COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Neighbors in the North Linden neighborhood said the U.S. Postal Service is not delivering on its promises.

Multiple neighbors in recent weeks have told NBC4 Investigates that they typically receive mail two or three times per week but can sometimes go more than a week without a delivery.

USPS has been saying for months that post offices are understaffed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but all viewer complaints were directed at the same facility: the Oakland Park Post Office on Innis Road.

NBC4 Investigates uncovered a track record of delivery issues stemming from that post office which predates the pandemic.

When the mail carrier arrives on Manchester Avenue, Jeffrey Breitigan knows it.

“I have four little Dachshunds that live every day to watch that mailman come down this street and up this street, without fail,” Breitigan said. “And if they don’t come, they don’t bark”

Lately, the retired Army medic said his dogs have been awfully quiet.

“They’ve been delivering mail sporadically the last week, but we went for nine days without mail prior,” Breitigan said.

Breitigan gets medication in the mail through the Department of Veterans Affairs and said he’s come close to running out because of unreliable delivery.

“It is stressful! I’m a heart patient. I can’t just say, ‘Oh, my stomach will be upset for a couple days,’” he said. “It’s something I need.”

Breitigan has complained to USPS.

“It’s like a Xerox copy reply they give to everybody—’We’re aware of the problems we’re having…’ and this and that,” Breitigan said.

Randy and Pat DePuy live two doors down from Breitigan and have also complained about mail service. The DePuys said Monday afternoon they hadn’t received mail since the previous Monday.

“We get the thing that they call informed delivery, and it lets you know every day in your email what you’re supposed to be getting in the mail,” Randy DePuy said.

When the DePuys complained to the post office in person, an employee suggested they place a hold on their mail and pick it up on a later date.

“So we did that, and then a few days later we went back to get it, and the gal at the counter was real rude to us and said, ‘We’re not holding any mail!'” Randy said.

The DePuys returned to the post office Saturday and received a thick stack of mail, minus some items they said they were expecting.

“Some of those are from my Medicare provider, and another company that would be sending me a 1099 and some important stuff,” Randy said.

When asked about delivery issues stemming from the Oakland Park post office, a USPS spokesperson based in Cleveland replied with the following statement:

“The Postal Service is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers and we apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced. Local management is aware of delivery issues in Columbus and is taking steps to address the concerns. We appreciate the patience of our customers and the efforts of employees during challenging times.

Our workforce, like others, is not immune to the human impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload and we are proud of the efforts of postal employees as they define essential public service every day.

When mail service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns. We gladly work to address any specific issue from the community when brought to our attention and we encourage customers to reach out to their local postal station. Customers can also go to our website usps.com and click on “Contact us” at the bottom of our homepage, or utilize this direct web address: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Every email will be carefully documented, and appropriate action taken to strengthen service. In addition, the official Twitter account of the United States Postal Service, managed by the Social Media staff at USPS HQ, can provide help. For customer service, please tweet @USPSHelp. The Postal Service will diligently continue to investigate customer’s concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.”

United State Postal Service statement

When asked to elaborate on the steps being taken, the spokesperson replied, “As mentioned, we are flexing our resources to match the workload.”

The spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about what that meant.

“I know (the pandemic) is an added factor and a problem across the board – not just with the mail, but that doesn’t explain the 18 years prior,” said Breitigan, who has lived in his home for 20 years.

The USPS Inspector General’s website doesn’t have any Columbus-area audits dating back 18 years, but it does have one that pre-dates the pandemic. The Oakland Park post office was one of six in central Ohio that were audited in 2019.

The report reveals delayed mail deliveries that were going unreported. Auditors blamed the problems on inexperienced management and late arrivals to post offices from the distribution center.

While the delivery issues were not isolated to one post office in the report, Oakland Park received the most customer complaints during fiscal year 2018 of all the post offices that were audited.