PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A Portsmouth woman who spent more than a month unable to access her mailbox finally has her mail again after a News 3 report helped move her case forward.
Unique Reid lost both keys to her apartment mailbox in early December. What followed, she said, was weeks of frustration as she tried to get her mail and replacement keys through the post office.
“I wasn’t getting nowhere,” Reid said.
Reid told Portsmouth reporter Kamilah Williams that she called the post office customer service line and visited the local post office multiple times, asking for help retrieving her mail and obtaining new keys.
She said she also requested to have her mail placed on hold and reached out to Sen. Mark Warner’s office for assistance.
Despite those efforts, Reid said her mail delivery remained inconsistent.
“First, they said they had my mail. They were giving it to me,” Reid said. “Then all of a sudden my mail stopped. They kept telling me they ain’t have my mail no more.”
After News 3 aired Reid’s story on Sunday, she said her situation quickly began to change.
By Monday, Reid said her mail carrier went out of his way to deliver her accumulated mail.
“The mailman was nice enough to drive out his way in his personal car, and bring me all my mail, and went and pulled it out the mailbox,” Reid said.
Just a day later, Reid received replacement keys, restoring her access to her mailbox.
Reid believes sharing her story publicly made a difference.
She said without the News 3 report, she may have waited months, or even up to a year, to get the issue resolved.
“Channel 3 helped, and Mark Warner helped,” Reid said. “I wasn’t getting anywhere with the post office. It was just a waste of time.”
Now that she has her keys, Reid says she’s relieved to finally have access to important mail, including bills and personal documents.
She also has advice for others facing similar issues.
“If you’re in the same situation I’m in, don’t keep going to the post office because it’s not gonna get nowhere,” Reid said. “Contact Channel 3, and you’ll get your issue resolved and taken care of.”
