I can remember so many times during my corporate marketing career when someone would come barging into my office demanding to know why a specific piece of direct mail was not delivered. Executives would get involved demanding that I call the printer to place the blame on their incompetency. 
Time and again I would explain that since we chose to send the mailing using standard postage (third class), delivery was not guaranteed. I would remind the person that first class postage is cost prohibitive for the vast majority of direct mailings, which is why we discussed and budgeted for standard postage. In fact, first class mail isn't always delivered (insert sounds of gasps). However, those reminders fell on deaf ears. How could the postal service just not deliver a piece of mail? They wouldn't believe it.
Over the years, I learned to hold onto various pieces of returned mail (both first class and third class) that had been returned (keep in mind, third class postage does not include return service yet it was often returned anyway) years after a mailing was completed to help demonstrate my point. It seemed to just be one of those things that people could not accept. Why would the post office not deliver a piece of mail? Today, I read an article from the Associated Press that provides undeniable proof that not every piece of mail (including those with first class postage on them) gets delivered in a timely manner.
According to the Associated Press article, a postcard that was dated and mailed on December 23, 1914 was just delivered in northwest Kansas. Yes, it took 93 years for this piece of mail to get through the mail stream. I suppose the good thing is at least it was eventually delivered. Unfortunately, the intended recipient is deceased, but the postcard was delivered to a relative of the intended recipient. The original one cent postage seemed to cover the lengthy delivery expense. Someone even took the time to place the postcard in an envelope with current postage for the latter part of its trip.
So the moral of this story is - next time you send a direct mailing, remember that regardless of the type of postage you pay for (first class or third class), it's highly likely (if not guaranteed) that every piece will not be delivered. Those pieces might be thrown in the garbage or lost under a shelf or box only to be found years later. I've had those 5-year old direct mail pieces returned to me many times. Imagine what else might be floating around the U.S. mail abyss.
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