In an email sent to students Sept. 13, University Mail Services said it was opening a temporary mailroom in Speare Hall to accommodate the high number of incoming packages and to compensate for the construction at the mailroom at 716 Columbus Ave. But students are still experiencing delays in receiving their packages, leading to concern from students about their mail. 

The mailroom delays are especially worrying for students waiting on their mail-in ballots for the upcoming general election. Out-of-state students living on campus rely on the mailroom in order to receive their ballots and cast their vote in time for the election Nov. 5. 

The Speare Hall Mail Center remains open halfway through the semester, along with the Marino Mail Center and nine package locker locations, according to the University Mail Services website. 

According to University Mail Services’ website, as of Oct. 16, the mailrooms “are caught up to same day package processing now, after working [through] our challenges with the Boston USPS” and have “been caught up with all Mail sorting and delivery throughout the Fall.” The Sept. 13 email cited a Boston.com story detailing how USPS delays are causing disruptions across Boston. However, students say they are still experiencing delays in receiving their mail.

“Last year, there was definitely still a delay around move-in week, but once it got into October, there were never any delays,” said Jacob Benesch, a second-year combined data science and business administration major from Baltimore, in an Oct. 22 interview. “Now, there’s a two- to four-day processing time, which is definitely a bit shocking compared to last year.”

Benesch said that the mailroom took a couple of days to process his mail-in ballot.

“I ordered [my ballot] at the end of September, pretty early, because I knew that it would take a while,” Benesch said. 

University Mail Services said on its website that beginning Oct. 16, “Mail-In Ballots [are] now marked as Packages, so they receive higher visibility in your notifications.” During the 2022 midterm elections when ballots were processed as regular mail, many students had issues sending and receiving their ballots, preventing them from voting. Still, some students say they have not received their ballots and are worried they have been lost in the mailroom. 

Kody Keane, a first-year biochemistry major from Long Island, New York, has been waiting for his ballot for over a week since he was notified that it was delivered by University Mail Services. Keane said he has gone to the Marino mailroom twice since then to attempt to pick it up, and will go again on Nov. 4 in hopes of receiving his ballot. 

“I waited for more than 25 minutes both times, and the first time they said they couldn’t find it,” Keene said. “The email said ‘You have an envelope to pick up,’ and it says it’s a ballot. I go [back to Marino mail room], and the envelope they give me is a confirmation of a couple loans I took out. It was not the ballot,” Keane said.

Keane is concerned that he will not get his ballot in time to vote.

“I just think it’s super frustrating about how slow they are, and, I mean, if I was just to pick it up from a locker or something, I think that’d be a lot easier,” he said.

Other students have taken further measures to ensure they can vote. Aseanti Lee, a first-year in Northeastern’s Explore Program, planned a trip home to Brooklyn, New York, to pick up items she didn’t want University Mail Services to lose, including her ballot.

“I’m scared to have anything delivered or sent out because I’m worried it’s going to get lost,” Lee said.

Benesch lives in a Northeastern residence hall and depends on University Mail Services to receive important packages from his parents, such as credit cards. 

“They get shipped to me in about two to three days, but it takes longer for the mailroom to process them, and it really makes it unpredictable to know when I’m going to get access to these things,” Benesch said.

As of Oct. 23, Lee, who lives in Melvin Hall, had been waiting for a fridge from Target since early September. Target delivery services sent Lee a photo of the delivered fridge in the lobby of 716 Columbus Ave., but she never received a pick-up notice from University Mail Services. Upon further inquiry from Lee, both the Marino Mail Center and Speare Mail Center claimed her package was never received.  

“Anytime I went [to the mailroom] to try to get help, I’ve just been met with a lot of frustration on their end or their inability to actually do anything because all you can do is wait,” Lee said. “Honestly, I feel like [University Mail Services] just sent out statements to satisfy everybody who’s been angry about their packages.”