US Postal Service Lost my Certified Letter

I sent a letter certified through the US Postal System.  It cost me under $4.  Somehow, from Huntersville, NC to Charlotte, NC, the letter just disappeared.  It did not get returned to sender nor did it get to its destination.

Huntersville, NC to Charlotte, NC is about a 20 mile/20 minutes difference.  I could not believe it.

A month later, USPS refunded my monies for the certified letter, and I sent out another letter through Federal Express.  It cost me about 4 times the cost of USPS certified, but you can track the letters every location from facility to facility to "on the truck" for delivery.

The Federal Express associate who accepted my package mentioned that many people have had my same story about their packages just disappearing within the US Postal System.  Thank God that I sent it certified or I would have no proof that I even sent it.

My theory is that someone lifted the letter hoping to gain something from its contents.  The high quality stationery and envelope that I used looked important; there was no insurance on the certified letter; and it was a nice compact size to just slip away with.  Luckily for me, it was a complaint letter, that I was able to re-write and send through a guaranteed carrier.

So the net of the story is this . . . if you want guaranteed delivery, I believe that you have to either send it Express mail through the US Postal System or use Federal Express.  Someone mentioned to me that Federal Express processes US Postal Express mail after processing their own FedEx mail.  So it may cost more, but if you do not want your package just disappearing and priority processing, then I suggest paying extra to guarantee the detailed tracking of Federal Express mail services.