USPS blames staffing shortage for missing mail in Somerville

Residents from Union Square to Davis Square and Prospect Hill all shared stories of missing or inconsistent delivery

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Frustrated neighbors in Somerville, Massachusetts, say over the past month they’re barely received their mail.

“We had mail that came in yesterday that was over a month old,” said John who lives at Properzi Manor along Warren Street in Union Square.

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The building houses mostly senior citizens who say they’ve experienced medical complications because of the inconsistent deliveries.

“A lot of medicine, a lot of doctors appointments are being missed because they’re not receiving the information,” John explained.

The problem spans throughout the city. NBC10 Boston visited neighbors along Chester Street in Davis Square to Columbus Avenue in Prospect Hill.

“We all pay taxes we should get the mail and that’s something that we should be able to rely on,” said Bill Gage who lives in Prospect Hill.

Gage says he’s reached out to USPS and even spoken to some of his local mail carriers.

“They were delivering packages and she told me that there were 12 routes in Somerville that they didn’t have a carrier for.”

The problem was escalated to Somerville City Councilor at Large Kristen Strezo who says, “There’s a lot of anxiety about the mail arriving and how that affects everybody’s lives; there’s the absence of continuity about receiving the mail which is something that we assume is a standard practice to be getting the mail every day.”

We reached out to USPS and they issued this statement.

“We did have an issue in our Somerville delivery unit with employee availability that caused some temporary disruptions to service. This issue has been resolved with additional staffing put in place and more due this coming week. We thank our customers for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

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