USPS Tracking - what are your current experiences?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by George P, Dec 20, 2017.

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  1. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    Everything is been fine for me up until a couple weeks ago then stuff is starting to get stuck. As a matter of fact there was something stuck in the United States and I called the post office gave them the tracking number they couldn't give me any more information than eBay had so I don't blame eBay I blame the USPS tracking.

    I talked to the representative from USPS and they told me that it they have until the 27th to deliver it so Monday if it's not here I'm going to call and have them put a trace on it. They said it's being driven across the United States and a truck so it takes longer. I don't understand how they decide to put something on a truck or a plane but only a few of my packages get stuck but of those few I have to keep pushing to get them delivered.
     
  2. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Media Mail = truck
    First Class, Priority = plane

    Local USPS here was already discouraging the use of Media Mail as it seemed to be transported by injured turtles. Since the virus, forget about it, I've seen red banners across the top of a tracking page suggesting we not use Media Mail.
     
  3. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    While it's a problem right now, I do envy my neigbours south of the border for having the media mail option.
    At the moment, we don't have anything as economical as that in Canada.
     
  4. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    Yeah but it's all relative. I got a great bargain from eil.com but they had no tracking. I had to pay almost as much for tracking as I did the CD. But I didn't know if I was going to get it coming from England. The thing took like a week to get here it was awesome but I guess you pay for what you get. I see some eBay sales for a couple pounds but like 17 pounds to ship. Same thing with Australia it's a reasonable priced CD but you pay through the nose to get it to you.
     
    Myke likes this.
  5. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    But are any of your options as slow as a snail ? Are any of the employees and the service itself telling you not to use it ?
    There's no point in having a service that is considered the worst, no matter how affordable.
    If you click on that red banner at the top of a USPS tracking page, the longer explanation only mentions First Class and Priority as options that can still get to you on time.
    It's the cat food option for mail delivery. You know, when you're so poor eating cat food is your only option. Of course that's if being affordable is your only concern.
    I ship all my sales within the US as First Class, and they all get there within 2-3 days. The average cost is $5.00 postage. If I were using Media Mail it'd only be about $2.00 cheaper. Not worth my profit going up by $2.00 per sale if it means making my now happy repeat buyers wait up to a week longer.
     
    Peter_R likes this.
  6. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I hear ya.
    Was it always slow, or is it just extra slow now because of the pandemic?
     
  7. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Bad before, worse since. I see the package I sent you hasn't moved in 4 days. I'm guessing customs ?
     
  8. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    It's in Canada. I should be getting it Monday. I would have gotten it on Friday, but everything was pushed back a day because there was a holiday in my province last week.

    I guess for me, the idea of Media Mail is appealing if, as a buyer, I wanted to save money on a larger, heavier order that would cost more otherwise, and I wasn't in a hurry to get it.
    Of course, if I had to deal with it on a regular basis, I would probably feel very differently.

    The grass is always greener, I guess.
     
    Myke likes this.
  9. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    I get stuff out of country that comes through San Francisco international and goes into customs and it's processed within 1 or 2 days. It tells you when it's going in and when it's coming out of customs. No! the stuff that's getting stuck is the middle of the country. It is either sent on a truck going the wrong direction or they don't scan it and it looks like it hasn't left Chicago when it's in Arizona right now. The post office is not keeping attention to detail. I really don't care as long as I get my package but it sucks when you're waiting and wondering if you're ever going to get your package.
     
    Myke likes this.
  10. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Always. Y'all have legal recreational marijuana.
     
    Peter_R likes this.
  11. Peter_R

    Peter_R Maple Syrple Gort Staff

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I am not a fan of typing LOL, but that post actually made me LOL.
     
    Myke likes this.
  12. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    It's also not all about speed, but the longer it stays out there, the chances increase for damage.

    The album I ordered yesterday from Acoustic Sounds, I chose Priority for a few dollars more.

    The Slowhand box in my avatar, definitely Priority as there is way too much chance of damage as I've seen it's contents in photos and posts both here and Discogs.
     
  13. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    Or theft or loss. I'm a patient person but just let me know where I'm at. If you completely leave me in the dark and then deliver my package long after I've given up hope that just tears me apart.
     
    Myke likes this.
  14. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    I posted this elsewhere, but even after it gets here sometimes...my house number is 253 on a street with West in the name. The street across from me also has West in it's name, and a clinic you can see from here at 253.
    Yep, they were delivering my records to the clinic.
     
  15. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    That's hilarious because my street has East in it, and sometimes my mail goes to the same street with West in it. Good thing is there's tracking and I can complain and they have to go back and get the mail and then bring it back to me or there is consequences.
     
  16. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Which are...?
     
  17. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    I'm kind of persuasive. I know who is in charge who is the postmaster general is. And I can make things uncomfortable for people.
     
  18. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    USPS tracking numbers seem almost pointless to me, the don't get updated until way after something happens and the item has already moved on.
     
    fluffskul likes this.
  19. rob68

    rob68 Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    Tried e-mailing USPS about this via their own website and when you click Submit the time bar starts then stops and asks you to Submit again....and it happens again and again and endlessly. Never goes through. Unreal.
     
  20. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    For the most part I have to say that USPS actually does a really good job and they're tracking is something more than there used to be long time ago. I know when would scratch their head and think in this Advent of technology why would we experience such problems. The way I see it it's a system that was established years ago maybe not all that many but it's not state-of-the-art technology. Also the incredible mass volume that they do probably put a tremendous burden on this system.

    As a matter of fact I called in to speak with a customer service representative and I was on hold for half an hour which is quick getting through. They told me the system was down to track my package. I rolled my eyes and thought, of course it is.well the representative was gathering information to call me back the system came back up and they filed a claim.

    the representative was a really genuine person and she told me that she shipped a package to her father a couple states away in the same thing happened to her her package was stuck someplace and look like it wasn't progressing. as soon as she filed the claim a day or two later the package was delivered.

    I think sometimes the post office is overwhelmed and it takes something like a claim to focus attention where it needs to be. the post office for what it does is pretty efficient but like anything else it's not perfect. Unfortunately if we want our packages we have to stay on top of them.

    Another issue I am experiencing with another order is the person generated a tracking number but the USPS shows it was never received. They told me another carrier may have picked it up but never delivered it so now I have to follow up with the person I bought the item from to see who they handed it off to and then I have to follow up with them.
     
  21. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    yeah, i've experienced this recently. fortunately a close of the browser and reload/retry worked fine. any time i have an issue with the site i remind myself of how atrocious it was 20 years ago and find a bit of relief.
     
  22. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    USPS is currently a **** show. Some packages arrive when they should. Others take forever for no reason. Ignoring all the media mail stuff I've sent that takes forever, here's an example of something that should never happen. This is a FIRST CLASS parcel, with insurance, and the tracking:

    June 29, 2020, 12:31 pm
    Departed USPS Regional Origin Facility
    BROCKTON MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
    Your item departed our BROCKTON MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER origin facility on June 29, 2020 at 12:31 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.
    June 29, 2020
    In Transit to Next Facility
    June 23, 2020, 1:28 pm
    Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
    BROCKTON MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
    June 23, 2020, 12:13 pm
    Accepted at USPS Origin Facility

    So...It sat in the distribution center for 6 days for no reason. Just that no one could be bothered to move it.

    I also had some media mail packages that I dropped off AT THE POST OFFICE that they took six days to even scan in at the origin.

    This stuff is making it very hard to please buyers, who are patient, but wonder why tracking isn't showing anything at all nearly a week after you said you shipped.
     
  23. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    As a buyer I have to be understanding of the seller to a certain degree. Once the seller hands it over to the post office they lose control and they're not responsible after that. There are some things they can do on their end to ensure that the package is more likely to be received as it's sent. But overall they can only go so far and you have to understand that as a buyer.

    Now's in regards to the package not showing tracking after it was said it was sent. 1)Well, either the buyer is lying to you. 2)When the package was picked up from the seller it wasn't scanned or scanned properly so that it goes into the system for a record. and 3)the last possibility is that it doesn't match up with the post offices system when it comes to them. This is the case primarily from packages coming into the country from out of the country.

    You can always check back with the seller to see how they dropped off the package. Did they drop it off to FedEx or UPS to give to the post office? If so we can investigate on that end.
     
  24. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    An update on only one of the CDs coming in the mail that I'm watching. I purchased a CD from southern California on the 10th. It was shipped out the next day and has been received in Norwalk. It was noted on the 15th it was in transit to the next facility. I called in and he told me it had until the 27th to reach its destination. since I didn't receive the package on the 29th yesterday I called in and place the claim against it to investigate where it is. Later that day the case was closed and no one contacted me to tell me why.

    I called in this morning and got through eventually and they told me the reason they closed it is because they didn't receive the package. This baffles me they scanned it so how could they not have received it? They are in possession of it they just need to locate it. I had the representative reopen the case and escalated so let's see how far that goes.
     
  25. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    i assumed we were all aware there's a pandemic going on and it's affecting the USPS, so delays in transit time and gaps in tracking should be expected...
     
    SJP likes this.
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