11Alive has received thousands of emails about current mail issues.
ATLANTA – Michael Herzog runs a small business and when it comes to months of mail delays in Georgia, the impact is big.
“Up to fifty percent of my clients pay by check… I send out a lot of invoices,” Herzog said.
Herzog, like others, began noticing delays in late February. Shortly after, our 11Alive investigation revealed problems at the new regional processing and distribution center in Palmetto.
As we track their complaints about everything from missing prescriptions to concerns about absentee ballots that never arrived, months later, the delays for Herzog and others add up.
“A month can go by and there may be missing or late payments of between five thousand and ten thousand dollars,” Herzog said. But if that adds up to three or four months, we’re talking about thirty to forty thousand dollars. “
11Alive was in DC last week for a tense exchange between Senator Jon Ossoff and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, where Georgia mail delays took center stage.
“I can assure you that, in the long run, you will probably have the best service in the country,” DeJoy said during the hearing.
“The long term is too long,” Ossoff quickly responded. “You have weeks, not months, to fix this and if you don’t fix it, I don’t think you’re right for this job.”
The postmaster general told senators that postal operations in Georgia should return to normal within 60 days, and 11Alive continues to track the data. While the latest figures from the Postal Service show that the punctuality rate of first-class mail is improving overall, only 37% of single-piece letters are delivered on time.
Meanwhile, Herzog took her concerns to customer service and shared the emails with 11Alive, where she was told that the postal service is “specifically excluded by federal law from liability for ‘any claim arising from loss, miscarriage or negligent transmission of letters or postal material”. ‘ for any item that was not insured at the time of shipment.”
“It can be frustrating for one: being told to stop complaining. And two: we have to pay for more expensive services if you want to try to avoid the problem in the future, instead of focusing on what the problem is to begin with.” with,” Herzog said.
11Alive will continue to hold the Postmaster General accountable to the established schedule.