WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Eric Goertz works from home and said he was surprised by what showed up on his doorstep during a down pour. A soggy priority mail package was left in a puddle. Goertz took cell phone video of the soaked delivery.
"Yesterday I was on the phone," Goertz recalled. "It was like midday and I heard like a light wrapping at my door. I walk over here to the door and I open the door not ten seconds after I hear that faint knock. I open the door and the package is like submerged in water."
Goertz's video also shows him heading towards his mail carrier's van. He said he wanted to ask her why the delivery was left in standing water.
"I caught her red handed I don't know what the thought process was leaving a package in standing water other than like I don't care," Goertz detailed. "I ran over there and I got the plate and she must have saw me, because as soon as she saw me come up she like starts the car up and gasses it."
Goertz said he wants to ensure this doesn't happen again to him or anyone else. He also recommends everyone buy insurance.
"Had I come home at 5:30 like everybody else I don't know, it would have been floating down you know Okeechobee by now."
Newschannel 5 spoke with the United State Postal Service about Goertz's delivery. USPS apologized to Goertz face to face and sent us this statement:
" Postal employees take great pride in their work delivering for the American public. A mishandled package is unacceptable and does not reflect the careful efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers and clerks in our workforce. The Postal Service takes the customer’s complaint very seriously and a full, robust investigation is underway. We have apologized to the customer and have addressed it with our employee.
The Postal Service is committed to providing outstanding service to its customers. This incident was unfortunate – but the vast majority of the more than four billion packages shipped using the U.S. Postal Service each year arrive swiftly, safely and intact."
--- Debra Fetterly, USPS Spokesperson, South Florida District