ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Channel 9 has been inundated with complaints from some east Orange County residents who said they've been dealing with serious mail problems for at least two years, and they all blamed a single letter carrier.
Residents told Channel 9's Field Sutton that they currently have a temporary letter carrier because the man who usually delivers the mail is out on medical leave. They said that for the first time in more than a year their mail is being properly delivered. But now they are concerned because they've been told their original carrier is about to return to his route.
"We're told time and time again that the mailman is protected by the government," resident Renee Bartolett said.
Bartolett's said she has been battling the post office since Channel 9 first reported on residents' complaints last year.
"There's a specific union that also protects the mailman," Bartolett said.
Residents said since that time commission checks, child support, W-2s, rent checks and even wedding invitations have all disappeared.
"I've lived here a month and my landlord already thinks I'm a bad tenant because I'm paying rent late," resident Jenay Rainey said.
"It's just not right that I have to have these consequences based on their determination to keep someone who doesn't even seem to be doing a fair job," resident Terry Meyers said.
The letter carrier works out of a post office on Alafaya Trail, but the manager of that branch wouldn't discuss the issue with Sutton.
Sutton did get a statement from the U.S. Postal Service saying, "The Postal Service has taken the necessary steps to ensure the consistency of mail service for customers on this route."
"There's no consistency," resident John Klosner said when he read the statement.
"I cry, and I'm not a person given to tears. It is so frustrating," Meyers said.