Ongoing Delays, Mail Loss, Complaints About Katy Area Post Offices

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

February 17, 2023

By Natalie Cook Clark

Katy continues to grow and so does the complaints of the local United States Postal Service (USPS.) Katy residents share mail delivery horror stories and concerns for customer service and the local post office facility.

Growing Complaints

While newcomers continue to move to Katy, tales of missing and lost mail and complaints of poor customer service and facilities is sadly nothing new.

“Katy is no longer a rural small town,” says Katy resident M.F. “It is now a large thriving city and the postal service needs to improve significantly to keep up.”

This is a topic that Katy Magazine has covered before and will continue follow up as this is something that impacts our community. Katy Magazine reached out for comment and as of the time of publishing there has been no response. We followed the prompt and was cut off after around 15 rings. There was no option to leave a message.

From lost gifts, missing government documents and medication, damaged deliveries, and more; Katy residents share their horror stories when it comes to the local United States Postal Service.

Hundreds of readers have written to Katy Magazine over the years sharing stories of missing and lost mail from the U.S. Postal Service. This problem has been brought up many times, yet the complaints still flood our inboxes and Katy social media pages. For the purposes of this news story we only covering mail and packages delivered by the United States Postal Office.

Katy Resident Mail Concerns

(These are just a sample of what has been sent to Katy Magazine)

“I was in line at the Park Row post office and a young man was in front of me. He was there to try to locate the urn he ordered for his grandmother who had just passed. He told me that the urn had been delivered to a zip code that had 2 of the numbers switched ( like 77450 and 77405).” –

B.C.

“I can hear her throwing my packages on our porch and all of us in the neighborhood redeliver the mail to the correct address.” -D.J.

“There have been a few times that I have received 2 packages on the same day. Without fail, each time this happens, only one package is delivered. Tracking always states delivered on the missing package, however in each case it disappears. I never receive it and the sender never gets it back.” - B.C.

“Not one piece of mail or a key. The item was a refurbished $1600 LV purse. I have called consumer affairs as well as the USPS customer service number. They have tried to assist me and told me to contact the actual post office location that I am zoned to. I did that and have not heard from anyone since.” – D.S.

“I’m still waiting on multiple birthday cards that were sent weeks ago from multiple location.” E.D.

“I’ve lived in many postal code zones, including the Houston area and I have never had issued like I have since moving to 77449. I have had to open so many cases against the post office for missing mail and deliveries.” – K.W.

“We moved to 77493 zip code in 2021 July, Jan 2022 right before my birthday I got a notification that my immigration document has been delivered by USPS, tracking said delivered. If someone is on an immigration visa in America, you will know how important this document holds. I go to the mailbox and don’t see any document of such. I contacted USPS, stayed on hours online to open a case, only to hear that the document is not found at any facility. I have emailed, followed up on the case and everything in vain. Am here waiting for my duplicate to be sent out by USCIS which has 24 months waiting time. I cannot travel to my country for 3 years, under any emergency. Since then I can never trust anything with USPS.” -S.N.

“Once they put a package in my box that when I opened the door, couldn't get it out! It could only come out if the mail person opened the entire door, it was ridiculous.” -S.G.

“In our neighborhood (Elyson) everyone struggles with missing packages or mail from the USPS weekly. Broken into USPS packages, stolen money, all of the above. It’s really bad and has to be some sort of organized crime. No one ever has problems with UPS, FedEx, Amazon or any other private carrier service.” -L.B.

“I dropped off 2022 graduation announcements to the Old Katy post office and the next day several were delivered in my mailbox which was the return address. I had to drive back to post office and the postal worker inside had no explanation and just put them back in the mail again. Some of them were not delivered to recipients for four weeks.” -L.H.

“All of our Christmas money was stolen from our cards. Then, they actually tucked the envelopes back in and they were delivered! They clearly used a letter opener. We went to the post office and made a huge scene and they said we had no proof and to leave.” -C.W.

“I live in katy crossing and we have lost mail every day. We get notified that a package was delivered, and it never shows up. I have filled several complaints but never get a call back or any resolution. My meds were even delivered to someone else, glad that neighbor was nice and brought them to me. It’s funny because the meds were supposed to be signed for.” - J. G.

Rekeying Nightmare; Praise for Postman

One Katy resident praised their postman, but had a horrible post office experience that will motivate others to just not lose their mail key.

“We thought we lost our mailbox key so we were told to go and $75 to the post office to have it re keyed. I paid it and had to fill out a form for them to keep my mail at the post office where I can pick it up until we get it rekeyed,” says K.W. They were informed that it would take 4-6 weeks for the new key to come in. They planned to go to the post office to pick up mail every few days.

“After 4 days I drive up and wait 30 minutes in line for them to tell me that that postman has my mail…I said, ‘he shouldn’t because I don’t have a key and I filled out a form for me to pick it up there.’ They told me to fill out another form because they didn’t have it.”

This same exact scenario happened again and they had to leave to message for their postman, who worked with them. “This goes on for about 2 months….Postman was a life saver,” says K.W.

“Then somehow we find our old key. We know we can only use it until they change the key after I paid $75 to do so. Waited another three months and still no rekey. I called them to get a refund because the rekey never happened plus we found our old key and they have no record of my $75 payment,” explains K.W.

The credit card system was down the day they paid for the rekey. They paid the $75 in cash and the office had no record of it.

“Very suspicious and awful,” says K.W. “I’m out $75 and to deal with all of that for over half a year. It’s just awful and nothing is getting done about it.”

Customer Service and Facilities

In addition to the delivery nightmares, many Katy residents have not experienced positive costumer service at either of the two Katy area post offices. There is the Katy Annex on Pin Oak Road and the U.S. Postal Service Office on Park Row.

“I spent over an hour at the post office and I had gone Saturday but didn't know it was a separate window to pick up packages. I got in what I thought was the correct line, but when I got to the counter, I was told it was the wrong line and they were closed now.” – S.P.

“I've lived throughout the U.S., including military bases, and the local PO service is laughable.

They have been rude, condescending, and generally unhelpful in the 10yrs I've lived here.” C.G.

The problems are not just with customer service, but also the actual facility. One resident reached out to Katy Magazine concerned about the “deplorable condition” of the Katy Pin Oak Post Office.

“It’s a central hub for Katy citizens that need to come here and it’s absolutely disgraceful the condition of this place. There are literally nailed boards up, missing floor tiles and only one person at a half door working every single time I come here,” says T.L.

“My main complaint is that the post office in Old Katy is just too small with very little parking. It’s very old, dirty and disgusting. The postal workers there, however, are pretty nice and helpful. It’s embarrassing that the City of Katy has such a pathetic post office building.” - B.L.

Katy Growth Adds to the Problem

The Katy area continues to grow. Katy ISD’s building of four new schools (and planning to pitch more in an upcoming bond) is proof of the growth. New businesses and new residential master-planned communities, especially in the northwest quadrant of the area, are attracting a huge number of newcomers.

“With all these new neighborhoods coming up and growing, the mail issues are only going to get worse,” says J.G.

Katy Magazine’s History of Covering USPS

In 2018, Katy Magazine covered a series of growing complaints regarding the Pin Oak Post Office. The editor, at the time, reached out to USPS for comment and didn’t get a response prior to running the story. After the story ran, Katy Magazine did get a statement:

STATEMENT FROM USPS IN 2018

"The Postal Service strives to always provide the best possible service to our valued customers. We apologize for any unsatisfactory service that may have been experienced by customers served by the Katy Annex PO. In this specific case, local management is committed to making improvements in service, including improving communications, and ensuring that all customer interactions are positive and professional. We will continue to work with customers to ensure every effort is being made to meet or exceed their expectations. We appreciate our customers’ patience as we continue to successfully resolve their concerns. Customers are reminded that, if they need assistance, they can also contact our national Customer Care Center by calling 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) or they can visit our website at www.usps.com/help" Nikki Johnson, Strategic Communications Specialist Gulf Atlantic/Houston Districts

2020 Katy, TX Audit

In December 2020, and audit report of “Mail Delivery and Customer Service Operations- Katy Carrier Annex” was published.

Read the audit here.

Areas of problems were identified in the document and recommendations were made. A January 8, 2021 targeted deadline for achieving recommendations was set.

Recommendations included:

Follow postal service policy to report delayed mail.
Follow standard operating procedures for scanning mail.
Monitor distribution operations.
Ensure lock keys, Voyager fleet cards, and delivery vehicles are safeguarded and managed.

Good Katy Mail Stories

While there are concerns and this isn’t a new problem, there is some good news. In many of the comments above, neighbors helped neighbors to deliver incorrect packages. Katy residents are helping one another, and individual postmasters are stepping up to make a difference in their communities.

“I have had multiple interactions with our delivery folks. They’ve been great with my kids who collect the mail from the communal box, always helping them reach the contents inside when they’re out there. Before the large boxes were available I would get my USPS items delivered to my porch, our vacation mail-holds always go smooth, and recently our key just stopped working our box and I cornered the woman delivering. She was great to discuss options and helped to facilitate a re-key that same day.” -J.J.

“We actually like our 'regular' carrier and he even tucks it away to be hidden from street view, but others do not.” -C.G.

“Our lock on the community box was damaged. They were great….slow… but great at getting it fixed. Cost us 50.00 but our mail carrier even helped us get our mail while the box was broken. Happened about 3 weeks ago.” – K.P.

“I adore my mail lady. She picks up my small business packages 99% of the time, there was once or twice she never received the pickup notice. Houston post office has lost several of my packages.”

“Maybe I’m rare, but I’ve always had good experiences with the post office. My mail carrier has been delivering our mail for years, and the post office always has reasonable wait times.” – O.S.

“Being a new resident of Katy, I had a pleasant experience with the employees at the post office off of Park Row. They were very informative and kind. The only downfall was that it took a little over 2 months to get the new keys to my mailbox. Clearly, they are understaffed, like every other business I visited. That being said, they were smiling and making

the best of the situation.” – P.M.

Send Concerns to:

Katy Magazine couldn’t find a local way to properly file a complaint. On a National level, residents can send a letter:

United States Postal Service

Office of the Consumer Advocate

475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, D.C. 20260-2200

“It’s starting to get out of hand because I can’t control who or what carrier a business uses but anytime I find out if USPS I’m upset.” – M.C.

“I do believe that businesses like this need to be held accountable. – D.S.

“I opt to have items shipped by literally any other carrier whenever possible because I just cannot trust my local post office,” says K.W. “Quite a shame.”