Wherefore the Sleet, Snow, Hail and Ice: Preston Hollow PO Being Investigated for No-Show of Mail

Update, 12/19/13 11:43 am: Now the Dallas Morning News is reporting this might be a case of theft, of someone stealing the mail from one of the exterior drop boxes — this PO has a very convenient one. But why would any PO employee tell someone that “there are thousands of pieces of mail missing”?

This may help explain why some of my invitations for a recent party did not make it to recipients:

A Preston Hollow Post Office, the one on Turtle Creek just north of Northwest Highway, next to The Sorrento, is being investigated by the United States Post Office over Christmas cards that were never delivered.

WFAA-Channel 8 reports that 16 days ago, a customer says she mailed her holiday cards from the Preston Station and says no one’s seem them since. The woman, Elizabeth Wilson, says she dropped her cards in the blue box outside the branch on December 1.

“We’ve never seen them again. Nobody’s seen them again,” she said.

Wilson told WFAA-TV she went back to the post office three separate times looking for answers. The last time, she was told the branch manager had been fired. Get what they told her:

“I said, ‘What about my letters? Is there something you can do about my holiday card?’ And he said, ‘Frankly, ma’am, there are thousands of pieces of mail missing and I don’t know what to tell you,'” said Wilson.

Wilson told Channel 8 she filed a complaint with the United States Post Office’s Office of Inspector General. Late Tuesday, the OIG confirmed it is investigating. They better.

This made me recall another nutty experience I had with a post office in Rockford, Ill. after the death of my brother-in-law. I was involved in his estate, only to find out that a family member, who was not involved, had successfully had all the estate mail, including checks, forwarded to him, out of state.

I contacted the branch manager up there and asked if they had asked this person for any authorization prior to forwarding all of my brother in law’s mail to him.

No, they said. They just did it.

So that means, I said, anyone can come in here and re-route someone’s mail and you do not even ask for documentation that I have the authority to do such?

They did not respond. After that, I feel safer using on-line banking than snail mail. Can you imagine someone walking in to the post office, re-routing your mail to their home to read it and collect checks? I cannot, but then I cannot believe the Turtle Creek post office cannot even handle Christmas Cards!