BEAUMONT, Texas — Those living in a neighborhood outside of Lumberton finally have relief after the United States Postal Service stopped delivering packages they deemed as too big to deliver to their houses.
Those living off Highway 421 wanted to understand why the post office was not delivering their packages. Neighborhood residents said for months, they had to drive to the post office in Kountze to pick up any packages they had delivered.
This became a serious issue for one resident and her husband who is disabled.
"We order a lot of things off of amazon because my husband is disabled, and I'm a school teacher so my hours are very concise,” Laura Riddle, neighborhood resident, said.
Riddle and her husband have lived in their Kountze home for five years. She said about six months ago, USPS told them carriers could no longer deliver certain packages.
"The problem we were having is that if something was too big to fit in the mailbox, the post office was telling us they didn’t have to deliver them by law,” Riddle said. “They only had to deliver things that fit in the mailbox.”
If Riddle and her husband were getting a large package, they had to drive to the Kountze post office to pick them up. The drive became a major inconvenience.
“We live off 421, which is seven miles from Lumberton, but it's a good 25-minute drive to the Kountze post office,” Riddle said. “We don't live in Kountze, so it's very out of the way."
Riddle thought the post office’s claim was odd, so she emailed 12News to verify.
After 12News reached out to USPS, they responded in a statement with a spokesperson saying:
"The Postal Service strives to always provide the best possible service to our valued customers. We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced by the customers living in the Kountze, TX communities. In this instance, local management has looked into the matter and is committed to making improvements in delivery service. Our research indicates this was an isolated and unintended error. Local management has taken the necessary steps to successfully resolve the matter. We can report all packages are being delivered to customers in Kountze. We appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers. Customers are reminded that, if they need assistance with mailing or shipping concerns, they have a variety of options for reaching us, including contacting their local Post Office, calling 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) or visiting our website at www.usps.com/help."
Neighborhood families are finally seeing results.
“Now they deliver the packages to us,” Riddle said.
Instead of driving nearly an hour to the post office and back, Riddle and her husband simply walk down the driveway to their mailbox to get their package.
If there's anything you'd like us to verify, you can always email us at verify@12newsnow.com.