Anyone have insight re: what causes a package to get stuck at a USPS distribution center?

[docsavage2000]

Tracking showed my package got to a distribution center in my state....and stayed there for almost two weeks. The USPS site had a cryptic message to the effect that "delivery will take longer than expected but your package is on its way to the next center". My local post office couldn't shed any light on it - they said they didn't have access to any info other than what I had. The supervisor said he'd e-mail the center and contact me if he got any info. Never heard from him. It was sent First Class. I had a package sent parcel select get stuck in Jersey City once for about a month - with -0- explanation. Tracking on that one actually showed it leaving and returning to the center several times.

When it finally arrived it wasn't damaged in any way. It's not like it got mangled by post office machinery. Reviews on Google indicate this happens with some frequency and customers get no explanation - some indicate the "customer service number" either gets picked up and immediately hung up or is disconnected. 

Anyone have intimate knowledge of the workings of the post office as to what causes this? 

[dbmm-media]

bad luck

[juststuffisell]

scanning rejected during automated sorting usually.

seen it with round packages where the label is affixed in a way it cannot be scanned. tape over barcodes. poor barcode quality (think almost out of ink labels), that sort of thing. Sometimes it could be an issue with the equipment itself. Usually, it is a san reading issue that rejects them.

They have to be, at some point, manually handled. the more packages there are, the longer your wait will be.

[docsavage2000]

That makes sense. Surely the supervisor at the post office could have given a similar explanation.

[fastfixitlady]

There IS a reason behind the sayings "going postal" and "snail mail"  you've just experienced it...the US Postal Service! The inner workings of this entity are more  confusing and secretive than the CIA

[airsheep]

If it leaves the CONUS, Parcel Select and Media Mail go into a shipping container, which waits to be filled until it heads for its destination. In Hawaii, this often means a 2-4 week wait while mail accumulates. On the mainland, there are some sorting centers that are, shall we say, less efficient than others. I cringe when I see my mail routed through Bell Gardens or the recently renamed SF postal center, because they have lost or significantly delayed my inbound packages in the past. Other sorting centers occasionally pop up as being good at mishandling packages too.

[woothy]

Weather of late as been having a big impact. Not all locations scan the way they should. If you open a case with USPS, that seems to kick things loose. I had once stuck in Kansas for a while & once I opened the case it got out the door in no time.