FORTVILLE, Ind. -- A central Indiana family says the post office refuses to deliver their mail until they buy a new mailbox.
Jeff Ooley says when he and his wife moved to Fortville last month they drove around town to see what type of mailboxes everyone has and they chose one that was like their neighbors, but after installing it on the front of their home they stopped getting their mail.
“I was approached a day later by the mail carrier when I was outside,” said Ooley. “She asked if I would do her a favor and put up a roadside rural box. Well, we live in this neighborhood, it’s not a rural zone.”
Ooley says he told the mail lady he would consider it, but after spending $70 on the mailbox they had he didn’t want to purchase another one.
A few days later, their mail stopped coming and he went down to the post office to speak with a manager.
“He asked me the address and said we’ll have to put up a rural box yet, he said ‘you aren’t getting any mail,’” said Ooley.
Because their mailbox wasn’t at the side of the road, his mail was all being sent back as “return to sender.”
While RTV6 was in the neighborhood we spotted another mail carrier get out of her truck and deliver mail to several homes before getting back into her truck and driving past the Ooley’s home.
“When we have people on that street that are receiving their mail every day on the mailbox on the house, it’s just not right,” said Ooley.
According to the USPS guidelines, if you are attaching a mailbox to your home you just have to make sure that the postal carrier can reach it easily from the steps or sidewalk.
USPS issued the following statement to RTV6 Wednesday evening:
“On that street there is both curbside and walking delivery. The customer lives on the 500 block, which is curbside delivery. The addresses on either side of that home are curbside. For curbside delivery, the postal service requires the resident to erect a curbside mailbox for delivery to their home.”
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