USPS Available For PickUp

Oftentimes, you might come across a status of this sort “USPS Available for Pickup” and you are left pondering what it means. Does it mean that your mail is available to be fetched or is ready to be delivered to your street address? You might never know what some of the tracking statuses from USPS mean unless you figure it out on your own. So, this guide helps you find out what does available for pickup mean USPS.

USPS Available for Pickup

Just like every other tracking status, USPS Available for Pickup is also difficult to understand as no delivery has taken place at your residence yet. So, what is the message trying to convey to the user? Do you wait for the delivery to happen or do you have to do something from your side for the delivery to take place? These are some of the questions that might cross your mind and make you confused.

What Does Available for Pickup Mean Usps?

Allow us to clear the clouds of confusion!…USPS Available for Pickup status is received when the mails are not delivered to your residence yet, i.e., any delivery attempt has not been made. This status means that the mails are held at the nearest post office and are available to be pickup by the user based on their convenience. When you receive this status, the postal services are expecting your arrival at the post office so that you can collect your mails from them. This status also means that no further action will be taken by the postal service to have your mails delivered to your street address. The recipient must walk into the post office and ask for the mails.

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If your mails were supposed to be delivered to your residence then this might be confusing as you have received the status USPS available for pickup but no delivery attempt has been made yet. Well, you just have to remember that this status signifies you need to get your mails yourself rather than waiting for the home delivery to happen.

Why Are My Mails Scheduled as Usps Available for Pickup but No Delivery Attempt Has Been Made Yet?

Now, if you are a busy person, you probably do not have time to leave the house and drive to the post office to receive your mails. You also cannot just leave your mails at the post office because if you do that, your mails are going to be sent back to the sender. So, is there a way to have all the mails delivered to your residence without stepping out of the house? Actually, there are a few ways to have the mails dropped at your residence without you having to walk into the post office. We will explore a few of those options soon but before that, you must know why were your mails scheduled as USPS Available for Pickup rather than having them delivered to you.

Some of the reasons why you might receive this status are:

Wrong Delivery Address on the Envelope

If the sender has mentioned a wrong delivery address on the envelope which cannot be located by the mailmen, then the mails are scheduled as Available for Pick Up. In this scenario, the status means that the residential address mentioned was wrong/non-existent, due to which the recipient is requested to fetch their mails themselves.

Recipient Not Available

If the recipient is not available at the residence, then the mailman drops a slip at the doorstep of the recipient asking them to visit the post office for package pickup. Sometimes the delivery is reattempted, but that depends on the postal services. They may or may not redeliver the mails.

Usps Available for Pickup After Failed Delivery

Due to obvious reasons such as the absence of the recipient, incorrect street address, or unlocatable street address, the mailman drops the mails back at the post office to keep them safe. There could also be other reasons which might have led to the failed delivery attempt such as the weather delays or maybe the delivery agent could not have had access to your residence because of roadblocks or constructions, etc.

In case the delivery agent could not access your residence, you might be able to receive the failed delivery slip that most agents leave behind at the residence of the recipient. However, you will be notified about the failed delivery through this status update or any other update which conveys what can be done next.

What Should I Do When I Get Usps Available for Pick Up Status?

Now that your mails are stuck at the post office, you cannot do much from your side besides having to take the burden of driving to that post office where your mails are stuck. However, there are some ways which can make your job easier if you do not want to drive to the post office, but before we discuss that, let’s see how you can get your mails from the post office.

USPS Available for Pickup At Post office

For the post office pick up, you must first check if the delivery agent has left the failed delivery slip at your residence. Most of the time, this slip is either placed in your mailbox or right beside the front door. Oftentimes, the mailman cannot access your residence due to which you might not receive the slip. In those cases, simply navigate to the USPS pickup tracking portal and check the tracking status. This status also includes the name of the post office where the mails have been kept.

Remember that you must only visit the post office mentioned on the tracking status. Any other post office would not be able to help you retrieve your mails except the one mentioned on the page. You can check the location of the said post office on the USPS locator tool as well. This will help you clearly understand which post office will you be walking into. If you are still confused about the post office location, you can simply give a call to the USPS customer service number 1-800-275-8777 during working hours and ask them for assistance.

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What Do I Need to Pick Up Mails From the Post Office?

Before leaving your house, make sure that you have a valid form of photo ID with you to fetch mails from the local post office. You must also bring along the slip, i.e., PS Form 3849 which was left behind the delivery agent. Once you are at the post office, just present your identity cards and you will get your mails.

Can I Have Someone Else Pick My Mail After Receiving Usps Available for Pickup?

If you are busy for obvious reasons and cannot fetch your mails on your own, then you can have someone else pick up your mail for you. The person needs to have a written authorization that clearly addresses that they have permission to pick up mails on behalf of the recipient. In the written confirmation, the recipient must mention a small declaration with both the names of the authorized person and the actual recipient along with the signatures.

Other than this declaration, the authorized person must also carry their valid government photo ID and the PS Form 3849 slip.

How Long Will the Mails Be Held at the Post Office for Delivery?

The mails will be held at the post office for as long as 15 days. Either the recipient or an authorized agent of the recipient has the authority to fetch the mails within this time frame. If the mails are not collected on time, they will be sent back to the sender. /during this time frame, the recipient will receive a notice to collect mails from the post office twice.

USPS Available For Pickup: Other Methods

Redelivery

Having the mails picked up from the post office seems to be a huge hassle. If you think that you might try another method instead of driving to the post office, then scheduling redelivery seems to be a great idea. But this service is not available to everyone. So, you must check if the redelivery service is available in your area using the Redelivery Service Page. You can proceed with the redelivery if the service is available in your area. If not, then you cannot proceed further. You can check for redelivery after receiving USPS Available for PickUp status.

Then you can decide the specific date on which you want the delivery to take place. You can request a delivery date till the scheduled return to the sender date. Remember that you cannot schedule the redelivery date on the day the item is returned to the sender. Also, remember that you cannot decide the time for delivery, only the date is applicable.

For residential redeliveries, either the recipient or any authorized agent of the recipient can accept the redelivery. Business owners on the other hand will only view this message if the mail requires a signature. Any authorized business person can accept the mails on behalf of the business if they are successful in proving that they are an authentic member of the business. This person can also sign for the accountable mail.

Is There a Way to Schedule Redelivery Without the Ps Form 3849 Form?

The recipient can schedule redelivery without having access to PS Form 3849. However, they need to provide the tracking number for the package or at least have the barcode number of the package. Now, there are many ways to schedule redelivery for your mails. We have mentioned these steps in detail in one of our previous articles “USPS Redelivery”, so, make sure to check it out. Some of the ways you can schedule redelivery are:

• Online: schedule redelivery online by filling the Redelivery Service Form given above
• Form 3849: you can conduct redelivery by manually filling the form 3849 and giving it to the letter carrier
• Phone: Contact the USPS customer service team and ask for redelivery

After placing the redelivery request, you may keep checking its status on the tracking website. Based on your request, redelivery may be successful or returned to the sender.

Package Intercept

Redelivery can only be attempted in one go. If the recipient fails to retrieve the mails with redelivery, they cannot place another redelivery request and have to visit the post office to get the mails. Another method to help you get the mails delivered to your residence is by using the Package Intercept program. When your tracking status states USPS Available for Pickup, then you can have the mails intercepted to your address for an additional fee.

With package intercept, the sender or the recipient can have the mails rerouted to another destination and have them stopped from completing the delivery process. Package intercept is only applicable if the mails have not reached the destination yet or have already been delivered to the destination. You must pay a certain fee to use this service.

The customer must remember that this service is neither guaranteed nor refundable. Apart from this, the customer must also acknowledge that the mails might be sent to the new destination address and if not locatable, then it is placed at the post office for pickup. This service applies to both domestic residential customers and business owners. International package intercept is not available.

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Package Intercept Working

• Working of package intercept is rather simple. First, you need to check if the mails are eligible for package intercept through the Package Intercept eligibility checker. If the mails are available for intercept then you can place a package intercept request.
• Be it a sender or a recipient, you must have a valid USPS account with a credit/debit card. You must also have Click to Pay stored on your account to pay for package intercept
• Fill up the package intercept request form. This package intercept request remains valid for at least 7 days after the request is placed.
• As mentioned before, the package is not guaranteed to be intercepted before it is delivered as the post office might face some issues while looking for the mails. However, they will do everything they can to make the intercept possible.
• Every intercepted package has the postage price for Priority Mail. The Priority Mail will be intercepted only after the delivery to the new address has been made. The customer must only pay the amount after the mails are successfully intercepted.
• Remember that the package intercept request cannot be modified after it has successfully been placed. The customer cannot cancel the request as well.

Package Intercept for Residential and Commercial Customers

If you are a residential customer, then you need to follow the steps mentioned above to intercept your packages for delivery. Upon successful interception, the interception fee and the Priority postage are charged to the customer.

For commercial owners, package interception is possible if they have an Enterprise Payment System account. The commercial customer can log in to their account on USPS Business Customer Gateways and intercept mail either in bulk quantities or individual mails.

Conclusion

Having received the USPS Available for Pickup status is rather frustrating, as this had nothing to do with your request. Anyone would be furious to know that their requests are not adhered to by the postal employees, despite the customers paying huge amounts for postage and shipping services. Although it is important to grab your mails as soon as you receive this status, you do not necessarily have to walk into the post office to get your mails. You can either schedule a redelivery or have your mails intercepted. However, you might also want to take a look at the limitations of both these services beforehand. Other than that, if the post office is closer to your residence, then you can simply drive there and have your mails fetched.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ’s)