USPS Question (OT)
 

I did a deal with a guy not on this board. It moved off EBay and I bought direct. He gave a ton of info on him and it all checks out. He might be a tad flakey but I don't think that he is a con. If so, expensive lesson learned. (1k)

My challenge is this. I made the purchase 2 weeks ago on 2/23. He provided a tracking number on 2/26. There was no activity on the tracking until 3/3. It said expected delivery of 3/5. 3/5 has come and gone and it still shows it as departed Kent Wa facility but is not showing any activity here. When I called USPS yesterday, they said that it is still inside of the window as it was not dropped off until 3/3 (which is an issue as he said 2/26 it was dropped off). But I check every day and it seems like the system is stuck. Has anyone had an issue like this with tracking? I have bought several items since and have received those. I thought I might have been taken, but the fact that it shows in progress has me confused.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Kevin

Here are a couple of tricks that I use if a package is stuck. 1) Go to your local post office and ask them to track it through their computer. 2) Sign up for the emails for tracking of the item.

Good luck.

Jeff

USPS Question (OT)
 

Kevin,

I feel ya on USPS deliveries...they can make you sweat quite a bit sometimes. I've had packages that I know were shipped on a certain date and something like that usually shows up within three days, but didn't actually arrive for over a week...it happens. I would wait a few more days before starting to worry. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see it show up on Monday or Tuesday.

Keep us updated!

I just had one that I sent to another member on here. It showed that I printed a shipping label, but it never was scanned in by USPS. Then 7 days later, it showed up in the system as delivered. With no scans anywhere else throughout it's journey.

As someone that has a very high percentage of USPS problems. Just relax it will eventually show up.

If it has not showed up after 10 days the sender needs to fill out an online form saying the item has not showed up. Usually your item will show up in a few days after that. I have had several items in the last couple years take 30-45 days to show up.

I've had a couple of situations where the tracking shows no movement at all, and then the package shows up at my door. Don't treat the tracking info as gospel.

Speaking as a small town USPS employee who has depended on the service for both buying and selling I don't think you have anything to worry about at this point. I'm sure it will be there soon.

Usps
 

I had an issue with them when I shipped 9 bats altogether once a couple of years ago…as it turned out…I knew the size of the box and could give an accurate description…it was sitting in a facility only 45 minutes from my house…however no way to go and look…then it got shipped to Atlanta Ga…filled out a form for a missing box….turns out that the label when going through the machine got swiped off…eventually after many phone calls and forms being filled out…they were returned to me and then I shipped them again but not all at in one big box..:)
Start with the local post office and go from there…they should be able to help you since they are being tracked.

Kevin,

It is way to soon to panic. It will likely show up the first part of next week. It is still measured in days, not weeks. Relax. Breathe. It is the USPS.:)

usps
 

The Feb 26th date is the date that he printed the shipping label and the shipping info was then transmitted to the Post Office.

The March 3rd date is the day that he actually dropped off the package at the Post Office. Things have been very slow lately because of plant closings, and the tracking system is pretty bad. I would guess that you will have it on Monday or Tuesday.

I've had stuff indicate it's supposed to show up on a certain date and it showed up two weeks late. This was within the last couple of months. I think I've only had a couple of packages not show up out of hundreds over the past several years.

I bet it shows up soon.

I've had this happen before, and it can make you anxious. Eventually my card arrived, after about two weeks ( seemed like two years ). It got misrouted, and given how much mail the postal service handles I am surprised they have as few errors as they do. Easy for me to say, hard for you to do, but be patient and give it more time.

My most recent package from COMC.com
 

was sitting in a post office in Washington for a week as well according to the lack of tracking updates. I finally got it yesterday. Sometimes things don't get scanned, but lately it seems like there are a lot of Newmans out there not actually delivering/transferring the mail or scanning it along the way.

Did you have him send it Priority Mail with insurance? If so, it should NOT have taken this long. And if you're buying a card for $1000 but not spending $15 to mail it Priority or Express, you're doing it wrong.

Thanks - negotiated it (a
Lot of 55's in EX less Clemente, Killebrew, Banks, Aaron Kaline, Mathews, and Williams) for $985 delivered. On the tracking it said priority insured. But I did not explicitly state that.

insurance
 

All Priority Mail now includes $50 of insurance at no additional charge. That is why your receipt says Priority Insured.

I've had a couple of B/S/T transactions on this board recently where the package disappeared from tracking for up to a week or more, causing some mild panic, but eventually showed up. One of these was the transaction described by LukeLyon, where I was the recipient. I also had an item bought on eBay that hadn't shown up after two weeks, so I sent a message to the seller asking when they had sent it. In their reply, they said they've had numerous problems with the USPS recently, with packages sometimes taking several weeks to be delivered, but they've had very few things totally lost. Then that package showed up in my mailbox the next day. So as others have said here, USPS tracking can be unreliable; give it a little more time, and your package will probably show up.

I have had several packages take ten days or more to be delivered especially when the Kent PO in WA is involved.

I had a few packages recently that were picked up by the mailman on a certain day and took a bit longer then usual to get where they were going. When I checked on them they showed no scans in the system accept for the fact I printed the label out. Not even an acceptance scan. Then mysteriously on the day they were finally delivered, all the scans along the way populated into the system.

It was a little weird, but they got where they were going.

As we speak I'm waiting for a small package from CA. It got to the Cleveland facility on Feb 28, and sat there until yesterday. Hopefully I'll get it early this week.

Being that I work evenings, I am home when my mail comes. I'm usually sitting at my desk, which is 20 feet from front door. Just the other day, the mail came, and I forgot I was expecting a fairly big item (~$500). No knock, just my rusty mail box opening and closing. I while later I go get mail, and there was the priority tracked package, with signature required !!!! I checked the tracking number a few days later, and the tracking still said "out for delivery."


I have come to the conclusion that PO employees, especially delivery, hate tracking. I mean, for goodness sake, they have to wear a 4 oz. scanner on their hip (oh my !!), then they have to reach for it (oh dear !!), and then, if that weren't enough, they have to press a little button to scan it (gracious !!!).



................ just pure laziness

Scott
 

Scott, I don't appreciate you putting all postal employees in the same category, as lazy and don't care, when 1 employee missed 1 scan. I would love to get you out on a route when it is 10 below zero so you can walk 8-10 miles and deliver to 600 homes. Then we could see how scans you missed.

Rick

I don't think stereotyping our mail delivery people is fair. The majority of mail carriers I've met over the years are hard working, efficient and friendly. I always make sure to leave them a holiday tip to thank them for their hard work. In turn, I feel like they make an extra effort to look out for my mail.

Update
 

Another frustrating weekend came and went with no cards and no update. I kept updating and looking to no avail. On Tuesday, I called the 800 number. After holding for about an hour and giving my information, I was suddenly disconnected. So, I called back and held for another 45 minutes. I finally talked to a guy who told me what the tracking said. He did open up a case and gave me a confirmation/case number.

About 2 hours later I received a call back. The lady told me that she had no good news. She couldn't explain why it was stuck in the system and suggested that I ask for a refund and tell the sender to file an insurance claim. I asked if I could do that. She told me no, that by chain of custody, he is still the owner until it is delivered.

After a lot of early communication, the seller had been very unresponsive and quiet since. This, of course, had me paranoid that there was something sinister going on. He finally responded to some questions on Sunday after a couple of days of silence. He apologized and told me that he would refund me while we were in this state of flux as an act of good faith if the cards didn't come on Monday. I told him that we could wait until Tuesday. Tuesday came and still no cards. I sent him the information above. I got no response. Once again, I started spinning a bit. After asking for a response, he finally responded late last night and said that he would process a refund today. At 3pm, he sent me a note processing the refund.

At 6pm, my wife sent me a picture of a box - check out the expected delivery date. You will also notice the updated tracking information. I wore the poor guy out - and all because I lacked patience despite the multiple examples in this thread. I sent him new money right away to make it right (as the refund won't clear until Monday). Lord knows how happy he must be that it is over.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. The cards actually look pretty nice. I am going to get a PSA 6 Clemente, Koufax, Killebrew, Mays, Aaron, and Williams plus a few others and it should be pretty solid all the way through.

Glad you got your cards and are happy with them, I am sure the seller is also. The USPS has been making life hard for sellers with all their delays and it just seems to be getting worse.

I got a Priority Mail package from PSA today that was scheduled to arrive on Saturday. It said that is left Anaheim late last Thursday and didn't update until last night. On the other hand I can receive packages from Japan in 2 days so go figure.

I think you can just fill out the online webform on the USPS site instead of calling them. If you call them, you are on hold forever as you have shown, and I also have had the same experience. I filled out a web form for a package that I sent that has gone about a week w/ no tracking updates. According to the webform, you will receive a call back within 3 business days. However, I got a call back in about 2 hours, so it's pretty speedy. Unfortunately, no news on the package. The Post Master did say that he has received 6 complaints for packages that have left California going to Raleigh, NC, which have dropped off the tracking map, so he's monitoring it closely. It's a first class package with tracking. Weird thing is that the buyer purchased a card from me, and I sent it, and it's this one that's basically disappeared. Then a couple of days later, he bought another one, and I sent that card also to the same address, and that package that was sent later has already arrived a couple of days ago.

My guess is that the package should have been sent first class using air, but was instead dumped into a parcel post bin by accident, so it is going the very slow way over ground.

My mail delivery lady is amazing. Very friendly and does a terrific job.

Lucky you! My item left the sorting facility (about 15 miles from my home) on March 7, and it STILL isn't here.

package
 

Hi Kevin, I'm glad your package arrived. One of the problems with people printing their own postage is that it can really throw off the expectations. Your guy printed the label on the 26th, so the label showed an expected delivery date of the 28th. The problem is that he didn't take the package to the Post Office until the 3rd, so there is already a 5 day delay.

So, the expected delivery date should have been the 6th or 7th, but it looks like you didn't receive it until the 11th, so is still pretty bad service.

I'm glad it worked out.

Rick

that's the ticket Rick

He should have sent it registered. Never a problem with registered mail.

The mail, like Seinfeld says about fruit, is a gamble.........

All the carriers have issues...I'm a 30 year UPS employee, owned a UPS Store and ship stuff primarily by the USPS since the cost/size fits better but also UPS and the occasional FedEx. All are pretty good overall. There are exceptions though.

At UPS, we deliver about 15 million packages a day in the US. If only 1% has a problem, there's 150,000 packages in limbo with 300,000 customers upset. The USPS has made huge strides in the last 10 years to improve their service--helped much by FedEx and UPS who carry most, if not all, their Priority and Express mail from city to city. They handle pickup and delivery, we handle the in-between. And the normal passenger airlines as well.

One way where the USPS can improve is with more intermediate scanning. It seems like they only scan many of the packages when it's received in the post office and then upon delivery. Some get some intermediate scanning, so I'm not sure about that. I do know that my local post office is getting new equipment all the time and just got a new printer which prints both the tracking labels now as well as the postage strips, so they're working hard.

Congrats to Kevin on those 1955's. Glad they made it. You're a good guy as we've dealt before.....now I have to get to work on my 1955 set since my 1956 is just about finished......

I just got back from our fairly large and very busy local Post Office. They said they got new software today and had 2 hours to learn 60 screens. It was a real treat in there today.

Tom and Leon
 

Hi Guys,

Tom, I agree 100% with what you said.

Leon, my PO is going live with the new software next Wed. 2 hours of online training this week, and then open the window at 9 on Wed. Should be quite the mess.

Went back again yesterday. The fastest lady in there was probably less than half as fast as before. No doubt it will speed up with time but the training, or lack of, should earn someone a demerit.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming...
 

Waiting with baited breath for my '54 Aaron. Registered Mail and stuck in Chicago since Wednesday... sigh
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfi...tc_tLabels1=RE 118 748 026 US

Usps
 

Classic.....I am dealing with the same thing right now. Sent off priority mail to a board member for some great T206's last week. Checked two days ago online and it said its delayed here in San diego. What ever that means. So I check last night , same thing delayed, so I call this morning, wait for 30 minutes to talk to somebody at their call center, then finally get somebody and they state exactly what I read online, what's the point of calling! So I ask if there is anything they can do for me and they say no, but they can file a report, so I have them do one anyway.

It's so funny that I even have to get "insurance " for their product, I mean this is their product, it's just bizarre to me that I have to pay any additional money for a product. Of course, I got the priority mail, insurance, and signature confirmation,.

Anyways, now I have to wait till Monday to find out exactly what's going on, no wonder the USPS is going out of business.

Jeff W.

My local Post Office isn't even using the new software or postage meters. I mailed two items for $6.50 yesterday. They covered the entire envelope mailer with stamps, guessing I will have complaints from buyers that they havent received their packages shortly.

Stuff happens, I totally get it. I just wish the stuff would happen with my $10 purchases and not the 4-figure ones.

I recently mailed 2 packages...one to SGC with tracking, the other a CD I sold with no tracking. They put "internal" tracking on the CD package. When I typed in the tracking number and signed up for alerts sent to my email, I accidentally typed the number on the receipt from the internal number on my CD package, and not the SGC one. Now I am getting updates on the CD that I did not pay to track, but is being tracked anyways. So why am I paying extra money to track an item when really we dont need to?
Also, why does it take my SGC package from Massachusetts 5 days to get to New Jersey? Seems to me that the shortest distance would be a straight line, but they also go from the mailing center in my area (where it sits), to New Hampshire (where it sits), then to NJ (where it sits) until out for delivery.
Not to knock the P.O., as my mother worked there for 30 years, but, really?

Free PID #s Tracking A Goner?
 

Up until about a month ago, using the USPS website, I used the PID#s on my USPS receipts to track cards I mail out. Really, all I want to know is if the cards arrived safely. Since, no can do - the site returns a message to the effect of, This service is no longer available via this website. The nicest postal worker at my local PO (actually they are all relatively nice, as group) had previously told me, a year and a half ago, "Why pay for tracking when...". Recently, I told her of about this latest development. She had no idea about the change...she's still very nice.