CONYERS, Ga. — Update: Maria Bedoya said that after this story was published, her package was found. It arrived at the passport office on March 25. See below for the original article.
Original story:
The fallout from postal problems in metro Atlanta continues almost a month after a new United States Postal Service processing facility opened in Palmetto.
Maria Bedoya of Conyers said she saw 11Alive’s "Postal Problems" reports and immediately reached out to share her frustrating experience as she works to get her husband’s passport renewed.
Bedoya said at the end of February, they went to the post office in Conyers off Highway 138 to drop off her husband’s documents.
“We even used one of their own envelopes to send off the documents,” she explained.
Bedoya said she also requested a tracking number, knowing that all her husband’s original documents were in the envelope along with his expired passport.
She said that after about a week, the envelope was still showing that it hadn’t left the post office in Conyers, so she went back to the post office to figure out what was going on.
Bedoya said she kept getting the runaround.
“They think here in Conyers that they’re getting 50 people a day with the same issues that it makes any difference to me; I said I don’t care about the other 49 people, I hope they get their stuff done, but I’m worried about my case,” Bedoya explained, adding, “That doesn’t fly with me.”
Bedoya said after several days of showing up every day, the Conyers post office started passing the buck to the new processing facility.
“We have a problem with our warehouse, our new facility in Palmetto,” she said.
Bedoya said that while that is the USPS’ problem, they’re worried her husband’s original documents will be gone forever.
As far as what happens if USPS did lose their package, Bedoya explained, “He has to report it stolen to the passport center. Then, he has to reapply for naturalization, just like when he did 40 years ago, when he came to this country 50 years ago, and wait about a year and pay over $1,000 for that application. In the meantime, he has nothing.”
Bedoya said she’s worried because all of her husband’s family lives outside the US, and if something would happen to them, she doesn’t know if her husband could even go visit because he doesn’t have a passport. She said she’s worried he wouldn’t be able to get back in the country.
Bedoya did share an email she received from USPS Customer Support. In the email, USPS acknowledged, "We apologize for not responding sooner, as we have experienced an overwhelming number of customer inquiries as a result of the extraordinary package volume."
It went on to say, "We have attempted to locate the envelope with the tracking number you have provided, and we were not successful in doing so."
The email states there may be a chance her envelope wasn't scanned when it was sorted, stating, "Due to high volume of envelopes coming in addressed to the Passport Agency, some of the envelopes get sorted into the bin designated for the passport agency before there is a delivery scan ruing the automated sorting process."
Bedoya said she's also been following up with the Passport Agency, which confirmed they've not received her husband's passport renewal application.
11Alive has reached out to USPS every single day – working to get you answers, to figure out what is going on – and how they plan to fix it.
We received this new statement today:
"Operations are improving as we continue to make significant investments in the Atlanta area, including new sorting machines, upgraded facilities and more efficient transportation, that will help ensure our organization can provide reliable delivery services for years to come."
Bedoya is hoping USPS will track down her package and return her husband’s documents.
Those experiencing delays or who have not received mail can contact the newsroom with your concerns as we continue to cover this story. Fill out our online form below, and someone from our news team will follow up with you.