Dude, Where is my package?

I'm not sure if everyone is going through this kind of thing but I thought I would share for those of you who are interested in the most extreme process to buy a CD.

I saw a CD on eBay that I was interested in buying. It was a Dire Straits first pres Making movies blue spiral West German CD. It was a buy It now or make offer and I made an offer and the seller waited almost to the very end and then made a counter-offer which I accept.

I paid him immediately expecting him to get the shipment off in the mail that day or the next day. It was on the weekend so I figured I guess he'll send it off Monday but the seller waited a week to take it to the post office.

The seller was in the Midwest and my CD went to Chicago and was stuck there for a week and a half. The package started moving again and eventually it was here stuck at another distribution center for several days.

It was finally here and out for delivery a month later after I paid for it. They had up to 8 p.m. to deliver it so I was waiting patiently close to the door so I could hear the postman walk up scan it and walk away. There was no postman. There was no mail. I was notified that the package was delivered I looked outside there was nothing there. Nobody had come up to my door.

The next day I went to the post office they told me they had an extraordinary amount of mail they wasn't able to get to it so they'll deliver it today sometime and if you don't receive the package come back and we'll try to find it after today's mail was delivered. That day's mail was delivered with other packages but not the one I was looking for and the postman said they called him in on his day off to help deliver mail on this route.

I went in to the post office the next day and they looked up the tracking number took all the information and told me that a delivery supervisor would contact me that day.needless to say the supervisor never called me I was wondering if they even cared so I was determined to go back the next day and help to resolve this.

I went back today and again the manager was in a meeting and he would have to call me back. I told them I was willing to wait until he got out of the meeting and in the meantime someone else that worked there tried to help me.

He took my tracking number again and in the computer look to see where is actually scanned and he showed me and it wasn't my house. It was right around the corner from my house. I filled out some paperwork to do an investigation and a left hoping that that person would call me to tell me he found my package.

I live on 1234 River Street and the house around the corner from me is 1234 lake Street. I went to that house knocked on the door someone answered and told me they walked the package over to my house knocked on the door and there was no answer. They told me they later gave it back to the postman saying this is not mine.

I thanked them and went back to the post office and let the person who is helping me earlier know what happened he said okay I'll look for it so that it doesn't go back to who sent it initially. I didn't know if the mailman brought it back to the post office or was going to try to redeliver it to me again today. I waited and nothing was delivered to me and the postman who delivered my mail I ask them did they worked yesterday they told me no.

I just about given up and then just a half an hour ago a postal truck drove up to my house and they dropped off the package to me.

But here's the thing what I don't understand. When the lady knocked on my door to try to give it back to me personally why didn't she just leave it? When the postman took it back from the lady who told him the package wasn't hers why didn't he walk around the block and deliver it to me then?

And now the icing on the cake when I opened it up to make sure it was the right CD or wasn't broken it was I open up the CD thinking after all this time here is my reward it's a Dire Straits Making movies CD that's not a blue spiral but a red atomic CD.

This was an ultimate fail from the beginning to the end but I'm going to consider it a win.

 

Dude where's your patience

 

Lol It's probably the same place as your understanding.

 

Do you have an abstract we can read to save us some time?

 

Okay the short version is this. I ordered something a month ago. It was delayed in the mail. It was finally delivered to the wrong address. I went into the post office to complain about it and they were able to show me the physical location of where it was delivered which was not my house. This is important because all those people who have lost packages can have them tracked to exactly when and where they were delivered. I went back and forth and finally got my package. However when I opened it up and inspected it the seller sent me the wrong CD.

Some may say that I am being impatient by wanting my package within the time frame that eBay tells me it will arrive even when the pandemic is going on. I have received my package within the timeframe despite the fact and what's going on in the world. Some things do work in the post office. When you're not getting the satisfaction that you think you deserve you need to step up and call it to the attention of the post office. True you do need to be patient to see the process through but don't just wait and wait and wait because you could let too much time pass and then there's no way they can help you after a certain period of time.

 

now boys...

don't we have several package/shipping gripe threads already?

 

Maybe there are but aren't we allowed to express ourselves in a positive way? Anyone here that wishes to share their experience I'm more than happy to read it and if I can empathize I will. If my experience can help someone else who is going through something similar isn't that a good thing?

I'm going back to the post office today not to complain but to get the name of the guy who helped me so that I can write a letter to his boss's boss to let them know how invaluable this person is. There are a lot of really great people in the post office along with some that don't take their job that seriously. There is a certain quality of service we should come to expect from those who step up to do the job. Praise should also be given to those who go above and beyond their normal duties to do the right thing.

 

Don't you mean the Vertigo Red Fan pressing like this?

 

Wrong title?!?

 

Yeah that is the one. I swear my mind is going. I'm sorry. I get the red images confused. It is the red fan. No it's the right title I just bought the blue spiral and I got the red fan. I'm keeping it though. It makes for a memorable story.

 

Whaaa?!?!?

 

Some people just have all kinds of bad luck.

Throughout this pandemic, at any given time I average about 7 incoming packages. They arrive like waves crashing on the shore with the only curiosity being a few packages that took 4+ days to get from Anaheim to Anaheim. Media mail in general is taking an extra 1-3 days but that isn't the end of the world.

I never have crushed CD cases. Vinyl packed well arrives unscathed. You gotta pick your sellers well.

 

I respectfully disagree with you because I've had different experiences and I don't think it has to do with the seller as much as it has to do with USPS.Now don't get me wrong I'm not trying to lay blame on any particular person or situation but usually I found that the sellers are pretty good when it comes to shipping.

When I buy something from eBay I include a note that says please wrap the CD in cardboard to avoid it getting crushed in transit. The seller usually complies. There are some sellers that take their time and shipping off your product maybe a week and maybe they only want to go out of the house once a week I understand.

But from what I have been told by USPS in regards to tracking there are packages that don't go out in a systematic order there is chaos when it comes to the warehouses and distribution center as they pass through. Your package can sit in a distribution center for a week and other products can come in and pass your package by because they're lucky packages and your package is an unlucky package. There are some centers for people who don't always scan the package to show the progress it's making its way towards you.

In my case a package was even delivered to the wrong house and I had to chase it before I finally got a hold of it. So in my opinion once it leaves the hands of the seller it's all on the delivery people.

Now I completely understand USPS being inundated by too much traffic at any given time so it causes delays. I get that. What I don't understand is when I order a product 2 hours away from me in Morgan Hill California going to the Bay area California and it's routed through Los Angeles California.

 

We're in a freakin' pandemic. USPS is being rocked. You gotta have some patience.

But I stand by what I said. I cannot remember the last time I had a jewel case damaged by shipping. I order tons of stuff. Albums. No recent shipping issues to speak of. Even when it comes to pressing issues, some people seem to have those with one out of every two albums they buy. Me? Maybe one out of every thirty, if that.

Like I said, some people just have bad luck.

 

Everybody is entitled to their opinion and I feel I am being patient but I'm not going to wait months to receive something before I take action. And even when the post office is being rocked it's still doing its job to some degree efficiently.

As far as I'm concerned when my CDs are just shoved in a padded envelope they're crushed. When they're sent insulated with cardboard they are not crushed.

Luck may have something to do with it but when you prepare for things to go wrong your luck improves.

 

You can do a search on just how many threads Francophile50 has contributed to helping the page count of people needlessly bashing the Post Office. It's really becoming psychotic.

You do understand, we are not the Complaint Department, right? In fact, every time I have taken my complaints directly to my local post office, I have received not only satisfaction, but interest, empathy, and a clear path to contacting somebody further up the chain.

The only thing this does here, is give other gripers cover to do the same, in hopes it will somehow diminish the reputation of the Post Office.

Now; if you are not in need of medical assistance that the Postman can provide, I suggest you sit tight and wait for other packages with more urgent needs, to get processed first.

And, if you are in need of a better Post Office, take that up with people who believe the offices they are occupying in Washington, are for serving the people, as opposed to letting their departments rot from the inside so they can crow later on about how they're not worth anything, and should be turned over to private industry. We are not buying that, and no, I am not going to stop reminding the OP of this while he tries to turn his hissy-fit into a cause celebre.

 

Just last week, a fellow forumite alerted me that a package I had sent him hadn't arrived several weeks after I had shipped it. The tracking showed that package made it as far as Nashua, NH (30 miles from here) and then disappeared.

I spoke to the local post office and they suggested that I file a claim online, which I did. Within three days I received confirmation that they would be reimbursing me for the value + shipping, and a few more days later I received a check.

Me and the USPS are good.

 

How wonderful that you and the buyer were both working together. Unfortunately when I buy from eBay they send it Media mail and as far as they're concerned they sent it that's the end of their responsibilities. If a package is lost the mail will urge me to have the sender apply pressure on the post office. When the seller isn't motivated there's not much I can do and I just lose.

 

Are you using PayPal? If so, PayPal will help you not lose.

 

I don't know man. It looks like its all on you. Cant pay a guy then Shazaaamm. It'll Star Trek the package in your door. That's a very long language for just a CD. Patience my man.. There's a lot of beautiful things to do in life.. Breathe man and enjoy..

 

You're right but if the conditions are right they will help you but if the conditions are wrong they won't.

Allow me to explain. I ordered something off eBay 9 months ago. The post office shows it was delivered. I got home and no package. Now I'm not sure if it was delivered to the wrong address or if it was stolen off my doorstep.

Both eBay and PayPal refused to credit me because it was shown to have been delivered. Another parcel a week ago was shown delivered and I know no postman even came to my house. I went to the post office and they actually showed me the physical location of where it was delivered and it wasn't my house. I chased the package and eventually it was delivered but there are mistakes made by the post office and as long as it's shown it was delivered PayPal and eBay wipe their hands from the deal.

 

More bad luck. I'm having a hard time understanding how it is the seller's fault (or eBay/PayPal's) when a package is delivered to the wrong house. That is between you and your local post office.

 

Okkkaaayyy. The package was misdelivered. You can't pay a guy to Shazam something inside your door. But you can pay a guy to deliver it to the right address. Lol I do other things too. I like to breathe. I also like to get the stuff I pay for.

 

I'm with you. but did you know there's a federal law that states that the post office cannot be held responsible for losing your packages? Someone that was trying to help me showed this to me but was making strong efforts to find where my package went. If you take out insurance against it being lost then the insurance company will pay but ultimately the post office is not responsible for lost mail.

The person said that if it's lost and the sender applies pressure then the post office is more motivated to follow up on where it got lost. It sounds crazy and doesn't make any sense to me but that's the way they operate.

 

I know that the only way to hold the Post Office accountable is if the package is insured. That makes total sense. Imagine the potential for fraud otherwise.

In years and years of both buying and selling, I've never had an incoming package get lost. Never. As for sending, many moons ago during the anthrax scare I had a package get stuck somewhere in the area of the DC postal hub. Tracking didn't really exist back then as we know it now. I refunded the buyer for the undelivered CD and six+ months later, it freed up and made it to the buyer. How do I know this? Buyer contacted me and said they'd just received the package. Sadly, buyer did not pay me again.

So the score is one lost outgoing and zero lost incoming. I'd say I'm having some pretty good luck.