‘It was an expensive dress that they just threw away’: Post office trashes package with woman’s bridal shower dress

NASHVILLE (WSMV/Gray News) - An East Nashville woman said she ordered a bridal dress online, but it was never delivered. She found out the post office near her threw it out.

“I told them I was going to go to the news, and they said, ‘Ok, cool. Have a nice day,’” Kristin Lattrel said.

She’s lived in the same East Nashville home with the bright orange door for seven years. It’s a house that’s hard to miss, but she said this month she’s missed multiple packages from the U.S. Postal Service. They either got delivered to addresses in other cities or she gets incorrect mail in her own box.

“And the final straw was I ordered a dress for my upcoming bridal shower, and for some reason it was under ‘undeliverable’ even though I got mail that day,” Lattrel said. “It was an expensive dress that they just threw away. I could get no one to talk to me.”

Lattrel said the problem stems from the post office on Woodland Street. She said she went there to talk with a manager, but with no luck, she filed claims.

“You trust that your packages are going to be delivered, and then they don’t,” she said. “And then you have to spend ... you know it’s a full-time job tracking them down.”

Lattrel made multiple claims on the dress package but never got a clear answer from the postal service. They did say in an email the package was disposed at the post office per instructions from the shipper.

The U.S. Postal Service said in a statement: “All mail and packages deserve proper care and handling as they move through our system. Postal officials conducted a thorough review and determined that proper procedures were followed in the handling of this package. The Postal Service had been in contact with the customer directly in an attempt to reach a resolution. We remain committed to providing our customers with the outstanding service they deserve and expect from the Postal Service.”

For Lattrel, the responses she continues to get doesn’t sit well.

“What if you’re waiting on a check or medication or something really important that you are trusting the post office to get to you?” she asked.

At this point, she said she came to her own resolution.

“I stopped having my packages delivered here,” Lattrel said. “I have them sent to another person’s house and just, no one can help me. I feel like they don’t take responsibility for anything.”

The post office said the sender of the package did not pay forwarding costs, and the post office was instructed to dispose of it. Their advice for customers is to make sure companies pay those up front.

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