Some Battle Ground residents say they have gone more than a week without mail; USPS says it is working on fixing the issues

BATTLE GROUND — Staffing issues are plaguing the United States Postal Service throughout the state, and Battle Ground customers in particular are suffering through an unusual disruption in service in recent weeks. 

Residents interviewed by Clark County Today say they have gone days without mail delivery to their homes. Commenters on community Facebook pages echo those complaints, some saying they have gone more than a week without mail. 

“It’s been going on for a couple of months. Every couple of days or so, we’d get mail. We’d miss a day or two, but by the third day, we’d have mail,” said Battle Ground resident Joanne Henke. “This last week, though, it was the longest. It was six days we didn’t get any mail at all.”

Henke showed up to the Battle Ground Post Office on Monday, looking for prescription medicine for her husband that was shipped in December. 

She looked up the data on the informed delivery digest and saw the medication had been scanned, in Battle Ground, on Dec. 28. Yet, it was never delivered. The medication was found at the post office on Monday, Jan. 9.

On Tuesday, Henke was back in line, looking for a package that, according to the scanning system, had been in town.

“I had another package that has been ‘wandering’ around for about five days,” Henke said. “Now they say it’s back on the truck. Hopefully it’s going to be delivered today. We’ll see.”

Battle Ground retiree Bill Ritchie was the first in line Tuesday morning. It was his third trip to the post office in an effort to find two packages. He, too, looked up the information on the internet and noticed that the packages had been scanned and described as “out for delivery” only to be returned to the post office. That happened three times, Ritchie said.

He got proactive and went looking for his packages.

He showed up at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday for the 9 a.m. opening of the office. It took 29 more minutes, but one customer service representative found those packages. The other rep in the office was dealing with the rest of the line, as fast as she could manage. 

“They were really nice, really helpful,” Ritchie said. “But obviously stressed. People come at them as if they can change all this. Of course, they can’t.”

Another retiree, Connie, said she had not received mail for at least a week. She has lived at the same address in Battle Ground for seven years. 

“This is the worst publicity that a government agency can get,” said Connie, who did not want to give her last name. “Isn’t that just nuts?”

She said she felt sorry for the customer service representatives. She knows it is not their fault. But she said management has failed Battle Ground. 

A reporter from Clark County Today was ninth in line Tuesday morning. It took 41 minutes to get to the counter.

Several in line behind the reporter discussed their frustrations with the situation. Many simply gave up waiting and left the post office. 

Ritchie, Henke, and other customers were told that the Battle Ground office is suffering from major staff shortages. 

Ritchie said he was told five carriers had recently left the post office and that five routes were no longer being serviced regularly. Instead, other carriers are getting to those routes after they have finished their own routes. 

Henke said she was told the office has lost up to 10 employees recently. 

Ritchie was also told that in recent months, more and more Amazon packages are coming through the post office. The extra volume is making it difficult for the local post office personnel to stay on schedule.

Employees at the Battle Ground Post Office were not authorized to go on the record with Clark County Today.

However, a Senior Public Relations Representative from the United States Postal Service did address those concerns. Kim Frum said a staffing shortage is one of the problems.

“The Postal Service apologizes for any inconvenience experienced by our customers,” Frum said. “The Postal Service is not immune from the current staffing and hiring challenges encountered by nearly every industry. And that includes the Battle Ground Post Office.”

She said that there are “several” unfilled positions at the Battle Ground office. There will be individual days when a neighborhood might not receive mail. She was surprised to learn that many customers said it was as long as a week without mail.

“We will rotate employees and assignments, and that mail is prioritized for delivery the following day,” Frum said. “To meet the daily challenges, we are using every available resource at our disposal, including borrowing employees from facilities across the state to match the workload to continue to provide the service our customers deserve.”

Frum also pointed out that U.S. Postal Service employees are also customers. They, too, understand the frustration associated with a delay in service. 

“We take pride in the more than 200 years of consistent service to the nation and the communities we serve,” Frum said. “That is why we are hiring so many employees — because our customers rely on us and we need to get back to reliable, daily mail service.”

Frum noted that massive package volumes during the peak season also contributed to some delivery issues. With the peak season having just ended, she expects operations to return to normal.

With that said, the Postal Service needs a physical presence, an employee to make that final delivery, Frum added. 

“We are currently looking to fill as many as 1,000 open positions across the State of Washington in the coming months,” Frum said. “These are solid jobs with the opportunity for excellent pay, full federal benefits, and opportunities.”

The Battle Ground Post Office has “help wanted” signs throughout its location, noting there are several positions available. Jobs are posted on the website: https://about.usps.com/careers/welcome.htm

In the meantime, customers remain frustrated.

“A lady was in here yesterday and was waiting on a check for two weeks,” Henke said. “What do you do then? You’ve got bills to pay.”

“Nobody was paying attention to the storm that was brewing,” Ritchie said. “They should have been on top of this long before it happened. It shouldn’t have gotten to this point.”

He added: “It’s really shining a very poor light on government.”

Henke said she is pleased to have found the package with her husband’s medication. But she said she was planning on heading to Walgreens to put a stop on sending medication through the mail in the future.

She said she no longer trusts that the Battle Ground Post Office will deliver.