# How to know if I my mail is lost

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-know-if-i-my-mail-is-lost/716382>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 31, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-know-if-i-my-mail-is-lost/716382 "2015-03-31T00:55:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Patronager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@Patronager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patronager)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-know-if-i-my-mail-is-lost/716382/1 "2015-03-31T00:55:15Z")

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I sent a mail a week ago with regular USPS postal service. It was supposed to be delivered on Saturday, but it has not been delivered yet. Unfortunately, I do not have a tracking number. I was wondering what are the chances for it to be lost vs delayed; and how long I should wait to resend another mail instead.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-know-if-i-my-mail-is-lost/716382/2 "2015-03-31T01:39:32Z")

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I don’t think you’ll have much luck without a tracking number. In my experience, mail that is ‘lost’ is usually misdelivered, so it’s up to the misdeliveree to send it back, or if it’s a neighbor, to slide it in your box. If they send it back to the sender, and they resend it, it will probably take over a week with all the handling. If it was not something critical, I’d wait another week or so. If it is, I’d go ahead.