Package goes on 1,700-mile odyssey for trip from Wendell to Pitt County
The U.S. Postal Service promises that rain, snow or other inclement weather won't halt mail service, but it never says that packages will take the quickest route to their destination.
Gene Cannon said he mailed a package from Wendell to his sister in the Pitt County town of Ayden on June 29, and it arrived a week later. He wasn't as concerned about the length of time it took the Postal Service to deliver it as he was about the circuitous route it took.
"Wendell to Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida," said Cannon, who tracks all of the packages he mails. "From West Palm Beach, Florida, to Jacksonville, Florida, from Jacksonville to Raleigh, which is about 12 miles from here, and then to Fayetteville, North Carolina, and it left Fayetteville and went to Ayden."
He was flabbergasted that the package traveled hundreds of miles through seven cities and two states to get to his sister, who lives a little more than an hour away.
"This is nothing but waste," he said. "It traveled 1,758 miles, roughly, when it had to go 85 miles."
The Postal Service said in a statement that the pandemic has created challenges for the agency that officials have been trying to address.
"We have expanded mail deliveries to earlier in the morning, later in the evening and on Sundays to ensure customers receive mail at the earliest date possible. We use additional carriers from nearby offices, when necessary, to maintain mail deliveries. We remain fully committed to identify and reviewing all processes in our operations to ensure mail is moving expeditiously," the agency said in its statement.
Although he's upset with the Postal Service's "inefficiency," Cannon said he's glad his package arrived after its long journey.
"It doesn’t make sense at all," he said. "But it did arrive safely and in good shape."
"We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate customers’ patience and understanding and thank all our employees who continue to deliver for our customers during the pandemic," the Postal Service statement concludes.
Mailing tuition checks? Do it early
Maria Brown, director of the Cashier's Office at North Carolina State University, is among the patient customers. Although N.C. State and other universities encourage families to make tuition payments online, she said N.C. State gives students the benefit of the doubt if their tuition checks are held up in the mail.
"I'm not going to punish the student adversely because the mail hasn't gotten here yet," Brown said. "Even in perfect mail circumstances, things get lost, you know. So, we try to give the benefit to the student and the parent."
About 90 percent of N.C. State's tuition payments are made online, she said. But for those who are sending payments from a 529 college savings account and cannot route the money through their personal banking accounts for an online payment, Brown suggests that students and parents make sure to have the check sent in early and to document the transaction.
"Basically, what we tell parents and students is to watch their student account, and if it doesn't get here, send us by email some sort of proof with everything redacted that it's on its way," she said.
