To the Editor:
I am writing in response to your Sept. 7 story, “Local mail concerns are indicative of much bigger problem, labor leader says.”

We have lived at the same address in Charlton, New York for 47 years and never really had a problem with our mail. Since June this year, we have had two bad experiences.

About a half dozen pieces of outgoing mail left our box on the street on June 21 and just disappeared. They included a payment to American Express, which resulted in a late fee. I stopped payment and sent a new check certified mail. About six weeks later, everything was delivered without postmarks.

At the Burnt Hills post office, it was suggested they got left in a plastic bin thought to be empty and shoved into a storage area until needed again. Nice.

On Aug. 10, I sent a first-class mailing tube with a postal service address label on it from the Burnt Hills post office to a residential address in Glenville about four miles away. It arrived 10 days later.

Tracking showed it went to Buffalo; Rochester; Nashua, New Hampshire; Albany; and Schenectady before being delivered. Automated system using a barcoded label. Incredible.

Lesson learned — pay as much as possible online going forward since the postal service is definitely in shambles.

Phil Arony

Charlton, New York