Does anyone know if the mailbox issue been sorted?
On Jul 19, 2015 4:39 AM, "William Hauser" <wm.hauser@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
All,
It seems our mailboxes are near the end of their useful life. I can only
speak of the first panel on the left side of the alcove, which I believe
covers units 101-401. On a monthly (if not weekly) basis, the master door
for this panel of boxes is left either partially or fully unlatched by the
mailman/woman -- leaving that group of 20+ mailboxes unsecured. This may be
due to the inattentiveness of the postal employee. But I believe the larger
issue is that these mailbox units are simply wearing out from years of
metal-on-metal wear, with apparently no lubrication, making it difficult
(if not impossible) to adequately secure. And keep in mind, I'm not talking
about individual mailboxes left unlocked by their owners (as we often see).
I'm talking about the master panel, which if left unlocked leaves 20+ boxes
unsecured.
I have called the postmaster at the post office which services our
community when mailbox panels have been left unsecured in the past, but
that's not a very efficient way to deal with this ongoing, monthly or
weekly problem -- especially if the problem is discovered at night, or on a
holiday or weekend (like this weekend).
I have also noticed the panel containing the outgoing mail as well as
mailboxes for large packages to be in bad shape. Again, sometimes the
outgoing mail door is left unsecured, and also the locks on the mailboxes
for large packages don't work as intended (they're simply worn out it
seems).
Bottom line: can either Dennis or the Board research the feasibility of
replacing our mailbox system? With ID theft and credit card fraud as
rampant as it is now, it's a little unnerving to find 20+ mailboxes
unsecured on a fairly regular basis. If there are folks looking for
unlocked car doors in our community, there are no doubt others checking for
unsecured mailboxes.
The link below is admittedly an example of an extreme case -- and we are
nowhere near this point -- but USPS stopped delivering to the complex
mentioned in this news story, which meant the tenants had to retrieve their
mail from a nearby post office instead of their mailbox. What a pain. And
while the mailboxes mentioned in the article suffered more from vandalism
than normal wear & tear, the result is the same: unsecured mail and
ultimately a delivery stoppage. All I'm saying is let's address the problem
and be done with it. Things wear out, and that's why we pay maintenance
fees.
http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/decatur/2015/07/14/decatur-missing-mail/30158449/
Thanks in advance.
Bill Hauser
wm.hauser@xxxxxxxxx
