Does our packages go to Guam to die?
Oh I was so excited when I won an auction from one of my favorite YouTube ebay seller on January 9th. A beautiful store cardboard display from the 1950s featuring Coca Cola would soon be in my hands.
I bought a frame as I waited for its arrival and counted down the days. It was mailed from St. Pete in Florida on Jan 14th and I was patiently waiting for soon it will be here!
I decided to check the tracking to see if it was in Vegas yet, WHAT!! my treasured poster hopped on a plane to Guam, yikes... nooo. Jan 24th it arrived in Barrigada Guam and tracking ceased to exist, it just disappeared into no man's land.
After 2 missing mail requests filed and closed with promises of speaking to higher authorities and emails to Guam, my advertising board was not meant to be. Guam wanted it for their back office to decorate with.
I had to request a refund as my MBG was nearing and seller was just as sweet as could be and just as sad as I was over this debacle.
Has anyone ever had any luck with this strange post office getting packages back to the states? I still want it and if it ever shows up I will re-pay seller.
Was there anything else I could have done or do now?
( special thanks to poster wastingtime101 for all his help)
wastingtime101
·3 years agoToday there's a happy ending as @silverstatetreasureboxes got her item and contacted the seller about repaying.
After moving from the seller's location directly to Guam a week later, it eventually emerged 2 months after that in Cali before heading to Vegas.
Item was flat-packed so the package could have fallen behind or between things, hiding out of sight.
Parcel post is typically slower so package (which was thin but not small) would not have had priority treatment moving out of Guam.
Seller used cardboard that said "keep refrigerated" though there were no USPS stickers or markings so who knows if that was part of the problem.
All we can do is speculate, but in the end the package arrived and item was not damaged.
silverstatetreasureboxes
OP3 years ago@wastingtime101
Thank you wasting for updating this, for those who might be interested here's a look at the package
 Now when I first seen this I thought maybe that's why it went all over the place. I always cover up printing on boxes that suggest how to ship the particular contents.
Another poster had mentioned that 8 weeks seems to be the magic number, came today was due January 21st!
heckofagame
·3 years agoI've had the Guam excursion on more than one occasion. After they figure out what to do with it, it will probably wander to Hawaii for a few days and then make its way back to the states.
mam98031
·3 years agoYes, I have. While it is annoying and really hard on my customers, I've had a similar situation that worked out after I refunded the buyer. My honest buyer contacted me and we made payment arrangements.
silverstatetreasureboxes
OP3 years ago@mam98031
I just can't believe it, I was always a fan of the Post office but with this and a large check I sent last year that also was lost I'm rethinking my loyalty.
Thanks mam for your reply.
mam98031
·3 years agoI still am. The vast majority of my packages I send or ones that I'm receiving make it to their destination just fine. Out of literally a thousand packages sent I may have a couple that get lost. That is pretty darn good odds. While there is plenty of room for improvement of USPS, they still do a great job.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoI just can't believe it, I was always a fan of the Post office but with this and a large check I sent last year that also was lost I'm rethinking my loyalty.
In 2022 estimates are USPS lost, or damaged, about 3% of the mail and packages that was sent through their service. While that is not a huge percentage it translates to around 146 billion pieces. USPS reports the most prevalent being misplaced or damaged shipping labels.
A parcel’s ability to get to its destination is largely dependent on the zip code on the label.
The printed numerical zip code is not what decides the success of the label, but rather the barcode section (as the zip code info is built into the barcode). Because of this, it is possible for the computers that process and scan shipments to misplace items if the label on the package is smudged, ripped, or otherwise rendered unreadable.
If there's no way to identify the package's intended delivery address or sender, then the USPS discards, donates, recycles, or auctions the item off.
1786davycrockett
·3 years agoMaybe it'll eventually fly home to you with a nice tan.
Just so long as it's not sun-fade, right?
silverstatetreasureboxes
OP3 years ago@1786davycrockett
I got a funny feeling it's destroyed and the PO is not fessing up. What a shame, this item manage to last over 60 years in the wild.
mam98031
·3 years agoIf it was insured, file a claim.
harafkac0
·3 years agoI've had a package or two go to Guam, although it did resume tracking and eventually reached its destination. I am still unclear why these glitches exist, but they do.
slippinjimmy
·3 years agoMy guess is that it was never actually in Guam or anywhere near it. What you are seeing is probably a phantom scan. Actually a manifest attached to a shipping container that didn't relate to the actual contents (which explains why the tracking came to a complete stop after (theoretically) arriving at the Guam airport.
silverstatetreasureboxes
OP3 years ago@slippinjimmy
Oh geez, why did it just disappear and no one can find it?