PO Box service canceled for hundreds in Palm Springs
Upset customers at the Place of Healing store and private P.O. box in Palm Springs found their boxes empty. Many of them took pictures of a notice taped to the wall saying the United States Postal Service stopped delivering their mail to this business.
Some of these customers have had P.O. boxes for personal or business use here for more than 25 years.
“All of my family, friends, and people I do business with, this has been my address to over 30 years and even if you move around that address at least was a constant,” said Mitch Spike.
Amiee Wyant said she bought the business four months ago from a man named William Eir and. Wyant changed the name to the Place of Healing Store and planned on having P.O. boxes and sell holistic medicine. Wyant says the mail was no longer being delivered because she was deceived by the previous owner and misinformed by USPS.
“I am sorry. This affects me just as much as [my customers] and this is not my intention. Had I known, we would have never even thought about this, I didn’t know. I was lied to by several people,” Wyant said.
Wyant says she was told before she bought the business that she would not have to be a contracted postal unit in order to keep the mail being delivered to the P.O. boxes.
“I was told that we would not have to have a contract with the post office to have the mail to the boxes, because they are private mail boxes. I can charge whatever I want, and do what ever, because they are not post office boxes. I was told this by the previous owner and two [postal service] supervisors,” Wyant said.
Wyant also claims the previous owner took money for rent on people’s P.O. boxes.
Now these people want their money back and Wyant doesn’t have it.
“It has turned my life upside down. Every day I have been here, I have had someone yell at me, they have called me stupid, I have had people flip me off, I have had people call me a liar. I have had people tell me that I stealing their stuff,” Wyant said.
We tried to contact the previous owner, William Eir, but the phone number we dialed had been deactivated.
The Palm Springs postmaster, told KESQ & CBS Local 2 that Wyant refused to renew the contract the previous owner had in place. Customers have until Sept. 20th to go to the main Palm Springs Post Office, and submit a change of address form. If they do not fill out a form their mail will be returned to sender.
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