LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Wait a few business days first: most "lost" letters are just delayed, especially around holidays. If it's been more than a week domestically, file a missing mail search with USPS or open a service ticket with Canada Post. Then mail the letter again instead of waiting longer, and use a tracked service for anything time-sensitive.
| How late it is | What to do |
|---|---|
| A few business days | Wait. Check with the recipient in case it arrived and they haven't mentioned it. |
| Over a week, domestic | File a USPS Missing Mail search or a Canada Post service ticket. |
| Time-sensitive or valuable | Don't wait for the search: resend now with tracking. |
| The original turns up later | Let the recipient know to ignore the duplicate, and close the search. |
True loss is rarer than people think. Most missing letters were mis-sorted onto the wrong route, delayed by a damaged barcode, or delivered to a neighbor who hasn't brought it over yet. Handwritten addresses in cursive get misread by sorting machines more often than printed ones, and envelopes that shift in window envelopes can be read as the wrong address entirely.
Actual destruction happens too, usually when an envelope jams in sorting equipment and tears. That's why the post office runs a Mail Recovery Center: undeliverable and damaged items with apparent value get sent there in the hope of reuniting them with an owner. A letter with a clear return address almost always comes back to you instead.
File the search with specifics. The USPS Missing Mail search asks for a description of the envelope and contents: color, size, markings, what was inside. Vague searches go nowhere, so "white business envelope, typed address, two-page letter about the lease renewal" beats "a letter." Canada Post's service ticket works the same way: the more precise the description, the better the odds.
Keep a copy of what you sent. If the letter contained anything important, a copy means you can resend immediately instead of reconstructing it from memory while the search runs. For anything with a deadline, the copy is what saves you: resend first, keep the search open second.
If the letter was time-sensitive, resend. Waiting on a search while a deadline passes is the worst outcome: you lose both the letter and the deadline. When you resend something that might still arrive, mark the second copy clearly: "Duplicate: please disregard the earlier letter if both arrive." That one line prevents real confusion with checks, contracts, and anything the recipient might act on twice.
If the letter wasn't urgent, give the search a week or two before resending. Ordinary mail does surface: mis-sorted letters get caught and re-routed, and neighbors eventually bring over misdelivered mail.
Use tracking for anything that matters. Certified mail in the US and registered mail in Canada both create a scan record at every step, which makes a letter much harder to lose and much easier to find if something goes wrong. Print addresses instead of handwriting them, double-check the unit number, and use a proper return address so a misfire comes back to you instead of vanishing.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it's printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
Need help? Ask your assistant. It can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com