I live on campus, and just recently moved into a new dorm this semester (single).

I switched my address and all that, and have been receiving my mail regularly and quickly over the past few weeks. I subscribed to Netflix, and have the movies delivered to my campus address. Last semester, I'd receive the movies promptly and could usually get at least 2-3 movies a week (if I watched them fast enough), now, my Netflix movies don't even make it to my new dorm.

Basically, I think the mail here is being cherry-picked before being put in the boxes. I've heard of issues with the new student run carrier system, so maybe I'm just being cynical. I changed my address with Netflix to another address across campus and they got the movies when they were supposed to be here. Just as a fun experiment, I sent the movie back using the US Mail slot in my new dorm. It's been over a week and a half and Netflix hasn't received the movie yet. They normally get it the next day... so I reported it missing.

Can anyone offer any advice to sorting this situation out without accusing anyone?

2/7/2008 9:18:02 PM

Uh oh -- I smell a felony.

2/7/2008 9:22:39 PM

i dunno, my mail always showed up like a month late in the dorms

2/7/2008 9:29:15 PM

order one and go sit by it and see where it goes

2/7/2008 9:33:54 PM

Well it is true the university mail system now takes longer to process your mail since USPS won't actually sort it for each dorm/section, but iirc the Netflix service in general starts to degrade and slowly take longer to send the movies if you watch more than whatever standard they come up with. There's a thread on it here somewhere.

2/7/2008 9:40:36 PM

^

Yea I had heard that, but I don't think it takes more than week to receive a movie? Plus, Netflix shows that I should have had the DVDs a while back (they email me when they ship).

I'm more concerned about how my outgoing mail hasn't been received. I mean just last week they received the items overnight (from another location on campus). It's been almost two weeks here, and they've received nothing

2/7/2008 9:44:01 PM

Then yeah it most likely got ganked. Every once in a while they lose them in the system, then send them out later. Hah, if you got a polite thief, they'll watch your movie, then send it back to Netflix for you.

2/7/2008 9:49:27 PM

dorm mail is really undependable, I would get shit (most of my mail) weeks or a month after it should have come or a neighbor/someone from upstairs would bring it to me because it wasn't put in my box. If i tried to mail something from the slot it would never show up or it would take 3X longer..

my advice for you at age 20 would be to move out of the dorms, this is just another thing on a long list of negatives when weighing dorms vs apartments

[Edited on February 7, 2008 at 10:14 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on February 7, 2008 at 10:14 PM. Reason : .]

2/7/2008 10:12:56 PM

Get a PO Box.

2/7/2008 11:03:02 PM

If you're living in the residence halls, you should bring this up with your RD or the Assistant Director for your hall. Be sure to share the details of your experiments with shipping from another address.

This is a serious crime, and if it's indeed as you suspect, chances are good that you're not the only person in the residence hall being victimized. Depending on where you live, most 24-hour desks have good surveillance cameras; I don't know how mail is being handled now, but there may be evidence on a security tape somewhere. At the very least the RD should know to be on the lookout for it in future.

2/7/2008 11:55:27 PM

I think you can get a post office box at the Post Office on Hillsborough Street, or just have your mail delivered and held there. That would solve your problem. But you should also take the advice in this thread and see what you can figure out. Good luck, let us know how it works out.

2/8/2008 12:03:02 AM

Even if you get a PO Box or go another route like that, please report it to your RD for the sake of everyone else who lives in the same residence hall. [/former RA and Housing guy]

2/8/2008 12:53:19 AM

Good advice everyone, thanks. I'll talk to the RD today, if possible and see if I can sort something out. I considered ordering some extra movies from Netflix and going to pick up my mail before it is distributed to the student carriers just to make sure.

2/8/2008 8:10:19 AM

oh those were your movies?

that is my bad

2/8/2008 9:00:07 AM

Quote :

"Uh oh -- I smell a felony."

and i have a question for you guys
i have what looks to be a semi important document delivered to my house to the people who lived here before me.
i havent opened it of course, but what should i do with it?
cody says i should just stick it back in the mail.
but will they take it?

2/8/2008 9:06:49 AM

tell the mail man they dont live there anymore. it will just get delivered back to the sender. happens to us all the time at work.

dont try to open it. specially if its important, you goin to jail b0'

[Edited on February 8, 2008 at 9:14 AM. Reason : ]

2/8/2008 9:14:32 AM

If you have a forwarding address and are really nice (ie willing to pay postage) you can send it along to them.

Otherwise write "NOT A RESIDENT" on the envelop and put it back in the box, presumably at that point it'll get returned to sender.

2/8/2008 9:15:52 AM

A P.O. box is great for regular mail. Mail theft is a major source of identity theft! Get your bank statements, credit card bills, other sensitive stuff sent to your P.O. box. Don't trust roommates with your sensitive mail either - my wife had a roommate who used my wife's credit card to order magazine subscriptions. What sucks is when online retailers don't use USPS, and you can't get them to send packages to your P.O. box. I've had UPS packages stolen right off my doorstep, luckily the seller sent a replacement free of charge. Sometimes you can call the retailer and they'll arrange to send it USPS.

2/8/2008 9:24:06 AM

Quote :

"but iirc the Netflix service in general starts to degrade and slowly take longer to send the movies if you watch more than whatever standard they come up with. There's a thread on it here somewhere."

i haven't heard this from netflix users i know. a guy i work with has watched 2-3 per week for over a year with no delays.

on topic though, definitely mention something to your rd. post office box sounds like a good idea if your problem never gets solved. good luck!

2/8/2008 10:33:31 AM

you can get boxes at UPS stores that anyone will deliver too. I deliver fedex every now and then to my dad and always have to stop there. Kinda ironic.

2/8/2008 10:39:31 AM

i know it kinda defeats the purpose of pre-paid shipping, but could you just buy some of those bubble envelopes from target and cut and paste the address from the netflix envelope onto that? might not look so conspicuous. i don't know their policy on returning dvds, but a little camouflage might trick a thief who's looking for square red envelopes. just a thought.

2/8/2008 10:46:09 AM

A little OT, but I bought a directv dvr on eBay a while back, which shipped UPS. UPS driver normally leaves packages in the office at my apartment complex if nobody is around to answer the door. He decided to leave it right outside my door on the ground floor where everybody walks by. It wasn't just a brown box, it was the nice colorful retail box you'd see in a store. I was kinda pissed about it, but at least it was still sitting there when I got back.

2/8/2008 12:53:30 PM

Quote :

"If you're living in the residence halls, you should bring this up with your RD or the Assistant Director for your hall. Be sure to share the details of your experiments with shipping from another address. This is a serious crime, and if it's indeed as you suspect, chances are good that you're not the only person in the residence hall being victimized. Depending on where you live, most 24-hour desks have good surveillance cameras; I don't know how mail is being handled now, but there may be evidence on a security tape somewhere. At the very least the RD should know to be on the lookout for it in future."

2/8/2008 4:40:11 PM

^^ yeah its the same here usps leaves it at the front office with a notice, ups will leave it right on your door without asking if they can (at my old place the ups left a note to ask what you wanted to do with it).

2/12/2008 4:43:11 AM

UPS sucks for security i think they need a form with delivery instructions such as hide in the large blueberry bush

2/12/2008 6:25:50 AM

If I know i'm getting something expensive I just work from home (not everyone has that option I know), or leave a note on the door telling them to NOT leave it at the door bringi t back later, or take it down to the office (with hours beside of when they can do that).

It helps.

Except when the UPS guys litterally throw book boxes down without even knocking or getting within arms length of my door.

Shame more places wont use FedEx, they're usually a lot more polite at least in my area.

2/12/2008 8:37:50 AM

dude, I work at your 24 hour desk. this was brought up at our meeting.

We're not stealing your mail. Make sure Netflix has your new address. And check with the 24 hour desk for your old dorm. I'm sorry we can't help you. we only process the mail we receive.

2/12/2008 8:41:18 AM

sounds defensive. he must be the one taking all the movies

2/12/2008 9:47:50 AM

I live in Sullivan and get Netflix (3-a-time), it usually takes me +1 day to receive the movie.

So if Netflix says its arriving on Monday, I will get it Tuesday. And I never get movies on Saturday.

But 2 movies have mysteriously disappeared in the process.

2/12/2008 11:45:47 AM

Quote :

"dude, I work at your 24 hour desk. this was brought up at our meeting. We're not stealing your mail. Make sure Netflix has your new address. And check with the 24 hour desk for your old dorm. I'm sorry we can't help you. we only process the mail we receive."

lol

the plot thickens

2/12/2008 11:59:08 AM

^^^^ I don't really know how you internal mail handling works, but do you really think someone is just going to fess up to stealing movies like this.

A question for the insiders: Are there any safeguards in place to prevent this sort of shit? Frankly, I'm a little disappointed that the USPS will just turn over mail to non-USPS employees and assume that the mail will get to were it's supposed to go.

[Edited on February 12, 2008 at 11:59 AM. Reason : not enough ^s]

2/12/2008 11:59:48 AM

^as far as the post office is concerned . . . they are delievering it to the university since the boxes are university PO boxes. So all they do is deliver it to the university mail people who then take care of getting it to the individual people. It is no different than the post office delivering your work mail to your place of business and then someone in the office taking care of the mail internally.

2/12/2008 9:59:47 PM

USPS -> University Mail -> 24 Hour Desk

if it's getting lost, it's University Mail, not the desk 99.9% of the time.

2/12/2008 10:07:00 PM

Quote :

"Uh oh -- I smell a felony."

This would not be unheard of with University Housing. Sad, but true. With the management they have, this would not be surprising at all.

2/12/2008 10:32:23 PM

Yo chembob, did you get me that copy of Bourne Supremecy yet? The deal is off if I can't get it by Friday night.

2/13/2008 1:53:46 AM