Hold for pickup for priority package after it was shipped?

[orchidreamer]

My seller shipped an (expensive) Priority Mail package to my house, and currently it's in transit. Should arrive tomorrow. Is there some way I can have the package held at the post office? I'd rather pick it up myself than to have it sit on the porch all day since I'm not at home.

Don't know if I can do it online or give the post office a call?

thanks!

[stuff4divas]

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@orchidreamer wrote:

My seller shipped an (expensive) Priority Mail package to my house, and currently it's in transit. Should arrive tomorrow. Is there some way I can have the package held at the post office? I'd rather pick it up myself than to have it sit on the porch all day since I'm not at home.

Don't know if I can do it online or give the post office a call?

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Call your local post office immediately because the package will go to them, then to the postal carrier for delivery. Hopefully you get someone who knows what they are doing and then follows thru. Good Luck!

[missjen831]

@orchidreamerYou can go online to the USPS and have your mail held, you don't need to call or go down there in person, you can go here https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail/ and have your mail held tomorrow. You also get to choose whether to pick it up yourself or have the carrier deliver it on another day 🙂

[couldabeenworse]

If you have a [free] usps.com account, you can check tracking number and click on "change delivery instructions".  There should be an option there to hold only that package at your post office - rather than holding all your mail for days.

I am not sure if you can sign up for the account and immediately make that request, and I'm not sure how reliable that service is if the package is already in your carrier's hands.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

In my experience, the minimum "vacation hold" is 3 days and generally requires at least 24 hours' advance notice. That is for ALL mail, not just a single package. However, the OP can provide "delivery instructions" for individual items via the USPS website. The request may be to hold the package at the PO or to deliver it to a trusted neighbor. The information must reach the local sorting center and/or the local PO before the usual dispatch time. An "expensive" package may require a signature and generate a "notice left" anyway -- so any special request is moot. A low-tech means of asking the mail carrier not to leave unattended packages is to place a note on the front door -- although that plainly advertises to burglars that you are not home. ~~C~~

[a_c_green]

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@duchess-at-speakeasy wrote:
An "expensive" package may require a signature and generate a "notice left" anyway -- so any special request is moot.

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If the seller insured their shipment for $500 or more, the USPS requires the carrier to collect a signature at delivery time (for USPS purposes, not visible on-line). If the sale price was over $750 and the seller remembered to add Signature Confirmation to the shipment, then again, a signature would be required.

[orchidreamer]

Well the package is worth roughly $300 and the seller didn't request signature confirmation. 

I do have a usps account and I logged in, put in the tracking number, but I don't see the option to change delivery info. 

I can't hold mail because then everyone else's mail will be held which will cause a lot of inconvenience for them. 

I don't know, guess I can give them a call. I've had bad experiences calling USPS...long hold times...rude customer reps.

[a_c_green]

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@orchidreamer wrote:

Well the package is worth roughly $300 and the seller didn't request signature confirmation. 

I do have a usps account and I logged in, put in the tracking number, but I don't see the option to change delivery info.

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Do you see a link near the bottom for "Change Your Delivery Instructions"?

That option may not appear until the package shows an estimated date of delivery by USPS. If its latest scan is simply "In Transit" (which is an automated scan, added once every 24 hours if a day or more has elapsed since it was last seen), you may not be able to specify delivery options for it just yet. Try it again later today or tomorrow morning.

[blijeolifantje]

They are overwhelmed and busy now. If it is tomorrow then nope. I am being realistic.

[orchidreamer]

Nope, no linked. I tried clicking on it several times to make sure. Yes, the status says "In transit" and expected delivery day is tomorrow. Maybe it's either too late or too early?

[orchidreamer]

I found the "intercept a package" option which allows me to pick it up at a post office, but then I got to the next page which asks me to pay $21. That's more than the shipping price and not sure it's worth that much.

[orchidreamer]

yeah, I bet the post office is super busy, esp since it's the holidays 😞 

[a_c_green]

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@orchidreamer wrote:

Nope, no linked. I tried clicking on it several times to make sure. Yes, the status says "In transit" and expected delivery day is tomorrow. Maybe it's either too late or too early?

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I'm going to go with "too early" here. "In Transit" means exactly that, and that it has not been scanned for at least 24 hours (which is not unusual, especially if it's in the back of a truck someplace). I would expect to see a Destination Sort entry when it arrives in your region (i.e. before it gets sorted to go to your specific post office), and at that point, once it's popped up on the radar again, you may find your delivery options at last. The "Expected Delivery Day" may get revised to something later as well.

As for Package Intercept, that was another feature that I couldn't use on a package that was still In Transit, when I tried to use it a few months ago. Once the package was actually scanned again, the Package Intercept option was available to me on-line.

[orchidreamer]

Thank you, I'll wait a little while and see! 

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

"Package intercept" is a USPS service that allows the SENDER to prevent a package from being delivered and to have it returned. The addressee is not allowed to claim the package. The cost is about $12 -- but it sure helps a seller whose buyer has reversed a payment or has paid with a stolen credit card.

For now, I suggest you ask a neighbor or a member of your household to keep an eye out for the mail carrier and retrieve the package. Or make a quick trip home on your lunch hour!

~~C~~