[buymycards]

Yes I would refund the money for the item. Here is my take on it from a Postal employees perspective and I deal with this all day long. I know that not all post offices run like this, but this is the way it happens at my po.

1. We pay very close attention to our scans. When they come in on the truck we scan each package as "Arrived at Unit". We expect the carriers to scan every parcel as "attempted", delivered", etc. Each carrier has a scanner with it's own unique serial number. Each day I compare the number of scans that are made by the carriers to number of parcels that arrived at our office. If I see a parcel that wasn't scanned correctly I talk to the carrier about the missed scan and they need to have a good reason. "I forgot" isn't a good reason. 99.1 % of our parcels are scanned and delivered on the day that we receive them. Once in a while a new carrier will scan a parcel as delivered, but deliver it to the wrong house. Once in a while the barcode will be smudged and we won't be able to scan it. Once in a while the parcel will have an incorrect address and a new carrier will deliver it as it is addressed instead of getting it to the correct address. I tell our carriers that 99.1% is pretty good, unless you are part of the 0.9% whose packaged didn't get handled correctly.

2. When I receive a call about a missing package or if someone calls and says their package is showing as delivered but they didn't receive it, I start out by talking to the carrier. Does the carrier remember delivering this package? Where did you put it? Was it too large to fit in the mailbox and you put it somewhere else? Has the customer moved and the carrier delivered it to the old address? Was the package addressed correctly? Then I talk to the customer: Did you look on the porch? Were your kids home? Who brought the mail in from the mailbox? You would be surprised how many times the kids brought in the mail and put the package somewhere and the parents weren't aware of it. Or the package may be on the porch. Or the people recently moved and didn't file a change of address card and the package was mailed to their old address. 9 times out of 10 the problem is with the customer and about 1 time out of 10 the carrier is at fault. Last Xmas we stopped package delivery at one of the trailer parks because someone was stealing USPS and UPS packages as soon as they were delivered. There are also many eBay scammers who make a living by saying they didn't receive their packages.

3. Most of the people who work for the Post Office are good, hard working people who are trying their best to do a good job. Sometimes they make mistakes but we try to find ways to limit the mistakes. Once in a while we run across a clerk or a carrier who just doesn't care, and then we have problems.

So anyway, yes, I would refund the money. Thanks for letting me ramble.

Rick