Information Desk

Delivery and Retail

Standardized Procedures for “Notice Left” Mail

The Postal Service™ has standardized the “Notice Left” operations for PS Form 3849, Delivery Notice/Reminder/ Receipt, which applies to all ordinary parcels, accountable mail, and other extra services mailpieces. This nationwide standardization of the Notice Left process pro­vides better customer service and operational efficiency for the Postal Service.

PS Form 3849, commonly referred to as a “Notice Left,” is used when a Postal Service employee cannot complete an attempted delivery of a mailpiece because no one is available to accept delivery. Standardizing this process nationwide affords mailers the ability to inform their cus­tomers of when the Postal Service will make second-notice attempts or will return an article to the sender.

Below are standardized procedures for clerks and carri­ers. These standardized procedures are also provided in Postal Operations Manual (POM) sections 617.3, 619.25, and 812.42.

What Clerks Need to Do

• Ensure that all items are labeled with the employee’s initials and date of attempted delivery before they are stored for pickup.
• Review the dates on articles daily to determine when a second attempt or notice is required, or if the article needs to be returned to sender.
• Watch for redelivery requests, which may be received through My Post Office, by customer request, or by telephone. Retrieve the items and process as requested.
• Ensure that items are correctly filed as outlined in POM 619.251 and stored in the designated Notice Left area.
• At a POS office, do the following when a customer arrives to pick up an item:
• Ask for and review the PS Form 3849, if applica­ble, and the appropriate identification from the customer.
• Follow the POS workflow to deliver the item, obtaining the customer’s signature, if applicable, on the Customer Display Unit (CDU).
• Perform clearance procedures in POS for collect on delivery (COD) remittances.
• Tear in half and discard the PS Form 3849.
• At a non-POS office, do the following when a cus­tomer arrives to pick up an item:
• Ask for and review the PS Form 3849, if applica­ble, and the appropriate identification from the customer. If the customer does not have the PS Form 3849, review appropriate identification and retrieve the item. Complete another PS Form 3849 for the item, if applicable.
• Obtain the customer’s signature on PS Form 3849, if applicable.
• Scan the item delivered with a handheld scanner, if applicable.
• Perform clearance procedures in the handheld scanner for collect on delivery (COD) remittances.
• As appropriate, either tear in half and discard the PS Form 3849, or store PS Form 3849 in the des­ignated area for 7 days.

What Carriers Need to Do

• When someone is normally available to receive par­cels, but an ordinary parcel (i.e., a parcel without any extra services) cannot be delivered on the carrier's first attempt, a second delivery attempt is made the next working day and no PS Form 3849 is left on the initial attempt. If the parcel cannot be delivered on the second attempt, leave PS Form 3849 at the address showing that the parcel is being held.
• If no one is available to receive the parcel and the carrier knows that someone at the address is not usually available to receive parcels, PS Form 3849 is completed and left after the first attempt. When it is not known if someone is usually available to receive parcels, PS Form 3849 is left after the first attempt. Additional attempts are made only at the customer’s request.
• Ensure that each item attempted is endorsed near the address with the date and the delivery employee’s initials.
• Properly complete all required fields on PS Form 3849.
• Perform the required scans, if applicable.
• Return any attempted articles to the designated employee or designated storage area.

For specific retail acceptance details and general infor­mation about the Notice Left operation, please refer to the POM or the Function 4 Notice Left Operations Work Instruction (provided separately to field offices and located on the Customer Service Support/Function 4 Web site at http://blue.usps.gov/delret/L3css/L4/L4_f4_wi_notice_left_17may07.pdf). Also, see the work­room poster entitled “Notice Left and Return Guidelines,” which is dated July 2007 and appears on page 13 in this issue of the Postal Bulletin — be sure to post copies on employee bulletin boards, removing any posters with ear­lier edition dates (the former edition was dated September 2006).

— Customer Service Support,
Delivery and Retail, 7-19-07

 

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