CRAZY MAILMAN!

MyBabeMaddie wrote: Okay so we have 2 black labs, they both have an invisible fence, one of them (the very friendly one) sometimes will just run through it but shes totally harmless.... When we moved into this house the mailbox was attached to the house next to the front door, well we went out and bought a mailbox and put it at the end of our driveway just so the mailman didn't have to walk through the yard with the dogs. Well I will sometimes park in front of the house - NOT blocking the mail box but not leaving enough room for him to pull his truck up. Here's the issue, 90 % of mailboxes on this street are attached to the people's houses meaning he get's out of his truck anyways. Well I'm sitting here on the computer and i see him skip my house, I go outside to catch up with him at the neighbors cause I want the mail - I say very nicely "Can you please explain why, since you are getting out of the truck right now to walk up to my next door neighbor's door, you can simply walk past my mailbox on the street?" He's like "your dogs are out!" WTH! They are seriously sound asleep on my mom's bed. I was like "Excuse me, whatever happened to the "no matter wind, nor snow, nor sleet nor hail" attitude mailmen are supposed to have?" I told him we were just going to put the original box back up and then he'd have to walk through the yard, and he was like "OH YOU'LL NEVER GET YOUR MAIL THEN" Just then my mom's really good friend who is a police man drove by in his cop car and saw me and the mailman screaming at eachother, he stopped to ask me what was going on and the mail man was like "YEAH GET THE COPS INVOLVED YOU'LL SEE" I told my mom's friend and he laughed he's like that mailman needs to get a life"

AM I so wrong though?! The dog's are NOT going to bite him if he walks past the mailbox, the invisible fence ends like 10 feet before the street. Stupid MailMan

mckayleesmom replied: I know that you say your dogs are friendly, but there is no way for the mailman to know that.....I think I would have handled it differently then the way you did. I would have just walked up to him and told him that from now on he can deliver your mail and you will make sure the dogs are in the house at that time. You said yourself that your dog can get through the electric fence thing....and some people are afraid of dogs...biting or not.

lisar replied: LOL... I have to laugh it is kinda funny. But if you call the post office they dont have to give you your mail if the mail box is blocked. And if you have dogs out they dont have to walk up to your house either. Thats how it is here. It might be diffrent where you are. Even if the dogs are nice.

MyBabeMaddie replied:
This has been an ongoing issue though, but my mom is the one battling it.

mckayleesmom replied:
Yes...but there are things your mom needs to fix then....He doesn't have to deliver her mail if those conditions aren't met...kwim?

1. Don't park a car in front of the mailbox
2. Make sure the dogs cannot get out of that electric fence....Let the mailman know that the dogs will be locked up around the time he comes around.
3. Don't confront the mailman again...thats just ticking him off more. After you meet those conditions and he still doesn't deliver, Contact the post office and tell them about the things you have done to improve the situation and ask them to take care of the problem.

grandma replied: I can totally understand the mailman's stand. I'm sure mailmen get biten everyday and it's something they just don't want to chance. I don't think you should take it so personally, it's probably just guidelines he follows for his safety.

MyBabeMaddie replied:
The car is parked about 10 feet past the mailbox, he can pull up to the mailbox, but he would have to BACK UP to get around me after he delivered the mail. He is well aware that the dogs are never out at this time because no one is home and he has been told several times they will not be out at this time. (HE swears he sees them in the yard even though they are sleeping inside) Its frustrating because there was a week where we didn't get any mail, KWIM?

Calimama replied:
I agree. IMO the screaming match was a little uncalled for as well. There are ways to handle things in a mature manner (because he wasn't professional either) that get things solved a lot quicker and a lot more smoothly then yelling would get accomplished. JMO though.

mckayleesmom replied: Well...if you are making sure that he has room and opportunity to do his job and making sure he is safe from the dogs.....Then I would get a camcorder and tape him puposely avoiding your yard and send it to his manager.

Calimama replied:
Good idea!

mckayleesmom replied: Oh...and make sure you talk on it....Show the dogs in the house and where the mailbox is....prep before he arrives to avoid your yard.

Calimama replied:
I missed that part. They weren't even outside?

MyBabeMaddie replied:
He hallucinates I swear!

Yeah that video thing is a good idea, but I'm usually at school right now and my mom is at work so no one would be around to do it.

stella6979 replied: Dh used to be a mail carrier and they do have policies. If they feel threatened in any way, they do not have to deliver the mail. It's the homeowner's job to make sure the residence is safe to deliver to. And although they are family dogs and you know they're safe, that doesn't mean something won't ever happen. I also worked for a water delivery company and we had the same policy. One of our customers always had their dog out so she never got her water. And every time she called to complain we'd have to remind her of the policy all over again. I would assume this policy goes for all delivery services as it's not their job to risk their lives in order to get their job done.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: um...... I obviously don't know the laws where you live, but here, it is against the law to have your dog loose outside, unless it is in a fully enclosed private yard. Invisible fence or not. You can get a hefty fine.

MyBabeMaddie replied:
If your dog is on the loose you will be fined... But it is legal to have them inside an invisible fence.

PrairieMom replied: Sorry, I have to side with the mail man.
There is no way for him to know which dogs will attack him and which wont, and as a matter of personal safety, I wouldn't give you your mail either. A yelling match won't get you very far either.
Is there some where else you can put the dogs until after the mail comes? or maybe just get a PO box so you don't have to worry about it at all?

PrairieMom replied:
good idea. If the dogs aren't out, than there is no reason for you to be skipped.

My3LilMonkeys replied: If the dogs weren't out there is no reason for him to skip you. But I know around here, if they see an dog unchained (or chained close enough they can reach the mailbox) they are not required to deliver the mail.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Even if you have an invisible fence, here, it's still against the law, unless they are in an enclosed yard. Like, the invisible fence couldn't be in the front part... seriously, how is HE supposed to know they're on an invisible fence?

I wouldn't deliver it, either. No offense...

Cece00 replied:
He has no way of knowing if the dogs will bite him. Mailmen are taught to be cautious and protect themselves.

One of my mom's brothers is a mailman & has been bitten a couple of times by "friendly" dogs.

If he repeatedly does this and the dogs TRULY arent out, then complain. Otherwise, I'd keep my dogs inside so you can get your mail.

CantWait replied: I've delivered papers and flyers before and honestly if dogs were out, so was I. There's no way I was going to a house where dogs were jumping and barking about.

MyBabeMaddie replied: But my point is, the dogs are NEVER out at this time, maybe they were out a few times last summer, but my mom has had civil discussions with him telling him "I'm at work, my kids are at school, the dogs WILL be INSIDE all day so you have nothing to worry about"

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Well see... then this guy's an ijit, and you should totally complain.

A&A'smommy replied: dang I would be TICKED!!!!

MommyToAshley replied: I was going to side with your mailman until you said that the dogs aren't out. In your original post, I took it as the dogs were out (they even get out of the invisible fence). If the dogs are inside, there must be another reason.

The only other reason I can see that he might not get the mail is that there is not enough room for him to pull up in his vehicle. The mailbox was moved to the the street, so it should be accessible by vehicle, regardless if he has to get out of the car for your neighbor's house. Our mailbox is on the street at the end of the driveway and we do not get our mail if it is blocked in any way... including snow or a car is parked close enough that the mailtruck can't manuever safely in and out of a position to deliver the mail. Is there some place else you could park the car?

I think I'd keep the dogs inside, park the car elsewhere, and then approach the mailman in a polite manner and let him know the issues have been resolved. It sounds like the mailman wasn't professional and a bit antagonistic... however, you may have to suck it up and swallow some pride, but at least you'd have your mail. I think I'd try that before I went the route of video taping him and reporting him.