Mail delivery is a La Poste service to which everyone is entitled. But a resident of Marseille learned that it was completely normal to not receive anything for 2 years…
Mail delivery is a service that we often take for granted. However, a Marseille resident learned the hard way that his mail delivery could be interrupted overnight. For two years, this 49-year-old from Marseillais, sick and disabled, has simply not received a single letter.
Asked by France Blue Provence, Jérôme Généreau confides that he has never had a distribution problem before. A change in portal and access to one’s mailbox may have caused the problem, although mail continued to be delivered in the following days before abruptly stopping.
This interruption of service is not without consequences and raises questions about the limits of postal services and the rights and remedies of users in such situations. According to La Poste’s general conditions, the commitment to deliver mail is not without limits. Reasons for non-distribution include:
- “shipments whose address is inaccurate, imprecise, incomplete”,
- “sends whose recipient or mailbox cannot be found or inaccessible”,
- “shipments of which the recipient refuses to take delivery”,
- “unclaimed items whose sender cannot be identified”.
In the case of Jérôme Généreau, the management of La Poste finally explained to France Bleu that his postwoman had had “two accidents” on the stony path leading to his home. Thus, it appears that accessibility was a key factor in the decision to cease distribution.
The presence of a compliant and accessible mailbox is therefore essential for La Poste to be able to honor its delivery obligation. The company specifies that it must be “located at the entrance to the property, on the edge of the road open to public traffic, ensuring the safety of shipments and the speed of distribution”. “In collective buildings, distribution is carried out in a mailbox installed at the entrance or in a space located at an accessible level and free of access for the distribution attendant,” we can read.
The absence or inaccessibility of a mailbox, but also the lack of “nominative information or a number” can relieve postmen of their mission.
If consumers face distribution problems, there are several options. The first step is to contact the La Poste Consumer Service for a complaint. In case of dissatisfaction, users can turn to the DGCCRF to obtain information about their rights and possible avenues of appeal. The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution (ARCEP) also offers an area to report malfunctions.
Know before getting to this point that undeliverable mail is most often returned to the sender when possible. Otherwise, they are sent to the La Poste Mail Customer Service, located in Libourne. Postal workers go through nearly 20,000 lost letters per day, which they are authorized to open in order to find the recipient or sender. In the event of failure, the letters will be kept for at least three months and may be delivered upon payment of a retention fee.