Lost and Found at the Postal Service
Ever wonder where parcels go if the labels fall off? Or what happens if a package is undeliverable?
The U.S. Postal Service’s Mail Recovery Center (MRC) serves as the “lost and found” center for the Postal Service, receiving items determined to be undeliverable for a number of reasons. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, the MRC received 67 million items from post offices and other facilities around the country. While that’s a large number, it’s a small fraction of a percent of the 142 billion mailpieces the Postal Service delivered that same year.
Once items are received, the MRC determines what to do with them. If possible, they are returned to the sender, and if not, they are inventoried, held until claimed, and eventually sold, or otherwise disposed of.
OIG auditors evaluated the effectiveness of MRC operations and identified opportunities for improvement. The report, U.S. Postal Service Mail Recovery Center, found that operations weren’t always efficient, and items weren’t always processed in a timely manner. The report also noted that postal facilities were sending marketing mail and other items that should not be handled by the MRC.
Additionally, the report found that there were problems involving effective disposal of certain items, such as batteries and gift cards. The MRC also must strengthen inventory controls over cash or items being stored.
Have you been waiting for a piece of mail, but believe it might be lost? If so, start off by filing a missing mail search request on the USPS.com Find Missing Mail page.
Have you had items returned from the Mail Recovery Center? Tell us what happened below.
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I’m in the same boat. I knew something was wrong because I was tracking my package and it stopped moving 2 days after it was shipped. I received a letter in the mail from the USPS, along with the label from my package, 2 weeks after it was shipped. The letter told me to file a claim online. I called the last post office that it was checked in at and they told me that they don’t hold anything longer than 24 hours. They said everything is sent to the Mail Recovery Center. However, there is NO number to call the MRC. You have no choice but to submit a claim online and then they have 90 days to contact you. So, basically no accountability for losing people’s items. My package was 28 lbs and was sent media mail. How they lost 28 lbs worth of books is beyond me.
Thanks so very much.
Have a great weekend!