PETERSBURG, Va. -- Bryant Palmore relies on the United States Postal Service to keep his Petersburg, Virginia business up and running.
But he wishes that was not the case.
"I think the post office is a necessary evil," the owner of Palmore’s Decorating Center said. "It is consistently inconsistent."
Palmore depends on U.S. mail to both deliver payment checks to him and his vendors.
Mail delivery in both direction, he said, suffer from delays.
"We mailed a check to Virginia Beach on November 2," he said. "It finally arrived Monday of this week."
Huck Hargrave shared that his days of mailing checks to pay bills have ended.
"I go inside and drop it in the box," Hargrave said about his in-person trips to the post office. "If they are local, I take them by the vendors and hand deliver them."
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D - Virginia) said his office was well aware of the frustration over postal service problems.
He's also frustrated and has experienced his own issues getting answers.
"We’re not settling, we’re not accepting the denial at face value," Sen. Kaine said. "USPS can participate willing or we can have ways of making them regret that they haven’t and still participate."
One concern Palmore has is the route his mail takes to get from Point A to Point B.
"When you take mail and have to send it to Sandston to be processed from Petersburg and come back to Petersburg, I think that’s a problem," he said.
The United States Postal Service offered the following response to the situation:
Each mailpiece is important to the Postal Service, and Petersburg customers should be receiving normal mail delivery.
We are committed to looking into each customer service matter brought to our attention.
Customers who have questions about mail delivery can contact their local Post Office, call the Virginia District Consumer Affairs Office at 804-775-6313, or contact us on X (formerly Twitter) at @USPSHelp.
It’s helpful if customers can provide the destination address or tracking number to expediate our investigation. We thank customers for their understanding and continued support.
Have you experienced mail issues recently? Email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
