Mail Service

The superb postal service experienced by Diana Magrann of La Palma (letter, Jan. 18) is different from mine. Just this month I have had three instances of unacceptable service. Two out of six letters sent by priority mail from Sierra Madre were mishandled. It took three days for one to arrive in nearby Glendale. The other, sent to neighboring Arcadia, was returned, marked “no such address”; the address does exist and it was correct on the envelope. The third instance of poor service was a letter sent regular mail from Tiburon, Calif., on Oct. 23 and received Jan. 8.

This seems like an outbreak of incompetence, perhaps because of the holidays and illnesses. Let’s hope this rash of unsatisfactory service doesn’t become epidemic.

JACQUELINE D. KNOWLES

Sierra Madre

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Magrann obviously doesn’t live in Santa Monica. Our daily mail arrives any time between 1 and 6 p.m. Magazines and newspapers are a few days to as much as a month late in arriving. A postcard appointment reminder from our dentist took five days to get here based on the local postmark. I will agree that priority mail delivery is prompt. At a minimum cost of $3.20, it should be!

WILLIAM F. SHARPE

Santa Monica