Package from VA to MO marked Delivered in Trenton, NJ.

[chicka8618]

USPS Tracking Details 9114999944314470432702

We shipped a package from Virginia to a buyer in Missouri. Today the package was marked Delivered to the state of New Jersey.  The buyer sent us a message asking us why it was and we honestly dont know the why and the Post office was no help either. Is there any way to be covered by Ebay for this mistake. The packge was even marked delivered at 8am, which is very unusualy for a delivery man to deliver a package, as they are usually delivered in the afternoon. It seems like it was a mistake on some postal workers end, but how can we expect to be covered by this, other then the buyer receiving it later this week and being honest and letting us know they got it. 

[a_c_green · Accepted solution]

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@chicka8618 wrote:

We shipped a package from Virginia to a buyer in Missouri. Today the package was marked Delivered to the state of New Jersey.  The buyer sent us a message asking us why it was and we honestly dont know the why and the Post office was no help either. Is there any way to be covered by Ebay for this mistake. The package was even marked delivered at 8am, which is very unusual for a delivery man to deliver a package, as they are usually delivered in the afternoon. It seems like it was a mistake on some postal worker's end, but how can we expect to be covered by this, other then the buyer receiving it later this week and being honest and letting us know they got it. 

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eBay is not going to get involved in this, beyond perhaps forcing a refund if the buyer files an Item Not Received case (which is their right).

I suspect that in fact the package was going to be scanned as Miss-sorted during the final prep to go out for delivery (since of course that buyer's address on the package isn't going to match anyplace in New Jersey), but someone forgot to select that on their scanner before zapping the barcode. 

Ask your buyer to be a little more patient, because I think your package is going to show up on the radar again Real Soon Now (by tomorrow morning at the latest). It's most likely getting turned around and sent on its way again today to the correct address this time, and tracking should reflect that by tomorrow.

(If they do file an INR, you have I think 3 days to respond, by which time I think tracking will show further progress. This is one case where I don't think I would recommend uploading the tracking number to the case, unless or until further updates show that it was not really delivered in New Jersey after all.)

[chicka8618]

Thanks for the quick answer. So a "Delivered" tracking number can still be edited by more postal workers? For example, a postal worker in St Louis can UPDATE it to On its way again when its gets to his transportation facility?  As its being sent on its journey? Assuming its still on its way, as we have no way to follow it as of now. 

[roadking5555]

As already stated by A.C.Green, it appears to have been a miss sort from the VA distribution center to NJ and a miss scan at the NJ post office. It usually takes a day or two before it gets corrected.

What may be a clue is normally after a package hits the destination hub, there is usually an additional scan of "out for delivery" and the a note on the top of the USPS tracking page similar to "expected delivery 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Since the tracking # is lacking the "out for delivery scan". It may have been miss scanned and should read miss-sent.

You could also try and call the hub (post office for that zip) and see if you can get a human that can put their hands on the package and manually re scan it correctly. It may be sitting in a bin awaiting a resort to the proper destination. I would do this and nip it in the bud while it is still in the PO in NJ. but that's just me.

I am not sure if they can un scan a "delivery", if they can it probably has to be done by a person manually.

Or...just wait it out.

Just my 2 cents worth, Good luck

[a_c_green]

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@roadking5555 wrote:

I am not sure if they can un scan a "delivery", if they can it probably has to be done by a person manually.

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The Delivered status can simply be overridden by a later scan, if one occurs. For example, if it was a package that was delivered, but the buyer then refused it unopened for whatever reason, the Delivered status will be superseded by later scans as it's on the way back to the sender.

In this case, it's a safe bet that the package wasn't really "delivered" anywhere yet, but I would hesitate to upload the tracking number as-is (at the present time), since the Delivered status currently showing is clearly wrong, and would clearly result in the seller losing the dispute at this time. Hopefully there will be an update to its status by tomorrow.

[chicka8618]

Thanks again for the quick answers. We tried to contact the "Hub" in Trenton, New Jersey to try to get a hands on update but all they did was reiterate that it was delivered to an address in New Jersey. They also couldnt tell us what "address" it was for Privacy reasons. I agree with roadking5555 that it never had the Out For Delivery Scan, which makes it all the more likely it was a miss scan. All we can do now is hope for a update as you stated. We will also be going back to the Calverton, VA Post office to try and find out why it never showed up. They are really great at getting fast deliveries. As when we ship something on Saturdays, almost 80 percent of the time the buyer will get it Monday, or Tuesday at the latest.  Even across the country. Its a great fast weekend service. 

For example, we sent two packages last saturday from Calverton VA Post office. This one that was suppose to go to Missouri, and one that was going to Texas. The buyer in Texas has already got their package out for delivery and it looks to be going to the correct address there. So I know it wasnt some glitch for both packages, just this one. 

[beautifulbeauty2012]

My 2 cents to what others suggested happened: can it be forwarded address? Not a big chance, but who knows...

[chicka8618]

The buyers address was to a home in Hazelwood, MO. The address looks like a normal house on a normal street. The buyer has a feedback of 4, this was their first purchase in 6 months according to their feedback. Buyer has been a ebay member since 2022.

Usually our packages move through the NJ Hubs with no issue. This is the first of its kind for us.  We have also not shipped to anyone in New Jersey in a long time, so it couldnt have possible been a mistake to write the wrong address. As stated earlier, it never even had an Out For Delivery status, so no clue where it was "Delivered" to Jersey anyway. My only hope is that it updates, or that the buyer eventually DOES receive it and lets us know with no further problems. 

[a_c_green]

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@chicka8618 wrote:

We will also be going back to the Calverton, VA Post office to try and find out why it never showed up. They are really great at getting fast deliveries. As when we ship something on Saturdays, almost 80 percent of the time the buyer will get it Monday, or Tuesday at the latest.  Even across the country. Its a great fast weekend service. 

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I really don't think the Calverton VA PO is going to be able to tell you anything much more about it, as the error occurred much further down the line. The one thing you might ask for is for them to check their internal intranet system to see what the latest status is for that tracking number, as that system carries a lot more information than what is shown on their public-facing website.

Definitely go there in person with your current tracking info printed out; don't try to do this by phone (in the unlikely event that someone even answers the phone at your local PO). When you're standing there in person, you hopefully will get better treatment than what you got on the phone from the Trenton hub, which was probably just someone looking at the same on-line tracking that you can see for yourself.

There's one more longshot possibility that I might as well mention: Is it possible that you accidentally reissued a label from a prior sale to New Jersey? If you're in the habit of getting a QR code instead, and having your local PO print the label for you, is it possible that you pulled up an old QR code by mistake?

[chicka8618]

We dont print labels , we always hand write the address on a piece of paper. So I dont think it could have been that. I was racking my brain thinking I typed the wrong address, but I specifically remember writing the Hazelwood, MO address on Saturday. It wouldnt make any sense for me to type a New Jersey address. Thats why its so confusing. 

[a_c_green]

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@chicka8618 wrote:

We dont print labels , we always hand write the address on a piece of paper. So I dont think it could have been that. I was racking my brain thinking I typed the wrong address, but I specifically remember writing the Hazelwood, MO address on Saturday. It wouldnt make any sense for me to type a New Jersey address. Thats why its so confusing. 

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Ouch... I would strongly recommend buying your labels on-line and printing them out. Your cost savings alone will be significant when you're paying on-line postage vs. full retail at the counter (and you can pay for the postage using the pending funds from the buyer's payment), and if purchasing the labels via eBay, the tracking will be automatically uploaded to the transaction. 

Under the circumstances you're describing, I suppose it's possible that the clerk put your tracking sticker on someone else's package, and thus you're following their package to New Jersey instead of yours to Missouri. If that's the case, hopefully your buyer will let you know if his package arrives regardless.

I would not suggest giving him the impression that you don't know where it is (i.e. don't send him a message asking "Is it there yet?"), but assure him that you're checking into it. You can subscribe to email notifications of tracking updates for that number on its status page on USPS.com: 

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?qtc_tLabels1=9114999944314470432702 

[chicka8618]

UPDATE: Somehow in transit, another label was placed on our package and delivered to the wrong address. We had to refund the buyer in full for this USPS employee error. Its unfortunate that we lost both our package and our money, but I guess thats the risk when you sell on Ebay. 😞 

[a_c_green]

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@chicka8618 wrote:

UPDATE: Somehow in transit, another label was placed on our package and delivered to the wrong address. 

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How did you learn this?