DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A Midway business owner received a big surprise letter in his mailbox. It was something she didn't realize she'd been missing for years.
“I run a business here. I'm busy. I don't have to wonder if what I say will get through,” said Deborah Henderson, owner of Midway Screen Printing.
She and her husband have been printing and pressing logos for over seven years.
“As a small business, it takes a lot of work to keep going, so small interruptions like this don't help,” Henderson said.
She has noticed several times since 2022 that she has not received a statement from First National Bank, but she always receives calls from her banker.
“She'll say, 'Deborah, you're never late,'” Henderson said. “Your payment is past due. What's wrong?” Henderson said. “I always tell her I didn't receive her statement and she says, 'I'm sorry.' She received it in the mail and said, “…then we will process it right away.''
She also realized a while ago that she forgot the customer check.
“We received all payments except for the one to Salisbury. The woman had to cancel the check and actually drive up here to pay us,” Henderson said.
When my husband opened his mailbox on Monday morning, it was filled with mail.
“We just thought we had mail for everyone in the shopping center, but when we put the mail in here we realized it was all for us,” Henderson said. said.
Most of them were junk items. Henderson found the 2023 calendar and the catalogs she needed to purchase apparel. In her library, she found the missing bank statement.
“I have tickets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 dating from January of this year to June of 2022 and I have never received them,” Henderson said.
She also found a customer check.
That morning, she went out to the mailbox to ask the mailman what was going on. She said she found her mail stuffed into other boxes. He sat down and sorted it out, thinking that perhaps the submarine was in disarray.
The mailman did not know where his mail was hiding and how it got into the box.
“We want to know where this is being stored,” Henderson said. “Is there a special box for Midway screen printing somewhere?”
For a moment, Henderson thought it might have been delivered to someone across the street.
“She hasn't kept the mail in two years. She knows us. She would have called,” Henderson said.
Even though the mail was returned, her heart still felt restless.
“I'm wondering what else is out there and what would happen if it got into the wrong hands. Then they would get my personal information,” Henderson said.
FOX8 reached out to the U.S. Postal Service. Mr. Henderson also contacted them and filed a complaint.
A USPS spokesperson issued the following statement:
For the Postal Service, each piece of mail is important. Cluster Box Unit (CBU) labels became illegible over time, resulting in mail being mistakenly delivered to empty store mailboxes. When we became aware of this issue, the carrier delivered the mail to the correct mailbox. We have already taken steps to ensure CBUs are properly labeled and postal management has asked business owners for an explanation and apology. If you have any questions about shipping, please contact your local post office.
FOX8 asked for further clarification on where the mail was found before the carrier sorted it, but did not receive a response.
