Junk Mail Magic

Prepare a clear USPS service inquiry

If expected mail is late or not arriving, you have a delivery problem, and it goes to USPS, not to an advertiser. Write down what you expected, when it was due and which address is affected, then take that record to the USPS service channel. Asking a sender to stop advertising will not fix a delivery fault.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated .

Build the record first

  1. Write the delivery address exactly as it appears on mail you do receive, including any unit or box number.
  2. List each expected item: what it was, who sent it, the date it was due and the date you noticed it missing. Include only items you are sure were coming.
  3. Describe the pattern: one missing item, several missing items, or days with no delivery at all.
  4. If you use Informed Delivery, note whether the preview showed the item. A preview is not a complete inventory of your mail or proof of delivery, so treat it as one clue.
  5. Take the record to the USPS service route. If you suspect theft, fraud or mail-related identity theft rather than a service lapse, use the separate USPIS reporting page instead.

Keep delivery and advertising apart

A service inquiry asks USPS to look at delivery. A marketing request asks one named sender to change its own mailing record. Neither substitutes for the other.

Hold Mail will not help with advertising either. It pauses delivery for an eligible address for three to thirty days and does not remove the address from any advertising list. If other people receive mail at the address, do not pause or change their delivery without their agreement.

Private worksheet for a service inquiry

Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.

Delivery address: [address as it appears on mail] Problem: [missing item / no delivery on certain days / other] Dates affected: [dates] Expected items: [item, sender, date due] Informed Delivery preview showed it: [yes / no / not used] Other residents affected: [yes / no / unsure] Channel: [USPS service inquiry / USPIS report if theft suspected]

Sort each line by channel

Go through your list and mark each line. Items that never arrived go in the USPS service inquiry. Suspected theft or identity misuse goes to USPIS. Advertising you do not want goes to that sender, through a removal route printed on the piece or on the sender's website if one is offered.

Official sources

Does USPS Hold Mail stop advertising?Treat missing or stolen mail as a separate problemCan Informed Delivery block junk mail?Handle a mailbox filling with advertisingDelivery and advertisingAll practical mail guides

Choose the route that matches the mailing

Use the official route described in this guide for this kind of mail. For a separate ordinary advertisement, Junk Mail Magic can help prepare a sender-specific removal request.

Compare removal routes