So many people have complained recently that Congressman Danny Davis held a public meeting Monday on mail delivery issues.
Post office officials got an earful from people who say they are frustrated with poor mail service in their communities. The public forum in Oak Park drew nearly 100 people from surrounding western suburbs who say they routinely get mail late or go days without it being delivered.
"In the last two years, there's been a marked decrease in our postal service," said Janice Mitchell-Bolling, Oak Park resident.
Postal officials say complaints came to a head during the severely cold weather the first week of January and took the opportunity Monday to apologize for the decline in customer service.
Peter Allen, Central Illinois District manager, says complaints into the post office fall into four categories: non-delivery, late delivery, parcel tracking and complaint handling. The last one seemed to be what drew most of the people to the meeting, with stories of how they either could not reach personnel on the phone for help or were treated rudely by postal employees.
The meeting was facilitated by Davis, who says the post office is dealing with issues like budget cuts but that it's important for the office to meet its challenges.
