USPS: Delivered to Agent/Tendered to Military Agent for Final Delivery?

[goldenage_beige]

Hello,

I've been a regular seller for a few years now, and had little to no problems shipping with USPS until recently. Starting a couple months back, several items I've shipped with USPS have showed "Delivered" followed by an unusual tracking update: "Tendered to Military Agent for final delivery" or "Delivered to Agent for final delivery". I then receive a complaint or INR case from the buyer, who has yet to actually receive the item. However, the buyer receives the item a few days later, by the original ETA shown in the tracking (in all but the most recent case, where ETA hasn't passed).

Buyers have a problem with this, and are not willing to wait until the delivery ETA before pointing fingers at the seller (me), because the Ebay tracking shows "delivered" in the wrong ZIP code, and further tracking only appears on USPS's website (not Ebay) a few days later.

In addition, in the event the package is really lost and buyer refunded, it seems I wouldn't be able to win any insurance claims on a package which shows "delivered".

Have other sellers faced similar experiences lately? Does anyone know why the USPS has started doing this, and if it's going to be a regular occurrence from now on? Have they started relying on 3rd party contractors? Can Ebay please do something about this? Even a reminder to Buyers to please wait until the ETA before filing INR cases or sending messages. I realize this is more of an integration issue than anything wrong with USPS/Ebay per se, but receiving regular inquiries/complaints/cases for something out of my control is getting old quickly.

EDIT: Buyers have generally been understanding when I reply that I've been seeing these USPS hand-offs lately, and they'll probably get an actual delivery by the ETA (empirically speaking).

For example, attaching screenshots of tracking history on one such item. USPS correctly shows the item was delivered May 6th, but Ebay erroneously shows "delivered" on May 2nd to both me and the buyer.

 

 

[wastingtime101]

Hey @goldenage_beige .

1. Delivered to Agent for Final Delivery

This tracking scan has been around for many years. It's often used in situations such as delivering to a freight forwarder, delivering to a building's front desk or mailroom or leasing office, and can even be used if the carrier delivers the package to a neighbor.

It counts as a formal / final delivery scan per eBay seller protections on non-receipt claims, so if a buyer files a claim just enter tracking and you'll be covered.

You can look up the shipping address - if it shows the address is a freight forwarder, send a reply to the buyer that the package was successfully delivered to their international forwarder and they will need to contact the forwarder directly for international tracking.

2. Tendered to Military Agent for Final Delivery

This is a scan I don't see very often, even when I ship to APO/FPO addresses. That said, this scan can be used in those situations.

It counts as a formal / final delivery scan per eBay seller protections on non-receipt claims, so if a buyer files a claim just enter tracking and you'll be covered.

Most buyers seeing this type of scan should be aware of the process unless they are new to that region, in which case you can let them know to check with their local PO or whatever type of military mail handling facility is being used.

I don't know of a way to prevent buyers from filing non-receipt claims prematurely in these situations, but I'd say as long as your Service Metrics are not high/very high for item not received, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Most sellers, including myself, get a bunch of non-receipt claims throughout the year despite tracking confirming delivery. There are various factors that can cause this, so just deal with them as they come up and educate/help buyers when needed. For those 2 specific scans you do have seller protections as long as you're shipping to the address on the order and you respond directly through the non-receipt claim.

Hope that helps.