USPS Dead Mail/Recovery Center....what is this?

[password9019]

So yesterday I did some checking on a recently shipped 14 ounce package (buyer paid $9.09 - free shipping) sent First Class, and discovered that it was located in a so-called Recovery Center and is labeled as "dead mail".  The only other thing of mention is that it has "visible damage", and cannot be delivered nor returned.

What is this?  I mean, it's the first time I've heard of such nonsense.  In my own experience as a postal customer, if a package appears damaged, than the P.O. STILL DELIVERS IT!!   The carrier will white card the package and, if possible, try to speak to the sendee.  

Now I may be mistaken, but isn't that process that should be followed for all packages, Priority Mail or not?  Who ever heard of mailing a package with USPS and then the sender being told, via the tracking data, that basically, 'uh, we screwed up, and it's now ours to keep'?

Any input would be helpful.  thanks.

[usmc*usnmom]

The dead letter office.

That's where mail that has come out of it's packaging, or mail that the label has come off and has no packing slip, goes. They have no way of determining where it goes, so they send it to the dead letter office.

https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2012/pb22351/html/info_005.htm

http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/dead-letter-office/

"the main Mail Recovery Center (MRC) is located in Atlanta, Georgia. This is where lost mail goes to be sorted, processed and sent back to its rightful owner. In specialized offices, dedicated postal sleuths attempt to piece together illegible addresses or even use the contents of mail to determine the intended recipient. But if the recipient can’t be located, items of value may be auctioned off by officials of the United States Postal Service."

[password9019]

I already looked at the pages those links you posted go to.  Secondly, the tracking data says it went straight from Springfield, MA (the main Northeast sort center all my non-local shipments go to), to Memphis, TN.  That's nowhere near Atlanta, and it says nothing about it being in Atlanta. 

I'll be blunt:  There is no way on green earth that package came undone or the label fell off on its own.  Am I saying impossible?  You are correct, it is impossible.  I pack everything in a custom made box (this particlular one was 3x3x37" and had contents that weighed under 5 ounces.  The box took me about 30 minutes to construct....it was acutally a cardboard sleeve within a box, the item within the sleeve. 

I hand write all my own lables on label tape stick it to the carboard, then take clear packing tape and tape completely over those label stickers.

So, where I am goin' with all this?  I'll tell you:  the package was either stolen or deliberaterly tampered with.   And BTW, why would a package bound for the Kansas-Nebraska border end up in Memphis TN?

The only sense I make of it, is that I'm being played for a fool.  Plain and simple.

[airsheep]

I can see a scenario where the USPS did something like run your package over with a forklift and ruined the label, but in that case, how could they read the tracking? Color me confused as well.

[password9019]

...hope the thief has a jolly good time with this.....probably doesn't even know what it is.

[airsheep]

But Sheldon Cooper would 😄

[partial*eclipse]

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password9019 wrote: 

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....   And BTW, why would a package bound for the Kansas-Nebraska border end up in Memphis TN?....

Because that's a major sorting center?  Because there's been a lot of dramatic weather this week which caused shifts in airline routes?

How did you manage to mail a 14-ounce First Class package with a handwritten label? The retail weight limit is 13 ounces. In order to ship a First Class piece over 13 ounces (up to 15.999 ounces) you must purchase postage online.

[password9019]

Gimme one good reason why I should be on the hook for this ($9.09)?  Especially with free shipping?

You and I both know that that is what it is gonna come to, if there's a peep outta the buyer.  Oddly as well, I messaged the buyer a couple days ago about this situation, and have not heard back (a whopping 3 whole feedback, so go figure).

I am thinking the item was stolen, deliberatley removed from the box by a worker and stolen.  As far as being run over, I do know that that can happen, and it does from time to time happen.  My point to that is, DELIVER IT ANYWAY - IT IS NOT YOURS TO KEEP!  ...let the buyer hav it and make the next move.

This is the first time I believe I've ever been lied to by the P.O., as best I can recall.

[password9019]

hehehehehe...very true, very true...he would know, lol

[password9019]

With all due respect, you don't know your facts. First off, the weight limit increased from 13 to 15.99, over a month ago. The package was mailed four days before the storm hit NY/MA. According to the data, it was received on the 10th, at Springfield, made it to Memphis by the morning of the 12th. I do not see why a package bound for the north Kansas border, would be sent to Memphis, 560 miles away and closer to the storm than other major cities that are far closer to the destination.

this whole tracking info is, imo, a concocted rabbit hole the USPS wants me to travel down. And believe me, I've already been somewhat down it and I can make no sense of this other than to conclude the package was 'messed with' intentionally.

[password9019]

I stand corrected, it weighed 11 ounces.

[takikawa4]

Yes, the weight limit for ONLINE POSTAGE did increase to 15.99 ounces. Again, for ONLINE POSTAGE.

[partial*eclipse]

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@password9019 wrote:
With all due respect, you don't know your facts. First off, the weight limit increased from 13 to 15.99, over a month ago. The package was mailed four days before the storm hit NY/MA. ...

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The weight lmit for online postage was increased to 15.999 ounces over a year ago, on January 17, 2016.  But it's still 13 ounces, retail.

There have been various storms in the midwest, too.  For instance, Detroit airport was closed due to electric outages at around the time your package was in transit.

[password9019]

I corrected my information....somehow, I thought I remember seeing the increase was made just recently. I guess I was incorrect there also. That said, I really cannot see what weather has got to do with this.

My research of "dead mail" showed that they are mainly the packages that are declared lost. So, in theory, if the label came off, it would be relegated to a 'lost and found', which is the P.O.'s own language, in describing what a "recovery center" is.

But like I said, the label could not have come off (from lack of adhesion). It's just not possible the way I attach them.

[partial*eclipse]

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password9019 wrote: ...I really cannot see what weather has got to do with this.....

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You asked why your package might have gone through Memphis.  Memphis and Springfield are 2 of the USPS's 21 "Network Distributon Centers". It's possible that a more logical midwestern center had weather-related difficulties.  When flights are canceled due to bad weather in one part of the country, that can affect transport to other cities, too.