How long does the post office hold a package?
I have a few packages that I’ve ordered that have never shown up. After talking with the respective sellers, I’m starting to wonder if its the fault of the post office and that they have either lost or held onto my packages for whatever reason.
I heard that sometimes the post office holds auctions on some parcels that don’t arrive at their destinations or return to their senders, so how long do they hold onto these packages? I can’t make it to the post office in my town right away, but it would be helpful for me to know.
Here we go. When we get packages in that for some reason cannot be delivered to your residence because of eithewr animals within a fenced yard or the area is not safe enough to leave it by your door then we give you a orange colored form called a 3849. This informs you that you have a parcel to pick up at the Post Office that delivers to your house. We will shelve that parcel and place a date on it. We are required to check this shelf daily and then we will send you a second 3849 form as a 2nd notice. In the worst case scenario if the parcel stays on our shelf over 30 days then we will return it to sender. If it is was sent Media Mail we technically do not have to return that cheaper form of shipping back to sender and can recycle or throw away the item. If it was sent by Parcel Post then it is returned to the sender with Postage due back to them. If it was Priority mail then the return is a free trip back. You should be able to go into your Post Office and have the clerk check their shelf for any packages that you have not received just in case. As far as an auction goes. Sorry I’m laughing a bit on that one. Any mail that we cannot identify or deliver and we don’t have a return address is sent ot our Lost Mail center. Now from their I’m not sure how long they hold it for before doing whatever with it. No auctions at the Post Office though. Good Luck.