Ombudsman clears up USPS address confusion for father and son

A building on West Monument Avenue that houses the Dayton-Montgomery County ombudsman's offices. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

A building on West Monument Avenue that houses the Dayton-Montgomery County ombudsman's offices. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

Editor’s note: The Dayton Ombudsman Office provides weekly columns to the Dayton Daily News to bring awareness to issues it sees in the community.

A man contacted the Ombudsman for assistance with a problem with the United States Postal Service. The man moved from one municipality in Montgomery County to another. The man had his mail forwarded to his new address; however, he was also receiving his father’s mail. The man had been living with his father prior to his move. The USPS explained to him that because the first three letters of his first name and his father’s name were the same, the equipment reads this as the same person. He was told they could not fix the problem, and the man turned to the Ombudsman for help.

A volunteer Ombudsman assisted in the resolution of this case. He persisted in contacting numbers at the USPS until he found a staff person who could offer a way to resolve the problem. The instructions were to request that the post office from whose service area the man moved submit a form which would cancel the forwarding request, and the mail for the two men will be sorted by hand. The form was submitted, and both father and son then received their mail. The man was pleased and grateful for the resolution.

The Ombudsman Column, a production of the Joint Office of Citizens’ Complaints, summarizes selected problems that citizens have had with government services, schools and nursing homes in the Dayton area. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to us at 11 W. Monument Ave., Suite 606, Dayton 45402, call 937-223- 4613, or by electronic mail at ombudsman@dayton-ombudsman.org.

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