I have had a piece of mail in my mailbox for two days waiting to go out. I am assuming, we haven't received any mail, and the mail lady is just skipping over us. Is that how it works? They don't check the mailbox anyways?
Ah! Yes, I forgot about the flag! It got ripped off by "someone" and we havent fixed it yet. :)
I have always heard if they don't have anything to deliver they do not have to come to the mailbox even if the flag is up. I would just take it to the nearest mail box so it would go out today.
Unless you have a flag up to denote that you have mail going out, they don't stop if you don't have any mail that needs to be dropped off. At least that's how our neighborhood works.
Our mailbox has a 'flag' on it. If there is outgoing mail...it signals the postal person to pick up.
I thought that was 'standard' on a mailbox...
If you have an apartment type mail system...there is typically a 'slot' for outgoing letters.
Best Luck!
michele/cat
Without a flag (my parents used to have one like this), you "show" the mail by leaving it stick out about half way.
On ours you accomplished this by closing the lid with the envelope halfway in/out.
In our town, the mailman will take the outgoing mail waiting in the box (if the flag is up) even if we don't have incoming mail.
I have also had mail stolen out of my box. I left a bill to be picked up and someone took it at night, washed my check, and rewrote it for over $1k. I still send mail outgoing through my mailbox, but always put it in the box in the morning, never leaving it over night.
You might check with your mail carrier..
A couple weeks ago we got no mail for 2 days which is very odd because we run our company from home. We know the mail lady and we see her almost daily.
I happened to be outside when she passed my box and she said "Oh my, I saw a hold on your mail and I assumed you weren't home" I have 2 neighbors who head out of town to their summer homes as soon as school as out and don't come back until time for school to start so it is not unusual for her to have mail on hold.
She went to the PO and came back with our mail for 2 days within an hour. She knows we run our company from home which means customer payments, invoices, samples, etc.
I rarely put anything in outgoing (NEVER EVER put checks in it) but if I do, I use the red flag to signal that something is in there.
They won't stop without the flag up so get a new mailbox or repair the one you have.
Unless you live here where I am and if there is a car parked next to the mailbox they will not stop. I even called the post master general and they confirmed it. Very annoying.
Your outgoing mail gets picked up at your home? We have to put ours in a post box.
The Postal Service policy is that they will pick up mail when they have mail to deliver. They are not obligated to pick up mail EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE FLAG UP unless they are also delivering mail. Most mailcarriers go above and beyond and will stop if there's a flag in the up position, but not all. Without a flag, your carrier would have no idea that you have mail to go out. Do you have a neighbor who would let you put your outgoing mail in their box (with a flag)?
Yeah if you don't have a flag they will only stop if you have mail. Of course there is always a chance they will just cram the mail in on top of the mail going out too.
Shame you don't have an obnoxious flag you could duct tape to the side of your mail box to drive the point home. :)
Did you put the flag up?? If so, did someone push it down? You can always drop it off at any USPS mail/post box (those big blue bins you see around town) or of course at the USPS office. Good luck.
If you put the red flag on your mailbox up, they are obligated to pick up mail. If you don't have that kind of mailbox and aren't receiving any mail, they'll skip your address. Go mail the piece of mail at a corner mailbox or the post office.
Yes there you go the little red flag....
They are not allowed to take anything OUT of the mail box If you want him/her to take it you have to clip it to the outside of the mailbox.
