USPS confiscating packages
Summary: The discussion revolves around issues with USPS allegedly confiscating packages. Participants express concerns and share their experiences related to this situation. Some members respond to each other, highlighting similar problems or seeking advice on how to handle package-related disputes with USPS.
I purchased a UPS label from eBay. I handed that package directly to the UPS driver that delivers/picksup from our office. Within 15 minutes, he handed off that package to USPS. USPS claims that the package has unpaid/fraudulent postage. They have confiscated my package and will neither return it to me nor deliver it. There is no option to pay the postage again. USPS will not discuss the location of my merchandise, nor allow me to prove that the postage was paid. It's their final decision.
UPS says it's not their problem, they handed it off to USPS. eBay says it's not their problem because I handed it to a UPS driver instead of bringing it a UPS location. And eBay customer service has hung up on me while trying to find solution. They acted as if they had never heard about this problem, when evidently, it's been going on for over a year.
Has anyone had any success getting their merchandise returned to them?
a_c_green
·4 months agoThat's where he screwed up. This is 100% his error. The only transfers from UPS to USPS are supposed to occur at the destination PO, not the origin PO.
Of course it's their problem. They were not supposed to hand it off to USPS at the origin PO.
eBay has no direct involvement in this issue and their customer service will be clueless and powerless to affect anything here, so don't waste any further time with them. I don't know how much recourse you really have with UPS here, but it's definitely their fault. (I wish whoever received the packages from them at your origin post office had noticed and rejected yours as not being a local delivery, but they can't be expected to monitor the actions of the UPS and squint at every package coming off the truck.)
stuff4divas
·4 months ago@mhshermans AI info screenshot
slippinjimmy
·4 months agoAI is wrong!
In December 2024 USPS stopped allowing UPS (or FedEx) packages using the dual service to drop them off at the senders local Post Office.
UPS (or FedEx etc.) must drop them off at the local (to the destination) USPS processing facility rather than any regular Post Office.
Why? Mainly because UPS where not playing straight, they would get the packages from USPS and then instead of handing them back to USPS for final delivery they would deliver themselves. USPS doesn't get their cut if they don't actually do the final delivery so they said "no more drop offs at local (to the sender) post offices".
jonathanbrightlight
·4 months agoThat appears to be what the AI response says, actually. It even specifically says not to drop those packages off with the USPS.
slippinjimmy
·4 months agoIn the Overview it clearly states you can drop off at UPS or USPS (Surepost or Ground Saver)
The warning at the bottom is for UPS Ground which is not a Hybrid service so it must go to UPS.
AI, a 50/50 chance it will give correct information......
Maybe the same rate as your average UPS driver?
onefootflipper
·4 months agoWhat happened was the UPS driver handed off the package to USPS instead of routing it through the system like he should have so they didn't get it until the last post office. USPS now destroys UPS and Fed Ex packages given to them, so it is gone, it is the fault of the driver, there is nothing you can really do.
stainlessenginecovers
·4 months ago@mhshermans Why would a UPS driver 'hand off' to USPS? (that is only done on the last leg of 'UPS ground and NOT at the beginning of the item shipment)
Was it a UPS label or a USPS label?
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoI would wager it was a label with both the UPS and USPS tracking barcodes and numbers.
And the UPS driver treated it as if it came to him in his truck from UPS. Just like every other Ground Saver package he has ever had.
mhshermans
OP4 months agoIt absolutely had both the UPS and USPS tracking barcodes on it.
mhshermans
OP4 months agoI bought a UPS label, but it also had the USPS tracking on it. When I track the UPS, it says "Transferred to local post office", on the same day that I handed it to the UPS driver. Why it was done this way? No one can tell me.
christworks
·4 months agoRiddle me this. Was the package going to someone in your town or nearby?
The UPS driver should have taken the package back to his hub, where it would have been processed then sent on to the post office of your buyer so that USPS could handle the last mile delivery. Your driver likely had other Ground Saver packages to drop off at the post office in your town and grabbed yours either by mistake or because they did not know what they were doing.
You said this has been going on for a year. Do you mean your situatiuon happened a year ago? If so, you need to move on. Your package is gone, either destroyed or auctioned off by USPS. You won't be getting it back. Since the UPS driver messed up, they the ones responsible. If it has been a year though, you are out of luck there too. If your situation was recent, I would attempt to file a claim with UPS. You won't get your package back, but if they confirm their driver messed up, the claim could be validated.
prosoundky
·4 months agoThe package was going from Kentucky to Wisconsin. My issue hasn’t been going on for a year, only a couple weeks. I was reading on the web about how USPS has been confiscating UPS and FedEX packages from eBay for over a year.
mhshermans
OP4 months agoIt was a UPS label.
bonanza125
·4 months agoWell here is what you should've done. Drove to the nearest UPS store and asked them to scan the tracking number. Ebay customer service will not be helpful in this situation. Ebay is not the carrier UPS is. So unfortunately USPS considers the package not returnable cause it doesn't have a USPS label on it but a UPS label which yes is confiscated. Returned packages which usually is not deliverable or lacks enough postage is when you have a carrier label on it. So this situation is over a year old? Drop it nothing will get resolved to get your package back.
mhshermans
OP4 months agoThe situation is 3 weeks old, not a year old. The year old reference was to google searching similar situations.
My UPS driver scanned that package when I handed it to him. I guess there must be some difference between a driver scanning it and a store scanning it.
Lesson learned.
kensgiftshop
·4 months agoNot that I've heard of.
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoUPS Ground Saver has been a magnet for confusion recently.
Many sellers are avoiding it or using great care in how they drop it off.
IMO not worth whatever savings you think you are going to experience.
salon-1-audio
·1 month agoI've been using UPS Ground Advantage for years now with no issues, however yesterday a customer emailed me to let me know their package was being conviscated and they want their money back. Today, the same thing with a different customer! It took a bit to figure out but here's what happenned. I have daily UPS pickup. No issues. My USPS driver throught he'd help me out and he grabbed the UPS Ground Advantage packages a couple weeks ago. Apprently if they never get scanned into UPS, USPS is not getting paid and your out. I did reach out to unpaidpackagereturned@usps.gov for both but nothing yet. Good luck, but I'll probably write of the $300 and move on.