"Haven't been able to talk to a live USPS person yet". They don't exist.There are no active brain cells at your local USPS office,or mine for that matter.D*

 

Well, come on down, the local Post Office is very helpful, alive, and has more working brain cells than say, you're average internet poster (no, I don't work for them, or have relatives/friends there ).

My guess is that there's a problem with the address as written, but it's impossible to know without seeing the envelope.

 

USPS has become innovative in recent times in its screw-up methods. In my publishing biz & otherwise, I've been using USPS since 1950s and back in the day very reliable. In last five years I've had more USPS foul-ups EACH YEAR than in the previous 50 years. There are reasons for it, mostly due to competition from email, FedEx, UPS, etc. , forced economies, pressure on personnel & other. Locally, at least once a week I get someone else's mail in my PO box & or at home -- & evidence of my mail going to others.

USPS here, old timers on the counter, we've known each other for 30 years & I get all kinds of cooperation but their reach is limited.

OTOH, sign of the times, nothing works as well now as in memory lane.

 

They did the same thing to me once. Turned out there was not enough postage on the box. The address was not undeliverable. That's just how they categorized it.

 

If you take the time to get through the phone system, you will finally be able to talk with someone that will start a claim (it takes a long time and is a pain). Once a claim is started, in a few days someone "should" contact you from the local PO. However, it is going to be easier for the recipient to go down to the local PO and handle the issue. The local post master are usually very helpful, it is just they have a problem getting communication of problems. The PO sends a lot of mail. Good luck.

 

This may not ease your angst, but USPS has routed packages and envelopes that were sent priority/tracking from CA to FL then up to Chicago, Kansas City, down to Lubbock and down and over to Abilene before it made it to our local Post Office. Twice along the way the tracking information simply stopped existing, then it picked up again when it hit our town.

Convoluted to be sure and they have codes that can be interpreted in 4 differing ways :undeliverable, no such address, etc etc.... I'd say if the recipient has the tracking number maybe he can visit the local PO and intercept the envelope? We have a very small town and PO but they have been great in figuring out what happened to a wayward parcel.

 

Had that happen a few months back. My PO got right on it via email with the end PO and it was straightened out while I was standing there. It had been scanned into a lower priority batch. Everything that goes thru the PO now is tracked, we can't see it but the PO can if you keep your receipt.

 

Take the time to go down to your local PO & speak to somebody there. Request a higher-up if necessary.
While you're at it, get somebody to cut loose with an internal phone number you can call in case of future problems.

The general phone system will play games with you all day long, get a direct number that goes inside your own PO.
I did that a while back & when I call nowdays I can get a live body who's local & who at least does try to help.
Denis

 

With a little detective work, you can speak with the Mail Man/Woman/Person who's route it is ( that the address of the now 'undeliverable' Letter is in ).

Do some 'googles' for the Sub Station for the Addressee's Zip Code...call them around 4:45 PM and ask for the Letter Carrier for the route which has that Address.

If you can get with him/her/it, you can get it straightened out.

The Letter may have got torn or had something spill on it and blurr the address or there is some confusion interpreting the handwriting, or who knows.

Or you can have them 'hold' the Letter for the Addressee to come and pick up personally.

 

I recently purchased a Colt catalog from a seller on eBay. Two weeks went by after the sale and payment and I still didn't have it. I questioned the seller and he said it was shipped but did not give me a tracking number. Eventually, he refunded the purchase price. TWO MONTHS after it was shipped it showed up at my door. The address was correct and perfectly legible. It had been shipped first class with tracking. An attempt to track the package using the USPS web site revealed only that it had been delivered, no other information was available.
I have to say that my experiences with USPS are almost always favorable; however, this does happen once in a while. In the last several years, they have lost two packages that I shipped. In the first case, I didn't insure the package and so lost out completely. The second time was after USPS instituted free insurance up to $50 on priority mail packages. To my surprise, I was sent a check for $50 pretty quickly after the report of loss was made.

- - - -Buckspen

 

The USPS website has the local post office phone numbers for any location, but its not intuative.

Click on this link and enter the zip code of the post office you are looking for:

https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input.action

When the locations come up, click on the name of the post office. You will then see a local phone number

 

I could never find a local number in their system.
If it's there, great.
Use it.
Denis

 

I don't know if it applies in this case, but I almost always print labels or run envelopes through my printer when sending mail now. From what I understand, most mail is first sorted by an optical scanner that looks for a clear zip code, and other address information. If it cannot read the address, then that piece is set aside for manual sorting, which adds a step and increases the chance of a mis-sort. Handwriting (especially bad handwriting, "stylized" numbers, or other non-standard markings) can throw the machines off. Yes, it will then go to manual sort, but those employees have to quickly sort hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces a day. At most they will have a couple seconds to read your envelope. Is it 90496? Or 40998? Next...

 

I print all the time, and my writing is pretty clear for a scanner, but where I am currently, I don't know if the USPS employees can read or not! I have had multiple problems with them and I try to have vendors ship by UPS so I can track it myself and have it held at the terminal for me to pick up. I know UPS has their problems, but they do tend to have better service!

 

WWYS, I might add that if, for some reason, the addressee's apartment/condo number was missing or obliterated this will likely make it undeliverable as addressed (UAA, in postal terms) and returned to the sender. As far as the delivery scan that showed the mail piece delivered on June 16 at 4:26 PM, this was likely an error on the letter carrier's part. Carriers sometimes make mistakes when in a hurry and this could well be the case here. 4:26 PM is a rather late time for carriers to still be out on the route. He/she likely returned to the PO too late in the day to have the piece returned in the afternoon/evening dispatch and left it to be worked the next day. The correct reason then would have been written or stickered on the mail piece and it would have been re-scanned with the appropriate reason for non-delivery.

When you get the mail piece back, check to see what is written on the front. It should have the reason written on it or have some sort of sticker with a brief explanation. If this still doesn't resolve it, do go to the PO where you mailed it and ask to speak with a Supervisor or the Postmaster. The front window clerks likely will not be able to help and they are often too busy handle a lengthy investigation and explanation.

I saw this happen numerous times in the 10 years I worked for the USPS.