Though the number of letters and catalogues being sent out continues to dwindle both nationally and locally, complaints against the South Orange post office seem to be holding steady.

The U.S. Postal Service is feeling the strain of the economic downturn like most other institutions, and the postmaster general told Congress Wednesday that the USPS will run out of money this year if it doesn't get some help. In South Orange, 2 1/2 mail carrier routes were eliminated on Feb. 20 due to the dwindling volume of mail. But complaints about the mails pre-date any change in service, and the litany of grievances ranges from packages being sent out late to mail being left in places other than mailboxes to erratic delivery.

Residents aren’t alone in having complaints about their mail service.

SOPAC’s director of marketing and communications Scott Sullivan acknowledged that his organization had experienced problems locally and now works with a mail house in Newark to send out its bulk mailings.

“It’s no coincidence that we changed from South Orange to Newark,” he said.

And before Christmas, the Village of South Orange commissioned postcards to be delivered to every household in town announcing the third Vision Plan meeting on Jan. 7 and encouraging residents to come to Seton Hall and give feedback. About 5,000 postcards were printed at a cost of $425, according to Village Administrator John Gross. The post office was paid $1,700 for postage.

"Nobody to my knowledge received them,” said Trustee Michael Goldberg, who noted that the Vision Plan meeting was lightly attended.

According to South Orange Postmaster Kim Collins, that matter had been referred to customer service, and she couldn’t comment on it.

Resident complaints about mail service run the gamut.

“I'd get one piece of mail, then I wouldn’t get any mail, then I’d get two pieces of mail, then I’d get 20 pieces of mail,” said Elissa Malespina, who lives on Massel Terrace, though she says she’s spoken to enough South Orange residents complaining of their mail service to conclude that the problem isn’t confined to her area. Malespina also said that she and her neighbors arrange to pick each other’s mail up when someone goes out of town, since they've previously requested a hold on the mail which then never goes into effect, and complaints to the post office fall on deaf ears.

Another South Orange woman—who asked to withhold her name for fear of retaliation by post office employees—said the quality of her service has worsened since the new routes went into effect in mid-February. The new carrier routinely throws the mail under the porch of her two-family home with no attempt to sort it or put it in mailboxes, she says, and her calls to supervisors have made no difference.

"There's very little question in my mind that it's not one person or entity—it is systemic," she said.

Postmaster Collins—who assumed her position at the end of 2008—says the 2 1/2 routes were eliminated to give carriers a full eight hours of work, and the changes should have nothing but a positive effect on service, since all of the 19 remaining routes now have a single carrier. Prior to Feb. 20, three of the routes were serviced by several carriers, who thus had less knowledge of the neighborhoods.

"It makes a big difference—if you have the same person delivering your mail every day," said Collins, who maintains that every piece of mail dropped off at the post office leaves it the very same day, and the post office is subject to surprise audits to ensure that the mails are moving smoothly.

As for criticisms about erratic delivery, Collins says that's simply the nature of mail volume—heavy on some days and light on others.

"That isn’t that there’s mail sitting somewhere, and the next day someone finds it," she said.