Memphians Suffer Postal Problems

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Some people are finding warnings from the post office in their mailbox, instead of their mail.

Jocelyn Agnellini only gets her mail a couple times a week. The post office says when a car is parked in the proximity of her mailbox; they will not deliver her mail. On those days she finds a note in her mailbox explaining why she has no mail.

"So they're taking the time to put the note in the mailbox but they won't put the mail in the mailbox," says Agnellini.

But when she has complained to the post office, all she received was an email of their policy.

It reads: "Dismounting from the vehicle to make mail delivery to a box would put our carrier's safety in jeopardy."

Fox13 received the same response when we contacted the post office, who declined an on camera interview.

The policy went on to say: "Postal carriers cannot deliver mail to boxes when they are blocked. The customer is responsible for keeping the approach to the mailbox clear to facilitate delivery."

"Isn't it a public street?" asks Agnellini. "How am I supposed to tell people not to park outside of my house if it's a public street? Am I supposed to put cones out there?"

Even when the car is parked about ten feet from her mailbox she says it will prevent her from getting delivery.

This problem isn't unique to downtown Memphis, residents in Southwind report spotty delivery as well. None of the residents at Southwind wanted to talk publicly, but they say they have the same problem. Instead of getting their mail in their mailbox, they get a note saying they can't get delivery when cars are parked on the street."

Agnellini says she was warned about the delivery issues before she moved into this community. The widespread problem is something the home owners association has been working on for years, but she didn't think it would be this bad.

"If they don't have the service, I'd rather pay FedEx at this point," says Agnellini. "What happened to rain, snow, sleet? But blocked by a car is a different story."