The U.S. Postal Service should learn from the recent case of missing mail on Vashon and develop better procedures for communicating with customers and the press.
Three weeks after outgoing mail from Vashon went missing, many who sent items that were never delivered have now resent their mail or reissued lost payments. We’ve heard countless stories of lost bill payments, resulting late fees and the hassles and high fees associated with canceling checks. We can’t help but believe the process would have been eased, however, had the post office been able to better communicate with customers from the beginning.
It took some time for the post office to realize hundreds of pieces of island mail had gone missing, but The Beachcomber didn’t learn of the issue until a week and a half later, and only after receiving calls from islanders who noticed their mail hadn’t gone through and had called the post office to inquire. We couldn’t get the news in our print edition until two and a half weeks after the mail disappeared. All the while, some post office employees were unable to communicate effectively to islanders about the issue.
Vashon’s postmaster, who was gone when the problem was first discovered, said the post office’s hands were tied, as communication with customers about such an issue must come through USPS’s Office of Public Affairs. Another USPS official said mail doesn’t go missing often, so they don’t have firm procedures in place when it does. We understand that; however, not having procedures for communication doesn’t excuse a lack of communication. We question why the Office of Public Affairs couldn’t have authorized local postal employees to post a notice in the office, put fliers in mailboxes or a put a call out to the local paper.
We don’t blame the employees of Vashon’s post offices or Vashon’s postmaster, who has been gracious with our calls and inquiries. We believe they’ve acted as they’ve been told to by their federal employer and simply aren’t allowed to reach out to us. And perhaps the USPS is such a massive system that Vashon’s small offices don’t rank as a priority. We’re glad to hear Vashon’s postmaster has now created a list of islanders to contact if there is news about the mail, but next time there is a major issue, she should be able to be more proactive. We receive press releases, emails and calls daily from state and local agencies with news that could pertain to Vashon. We hope that after this incident, the USPS will develop an acceptable way to communicate important issues to the island.
