PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth couple are wondering what will show up in their mailbox today — if anything. They tell us sometimes they get other people’s mail, and their mail ends up over on the next street.

Roger and Robin Evans have the service known as Informed Delivery that sends you an image of your mail when it’s supposed to be delivered, and those images are not matching what’s showing up in their mailbox.

“Oh, God, it’s been going on for years and years and years,” Roger Evans said in a Friday morning interview at his home on Wright Road in Churchland.

He said his mail often goes somewhere, and instead he gets someone else’s.

“The guy on the other street, I took his mail back to him,” he said.

It’s been costing the Evanses inconvenience, but lately, it’s costing them money, too.
Among the images on the Informed Delivery updates they got was a $500 check from an insurance company.

“Five hundred bucks, that money comes in handy,” he said. “Yes, it does, when I’ve been on social security for 35 years. I already had plans for the money to pay off stuff. Oh well, they had to take less this month and I still ain’t got that check.”

The US Postal Service responded promptly to our inquiry on behalf of the Evanses Friday afternoon.

“The Postal Service attempts to deliver mail as accurately and quickly as possible,” a spokesman wrote. “Now that this matter has been brought to our attention, local postal management will closely monitor the route to ensure customers are receiving mail intended for their address. Customers with questions about their mail delivery can contact their local Post Office or call 1-800-ASK-USPS.”

Roger Evans fears the check got lost — along with what he sees was a closer relationship with mail carriers from days gone by.

“Back when we were young, we knew our postal carriers real good, known by name. This is doggone ridiculous.”

10 On Your Side found out the Informed Delivery images are not created locally, but in Richmond, where all our mail goes before it gets delivered here in Hampton Roads. USPS encourages customers to sign up for the free service.