The United States Postal Service has a time - tested system in place for making sure the parcels they ’re leave with end up at their address . This system runs into hiccups when chain armour is view as undeliverable — either because the specify recipient moved off , there was deficient stamp , or other reasons . Most of the time , these items are returned to the address write in the top - left corner of the package or envelope — but what do postal doer do if the return address is missing ?
If you ’ve ever lost one of these so - called " dead letters " in the ring mail , it ’s not as lost as you might imagine . grant toReader ’s Digest , parcel that ca n’t be sent to their intended destination or recall to their original transmitter all end up in the same home : the Mail Recovery Center ( formerly have a go at it as the Dead Letter Office ) in Atlanta , Georgia . There , USPS employee determine what mail is deserving relieve and what convey disposed of .
alphabetic character sent to the Mail Recovery Center are almost always recycle or destroyed . The USPS only holds onto mail they estimate to be worth a certain amount of money — at least $ 25 , to be exact . After recovering an item of value , they give the owner a window of time to lay claim it before sell it at auction . Of the 88 million undeliverable parcel the Mail Recover Center received in 2014 , only 3 percent were give to client , according to a account from 2016 .

If you ’re still waiting for a worthful delivery through the mail , or if a gift you sent never reached its recipient role , you’re able to try filing a search request for it using the USPS’sMissing Mail program . you’re able to also submit a request in soul at your local post office , or call your consumer matter representative at 1 - 800 - 275 - 8777 to have one present for you . Just keep in mind that whatever you ’re looking for may not be there if you waitress too long to claim it .
The USPS has many illusion for dealing with problematic ring armour , including an integral facility consecrate todeciphering spoilt script . Here are morefacts about the Postal Serviceyou should know .
[ h / tReader ’s Digest ]