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I mailed my CHL papers, fingerprints, passport photos and all the necessary forms on 3/3/13. I even used certified mail so I would have a tracking number. Now 1 week later the USPS tracking only shows it have left my Paris post office. Literally the paperwork should have been in Austin no later then the 12th. DPS still shows they are waiting on the paperwork! I am extremely worried the paperwork is LOST!
What should I do now? resend ALL the papers to DPS?

I would talk to the Post Office and ask them how long you have to wait to file a trace request, then if that time elapses, ask for a trace.

OK just after posting this, USPS FINALLY posted the package was delivered at 8:42PM last night.
So a word of advise to everyone out there. DO NOT use cetrified mail from the United States Postal Service to send any important paperwork. The tracking is useless, and deliver times are worse than STANDARD mail. Paris is a 4 1/2 hour drive to Austin, yet is took 7 days and 5 working days to deliver at certified mail package. Totally unacceptable!

FedEx Ground. I generate the shipping label from my computer and it bills to my CC.
$5 well spent for important stuff that I want to be able to track.
USPS would be about $3-ish for the same service. The extra $2 is an easy upgrade.

And you can carry into most FedEx centers without fear of violating Federal law.

The phrase "you didn't build it - the government built it" applies to the USPS.

Since we travel so much, we've used a mail forwarding service in another state for about six years. Every two weeks our forwarded mail arrives via USPS Priority Mail. 99.99% of the time our mail package arrives two to three days after being sent, it's really quite impressive. I think once or twice in in six years it took five or six days for some unexplained reason.

[rant]
Now FedEx - oh my gosh. Their service out here in ranch land is horrible. Recently FedEx dropped off some packages for us and included in the bounty were two long square boxes that belonged to a person in Doss, about 30 miles away. I called FedEx and explained the situation to the snippy woman in their call center and she said they would pick it up. I put the boxes by our gate and they didn't come the next day to pick them up.

I called FedEx again and said they weren't picked up, yada, yada, yada. Two or three more days passed and they were still a no-show . My wife finally called the guy who was waiting on the packages and arranged to meet him to hand them over.

And then even though they have our gate code, they will drop stuff over the fence instead of driving the 600' to our house and more than once we've gotten a package for a nearby neighbor.

The bizarre thing is even though there's a FedEx service center in Kerrville, our deliveries come out of Austin .

They might be efficient in cities but their rural service stinks big-time.
[/rant]

I had the same experience with certified mail last month. I thought it was just me, but it took them 5 working days to deliver a letter to DC when I've seen regular mail get there in 2-3.

Certified mail requires a signature. Sending certified mail to a government office means the item goes to a lock box until it is signed for. They don't go running to the lock box every day.

Priority mail would have arrived in a couple days and you would have had tracking number. No signature required. My CHL instructor warned us about this.

I had the same issue with Certified mail back in January. They never could find it. Several phone calls and keep getting the run around. They kept saying they are sure it got delivered. I did get my renewal ~30 day later.

I mailed a certified letter to crossbreedseconds. 21 days!!!!
If you want it there in a hurry use Fedex or UPS if you don't care when it gets there or want to save a couple bucks use the USPS.

The reason it is taking so long with certified mail is that the delivery REQUIRES a signature. If there is not a person standing there to sign for it, the PO leaves a notice telling you to come get it. That is why priority mail with the NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED option arrives in two to three days.

I have personally recieved notices from the PO because some person decided to mail me a certified letter. I get to the post office when I feel like it.

Again... it is the recipient creating the delay... not the PO. NO SIGNATURE... NO DELIVERY!

texaszed4mc wrote:I mailed my CHL papers, fingerprints, passport photos and all the necessary forms on 3/3/13. I even used certified mail so I would have a tracking number. Now 1 week later the USPS tracking only shows it have left my Paris post office. Literally the paperwork should have been in Austin no later then the 12th. DPS still shows they are waiting on the paperwork! I am extremely worried the paperwork is LOST!
What should I do now? resend ALL the papers to DPS?

Wow...surprised you got the Paris Post Office to open its doors on a Sunday just so you could send your certified mail...you must have some pull since march 3rd was a Sunday!...

Did anyone notice I said that certified mail is a bad idea. It won't get delivered unless it is signed for and if the person needing to sign has to make a special trip to the po, you are at the mercy of the person needing to sign.

When I get notified of certified mail, I intentionally don't pick it up. Nothing good ever arrived at my home or business that said certified.

Certified mail makes me madder than a rancid package of bacon.