (not her).
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Be careful when you throw mail into the trash can at the Keaau post office. I've seen a person that didn't work for the post office go through the mail in the can.
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Update!
I went to the mailboxes and found ALL my checks wrinkled up in the woods behind the boxes. Also found some neighbors' outgoing mail. All the envelopes were opened and trashed, but we were able to find a couple of the payment coupons for the bills.
Keaau Postmaster says he might do away with the outgoing slots in the cluster boxes and install one box at the top of all 4 HPP entries. He also had me call the police. They came in like 10 minutes, and though it took some time to explain what happened, the officer was very responsive. He then met me down at the mailboxes and couldn't figure out how in the heck the bad guys got into the outgoing mail - there's a barrier in the slot as deep as an adult's hand. So either they fished out the mail (we count 7 pieces, which were my 4, 2 other people's, and a netflix envelope) -- so either they're fishing it out using wire or something, or they've picked the lock.
Two of the other checks found were from a month ago. So this is at least the 2nd violation at this box. Cop said maybe the other two people just didn't mail their bills in until a month after they dated their checks, but I know one of these people and she said it was definitely mailed a month ago.
Scary, yes?
BOTTOM LINE: DON'T PUT YOUR MAIL IN THE OUTGOING MAIL SLOT AT THESE CLUSTER BOXES. Pay, as other posters have said, online, or take your payments to the P.O.
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Forgot to say: clearly they are looking for cash & gift cards and not taking personal info. with them. Probably kids. A truck went by the other day when my husband was at the box and the guy asked what time mail was picked up here - may be a clue, but who knows. I suppose you'd be safe putting somethign in there right before pickup, but you'd have to be sure it won't stay in there over night.
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Thanks for the info, DTisme. I use the HPP mailboxes all the time to send stuff and haven't had a problem so far and have been impressed with how quickly my mail gets sent. The story you tell, however, is worrying and thanks for the heads-up.
Tom
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I have a neighbor who goes through the trash at the PO on the day the KTA coupon books come out, usually comes up with five or six, so while it's probably not quite ethical, it's not always sinister either.
quote:
Originally posted by HiloHaole
Be careful when you throw mail into the trash can at the Keaau post office. I've seen a person that didn't work for the post office go through the mail in the can.
I, on the other hand, while I've not had problems with outgoing mail at the cluster boxes, have had continuing problem with sloppy sorting of incoming mail, to the point of having a parcel pickup notice placed in the wrong box and then having that boxholder go to the PO and pick up (steal) my package. I have misdelivered mail almost every time I check my box, and a lot of my mail seems to go missing. I confronted the mail delivery man a few weeks ago with a handful of other people's mail and now I notice there is a piece of tape inside the front of my box with my name "ONLY." I'm tempted to add tape with my box number "ONLY" but will wait awhile to see if there is any improvement. When I complained at the Keaau PO I was told I had to go to the USPS web site and file a compleint there. I'm ashamed to admit I never did.
use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without
I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
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Crimes against the US Mail system (theft, tampering, etc) are handled by the US Postal Inspectors.
Performance issues (sloppy delivery, screw ups in delivery, etc) are handled by the local Postmaster.
I have found that the US Postal Inspectors have a very formalized system of handling complaints. I also found out that local Postmasters have specific requirements to respond to complaints forwarded by the Postal Inspectors. Since the "reason" behind a simple thing like mail delivered to another person is unknown to you or the USPS, Postal Inspectors will investigate or monitor performance issues to make sure it's not based on criminal or regulation violations.
So, if a problem is not being addressed permanently on the local level, don’t be shy to go to the US Postal Inspectors and have them figure out if the issue was caused by sloppiness or something more sinister. If nothing more than a performance issue, at least the local Postmaster is beholding to the US Postal Inspectors to address the issue.
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