I want everyone to know I have personally had a problem with Robin at the Mendocino Village post office as well. When I had a Mendocino Post office box for my business, I was locked out once. It did not escalate that time.
Another time I asked why I had a package returned to the sender- one that had been sent to me, for my business and I could not get to the post office in time to pick up. After 10 days, it was returned to the sender, even though I was trying to pick up my parcel and the hours of opening did not match up the times I was on the coast.
I do not live in Mendocino, so checked my box on a weekly basis- and the post office hours in Mendocino are NOT regular hours of 8:30-5, where you can get a real person to respond in person. Because I was late to pick up the package, THEY SENT IT BACK! I asked why they could not have kept it until I got there, explaining my situation and they said it was their policy. Robin was very rude and uncooperative and very much responded in the same manner I hear on your recording.
The yellow label on the envelope in the picture was printed on 2/23/26, which is most likely the day they returned it to the sender. The post office puts the renewal notice in your box a couple times before it's due and if it's not paid within 10 days of the due date, they close it and can rent it to someone else. If they haven't rented the box out to someone else, you should get it back...but definitely check your mail more than once a month, so it doesn't happen again. Also, if you decide to make your payments online, then you'll get an email reminder when your due date is coming up.
Sounds like this person is just complaining about what happens when you only check your mail once a month. Not everything is a 'news' story. We all make mistakes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It is true that everyone makes mistakes. I certainly made one when I neglected to read the fine print of the P.O. contract and add the renewal date to our organizational calendar.
We were urged by the postal clerk to notify our donors that they had indeed used the correct address. The purpose of this post is to notify them and to let them know what happened.
While we made a mistake, postal clerks don't have discretion to give some customers notice and to return the mail of other customers the day after a post office lease expires. And if the mail was returned after I showed up with credit card in hand ... as the postmark suggests, that's another matter. It's possible that this how the Mendocino Village post office treats everyone, but if that is the case I would expect them to make sure all customers know this upfront. The U.S. Postal Service itself offers notice via its online platform. It is reasonable to expect that an organization that asks you to provide your email would use that email to let you know your bill was due.
Thanks for this post, Elise.
I want everyone to know I have personally had a problem with Robin at the Mendocino Village post office as well. When I had a Mendocino Post office box for my business, I was locked out once. It did not escalate that time.
Another time I asked why I had a package returned to the sender- one that had been sent to me, for my business and I could not get to the post office in time to pick up. After 10 days, it was returned to the sender, even though I was trying to pick up my parcel and the hours of opening did not match up the times I was on the coast.
I do not live in Mendocino, so checked my box on a weekly basis- and the post office hours in Mendocino are NOT regular hours of 8:30-5, where you can get a real person to respond in person. Because I was late to pick up the package, THEY SENT IT BACK! I asked why they could not have kept it until I got there, explaining my situation and they said it was their policy. Robin was very rude and uncooperative and very much responded in the same manner I hear on your recording.
Just beware Mendo folks, she is not nice!
Sounds like you’re making good trouble, and someone doesn’t like it.
The yellow label on the envelope in the picture was printed on 2/23/26, which is most likely the day they returned it to the sender. The post office puts the renewal notice in your box a couple times before it's due and if it's not paid within 10 days of the due date, they close it and can rent it to someone else. If they haven't rented the box out to someone else, you should get it back...but definitely check your mail more than once a month, so it doesn't happen again. Also, if you decide to make your payments online, then you'll get an email reminder when your due date is coming up.
Thank you Inna, we will definitely switch to online payments going forward!
Sounds like this person is just complaining about what happens when you only check your mail once a month. Not everything is a 'news' story. We all make mistakes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It is true that everyone makes mistakes. I certainly made one when I neglected to read the fine print of the P.O. contract and add the renewal date to our organizational calendar.
We were urged by the postal clerk to notify our donors that they had indeed used the correct address. The purpose of this post is to notify them and to let them know what happened.
While we made a mistake, postal clerks don't have discretion to give some customers notice and to return the mail of other customers the day after a post office lease expires. And if the mail was returned after I showed up with credit card in hand ... as the postmark suggests, that's another matter. It's possible that this how the Mendocino Village post office treats everyone, but if that is the case I would expect them to make sure all customers know this upfront. The U.S. Postal Service itself offers notice via its online platform. It is reasonable to expect that an organization that asks you to provide your email would use that email to let you know your bill was due.