Chicago customers warn USPS mail delivery delays could cause credit issues

CHICAGO (WLS) -- U.S. Postal Service customers in some Chicago neighborhoods have reported mail deliveries up to weeks behind schedule, and some say the delays might be causing credit issues.

On Wednesday, a visitor to the Roseland Post Office recorded a heated exchange between a USPS employee and customers waiting to get their mail.

LaReese Jeffries took the video as her mother tried to get a package that USPS and Amazon notices indicated would be ready for pick up after Sunday. They were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

"People shouldn't have to come and be lined up in this post office, circled around inside the building and outside the building to get their mail," said West Pullman resident Allie Rea Jackson.

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Vicky Lee in Auburn Gresham said missing mail is jeopardizing her good credit.

In a stack of mail she picked up from her post office, Lee found a late charge from a credit card company.

"If I keep getting late fees, then my credit is going to go down and I have very good credit so I would like to to stay there," Lee said.

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ABC7 has received numerous complaints about missing mail from customers on the South Side around the Auburn Park Post Office, to customers on the North Side in the Dunning neighborhood.

For those unable to access their bills online, some utility customers are telling customers to contact them.

Both Peoples Gas and ComEd urged customers to call them to discuss options such as mailing duplicates to another address or P.O. Box.

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ComEd said they may waive late fees, depending on the circumstances.

Peoples Gas told customers that there are no late fees, for now.

"Customers missing some bills, don't worry about late payment charges. We aren't charging late payment charges as it relates to the COVID initiative," said Larry Szumski, vice president of customer relations for Peoples Gas & North Shore Gas.

The Chicago spokesman for the USPS has not commented on what customers should do, if they incur late fees due to missing mail. He urged residents with delivery issues to file a complaint with the post office's consumer affairs office.

Contact USPS or your utility at the numbers provided:

PEOPLES GAS: 1-866-566-6001

COMED: 1-800-334-7661 (1-800-EDISON-1)

USPS CONSUMER AFFAIRS (CHICAGO): (312) 983-8403