USPS Picked up Priority Package but no scan info, customer upset thinks I didn't ship.
USPS picked up an expensive, insured package late this morning, its already a day late because we had no delivery due to the snow on Mon. Customer wants to know why his $600 item doesn't show in tracking.
The driver picked it up, I told the kid I had to be scanned but he must of just gone through the motions and didn't scan it, Its been 9 hours and it still don't show up as picked up. USPS claims they never got it on the phone, they swear their drivers scan all packages.
I have the email receipt saying it was picked up at 12:31, an hour later than they took it.
I always type in the tracking number in the notes box when I schedule a pickup.
Is there a higher authority to call? This is the 9th package in a month with no tracking and two are still missing, one missing since the 1/5 with tracking but bouncing all over the country seemingly aimlessly.
What are my options? Getting packages scanned at pickup has been a big issue for years here, drivers say they're told not to scan, distribution center says drivers scan every package. Carriers are different every day, we haven't had a regular carrier in three or four years.
If it don't turn up or don't show any tracking and it gets lost, I likely won't even be able to claim insurance if it goes missing.
All of the usual PO numbers have been automated, no human, and when it asks for a tracking number it shows the package as never having been received by the PO yet so they end the call.
robbie31415
·5 months agoWell back to your original title.
If you want a guaranteed scan then you need to use a kiosk or the counter.
If your PO doesn't have a kiosk then you have to use the counter.
Outside of that you will never have guaranteed pickup scans.
reelworks
OP5 months agoIf I waited in line to ship I'd kill a whole day at the post office.
That's simply not doable.
All I expect is the drivers and post office to do their job.
Its hard to tell if the Post Master is just giving lip service or not but she tells me every driver is instructed to scan each package when its picked up. I've had drivers who did that and the scan shows instantly, I get the pickup completed email within minutes.
The problem is the drivers, who are often different every day, tell me they're told not to scan or they say they either don't have the scanner today, or they don't know how to use it. If I happen to be there when they pick the item up, and the driver says they don't know how, I do it myself.
The problem isn't with the system, its with the lazy ass clueless idiots they hire.
No USPS employee should ever go out in a USPS truck untrained, let alone without a uniform or something to show they actually are USPS employees. flip flops, sandals, and tie dyed shirt of anything derogatory about any part of the US Gov. should be grounds for firing. I get it they hire bottom of the barrel these days but at least give them an IQ test and make sure they can speak English well enough to converse when needed.
They are literally worse than the Amazon drivers here. (One constantly keeps dumping off all the packages for my street in my driveway, even though I bought nothing). Its been happening for a year or more). If I had done that back when I was doing deliveries I'd have been fired, and likely legally charged as well. We wore uniform shirts, we carried business cards that identified us as well as a photo ID badge. There was never any question who we were.
The bigger issue at hand now is the routing of packages, I now have 8 items out for more than a month, taking nationwide tours for no reason. It seems they have to pass through the destination PO at least once and be forwarded out and returned back there before they deliver them. The one above got delivered today, as did one other one out for 39 days, and one destined for CA is back at the destination PO and marked out for delivery as well, but it showed that once before.
reelworks
OP5 months agoI have never heard of a 'self service kiosk here?
The local PO is a 100+ year old building that hasn't changed in 40 years, two clerks at a pair of windows. If you do manage to wait in the line to get it, you get told to toss all prepaid packages into one of those huge white canvas postal bins sitting out in the middle of the floor next to where everyone is lined up waiting. Our other PO is a converted house or garage, a one or two man deal that's only open a few hours a day. The three next nearest POs are the same way. One near by PO told me to have my packages picked up because they're not equipped to handle parcels. ( I was dropping off between 1 and 3 items every couple days, and using their zip). They just didn't want to be bothered.
eBay has 6 of my items on hold, two of them got delivered so far, one at 66 days, the other at 41 days, the other four are still bouncing around. One customer didn't leave feedback, it was likely too late, but the other one left a negative stating I took too long to get the item to them. Two others left feedback saying their item was never received despite tracking still showing it moving around. The one that got delivered today had a page long list of tracking stops, it bounced between one local dist. center and the one dist center twice before finally going out for delivery.
As if sales weren't slow enough now I have to deal with a rash of feedback that makes it look like I didn't ship the same or next day.
What I'm seeing is that packages stay out long enough to exceed the 40 day limit on claiming insurance of loss. (I was told I have to report an item lost before 40 days, beyond that its too late. Every one of these were out over 40 days, and showed tracking up to the end. Nearly everyone ends up stalling somewhere for over a week, when I go in and put in for a missing mail notice, suddenly that package gets returned to the local dist. center, and starts it trip all over again. Its happened now for each of the 6 packages.
The packages have varied in size. two were 22 & 27 lb Medium Flat Rate boxes, two were sent by Ground Advantage, the other two were small 5x5x6 brown boxes weighing 4oz.
Three were small flat rate boxes.
I list for work, they sell under 7 accounts, these are spread over 4 of their accounts and two of mine. I ship my personal sales from home, not work, both have had issues. both go through different sorting centers. Packages sent from work all get scanned as they are picked up, the driver scans every last one as he takes them off the counter or out of the bin into his cart. On occasion a driver will do that sorting down at his truck but the scans always show up almost immediately.
At home I've got a counter on my porch that's covered by a camera, the driver has to step into the porch, pickup the package from the table where I leave it with a copy of the pickup request. Some drivers will scan it and leave, some will scan it at the truck others just run in, grab the item or items, run back to the truck and throw them in the back as they drive away. The move as if someone is chasing them. When I see that I know they won't be scanned, if they do show a scan its the next day at best.
I see that as a separate problem vs. the crazy routes packages have been taking lately.
Both Ground Adv. and Priority Mail have had these issues. The avg. Priority package gets there in a week, the average Ground Adv. package now seems to be 1 month or more. A few have gotten there sooner, but right now its about 1/3 of all Grd. Adv. packages have been over 40 days.
I see no other options here, customers won't pay the extra for UPS, we don't have FedEx here anymore, and USPS has become unreliable.
reelworks
OP5 months agoIf the driver scans the package at pickup, the email pops up saying the pickup was completed before the truck is out of sight. Tracking then shows that USPS has received the package and the tracking starts. The problem is that's not happening for several days sometimes. Not one day, three or four.
If the driver scans it, I'm good, its proof its left my hands and on its way.
That's what isn't happening.
I create the label, schedule the pickup, if I get a temp driver who doesn't scan anything, it don't see a scan for days. A few packages didn't show a scan for a week. One was delivered, the buyer left feedback, and tracking never showd a thing, then a week later it showed five scans all in one day as if I had taken it to a PO 100 miles away. My local PO, the local sorting center or the regional is passed through never showed up on the scans, all of which showed only a week after being delivered.
At work, I handle 9 accounts there, many items listed, sales are slow, they have been for 6 years. The PO picked up at the desk downstairs, outgoing items get placed in a rolling tub, the driver grabs and transfers each box into his cart and leaves. They all show tracking instantly but that's in the city. I used to take my items to work and ship them there but the PO there will no longer accept them unless I ship from that zip code, that don't work because its far from my personal eBay account address. I tried. Besides, I shouldn't have to.
The local PO 'Driver annex' handles 10 area towns and I believe 14 zip codes. They built a massive terminal to allow the trucks that come and go all day to not have to deal with the ain PO which is in the middle of town. Trucks were having issues on the narrow one way streets there.
None of these issues though explain why packages have been taking a month of more to go half way across the country or even just a few states away. I have one going from NJ to VA that's bee bouncing around for 3 weeks, one going to FL that's two weeks late, and one going to VT that's over a month late, all showing tracking, all landing at various regional centers and staying there for 3 to 5 days at a time before leaving and going elsewhere for no reason.
The issue isn't just me, I had an item I bought personally that took three weeks to go from Roanoke VA to NJ in a tracked padded envelope. It got shipped one day after I paid the seller, whom I've dealt with before. I know she personally drops her packages off at a PO in that town three times a week but for a Ground Adv package to take three weeks is totally not acceptable.
I have 4 customers demanding refunds because they feel we're giving them a run around or didn't ship. This whole mess started at the beginning of the year, before that I didn't have any issues with packages taking random country wide tours for no reason.
a_c_green
·5 months agoThat's easily fixed: you can store multiple Ship From ZIP locations in your seller profile, and choose which one to use prior to purchasing your label. That will indicate on the label that the pre-paid postage was calculated based on shipping from that ZIP code rather than the one associated with your personal eBay account address (i.e. whichever PO normally does your pickups). Go here:
https://settings3.ebay.com/address/display?type=SHIPPING_FROM
...and you can add more Ship From ZIP addresses using the Add another address link at the bottom. (The USPS requires a full street address to go with the ZIP code, so if you don't have a personal address there, use the street address of the post office serving that area.)
reelworks
OP5 months agoI'm not sure I understand what you mean by fiscal. I wouldn't think that a 5oz flat rate box going priority from NJ to FL would be put into a container? Bin maybe but from what I was told they're processed by hand. Otherwise how would they know what tracking number is in any particular container?
The part that got me was that its acceptance scan came two days after they picked it up.
That means that's the first time it got handled and acknowledged as being in the system. My best guess is that it got picked up, dumped off the truck and it sat the local PO for three days before they bothered to move it to the regional sorting center.
I now have 7 packages that are out and over four weeks late on delivery, one has been to 12 cities, including the destination PO twice only to be sent on to another wrong city. Being sent back to the local sorting center now twice currently showing 'In Transit' to next location 38 days since it was shipped Ground Adv.
One customer was told that his package was returned to sender for insufficient postage. Its a 4 oz package, shipped and processed at 8oz. Shipping figured by eBay.
The PO's are telling customers its the senders fault. The last few packages that I shipped didn't show any scan for four days. They were picked up the morning after they were paid for.
I have 7 screaming buyers **bleep** off because packages aren't being received in a timely manner despite them paying for Priority shipping.
The local Post Master said to file for then as lost but they won't pay the guarantee on them so long as they're showing tracking movement no matter how long they've been bouncing around. One Med. Flat Rate box took 56 days to be delivered finally showing as delivered after being at the destination PO four times. Weather was not a factor in that one. I've got two that are over a month late, one to NE, one to FL, both shipped in Feb, both still showing tracking updates daily but not moving beyond 'In transit' for the last 5 days. I filed a missing mail report and it suddenly showed back up at the local PO, and started the whole ordeal over again.
We lost Fed Ex completely, they closed the local depot and consolidated everything over 10 years go, and UPS is too expensive. As it is the high cost of shipping has killed sales, this crap is going to finish them off.
I recently shipped a box from 30 miles away to myself, Ground Adv. and empty box, shipped it from a buddies address two towns away. That was two weeks ago, its currently in Richmond VA, sitting there now for 8 days. It only had to go 21 miles. Its gone over a thousand so far. Its either intentional or the PO has become completely useless.
The mail carrier today again bounced randomly box to box returning to various mal boxes over and over again as he delivered one piece of mail at a time to each house.
This isn't a new issue, they've refused to scan packages for years now.
sassykzt
·5 months agoWhen scheduling a pickup or dropping off packages, you must generate and print a SCAN (Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice) sheet for the carrier /clerk. This piece of paper contains all the packages being shipped that day ( up to 50) so the carrier picking up your packages has to scan ONE barcode at the bottom instead of each individual package ( even if it's just one package).
After scanning this sheet, they leave it with you as per the instructions on the SCAN sheet. When your carrier scans this sheet, you will receive your first scan ( it will read as: Shipment Received, Package Acceptance Pending) This is acceptable for eBay as the first scan and shows USPS is in possession. It shows up in the system in a few hours. The second scan is generated when your package is sorted at your local post office and is off to the distribution center ( it will read: Accepted at USPS Origin Facility). Depending on the distance between of your local post office and the nearest distribution center, packages may be processed the day of pick up OR if distance is greater than 50 miles, they may not process your packages until the next day or two. This was announced in 2022. On weekends, they may not process until Monday even when received on a Friday/Saturday if that distance is over 50 miles. So, you can see the importance of using a SCAN sheet at pickup.
christworks
·5 months agoPlease show me in eBay policy where a SCAN sheet is acceptable. SCAN sheets do not get you an acceptance scan, which is what eBay states you must have.
robbie31415
·5 months agoIt is an acceptance scan. Simply because its provisional doesnt mean its not acceptance.
The receipt given if you take a scan form to the counter clearly says acceptance with the date.
Just like kiosk scans. Its a provisional scan. Get your receipt it will say acceptance and date.
Ebay accepts provisional acceptance as acceptance.
Feel free to ping Kyle or another if you dont wish to believe.
Id also suspect @wastingtime101 would validate my claims on this.
All I do is use scan forms. 🙂
carlmarxx
·5 months agoThe Acceptance scans and processing scan is fiscal of the package .Departure and arrival scans are of the shipping containers . You can request a internal track scan at the PO
wastingtime101
·5 months agoYou are 100% correct @robbie31415 and @kyle@ebay was recently tagged on this very topic here:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Substandard-Seller-Due-to-Not-Shipping-in-Time-Frame-3-Days/td-p/35486368
eBay page that talks about using scan forms:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/labels-packaging-tips/buying-printing-shipping-labels?id=4157
Expand the section "How to print labels for multiple orders at once."
eBay accepts SCAN form scans and SSK scans for on-time shipping performance ratings.
Edit to add a screenshot showing the "accepted" status from the USPS website that eBay reads.
sassykzt
·5 months agoWhen the carrier scans at my home every morning at 7AM tracking shows : SHIPMENT RECEIVED -- this means USPS has POSSESSION of the package. eBay accepts this ( for ALL the years I have been on eBay) I have a 1 day handling. Sometimes my local PO doesn't sort packages until the next day --If eBay didn't accept this scan, I would have defects. I have maintained 100% tracking uploaded on time and validated in my 16 yrs. The package acceptance scan occurs AFTER your PO has sorted your package and it's on the truck to the nearest distribution center. Because of the mail slowdown as Per the former postmaster, DeJoy, in 2022, smaller and more rural post offices take longer to sort and ship their packages off for distribution ( I have 2 postmasters in large metro areas in my family and this info came from them). eBay does not hold sellers accountable for the 2nd scan of your package since it can be after your handling time.
Also see the explanation below: @robbie31415
reelworks
OP5 months agoI wanted to give an update on this one here, after the scan finally showed, three days later than when it was actually accepted, it went on a long distance run around the country. After going through 11 states and back to the original sorting center it went on to the destination and got delivered on 3/19, 13 days later than the original estimate but it did arrive. The customer was not happy but there's not a thing I can do about it.
To the buyer it looks like I sat on the package for 4 days before shipping it.
To make things worse, there's now five more packages that although are showing tracking seem to be bouncing around the country aimlessly no where near where they need to go. Two are part of multiple package orders where other items in the same lot got delivered but one is still out in transit.
reelworks
OP6 months agoA week since the item sold and was labeled for pickup via priority mail and its still only just left the second sorting center and sowing In route to next location. Its in the destination state and the estimated delivery date is now March 6. It was picked up on 2/24.
What bothers me the most is that the first scan shows as being over a day late. it makes it look like i took four days to get it to the PO. We did have a day lost due to the snow, I guess the days of them delivering in wind, rain sleet or snow are long gone. They were closed Monday 2/23 for the snow, we got about 6 to 8" or so of snow here. The roads were clear by 8am, most street were cleared early in the morning.
They actually picked up the package Tues at noon, I got the "We have completed your pickup requiest email a half hour later.
Tracking didn't show a scan till it showed 'Acceptance at the local PO 5pm Thursday. It didn't leave the local PO till Friday evening, it showed up at the regional sorting center in Philly late Sat. Its currently showing in transit to next location after arriving in FL 8am yesterday 3/2. Its currently showing arrived at a Jacksonville FL Distribution center. That means its likely got three more stops before it hits the destination PO and gets slated for delivery.
I don't see where Priority mail packages get expedited in any way these days. Even somewhat local packages take two weeks now. First class mail takes a month. (A seller whom I bought from mailed me a #10 envelope with some decals in it sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard with a plastic sleeve inside from Northern CA, it was post marked there on 1/5, it got delivered to me on 2/12. looking like it got run run through a greasy set of gears or run over by a truck.
a_c_green
·6 months agoI have wondered the same thing myself. I recall reading that Priority was supposed to go by air when possible and Ground Advantage would, um, stay on the ground and travel by truck, but other than several dollars of difference, the two seem to be mostly identical in terms of service.
Even USPS themselves show practically overlapping time estimates for either one: GA might show 3-6 days where Priority shows 3-5 instead. Big whup. I'm not paying $2-$3 more in the hopes of maybe shaving a day off the back end.
That said, I'm also not experiencing huge delays in domestic shipping, for whatever reason. Items I've been shipping (which are almost entirely small, lightweight GA packages) are almost always taking an average of 4 days regardless of destination. I can live with that.
The biggest bottleneck I see on a regular basis is the Glendale Heights, IL depot for eBay International Shipping, which can take upwards of a week to push a package through their facility and over to O'Hare Airport just a few miles away, but all that occurs after USPS has delivered it in a pretty timely fashion.
fm2000
·6 months agoJust tell your buyer it can take 24 - 36 hours for a package to show up scanned in the system. I have had packages scanned at my post office right in front of me, and still take a day to finally show up in the system. This is extremely rare, but it can happen. It really shouldn't happen... but it has happened. As long as you know the USPS has the item, and the shipping label is legible, it will 99%+ of the time be scanned at some point (validating your insurance, and calming your nervous nellie buyer.)
You need to call your postmaster and have a discussion about 1) not scanning your packages at pickup, and 2) your post office refusing to scan packages. If he is unwilling to address the matter, you need to contact his superior and have a discussion with them. This will probably require several phone calls, and potentially some stress and drama. I don't envy your position, unfortunately this is the only option you have to get the issue resolved. (As someone suggested, writing your Congressmen is not a bad idea if there are other chronic service problems.)
They have to scan your packages if you ask at the counter, and they have to give you a paper receipt too. If a clerk refuses, ask to speak to the postmaster. Be polite, but firm. Asking to scan a few packages and getting a receipt is completely reasonable. Sadly, some rogue clerks like to make up their own rules, it is the USPS operations manual that matters and they must follow official policy.
I am the last person to tell people to waste time going to the post office, but if a package is over my personal risk tolerance, I take it to the post office and get that scan and receipt. For an item that valuable (or just a high fraud risk), I begrudgingly take it to the post office. For everyday lower value items, a daily pickup from me is fine and saves me a fortune in time and wear and tear on my car and is well worth the minimal risk.
stephenmorgan
·6 months agoThis is from the USPS correct? That is you scan, confirmation of mailing. If it becomes lost then you have it insured.
For future reference, with no proof of mailing the insurance would not pay for lost item.
reelworks
OP6 months agoIt is insured but the tracking number says PO is awaiting item.
The email says the scheduled pickup I requested was completed. That email doesn't show the tracking number or what they picked up. For all the buyer knows it could have been anything being shipped anywhere.
I don't get a receipt from the driver, they won't do that. They used but now the driver won't leave that order behind.
In a normal instance, the package should have had three scans by now, it should have reached the Phila. distribution center by 7pm which is where items heading that way would go. We don't have a normal PO, out mail goes to a regional carrier 'annex', the post office in town says they have nothing to do with pickup and delivery, its for retail sales only. If I take a box there they tell me to toss it in the bin out in the middle of the customer area and 'it'll be scanned later' . I refuse to just toss a $600 item in an open bin in a crowded post office with no receipt of it being dropped off. Its whey I started adding the tracking to the pickup request.
This sort of thing has been a problem for years, the last time it took a call to someone in DC, now that number is dead, every number goes to the 1 800 ASK USPS line with no means of reaching a human. No email address, no live humans. The local phone numbers all say 'We are currently closed, and gives the hours even during the day.
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varebelrose
·6 months agoThis is exactly why every single package we sent out, several thousand of them, were all carried to the local post office and scanned at the counter. We never left the PO without a paper reciept in hand. From your comments about the service at your PO and the other one that will not take "out of town" packages, maybe you might consider talking to the Post Master in the area. The situation you describe is not normal.
carlmarxx
·5 months agoAll in-transit tracking scans are computer generated on USPS site and on the eBay sold page