Arlington Heights Residents Are Fed Up With The Lost And Late Mail, Say Postal Service Is Unresponsive
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (CBS) -- No mail, late mail, stolen mail, someone else's mail – all of these are complaints we've heard from residents in Arlington Heights.
They are fed up with the U.S. Postal Service. So while we work to get them some answers and a solution, CBS 2's Audrina Bigos went to Arlington Heights to check out the problem.
Stephen Smith has one major headache, and the cause is displayed in an array of printed papers on his kitchen table.
"Each one of these is for the times I've filed a complaint, and there's dozens," he said.
All of the complaints were filed with the U.S. Postal Service.
"The biggest complaint is my mail didn't come again today," Smith said. "I've gotten one phone call back in 23 e-mails I sent to them."
It's a really sore topic in Arlington Heights.
"I'm irate. I depend on the mail service," said Rhonna Costabile. "You pay for these services. You pay extra money for these services so that your mail will be delivered when you need it to be delivered, and it's not happening."
And it's not just junk mail we're talking about.
"Credit cards, IDs, gift cards seem to never show up," Smith said.
"People are not getting their medications. People are not getting money that they need," added Costabile.
"It affects our livelihood," Smith continued. "You know, we're not able to pay other bills because we don't see money for weeks."
Residents have posted about the issue on a community Facebook page. The comments are endless, and so are the explanations from the Postal Service.
"We're told that it's late. They're sick. They're not on that route today. You don't have a regular carrier. We're hiring a new carrier," Smith said. "There's no excuse I haven't been given from the postmaster in town."
Smith is documenting it all, taking any steps he can. And Costabile has started a petition.
"I'm hoping to get enough signatures on that petition to take it to the federal government and force them to do something," she said.
Bigos reached out to Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes, who said the USPS has been very unresponsive to these issues.
The village held a community meeting about the subject that went nowhere.
Bigos also reached out to the office of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois).
As for the Postal Service, a representative said they will diligently continue to investigate a customer's concerns and correct issues.
