SEYMOUR, Tenn. (WATE) — When you move from one home to another, there is nothing more frustrating than not getting your mail.
That has been the situation with a family in Seymour who moved from Wyoming to their new home in Sevier County, Tenn.
For the last nine months, Laila Miles has not been getting first-class mail delivered to her family’s new home in Seymour after they moved from Wyoming last summer. It was a late bill from her utility company that alerted her to the issue.
“When I contacted them they said, ‘Yes, we had sent it and we sent it to 315 White School Road,'” Miles said.
However, Miles lives about five miles from White School Road in Knox County. She says each time that first-class letters are sent to her, they are either forwarded or returned.
“It is being returned to the sender. Our vehicle titles, because we had to have our titles transferred to Tennessee, they were returned. Our new Tennessee driver’s license was returned back to Nashville,” she said.
So, at her own expense, Miles rented a post office box in order to get her mail. Taped inside her mailbox door are the names of those who live in her house. It has not done any good.
Miles says the family who once lived at her house, their last name is similar to hers.
“Their name is Mills, ‘M-I-L-L-S.’ Our last name is Miles, ‘M-I-L-E-S.’ Therefore, the computer is only reading the first three letters of the last name and because there was a forward for ‘Mills’ on my address. It is diverting all of our mail back to sender,” she said. “I have been notified twice from the local post office they were going to try to help me and work with me.”
Here is the response from management at her post office:
“It says your inquiry has been processed and has been assigned to service request, then the number, and forwarded to the appropriate management teams for research and response.”
“I did the investigative work and gave it to the post office. Their information to me as of a month ago was, ‘I’m sorry we no longer know how to help you,'” Miles said. “If it is handwritten, we get it. But if it is not handwritten, the computer reads it and put the forward on it for ‘Mills.'”
WATE contacted the U.S. Postal Service. The spokesperson said, “We make every effort to ensure accuracy in the processing and delivery of forwarded mail. In this instance, local management is communicating directly with the customer for a resolution.”
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Miles tells WATE the post office has deleted the expired forward address sent to White School Road and she was told to expect regular mail delivery to her home soon.
This case was very unusual and the postal service apologized to Miles and it said in its statement to WATE:
“That with more than 46 million customers changing their mailing address annually, 46 million, the post office strives to provide the best service possible.”
Miles says she was also told, she will be reimbursed for having to rent that post office box in Seymour.
