United States Postal Service MY PACKAGE WAS NEVER DELIVERED, YET MY ROGER'S PARK BRANCH POST OFFICE IN CHICAGO CLAIMS IT WAS SCANNED IN AS DELIVERED, DENIED MY INSURANCE CLAIM!! Chicago Illinois

I myself have experienced a similar situation (as so many others have reported on the ROR website), with a Priority Mail item not being delivered to the addressee (and even when I paid extra for the Signature Confirmation delivery option).

The item was picked up from my residence on April 15, 2010 by my mail carrier, but as of today, June 7th...it has yet to even be delivered to the recipient!  I contacted the USPS Customer Service staff about 10 days after it was picked up who subsequently had a staff member from the local post office where I reside contact me by phone.

This rep stated they were having trouble locating the addressee (who had evidently moved from their address), but the postal worker assured me they were still working on the issue.  After another two weeks with no remedial action, I finally decided to file a formal complaint with the postal service's Office of the Inspector General.

In my complaint, I specifically supplied all pertinent data regarding this matter including the phone contact details from the local post office.  I also stated that I now suspect mail theft and requested they immediately investigate the issue.

Subsequently, I receive a 2nd phone call...again from the local post office here stating the mail carrier had "supposedly" delivered the item to an assisted-living facility, but for some reason had not obtained the Signature Confirmation of the delivery which I had paid additional fees for.

The postal employee I spoke with said they were going to get the carrier in question to go and attempt to obtain the signature confirmation.  As of today, June 7th...the post office has yet to still provide the service I paid for!

I would strongly suggest anyone finding themselves in this type situation with the USPS to file complaints with the Post Office's Office of the Inspector General...and to also take it a step further by filing complaints with your representatives in the Congress!

There is absolutely NO excuse whatsoever for this type reprehensible conduct on the part of the postal service!  Their mindset seems to be that if they continue stalling and not bothering to actually DO something to rectify a consumers complaint...the customer will just get tired and quit "bothering" them.

I, for one, am not about to sit idly by and allow this inepititude on the part of a governmental entity to continue!  It is unfortunate that the U.S. Postal Service doesn't bother reading all the massive complaints on this website alone.  It would appear the only thing they might understand...is if they were slapped with a class-action lawsuit...but that too...is not likely to happen...since there would probably not be much, if any, $$$, in it for the attorney(ies) who would even consider taking on such a case!

I too have been denied.  And this is what you do if you have insurance.  USPS can be sued for not meeting their contractual obligations.  Sovereign Immunity is not so broad as to include contract law.  USPS was sued in 2007 for lost package.  In that case the guy was shipping 2 gold rings to France and insured the package at the advise of a postal worker for 5.5k.  The package was re-delivered to this guy with nothing inside.  He shipped it Global Express.  The guy claimed breach of contract and was awarded prejudgment interest and his insured amount along with attorney fees. See Arieh Gildor v. U.S. Postal Service, 491 F.Supp.2d 305 (N.D.N.Y. 2007).

In my situation, I shipped a package from Denver to Miami and insured.  The package was never received by the recipient I sent it to.  I filed a claim after 3 wks and I just received a letter denying my claim because it was delivered.  It was not delivered to the address per the postal branch in Miami.

I am in the process of appealing it and in order to prove my case I need to have an affidavit by recipient.

This is a draft of my document.

Sent to: CLAIM APPLEALS ACCOUNTING SERVICES PO BOX 80141 ST LOUIS, MO 63180-0141

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am the shipper of the package that was presumably delivered. This letter is in response to your denial of my claim. As you know, this package contained birthday presents for my niece and nephews birthday and for my sister-in-law [...], who just for her birthday on October 20, 2009.

Now although your computer records state that the package was delivered on Monday, September 28, 2009 at 12:44 p.m. this package was in fact not delivered to the recipients address.

Per the Snapper Creek Postal Service Branch in Miami, Florida, the package was scanned by another mail carrier not the carrier that delivers to my sister-in-laws address [deleted ... Miami, FL 33176-1799]. The carrier that delivers to that address is Route 42. The Snapper Creek Branch said that it was delivered to another address with a similar zip code to my sister-in-laws zip code.

Now, this matter was handled very poorly by this branch. First, the service provided by this branch has been nothing efficient. I have gotten the run around, made to wait for hours on the phone, and even experienced rudeness. Who is in a better position to solve this problemyour office? Had I gone to another mail service provider like FedEx or UPS, they would have been far more efficient and helpful.

Before calling this branch, however, I my local Post Office in Denver where I shipped the package from; They said it was delivered and stated date and time. I then, called a 1800 to file a claim on October 3, 2009; the clerk said the post office that delivered the package wants the claims forward to them and gave me the following case number CA100142347 and also gave me the Snapper Creek Branch address and telephone number. That address is 11000 SW 104th St., Miami, FL and their phone number is 305.270.0335.

Second, I called them several times after date that the package was supposed to be delivered to the address in the beginning of the October. I have not been able to receive a straight answer. My sister-in-law and my brother visited this branch and I have attached their affidavits of the events that occurred.

Furthermore, I called the 1(800) number Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 7:00 a.m. and the clerk advised, I called Snapper Creek Branch again. So I called them after I hung with that clerk at 7:20 a.m. and a lady going by Izabel answered the phone, she said she would investigate the problem placed me on hold for nearly two hours. I called back and got George, who claimed to be a supervisor and then handed the call to a clerk by the name of Susan. Susan was very nice and took down the information and said, I dont know why supervisor gave me this call, I dont think I can solve this problem. This should be the supervisors duty. Then she placed me on hold for a few seconds and returned to the phone saying, John supervisor is in a meeting. Give me the Insurance label number and I will have him call you back. She also said, there is no Izabel here. This really bothers me and it leads me to believe that something fishy is going on at this branch. Either the package was delivered or it was stolen. If it was stolen, then it becomes a federal offense and your employees should be fired and criminalized. If it was delivered, then the employee should be fired for negligent handling of mail.

Understand that I bought insurance for just this reason and USPS should indemnify me for the loss of the package because USPS defected in delivering of the package to the correct address. The package included the following items:

1. Gift Basket: wine, chocolate, and fancy candles (worth $40)

2. a girls gift: Tinkerbell doll house (worth $20)

3. a boys gift: Army tank toy (worth $20)

4. 3 birthday cards: $4.00 each

I shipped this package with the assurance that these items could be properly mailed and insured. The insurance label number is 13080370000098523759. The postal delivery service is worth $24.77. I insured it precisely for this reason. I have included several affidavits for the following people: the recipients of the package affidavit, her husband, and grandmother of the children recipients as proof that it was not delivered.

Given these facts, the USPS breach of contract could easily lead to a reward of damages, including prejudgment interest, and possibly punitive damages and litigation expense.

These are reasonable demands. If I do not hear from you by November 19, 2009, I will assess what legal recourse I should take against USPS and the Snapper Creek Branch.

Very truly yours,

------ 

I just finished doing some research on line and found that the United States Postal Service holds MONTHLY AUCTIONS IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, where they auction off hundreds of thousands of items -- IF NOT MILLIONS -- from packages that they call "Unclaimed." I wonder if the last 3 packages they lost for me in the past couple of years didn't end up in those auctions, while they claimed I had received them (WHICH I NEVER DID), and refused to pay on my insurance claims. I get a large volume of stuff on in internet, and 3 packages in two years aren't too bad statistics, but this is why I insure everything I ship out and receive, just so they're covered in case of loss or damage. Well, from my most recent experience, I found that this no guarantee that you'll either get your item, or what you paid for it if it never shows up. Now I know what happens to a lot of the stuff we never receive. They get auctioned off and the money goes to USPS, from which I assume their employees eventually benefit through pay increases. I believe that would give them a great incentive to lose more packages, AND EVEN MORE SO ON THOSE THAT AREN'T INSURED AND ON WHICH THEY KNOW THEY'LL NEVER HAVE TO PAY ON A CLAIM!