The United States Postal Service started a new service in April called “Informed Delivery” which promises to e-mail you images of the envelopes of today’s mail being delivered. You’ll know what important mail is waiting for you in your mailbox even if you’re not at home. You’ll also know if mail isn’t getting delivered to you properly and you can report it to the Post Office with a couple clicks.
I normally work at home. During the summer my husband and I also tend to work 2-3 days a week at our seasonal campground site a couple hours away. We put our mail on hold during those days to prevent a mailbox full of potential goodies to steal. Informed Delivery allows us to see the outside of any incoming mail, even during a mail hold. If something concerning comes in we may be able to respond by contacting the sender and finding out what’s in that envelope.
Our mail carrier is fantastic. She works five days a week and on the sixth day when someone fills in for her, our mail service is questionable. On more than one occasion our mail has been mis-delivered to a similarly numbered house a quarter mile away. The only times we had proof of this mis-delivery was when the item had a tracking number associated with it and we sort of knew the item was coming. I ended up friending the person at that address on Facebook so we could communicate when we received each other’s mail. With Informed Delivery I’ll know when I should be expecting a piece of mail and if it’s not in the mailbox, it could be in his.
Informed Delivery isn’t available in every area and I believe it’s considered a beta-testing program. See if it’s available in your area!
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