U.S. Postal Service blames snow for Metro Detroit mail delays

Packages have been delivered weeks late in some cases

ALLEN PARK, Mich. – With some areas of Metro Detroit getting 9 inches of snow, mail delivery for some residents has been slowed.

Dozens of upset postal customers have been hammering the Postal Service on its local webpage about having paid premium fees for priority shipping only to wait for their packages. In some cases, it took weeks for the packages to arrive.

In a statement released Friday, the U.S. Postal Service apologized for the delayed service, calling the stalled deliveries an "isolated instance" that wasn't "indicative of the level of service our employees provide." 

You can read the full statement below.

The Postal Service apologizes for any inconvenience our customers may be experiencing. We are very concerned about reports of mail delays. We appreciate our customers and strive to provide excellent service. There have been no known mail delays incurred at the Detroit Network Distribution Center in Allen Park, MI until this week due to the snow storm. That mail will be fully processed by the weekend. This isolated instance is not indicative of the level of service our employees provide as they work diligently to process and deliver more than 15 million cards, letters and packages this holiday season.

Some residents are saying the statement is not true and that incidents weren't limited to a weeklong period, Diane Frederick said she ordered a gift on Nov. 21, long before the snow came, and was supposed to have received it a few days later. 

"I didn't get it until Dec. 5," Frederick said. "It's a huge inconvenience."

While that package was a gift, others cited things such as perishable items for a granddaughter who has cancer, important documents, checks and even a KIA, or killed in action, war memorial. 

"Priority mail should take two to three days," Frederick said. "Not two to three weeks."


About the Authors:

Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.