eBay

Anonymous · ‎07-22-2017

Just curious as to whether it's technically possible for a package to be scanned the following day, if a carrier forgot to scan it at the time of delivery?

I received a small First Class package yesterday that our mail carrier apparently overlooked and did not scan. So it fell into one of those "out for delivery ... delivery status not updated" tracking situations.

It's obviously no big deal since I got the package safely. But for the record, and for the seller's peace of mind (if they even care), do you think I should hand the package to our carrier to have it scanned as delivered today?

a_c_green · ‎07-22-2017

Actually it's the carrier who might benefit the most, since otherwise the Delivery Status Not Updated item (which is assigned automatically, 14 hours after the Out for Delivery status is set) might set off alarm bells at the local PO, such as a supervisor wanting to know what happened to the package.

Aside from that, yes, eBay does log when the package was delivered, as you will see when you're leaving feedback for each seller. I'd say it would be good if you did have your carrier scan the package properly. "Better late than never" does apply here.

pikabo-icu · ‎07-22-2017

Sometimes they'll update later...

The way I handle that to set the seller's mind at ease is just leave FB..

CHEERS

~Pika~
People in life that are the happiest don't have the most,, they make the most of what they have...

Anonymous · ‎07-22-2017

Thank you, AC and Pika.

"Better late than never", good point. And I shall leave feedback for the seller this evening, hopefully after I get our mail carrier to scan the package.

Actually there might even be a logical explanation as to why it wasn't scanned. I noticed not only was the package I received not scanned, but all my outgoing packages weren't scanned for the past two days. And my carrier is usually excellent about scanning everything.

Hmm... maybe his scanner has a dead battery?

a_c_green · ‎07-22-2017

@Anonymous wrote:

Hmm... maybe his scanner has a dead battery?

...or he lost it.

Okay, hold the phone... Just as I was typing the above, guess who came up the driveway: our carrier, with a box for me, so I was able to ask her about this scenario.

Her opinion is that he simply forgot to scan it, nothing else, because their Delivered scans are uploaded in real time (my package received just now, 9505512327477200055898, is already showing on-line as Delivered, if you want to look it up), and deducted from the list of those showing as Out for Delivery. If the carrier arrives back at the PO with a non-zero number of packages Out for Delivery remaining, he or she will be immediately alerted that something's gone wrong.

She also told me that in fact she will have that situation this afternoon, because she had to deliver a package whose barcode was illegible and whose number was folded under the tape at one end (I bet that seller and buyer are wondering what the heck is going on with that one), so when she gets back to the station, they will be looking up the package by its address, getting the number that way and then marking it as Delivered.

Thus I think that the carrier will be more than happy to scan that package as Delivered now, even if it's a day late.

michael_atw · ‎07-22-2017

Yeah, you can bring it.
I've had USPS screw ups where they sent me back a package I sent out the day before. I told the mailman and he scanned it and tossed it back on its way out. Happens sometimes because I reuse boxes and i forget to cross off every bit of words outside of the label. They can basically reset things.

In my present dumpster fire of a post office, they love to give me pink slips and then deliver days later. No signature required, just lazy. One time, they scanned items as delivered and never delivered them. Never have seen that before.

Anonymous · ‎07-22-2017

@a_c_green wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

Hmm... maybe his scanner has a dead battery?
...or he lost it.    Ha! I guess anything's possible.

Okay, hold the phone... Just as I was typing the above, guess who came up the driveway: our carrier, with a box for me, so I was able to ask her about this scenario.

Her opinion is that he simply forgot to scan it, nothing else, because their Delivered scans are uploaded in real time (my package received just now, 9505512327477200055898, is already showing on-line as Delivered, if you want to look it up), and deducted from the list of those showing as Out for Delivery. If the carrier arrives back at the PO with a non-zero number of packages Out for Delivery remaining, he or she will be immediately alerted that something's gone wrong. Interesting, thank you for taking the time to ask and share that info.

She also told me that in fact she will have that situation this afternoon, because she had to deliver a package whose barcode was illegible and whose number was folded under the tape at one end (I bet that seller and buyer are wondering what the heck is going on with that one), so when she gets back to the station, they will be looking up the package by its address, getting the number that way and then marking it as Delivered. That's great that you have a diligent carrier.   One time I got back a "refused/return to sender package" with an illegible barcode. Our carrier asked if I could look up the tracking number by customer name so he could manually key in the number to mark it as delivered.

Thus I think that the carrier will be more than happy to scan that package as Delivered now, even if it's a day late. Got it, I'll be sure to ask him today.   The good thing is, I'm expecting to receive a package today too. So for sure I'll find out if he even has his scanner ... or if he lost it.

Anonymous · ‎07-22-2017

Update: Something is still amiss...

Our mail carrier was here a little over 3 hours ago, so I mentioned the lack of delivery scan on that one package, as well as the missing acceptance scans for my packages for the past two days.

He said that's strange, as he did scan all of our delivered and accepted packages as he always does. Anyway, he went ahead and attempted to re-scan the package as delivered. Initially the scanner kept making an error beep. And a red square appeared on the scanner screen, as if it was rejecting the scan (he showed me his scanner screen). Well at that moment I got busy with another customer so I had to step away for a minute. I don't know if he successfully re-scanned that package or not.

When I came back, he was scanning my outgoing packages. He clearly scanned them all, as I heard confirmation beeps as each item was accepted. "Seventeen!" he announced. "Yep, that's right." I replied.

I also received two packages today, were scanned at delivery.

But now it's over 3 hours since all the scanning ... yet again there is no delivery confirmation or acceptance scans in the system for any of the packages. It seems like something is wrong here ... normally the scans would be updated in real-time, as @a_c_green mentioned upthread.

So the mystery remains. Could there be a wireless communication error? A defective scanner? A glitch in the USPS tracking system only for this particular area?

michael_atw · ‎07-23-2017

The mailfolk may not know how to reset. Many mail carriers only know the basics of their job.

d-k_treasures · ‎07-23-2017

One time I got back a "refused/return to sender package" with an illegible barcode.

There are 2 barcodes on an online printed label - one is the regular code 128 tracking barcode, the other is the 2D barcode which has the customer name/address/tracking #/etc. inside it. Even it there is only half of that 2D barcode, it still should read.

So the USPS has 2 ways to get the info off of the barcodes on online label.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

Anonymous · ‎07-24-2017

@michael_atw wrote:
The mailfolk may not know how to reset. Many mail carriers only know the basics of their job.

Looks like I'd better mention that to my mail carrier then. He either needs to reset, or he has a bad scanner.

Last week I received two packages from Amazon, which were scanned by my mail carrier, yet the delivery scans failed to upload to the tracking system.

Now Amazon keeps sending me "Sorry, your order will be delivered later than expected" emails.

And my outgoing packages that were scanned by my carrier's hand scanner also did not register and "acceptance" scan in the tracking system.

omgitlightsup · ‎07-24-2017

I was once told that if the carrier's scanner died during the route, there can be a delay in extracting the data and posting it to the database.

Anonymous · ‎07-24-2017

@omgitlightsup wrote:
I was once told that if the carrier's scanner died during the route, there can be a delay in extracting the data and posting it to the database.

I see ... if that's the case, it would appear that my carrier's scanner died sometime after 4:00PM Pacific time on Wednesday, July 19. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, no scans were posted to the USPS tracking database. I'll talk with him today to let him know there's a problem with his scanner.

ryanrobyn · ‎07-24-2017

I have sent packages where the delivery dates info on Ebay shows up before the actual scan date which is data totally after the delivery has been made. This angers me since Ebay relies so heavily on the actual scan date.How this is even possible is beyond my comprehension.

Anonymous · ‎07-24-2017

Well, looks like my carrier's scanner is up and running again. I checked tracking for all my shipped and received package since last Thursday, and they're all now showing the expected delivery and acceptance scans in the tracking database.

Thanks everyone for the responses!