posted on January 27, 2001 12:12:16 AM
I bought a CDRW off ebay, the guy mailed it Monday 1/22/01 and sent it delivery confirm. He also sent me the tracking number and this is how the story goes...
Today (Friday 1/26/01 at 12 noon my time) I logged on to the USPS site. To see if they could tell me where the CDRW was... The said it was mailed out on 1/22/01 and it said it had left New York.
So I go to the post office (today 1/26/01) thinking that maybe it would be there since it has been 4 days. I asked at the counter and they said no it had not arrived. This was at 1:30pm my time on 1/26/01
So tonight I get online and check the tracking number again with USPS. They now say that it was delivered to CheXXX, My State (where my Post Office is and my PO Box) at 8:51 am on 1/26/01 (4 and 1/2 hours before I went to the post office)
Now this has me scared to death as I thought they did not check in packages until they were delivered or pickup by addresse.
I am hoping that they did not give my package to someone else, as I was in there yesterday and they handed me a package that was not mine. (they have done this before) I gave it back to them.
What am I going to do if they gave it to someone else? but checked it in when they gave it out to someone else. I hope the person they gave it to will go back to the post office and give it back...
PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME THAT THEY CHECK THE STUFF IN WHEN ARRIVES TO THE POST OFFICE AND AGAIN WHEN THEY HAND IT OVER TO THE PERSON WHOM IS SUPPOSE TO GET THE PACKAGE.
I will try to call them in morning to find out if it is there waiting on me...
I am sick to stomach over this...
ADDED LATER;
Sorry for the all CAPS in the subject line, I hope I do not get in trouble for this. I tried to see if I could edit the subject line but could not.
[ edited by brigette on Jan 27, 2001 12:17 AM ]
OK... I am calming down now with some hope. The sender insured it at least I paided for insurance, so hopefully they filled out a card for it because it was insured and needed a sig. at pick-up (but my post office does not always make me fill one out or sign one for all my insured packages)
posted on January 27, 2001 12:40:01 AM
Hi Brigette,
This has happened to me, and when I went to ask them about this, they had my package. They told me that they scan it when it arrives at the post office. This is just my experience, so call them tomorrow, or even go there and talk with them.
posted on January 27, 2001 12:40:40 AM
Aloha Brigette, I use the DC all the time. They are only supposed to scan it if they are giving it to the customer and they do it right at the counter with a handheld scanner. I hope you get your item. I sent something in Novemeber and it was scanned as delivered but the customer never got it and there is only 3 other people in her building. Thank goodness I insured it so I could claim it and get my money back. Did you have it insured when the seller sent it? Good Luck and talk to you soon,
Ernest
posted on January 27, 2001 12:51:40 AM
Thanks for replying... I have edited my message..
The thing is my post office never does the same thing all the time...
Sometimes I have to sign for insured packages and sometimes not... then sometimes they scan the item when I pick it up and other times they don't (so I don't know if they scan it in advance, since I do have a PO Box)
What scares me is that it was delivered 4 hours (per the USPS Tracking Info) before I went in and check on it to see if it came in...
Then yesterday they handed me a package that was not mine and I turned around as I looked at when I was walking out. I went back and gave it them. One time they did this and I didn't notice it... I got out in my car and opened the package and thought what the heck is this? (it was not something I ordered) then I looked at the package (that I destoryed trying to open it) and it was addressed to someone else. I returned it to the counter and the girl looked like she would be in deep sH*t because the package was so tore up.
If they did scan it in advance and it is sitting there I am going to complain that the item should not be scanned until I pick the item up.
What kills me is this is an expensive item and desireable, I just hoping that it is there. They know me well ( I am probably one of their biggest customers both buying and selling) So hopefully they will remember they have not handed me a package in sometime or the last few days.
And yes... I paid for insurance and I hope the guy did insure it.
[ edited by brigette on Jan 27, 2001 12:56 AM ]
posted on January 27, 2001 06:19:14 AM
Brigette, I can certainly understand why you would be upset, especially after being handed a parcel that wasn't yours.
Let me try to explain why PO's generally scan parcels addressed to PO Boxes as having been delivered when they put a notice in your box, not when you physically pick up the item.
I guess it's two main reasons:
One, your PO Box is your delivery address just the same as 1 Main Street is someone else's delivery address. When a carrier drops off a parcel at 1 Main Street, he scans it as delivered, even if all he did was place it in the mailbox, leave it on the porch or whatever. So when a parcel arrives addressed to your PO Box, it's considered delivered because the PO Box is your delivery address. If they can't fit it in your PO Box, they put in a notice to let you know you have something to pick up.
Two, let's say a parcel with DC arrives for your PO Box on Monday, but you're out of town or sick or working overtime and you don't get to the PO until Saturday to pick up your parcel. If the parcel is scanned that it was delivered on Saturday, not Monday, when the notice was put in your box, it looks like the PO took 5 extra days to get the parcel to its destination. Believe me, the PO doesn't like this! They can do a good job of looking bad all on their own!
One reason I can think of as to why the DC showed delivered four hours before the PO told you your parcel wasn't there is because someone might have scanned a batch of PO Box parcels, but no one had actually sorted them and put notices in the boxes yet. Though four hours is a long time to leave them unsorted.
I hope it all works out for you. Remember USPS's motto: Yesterday's mail tomorrow!
posted on January 27, 2001 10:14:42 AM
mapledr1216...
Thank you for the reply! You are correct on your information! (Or should I say that is how it happened this time)
I did call this morning and it is there. (I don't have time to pick the item up today before they close)
They did scan it when it came off the truck, they do scan PO Box addressed parcels first, just like you said because my address is the PO.
Anyhow it is sitting there waiting on me... I will pick it up Monday.
I do know that they don't always follow procedure at my post office. Sometimes the packages do not get scanned until I actually pick them up and take the from the hands of the PO Desk Clerk.
I do know now that Delivery Confirmation can only prove if your package was mailed (if they scan it when it is dropped off) It is not a sure thing to find out if a package was delivered or delivered to the correct person.
I keep reading on the USPS that they have USPS Delivery Confirmation with Sig service. But I cannot find the pricing on it or how to use it yet. Maybe it is still in the works
Thank you all for the replies... I can breath a sigh of relief now!
posted on January 27, 2001 06:39:39 PM
I've run into a problem like this -- they scanned the delivery confirmation for the package when it arrived at the PO, and the customer never received it. My theory is that it was placed in the wrong PO box. (It was a small package, not one that needed to go in the large box for pickup.)
The client e-mailed me a few days later saying the package never arrived. I didn't get the vibe of fraud from this one, so I replaced the package. Since then she has ordered from me a few more times with no problem, so I think the first one really was lost. But, what a hassle!
Another problem this week was that I sent something with DC (a replacement package for another one that got lost in the mail, actually) and they didn't scan it into the system right away. I was starting to freak out that the second package was lost again, when the delivery was confirmed today. (Three days to get to California from Washington State... some priority this Priority mail has!)
(neither of these were auction-related items, just items shipped for my business.)
The delivery confirmation system could be just a little more useful.
posted on January 27, 2001 11:00:58 PM
I know they USUALLY only scan DC packages when they accept them & when they DELIVER them..
BUT I've found that sometimes...
They will in fact Scan them on arrival at the Post Office of the city they are to be delivered in.. or like they often do here in Fargo.. if I'm not home & something comes, they Scan it as an attmpted delivery... I guess they don't feel safe just leaving them on your porch here..
All that & a Bag of Chips Too!!
They can do a good job of looking bad all on their own!