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United States Postal Service or USPS is one of the most trusted postal services in the entire United States. For several decades It has been delivering mails and packages to millions of Americans and continues to do it with great proficiency even today. USPS’ success has been fueled by many useful features, including its highly efficient tracking system, which helps In tracking and monitoring the packages during the transit period.
But sometimes this feature can put you in a state of confusion, especially when you come across the message ‘di not available for this package.’ This message, in a way, does indicate some minor inconveniences that especially recipients might have to face. However, there is nothing to panic as such. Your package or parcel is 100% safe.
But what really is the meaning of this message.
This blog post will breakdown the meaning and how to fix this issue.
What does it mean when USPS states ‘DI not available for this package?’
To understand the meaning of this message, we need to first understand what ‘DI’ really mean.
Basically, the term ‘DI’ stands for ‘delivery instructions.’ Delivery instructions is a feature that allows the recipients to specify exactly how they want the package or packages to be delivered to them. For instance, do they want the package to kept at the local postal office from where they can personally collect it or receive it at a designated location?
To simplify further, below are all the requests and options that recipients can avail under the delivery instructions feature:
- Leave the package at a specific location, usually located in proximity of the designated address (for instance, front porch or back door).
- Leave the package with a neighbour (recipient has to specify the name of the neighbour and house number).
- Keeping the package at the local post office for a pickup.
- Redirecting the package to a different address (recipient has to pay the extra fees for availing this service).
Now that the meaning of ‘DI’ is clear, the meaning of the message ‘DI not available for this package’ becomes all too obvious.
It basically means that the delivery instructions aren’t applicable for the concerned package or packages. In such a case, a recipient does not have the privilege to specify how he or she wants the package or packages to be delivered. The recipient is required to personally receive the package preferably at the designated location and provide the signature as a proof that the package has been delivered successfully.
Mentioned below are several reasons why certain package or packages are not eligible for delivery information.
Restriction imposed by the sender:
The sender could have disabled the option of delivery instruction. One of the reasons for disabling the DI option could be that the sender wants the recipient to personally receive the package at the designated location and provide the signature for the same.
Package falls under DI restrictions:
As per the USPS rules, certain packages are not eligible for delivery instruction due security issues or logistical limitation.
For instance, the ‘DI’ option is never available for packages sent to military addresses due to heightened security issues. Notably, there are different delivery protocols for packages/mails sent to military addresses or personnels.
Similarly, ‘DI’ option is by default disabled for packages meant for internation destinations.
Package is still in transit:
Any package that has travelled quite a distance during its transit becomes almost ineligible for DI and there is a good reason for it. Since these packages have arrived very closed to the destination, adding delivery instruction may result in the delay of the delivery.
High insurance cost:
USPS has set insurance cost limitation, beyond which delivery instructions cannot be set. As per the current rule, DI cannot be set for package or packages insured for $500 or more.
Package comes under Collect on Delivery (COD) service:
Whenever any sender categorizes any package as collect on delivery (COD) service then it mostly nullifies the scope of delivery instructions. COD means that the sender has requested that the payment must be collected from the concerned recipient before handing over the package.
The payment collected from the recipient involves both the cost of merchandise as well as the cost of shipment. The COD feature is mostly used in the case of e-commerce shipment or whenever concerned senders and receivers are involved in a commercial transaction.
Hold mail request is active for the address:
The issue of USPS DI not available for this package can also crop up if the recipient has activated the hold mail request. This request is usually activated when the recipient is on the vacation or is out of station, temporarily stopping the delivery of the package.
The hold mail request remains active only for the specific period as mentioned by the recipient. Once the period expires, USPS will resume the delivery process and deliver the package to the specified address.
How to fix the ‘DI not available for this package’ issue?
Lets start this section with bit of a bad news, and the bad news is that in most cases recipients cannot directly change or modify delivery instructions. However, it is still not entirely a hopeless situation.
Recipients can take some affirmative actions that could possibly help in resolving this tricky matter.
Contact the sender:
As mentioned above, only sender has the privilege to enable or modify the delivery instructions. Therefore, contacting the sender and requesting his or her corporation is one of the most sensible things to do. The sender can contact the USPS and request them to modify the DI on behalf of the recipient or resend the package with active delivery instructions.
Visit the local office:
In case if your package has already reached the USPS’ local post office you can visit the office along with your tracking number. If the local officials or personnels are cooperative then they can allow you to keep or hold the package at their office for a specific time period before it is picked up by the recipient.
Miss the delivery:
When delivery instructions are not enabled, recipients are required to collect the package and provide the signature. However, there is no legal compulsion to do so and, therefore, the recipients are never penalized if they the miss the delivery for whatsoever reason.
Recipients can choose to stay away from their home during the expected delivery time, which would mean that they will end up missing the delivery. This would eventually allow them to reschedule the delivery or collect it from the local postal office.
Contact USPS Customer Service:
One of the obvious things you can do is call up the USPS customer service and seek their assistance for resolving this problem. The USPS customer service number is 18002758777. For seeking proper assistance, you will have to provide the tracking number and other relevant details of the package to the customer service officials.
Visit your USPS account:
Another feasible option is to enable or modify your delivery instructions through your USPS account. You will have to visit USPS website for accessing your account. However, it Is recommended to verify whether enabling or modifying ‘Di’ is really possible or not through your USPS account.
Even it is possible, there might be some exceptions. For instance, activating or modifying DI for international packages or military addresses won’t be possible.
Use USPS Package Intercept:
If your package is still in transit and has not been delivered yet, you can use the USPS Package Intercept service. This service can come really handy for resolving the ‘DI’ problem. It basically helps in redirecting the package to a different address or hold the package at the local postal office for a specific time period.
There are two important things that needs to be noted about this service. Firstly, this is not a free service. You’ve to pay extra money to avail this service. Secondly, this service is not available for all the packages. Kindly check whether your package is eligible for this service or not.
Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery:
The good thing about the informed delivery service is that it is a free service. You don’t have to pay a single penny for availing this service. It allows you to preview all the incoming packages or mails and manage the packages, giving the much-needed options like scheduling redelivery or leaving electronic signature instructions for all the future deliveries.
However, mind you, this service comes with many limitations including the fact that not all packages are eligible for this service.
How to set up the delivery instructions for your package?
Our blog post ‘DI Not Available for This Package’ will now deal with the important question of how to set up the delivery instructions.
Follow the below mentioned steps to activate the ‘DI’ feature for your package.
- Visit the USPS website (USPS.com).
- Enter your package’s tracking number in the designated field or search bar and click to proceed. This field is usually splashed on the USPS website’s home page.
- If your package is eligible, you’ll see the delivery instructions splashed under the tracking details. However, if you see the message ‘USPS DI not available for this package,’ your package is not eligible for the ‘DI’ feature.
- Select the desired delivery option or request. All the delivery options and requests have been mentioned above.
- Once you made the selection, review the delivery instruction to confirm everything is correct.
- If your delivery instruction includes fees then you’ll be prompted to make the payment. (kindly note that some delivery instructions like redirecting package to different address or hold for pickup requires extra payment).
Can you cancel the Delivery Instructions request?
No. Once your request for Delivery Instructions is approved, you can’t cancel it. It becomes final.
Conclusion:
The entire issue of ‘USPS DI not available for this package’ can be bit distressing, especially if you’re unable to avail the service despite urgent requirement. However, with little presence of mind and little patience, sometimes you can easily fix this problem. You can try out options like ‘USPS informed delivery,’ ‘USPS Package intercept’ or ‘visiting local office.’ Alternatively, you can try out other options that have been discussed in this blog post.
