Anyone have any mailbox horror stories?

Postcards sometimes stick to another card and travel with it, piggyback-style. And then they can end up not only in the wrong mailbox, but also in the wrong city or even country.

4 Likes

Thank you! I guess postcards like to go on vacation too. Lol.

3 Likes

During July, I sent postcards through a street mailbox in the village. Not a single postcard was delivered in six months. I did not have the opportunity to get into this software, it only worked until 13:00. And I lived in the city. But in January, I was able to ask the software staff if I can send through the mailbox? The staff said they had lost the key and were looking for it (half a year!). I explained to them that my postcards were there and asked them to do something with these. But they replied very indifferently that they were looking for the key. I wrote a complaint on the website of our mail. The workers organized a check of this department and finally the postcards reached the recipients. I was sad, I tried very hard when I sent postcards, but there was no result. So I gave up PC for a while. I was lucky that I used the number of stamps for the priority rate because the rate had already gone up when the box could be opened. Therefore, postcards were already sent at a non-priority rate.

15 Likes

:scream: Thanks for sharing this experience, that is really unfortunate. I hope it doesn’t happen in future and you’re able to enjoy postcrossing.

3 Likes

Now I give postcards to employees or I ask about the possibility to send through the box :smile:

3 Likes

I just received these today. Sent from the same person on a direct swap. The USPS was a bit heavy on the ink! All over the stamp and part of the messages too! Then they were placed on top of each other and it looks like on top of another piece of mail to the ink is all over the front of the postcard too. So upsetting!


3 Likes

Oh no :scream_cat: and what interesting postcards too. I wonder is this done by machine or manual… :thinking:

I was so excited about the bird one in particular! They will still be great additions to my collection as they are from one of my newer swappers that we have done several swaps now.

I would think maybe machine but I’m not sure

1 Like

Last week I received this card.It was terrible!!!I think it must because of rain.I tried my best to fix it :sob:


5 Likes

That once happened to a postcard of mine too but not as bad. The one I had did not have water damage but part of the print rubbed off, which I don’t know how that happens.

Years ago, but I still fear of it happening again…
It took weeks, if not months, to stop the ‘stamp thief’, after many complaints to the Post

8 Likes

:scream_cat:

When I was still actively doing penpaling, sometimes customs opened and even tore off envelopes and just closed them again with label tape. :woman_facepalming: Luckily my penpal doesn’t decorate envelopes much, not like I do sometimes.

And my first and only fabric/fake fur postcard here seems to have had a bad accident. :sob: Luckily the address and postcard ID are still visible.


4 Likes

I thought I wouldn’t have any more mailbox horror stories to share but I recently got this in the mail. A good portion of the postcard is missing and there’s a a white sticker covering over the top left corner. I can’t tell from the back who sent it or when.

I’m so curious what happened to the postcard. I wonder if this is was mechanical or human error.

5 Likes

Not really a mailbox horror story, but still a bit annoying: Someone here on Postcrossing sent me this card without proper postage, but with these fake decoration stamps on it, so I had to pick it up from the postoffice and pay 1,40 Euro for it…

Hi, these are not fake stamps, but domestic postcard stamps for the US. I believe they are currently worth 51 cents each, and 3 of these make 1.53 - slightly more than the 1.50 needed for global mail

Please see:


Hmmm but it may be possible that these three are counterfeits of the real deal, which is why you were charged for the card :sweat_smile:

Perhaps the person who sent you the card bought fake postage by mistake? Counterfeit USPS stamps are indeed an issue.

4 Likes

Thank you for the clarification. If these are real stamps, I don’t know why I was charged… maybe because it was sent internationally? Or maybe the German postal service was overly suspicious? Hm… or maybe those are counterfeit, I really have no idea…

1 Like

I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think this is an issue, because as mentioned, they have a monetary value and they are indeed at the correct rate, even slightly overpaying

USPS destroys mail items with counterfeit stamps, so it is possible that either this card had real stamps and Deutsche Post was overly suspicious, or this card had counterfeit stamps but escaped notice by USPS, hence Deutsche Post charged you

2 Likes

I guess it was the first. Deutsche Post (like myself) thought those weren’t real stamps… Now I think it’s a bit funny really… :blush:

2 Likes

This made me very sad :disappointed:

Fortunately Postcrossing were able to find the ID for me so I could register it, and the sender had uploaded the photo before sending so I could still enjoy what it was supposed to look like! X

3 Likes