There’s always a bit of excitement checking your mail today to find new packages or letters that you were expecting, even if most of us wish we got fewer junk mail pieces and a lot less bills in the mail, too.

And while the ability to track packages and envelopes today is far more advanced (and far more accurate) than ever before, the truth of the matter is the tracking details we receive from the United States Postal Service is not always “tuned in”.

Plenty of people report that they didn’t receive package from USPS when they were told that it was delivered, that they are dealing with a USPS package never arrived situation, and that the post office lost packages that they either sent out to someone else or that they were expecting each and every day.

To be fair, though, these kinds of unfortunate situations are bound to happen when the USPS is responsible for processing and delivering just north of 182 million pieces of first-class mail alone – every single day.

Thankfully though, if you are dealing with a USPS lost package or if you have received tracking information that says the package was delivered when it has not yet hit your doorstep or your mailbox you have a couple of options available.

Below we dig a little bit deeper into those options, helping you to troubleshoot the issue on your own and with the help of USPS to make sure that your packages reach their final destination just as quickly as possible.

Let’s get right into it!

What Do I Do If USPS Says Delivered But No Package?

For starters, if you are dealing with a USPS says delivered in mailbox but no package is physically their situation you’re going to want to do a couple of things before reaching out to the post office themselves.

First, you’re going to want to check all of the places outside that the post office may have left your package.

A lot of times packages can be delivered by someone on your mail route that isn’t the “regular” mail delivery person, and they may not know that your packages should be left next to the garage, on your front steps, just below your mailbox, etc. the way that your regular mail delivery person takes care of things.

Plenty of people find that even though USPS tracking says delivered but no package was found in their mailbox it’s only because the package itself was left at another doorstep, in the bushes, or set somewhere that they weren’t expecting.

It’s always a good idea to check no matter what.

From there, you’re going to want to check the current status of that package that you are expecting.

This can be done by jumping on the USPS website directly and punching in your tracking information, searching your tracking code right through Google, or investigating your Informed Delivery dashboard (provided by the USPS) if you have signed up for that free service – which is highly recommended, by the way.

This is just to confirm that your tracking is 100% up-to-date and that it definitely says that the package has been delivered, not that it is in transit or out for delivery but that it has actually been delivered and isn’t physically there just yet.

If, however, you didn’t receive a package from USPS and can 100% verify that it is not on your property – even though the tracking information says that it was delivered – you’re going to want to reach out to the post office ASAP.

Who Do I Call If My Mail Is Not Being Delivered?

The next piece of the puzzle here is to contact your local post office directly.

While the USPS provides a customer service hotline that you can contact in the event of missing mail or missing packages (You can reach the USPS Customer Care Center Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 8:30 PM and on Saturday 8 AM to 6 PM EST at 1-800-275-8777), the fastest way to get help is to simply call the post office in your town or the closest post office to you physically.

This is the kind of information you’ll find with a quick Google search or you can pop open a phonebook if you still have one of those laying around.

After getting the number for your local post office you want to place a call just as soon as possible and speak to the head postmaster or the manager that is on duty at that particular point in time.

Explain to that individual that you’re dealing with a USPS missing package that says delivered on the tracking information and that you’d like to be updated about what to do next.

They are always going to ask you to confirm that the USPS package never arrived and then they are going to ask for your tracking information so that they can run it through their system as well. Once confirming that the USPS package never arrived or that the post office lost package and deliveries you were expecting they’ll then contact the person dispatched on your mail route to find out what is going on.

Most of the time the officials at the post office will request a contact number to reach you at so that they can call you back and let you know what they have discovered, and often they will be able to get back to you inside of just a few moments.

Some might even be able to reach out to the mail carrier directly while putting you on hold, helping to eliminate a bit of the phone tag situations that can pop up when you’re dealing with USPS lost package issues.

Can USPS Find A Lost Package?

The United States Postal Service will do absolutely everything they can to help find missing mail USPS individuals were responsible for delivering the first place.

If after contacting the mail carrier directly and they say that they either do not have the package inside of the vehicle or that they delivered the package to you already and that it is now missing an investigation will begin.

You’ll be asked to wait seven days from the expected delivery date to start an official Missing Mail Case, but as soon as that timeline has passed you can reach out directly to the USPS through the Find Missing Mail section of their website or by going to MissingMail.USPS.com and punching in your tracking information.

This gets the postal inspectors working on finding the mail that you are missing, which usually involves an in person search of every step of that package or parcel from the time that it was sent out through transit and to the time that it was supposed to be delivered to you.

The overwhelming majority of missing mail situations usually involve packages or parcels that were scanned but not put on the vehicles for delivery, that “slip through the cracks” and just weren’t delivered on time, or that simply were overlooked or not delivered in a timely manner for one reason or another.

Some instances of postal theft also happen every year, but it’s important to understand that postal theft is always a federal offense and you have a lot of opportunity for recourse in those kinds of situations, too.

USPS Missing Mail Search

As highlighted above, the MissingMail.USPS.com website is where you’ll want to go if seven days have passed from the day that your mail was supposed to be delivered and it has not arrived yet.

The missing mail USPS website should also only be taken advantage of after you contact your post office directly to see if they can help you, as they might be able to expedite things before that seven-day window has eclipsed.

When you get to the USPS Missing Mail Search section of the site, though, you’ll be asked to provide the following details:

• The tracking number for the package or parcel that is missing, as well as any additional barcodes that can include insurance details
• The date that the parcel was sent out
• The type of mail service that was taken advantage of (first-class, priority mail, etc.)
• And details regarding where the missing mail should be sent if it is recovered

You also be asked to best describe the mail that is missing, giving the inspectors and investigators as much information as possible to hopefully find the things that you are after.

Finally, you’ll have to accept two different disclaimers and terms of conditions before your Missing Mail USPS form is officially submitted – but that’s only going to take a couple of seconds and you are off to the races.

Why Am I Not Getting My Mail From The Post Office?

There are a couple of different reasons you might not be getting mail delivered to your home, some of them wholly dependent on the people responsible for transporting and delivering your mail and some of them that they lie on your shoulders or the sender’s shoulders, too.

As we highlighted above, more than 182 million pieces of First Class mail are processed and delivered by the United States Postal Service each and every single day.

That’s a lot of mail and a lot of packages moving around the country, and while the USPS is a lot more efficient and it ever used to be anytime you’re talking about those kinds of quantities there’s the potential for something to get lost in the shuffle a little bit.

Sometimes mail pieces fall off transportation vehicles, sometimes they fall off of conveyor belts, sometimes they are sorted into the wrong delivery schedules – there’s a bunch of different reasons why your mail may not be delivered on time.

At the same time, you may have provided inaccurate address and mailing information to the sender of the mail or packages you are expecting but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they filled out your address information correctly.

You may be dealing with a situation that isn’t so much that the USPS lost package and mail pieces you were expecting but that they are simply going through the circular delivery process and being returned back to the sender for more accurate delivery details.

Next, in a rush some people (especially when shopping online) may not include all of the shipping information necessary to get a package or a letter directly to their doorstep. These kinds of misspellings, miss typed addresses, and other typos can lead to delivery issues – even if you are certain that you didn’t make a mistake in the first place.

Lastly, sometimes mail just gets left inside of the delivery vehicles for any different number of reasons. Maybe the mail carrier was running behind and can’t get the package to you until the next day even though they scanned it as delivered earlier, or maybe there was an accident and your mail is going to be held up for a little bit.

Life has a nasty habit of getting in the way when we least expect it, and that’s why it’s so important to report missing mail ASAP so that you can figure out exactly what’s going on just as soon as you can.

What Happens If USPS Loses Your Package?

If the United States Postal Service did in fact lose your package they’ll likely try to do everything in their power to make good with you, but they may or may not necessarily be liable for the package being lost specifically.

A lot of this depends on whether or not you or the sender invested in postal insurance. It’s always a good idea to purchase postal insurance when you are sending something of value, especially since it is so affordable compared to losing something and then having to replace it out of pocket.

Most of the time, though, the USPS will continue to look for your missing packages in perpetuity. The fact that your package is missing never gets deleted from the USPS database, and that means that if it is found at any point in time in the future and then scanned again the USPS will be alerted, you’ll be alerted, and you’ll be able to track that package from the point that it was recovered to your doorstep once again.

USPS File A Claim For Lost Package

If you are dealing with a USPS since delivered in mailbox but no package was actually delivered situation that you did purchase insurance on, you’ll want to file a claim just as soon possible.

First you want to go to the USPS.com/help/claims.htm address which will bring you to the official File a Claim section of the USPS website.

From there, you’ll want to move through the claim filing process – a simple, straightforward, and easy to understand process explained in depth on this website.

The first thing you’ll be asked to do is to check the filing periods that apply to the package that you are making a claim on. After that you will be asked to gather up your documentation so that the USPS can improve your claim quickly.

After your documents have been gathered you’ll go through the actual claim filing process, a 100% automated and online process if you go through the website – so you can also visit a local post office and move through it in person if you so wish.

The USPS will then independently and provide you with a decision on your situation within 5 to 10 days. Your decision will be sent to you directly via mail but will also be updated on the USPS website, something you can check independently through the Claim History section of your USPS.com account.

If your claim is denied you have the opportunity to appeal, and if that first appeal is denied you can appeal a second time within 30 days of denial – though that is your final appeal available.

Remember that the last thing the USPS wants to do is lose any mail, any package, or any parcel. They will do absolutely everything they can to help you find anything that’s lost in the shuffle, and have a great reputation for locating packages and making sure they get to you as soon they can.

Eliminate Deliverability Issues with the Help of US Global Mail

If you’d like to eliminate a lot of the deliverability issues people have with standard mail through the USPS, US Global Mail can help.

The Virtual Mailbox services pioneered by our company significantly streamline all of your mail needs. With your permission we can receive and sign for packages, keeping them in our secure mail sites until you’re ready to have them sent to you directly.

All information regarding the mail received by US Global Mail on your behalf is uploaded digitally to your customer dashboard. This keeps you in full control of your mail, aware at all times of what’s coming in, and able to schedule deliveries that fit your schedule perfectly.

For more information, please contact us at US Global Mail today.