What happens to undelivered and unreturned mail?

Question

I know it may end up in the local Post Office but how long do they keep it for?
In May I sent off to have my transcripts evaluated and at the time I was living in Florida. A couple of months ago I moved to LA and I e-mailed and wrote to the company telling them of my new address being very specific to send them to the LA address.
However, they still sent them to Florida.
They would have arrived in the Post Office a couple of weeks ago (they left Miami on the 22nd Nov to go to St. Pete) but we are no longer being forwarded mail from St. Pete.

Do you think the PO in St. Pete will still have my mail?

Answer 1

The simplest thing for you to do is to call the company that evaluated your transcripts and have them send a copy to you in LA. Since you specified that they should send them there, they will not charge you for the second copy.

I am surprised that your mail is not being forwarded from St. Pete. When I moved, my mail was forwarded for a year.

Please don't fret yourself trying to find this letter at the post office as I am convinced it would be an exercise in frustration. The post office personnel are overworked and, especially this close to Christmas, you chances of running down the letter right away are close to nil.

s

Answer 2

It goes to the dead letter office and lives a long and fruitful life in a warehouse.

Sometimes, the USPS will open mail and see if there is a return address to send it to on the inside.

If you had a return address on the outside and the addressee says they didn't get it, you should have received it back. Most likely it got lost in a pile of papers on someones assistant's desk or worse yet, behind it.

Get a new set of the transcripts and re-mail it. That will be the most painless option in the long run.

Never dance with a bureaucracy!

Good Luck!