Mailman not taking outgoing mail?

Question

I live in apartments and each building has a row of mailboxes at the front of each building, with a box for each apartment (there are no flags to raise). We do not have a separate drop box for outgoing mail. I had always assumed the mailman was to take outgoing mail, but I have put a bill in my box before and it sat there for three days before I finally just took it to the post office myself because it was going to be late, assuming he didn't open my box because I had no incoming mail. But last week I tried to mail something else, and it sat in there again, but this time incoming mail was being put in and the mailman just was not taking my outgoing mail. Is this something I need to ask a local post office, or what? Thanks!

Answer 1

This is a frequent concern, and the other answerers obviously have not postal experience so forgive them. In apartment situations (those are called CBUs or cluster box units), what needs to be done is for you to push your outgoing mail all the way to the other end of the mailbox. The problem is that there is a gap between the customer end and the carrier end. Make sure you put the letter in stamp first, face up so that when the carrier opens the box he/she will see it right away. One of my customers even puts little post-it notes on the end of the letter so I don't miss her outgoing mail.

Answer 2

Postal carriers do not remove mail from those type of boxes. If your apartment building does not have a drop box you will need to drop your mail at the post officer or any blue mail box in your area.

Answer 3

Mailboxes are only for incoming mail, not outgoing mail. You will need to mail either at the post office or a proper outgoing receptacle.

Answer 4

No, that's why they have street mail boxes.