Did you ever have a bill not arrive at all?
By Marie Coyle
@MarieCoyle (48951)
September 23, 2025 1:17am CST
I realized this evening that I have once again not gotten all of my mail. Our postal system has become somewhat of a big joke, and they evidently hire many people who simply just don't care if they do a good job or not. Sometimes, I will get mail for other people. Or sometimes, a neighbor will get some of mine, and knock on my door with it. This evening I was figuring out the rest of the month, etc. and it hit me that I had not paid, nor received the bill for, the internet service. I keep the mail organized and no, I didn't get it. Last month it was the electric bill. Same story, different bill. So, I called the 24 hour line for the service and explained that I didn't get the bill. I realized that they would probably try to slap on a late fee, but I have not ever paid it late before.
Surprisingly, the young man was very gracious, efficient, and didn't charge the late fee. He said many people now are not getting bills on time, and sometimes, not at all.
How can our postal service go on like this? Everyone I know in my area has problems with it. I believe we have a new postmaster general, I hope he plays catch-up and improves the service. We pay more than ever for stamps, mailing packages, etc...and the service just isn't there.
The Pony Express was more reliable. Maybe we should go back to that?
Picture from Pinterest.
16 people like this
16 responses
@luisadannointed (9327)
• Philippines
23 Sep
Why not apply for an online billing. You can view it online and you can pay it online.
3 people like this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
They have an app I can use to pay, but the app is supposedly under repair. It isn’t working. Not the first time, either. So I opted for paper bills to be mailed until they fix the app.
2 people like this
@luisadannointed (9327)
• Philippines
23 Sep
@MarieCoyle 
bad service. I think they really have a bad service.
bad service. I think they really have a bad service.1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
@luisadannointed
The customer service is friendly and they try. The internet service is excellent. They just need to get their billing right, and of course the postal service problems sure don’t help!
@Shivram59 (45693)
• India
24 Sep
I get all my bills in time And I pay them immediately after recieving them. I don't know about postal services in other towns, but it is satisfactory in our town at least
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (45693)
• India
25 Sep
@MarieCoyle Thank you. It is now satisfactory, but during COVID days, it went very slow, even bad After the pandemic, the government took quick actions to fix it.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
18h
@Shivram59
I think attempts have been made, but not enough and not the right ones. Not here, anyway.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
25 Sep
You are very fortunate. Ours used to be wonderful. But it is an unorganized snarl and I don't even think it can be fixed at this point.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (103432)
• United States
23 Sep
Well, you know what happened to my mail last Christmas, so of course, I’m with you. I remember way back when I got placed on disability, I NEVER got a letter! They called and started talking to me about why I hadn’t done this or that, but the acceptance letter never got to me! Of course, recently, you know what happened with my card. The post office truly does not care.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
My cousin sent me a small package about two months ago. It never arrived. She had it returned to her yesterday. No reason. The box looked like it had been in a hurricane. She sends me something once in awhile, this was even a Priority mail, etc.
Evidently, Priority mail means nothing!
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
24 Sep
@AmbiePam
It truly is pathetic. And yet we pay big amounts for a service that just isn’t there.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (122838)
• Marion, Ohio
23 Sep
We have had a couple not show up. And often have a neighbors mail
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (122838)
• Marion, Ohio
24 Sep
@MarieCoyle Fedex isn't any better. We have had a few things that belonged to the neighbors
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
24 Sep
@wolfgirl569
We have a huge FedEx hub here. They go through help like wildfire. And they are not good either.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
We generally do. And on this bill I’ve paid online for a long time. As I said, their online payment thing is down right now.
1 person likes this
@pitsipeahie (5426)
•
24 Sep
I’ve experienced that before too—like with electric bills or credit card bills. I’ve also had situations where I received bills meant for our neighbor, and vice versa. But nowadays, most of our bills are paperless, so I guess that kind of solves the problem.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
24 Sep
In this case, I didn’t get the bill by mail as promised. They announced that our area was having trouble with the app used to pay so we couldn’t pay it online.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (165874)
• United States
23 Sep
I get all my utilities except the local one online. It helps. I have had the local one not arrive at all. We get wrong mail from time to time.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
We certainly do have mail issues. When we are required to send important documents in the mail, I send them via registered mail.
@snowy22315 (196618)
• United States
23 Sep
Certain post offices in this state are like that.Question why don't you pay your bills online? That way you won' have to worry about it.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
Normally, I always pay them online. The app is down for this service here on that bill.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
I have a locked mail box. I can access and pay online and generally do. But it wasn’t online, as they are having server problems.
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (7782)
• United Kingdom
23 Sep
The mail service here is terrible too. It’s still called “Royal Mail” but is no longer public owned as its now in the hands of a Czech billionaire called Daniel Kretinsky. Unfortunate surname.
I’ve often had bills not arrive and then threatening letters follow because I haven’t paid in good time. Fortunately I now pay most of my bills by direct debit or online and prefer corresponding via email. It’s not infallible but much better. Just have to regularly check the spam folder where sometimes important stuff sits hiding.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
Yes, about the spam mail. I’ve missed stuff that ends up in there rather than where it belongs.
@Marilynda1225 (86315)
• United States
23 Sep
I rarely don't get a bill but I'm always getting mail for my neighbor around the corner. Our names aren't similar, our addresses aren't similar and we live on different streets. For some strange reason her mail has been coming here for years (not always but frequently). It's not big deal to bring it around to her but it certainly makes me shake my head at the mail person.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
24 Sep
I just don't get it. Why even sort the mail if they can't attempt to deliver it to where it belongs!
@JESSY3236 (21078)
• United States
23 Sep
My uncle never mailed stuff from his house. He would take it to the post office if he needed to mail anything. He would say it is faster that way. But I found out the real reason when I moved into his house. He loved basketball and he had a mailbox with the team color on the flag. I tried to mail something and the mail person wouldn't pick up my mail. They went right past it. I found out the flag needs to be red so I got a new mailbox with a red flag and they started picking up my mail after that.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
24 Sep
That's the first time I have ever heard of anything like that, very odd but yet interesting.
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
24 Sep
I know. From what I have read it was a dangerous job. Orphans preferred is vey sad, I agree.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (201673)
• United States
23 Sep
I did not receive my bank statement this month which is very concerning.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
I like consistency, but the postal service no longer seems to know what that even means. It’s beyond fixing.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (78976)
• United States
23 Sep
I anticipate that the postal service will be privatized or disbanded by the end of this administration. Companies like UPS and Amazon will take over the delivery of mail. The interesting thing is that the post office is, by law, an independent entity of the government, meaning that they set their own budget and get zip, zero, zilch, nada from the federal budget. And yet, it’s considered “government.” Believe me, when I worked there, they used whichever foot to stand on that was convenient for them at the moment. (“You can’t do that, we’re private.” “You can’t do that, we’re government.”) 
@MarieCoyle (48951)
•
23 Sep
I think you are correct, they will be gone soon. There is no way they can go on much longer the way they are now.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (483926)
• Italy
23 Sep
The old services were all a lot more reliable. I asked to receive a copy of all my bills my e-mail, at least I am sure to pay before the due day. I received my health insurance bill, but not the one of my husband. Checking the copy in the e-mail I noticed it was sent to the right address but they forgot the property number.
