HOUSTON — U.S. Rep. Al Green wants answers from the U.S. Postal Service about the massive mail delays that we've been telling you about since mid-December.
KHOU 11 News has received over a thousand emails from frustrated viewers in the last three days alone. Green said his office has also heard from dozens of people since we first brought the problem to his attention last month.
In a news conference Monday, the congressman said if the "very troublesome" issues aren't fixed quickly, he will call for a congressional hearing by the House committee that oversees the USPS.
Green urged the USPS to be transparent and provide customer service representatives at the sites to answer questions about missing mail and packages. He also demanded that they provide media updates in person, instead of just sending the same written statement that blames the transition on a new system.
“There are people who are paid good money to come before the press, look the cameras in the eye and answer your questions. I am not that person," Green said. “This is not a secret society.”
Green said that he and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia plan to meet with the USPS inspector general, as well as tour the Missouri City facility, which is in his district, and the northside facility.
The congressman is concerned that the delays could impact mail ballots in the March Primary and the clock is ticking.
"So I beg the postal service, let’s make sure we can get this right before we head into the election season…,” the congressman said.
Green was joined by one woman whose 89-year-old father's lifesaving medication is stuck and a newlywed who said via phone that she had to borrow a wedding dress at the last minute because hers didn't arrive in time.
Disabled veteran's medication stuck in transit
Irene Ramirez is the caregiver for her 89-year-old dad, a disabled Korean War veteran. She called in a refill for him on Jan. 4 but 18 days later, it still hasn't arrived.
She first told KHOU 11 about the problem on Friday so we connected her to Green.
“He has a heart condition which requires daily medications. Without these medications, my father would end up in the emergency room or worse," Ramirez said.
She's made multiple calls and and been on hold for over an hour only to be disconnected. The online system didn’t work either, according to Ramirez.
“I understand we’re all fallible humans, but when the failures are ongoing and administrative and put people’s lives at risk, I feel we need to stop and quickly reverse course,” she said. “I sincerely hope the time for excuses has passed and the time for a remedy is near.”
Green said he would go to the V.A. with Ramirez after the news conference to pick up the heart meds.
Missing wedding dress
The woman who said she never got her wedding dress spoke at the news conference by phone because she's "a very private person," according to Green.
The bride bought her wedding dress in early October and was told it would ship by early December. She said it was shipped around Dec. 21 or Dec. 22. Then it got stuck in Missouri City for about 10 days before it was sent back to Virginia.
The vendor shipped it again but it never arrived.
“They [USPS] told me, ‘Oh, it’s here or it’s in north Houston. Oh, we don’t know where it is anymore,” the woman said. “'Oh, don’t worry. We didn’t lose it. It’s somewhere here. We need to find it.'”
The week of her wedding, the bride said she went to Missouri City and waited over an hour until a custodian came out and then sent a supervisor to speak with her.
“He said, without even checking anything, without my tracking number, he said, ‘Oh we don’t have your dress, it’s not here. It has to be in north Houston,” the woman said.
She ended up having to borrow someone else’s dress. As of Jan. 22, her dress still hadn’t arrived.
“Some things can never be undone. This was a wedding, this was one of the most important days of her life,” Green said. “When the bride enters, everybody looks at the dress.”
Retired USPS employee
Brenda Wiedrich, who said she worked for the postal service for 19 years before retiring, said she ordered two packages on Jan. 2.
The first one went from Georgetown, Texas, to Austin to Missouri City to San Antonio and then back to Missouri City.
The second package was medicine so Wiedrich said she paid extra for priority mail. After it was shipped from California, it got stuck in Missouri City too before finally arriving on Jan. 19.
"Mine took 17 days to get to me, that's just totally ridiculous," Wiedrich said.
Wiedrich said she tried to call USPS multiple times but was cut off after 10 rings.
She's disappointed the quality of service has declined so much since she worked there.
USPS office of inspector general
On Friday, Green also provided KHOU 11 with a USPS Office of Inspector General audit report that focused on the Houston area. There was no mention of Houston’s larger processing facilities in Missouri City and on the northside. Instead, the report focused on local post offices in Conroe, Fairbanks and Oak Forest.
The audit found nearly 19,000 pieces of delayed mail at those local facilities on just one day in September 2023.
The report concluded the delays occurred because management did not effectively address problems, including insufficient staffing and lack of vehicle availability. At one facility, delays occurred because new mail carriers were unfamiliar with their routes.
In an exclusive interview last week, Green said he had hoped the report would shed light on potential causes for the delays at Houston’s mail sorting centers.
What to do if your package is stuck
Green said anyone who has a package stuck at the Missouri City facility can call his office at 713-383-9234.
For weeks, KHOU 11 has been following the story about delays of packages through the Missouri City and north Houston USPS distribution centers. Have you been affected? If so, email us at mailproblems@khou.com. If you have photos of the tracking, please include that, too!
Tracking the mail: Our stories on the postal delays
- Dec. 13, 2023: 'Processed as they are received' | In statement, USPS addresses issues at Houston-area post office
- Dec. 15, 2023: Man's medication stuck at Missouri City USPS sorting facility for a week and counting
- Dec. 16, 2023: New Hampshire woman joins list of people frustrated about packages stuck at Missouri City USPS sorting facility
- Dec. 19, 2023: 'Free my mail!' | Congressman looks into Missouri City postal facility with reported package delays
- Jan. 10, 2024: Congressman Al Green to tour Missouri City USPS facility with hopes of resolving mail delay issues
- Jan. 10, 2024: Here's why the post office says your mail is stuck
- Jan. 18, 2024: Package with $1,000 item stuck at Missouri City USPS processing center, customer says
- Jan. 19, 2024: 'We need to step it up and figure this out' | In one day, hundreds of people contacted KHOU 11 about mail delays
- Jan. 19, 2024: Congressman Al Green receives report from USPS Office of Inspector General on mail delay issues
- Jan. 19, 2024: Bride-to-be still waiting on wedding dress just days before big day
- Jan. 20, 2024: Candle shop owner worried about reputation after customers' orders stuck at USPS processing centers in Houston
- Jan. 21, 2024: 'It's not just Missouri City' | Houston’s mail delays extend to USPS northside facility, customers say
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