I need help please USPS is scamming me

[hramuse_usa]

 A while back I sold an iPhone 7 Plus for $300.  Promptly I packaged it up and shipped it out.  It was going to Miami Florida and I’m pretty sure it was at the final facility. It departed at 1:25 AM and was never seen again. The item is still “in transit arriving late” after about 2 months but it’s really just lost.  I didn’t pay for insurance when shipping but when I pay for them to ship it and they lose it that’s on them. I have opened several cases online with no reply. I have called the postmaster and the post office with no help. Now I am out of the money in the phone all because of stinkin USPS. Help please! Tracking 

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[flipper2flipper]

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@thegardeningworld wrote:

Sorry it is not on them, it is on you for not insuring it. Believe me the last 2 months the post office has lost dozens of my packages and no matter what you do all they will do is say we are sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused you. You always insure especially if the item is worth $40 or more unless you have no problem losing 300 bucks here and there. Luckily my packages are only around 10 bucks a piece but when they get to 30 bucks or more i insure all of them because the post office employees are some of the biggest thief's around. If they see an item is not insured they steal it especially if they think it is from ebay or an online store. Just myself i have had dozens within a 2 month period go lost and never found again. packages just do not go missing at that high rate, they get stolen by scum  post office employees.

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@thegardeningworld 

How do you package your seeds ?

Do you mail your packages with Delivery Confirmation ?

If so, can you isolate the problem to one particular Sorting Facility or Post Office so that you can ask the Post Office Inspector General to investigate your cases ?

[s.kms_25]

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@slotsnotsluts wrote:

I have mailed over 175,000 packages over the years, all as a one man business.   It is on you if you did not get insurance.   It is very rare for this to happen. 

Did you get signature confirmation, certain requirements are required when an items value exceeds $250 in order to qualify for ebay and paypal's seller protection

.   On a good note,  most lost mail becomes delivered mail without an explanation for the delay.   My post office allows me in the back and I walk in the backdoor with my packages etc.  I have learned the system well.   My bet is your package is sitting in the bottom of a large postal bag.   When they emptied the bag, they did not empty that one completely.  The bag gets tossed on the floor of the hub and the bags stack up.  Until they use that bag again, your package is just going to sit idle.   When they use that bag again,  it will get scanned and be back on track for delivery.  Good Luck.

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That changed several years ago. It's now $750 for signature confirmation to be required

[getitright1234]

If you shipped it via Priority mail and printed your label using eBay, you automatic have $100 of insurance coverage.  Two months of missing in action should deemed it lost in the mail/stolen.  When I ship items that are high valued target for postal /porch theft, I try to conceal the possible contents by altering the shape of the package.    Never ship cell phones with the outer packing giving a hint it is a phone;  postal workers and others are good about knowing the contents based on the package shape.     

Additionally, I would report the phone as stolen, get it blocked.   Can you trace the phone?

[patd3283]

FWIW,  if you print your postage thru ebay and it has the ebay logo on top and other indications, you could be inviting trouble.  Legal or not, I cut off the top part that has the ebay logo (and postal), also around the edges that could show origin of label.  Also, we do not use ebay packaging.  These are just precautions.

The only thing we've ever had lost was a heavy box of books that was going ground.  Pictures of the box show the end was cut off and an empty box delivered.  I do think this was on purpose.  They didn't want to have to carry the heavy box.

We use the busiest PO in our area (and financially most successful).  The employees have ALWAYS been helpful and friendly.  Hats off to them!

Patd

[getitright1234]

Non-acknowledgment of receipt is the WORST!  If you insure your package,AND you do not get a receipt or a scan acknowledging receipt, your insurance is worthless.   You must get a receipt/scan of acknowledgment and then any insurance you have on your package is remediable, if lost. 

Some postal workers are refusing to scan in packages for that very reason, because some are stealing the packages:  No Scan, and you lost your receipt,..................... you have given the postal worker a Gift!  When I get my receipt, before I leave the building, I use my phone and take a picture of the receipt.   

[wastingtime101]

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@webwanna wrote:

Fill out the form on USPS for  FIND MISSING MAIL (under Help) .  If I recall correctly, part of that form will ask if you want the item to be delivered or returned back to you if it is found.  You need to check Returned back to you.  If there is a comment box add " Please return this item to me because I have already issued a refund to the recipient".  

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The missing mail form will trigger a search of their missing mail facility. It will not trigger an investigation along the package's route like the last place it was scanned, the destination facility and scheduled stops in between.

To open an investigation the OP would have to go to this page https://www.usps.com/help/ and at the top where it says Contact Us click the button that says find out how. On the next page use the e-mail option at the top of the page. Alternately they could call the 800 usps phone line to open an investigation.

Although it's been 2 months since tracking halted. While it's worth opening an investigation I don't have high hopes that they'll find the package.

The OP shipped First Class at the retail counter and didn't purchase insurance so other than opening an investigation and hoping the package turns up, there's nothing they can do about the loss except learn from it and move on.

[rixstuff]

had an item go from DC to Pennsylvania - ONE STATE OVER - by way of Texas where it sat for 6 weeks, then get routed to NEW YORK (the absolute busiest hub in the entire country) which took another 3 weeks.  By teh time the buyer got it in the mail, I had already refunded.  I was super lucky that the buyer was honest and tracked me down to repay me.  I'm not absolutely sure but I think it was the USPS claim that got the package moving again.

ALWAYS use the Ebay labels and be sure to insure anything over $100 for AT LEAST the cost of the item.  USPS offers up to $50 insurance free when you use Priority Mail but you would lose out if you ship a $700 item with only $50 insurance.  I believe items over a certain dollar value ALSO require signature confirmation.  So pay a little extra to cover yourself.  It is SO MUCH cheaper than losing 100% of the shipping and the item price.

[hramuse_usa]

I pointed that towards the bad ones. The bad ones are scum. I have an opinion. 

[rixstuff]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

It can happen with any carrier, and is thankfully rare.

Just insure next time - Shipsurance online has less expensive insurance and will cover one package at a time. You don’t need a membership.

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Unfortunately, I have also heard from other sellers that Shipsurance almost NEVER actually pays claims.  So you are just paying for insurance that will never cover you.

[hramuse_usa]

I cant trace it unfortunately:( find my iPhone was off when I shipped it. But good idea!

[jocli76]

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@thegardeningworld wrote:

Sorry it is not on them, it is on you for not insuring it. Believe me the last 2 months the post office has lost dozens of my packages and no matter what you do all they will do is say we are sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused you. You always insure especially if the item is worth $40 or more unless you have no problem losing 300 bucks here and there. Luckily my packages are only around 10 bucks a piece but when they get to 30 bucks or more i insure all of them because the post office employees are some of the biggest thief's around. If they see an item is not insured they steal it especially if they think it is from ebay or an online store. Just myself i have had dozens within a 2 month period go lost and never found again. packages just do not go missing at that high rate, they get stolen by scum  post office employees.

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"If they see an item is not insured they steal it especially if they think it is from ebay or an online store."

That's not normal and not typical.   If your PO is that corrupt as you say, it's an aberration, and it should be brought to the legal light. Sorry you have such bad experiences.

[hramuse_usa]

The receipt is very important, after this one got lost/stolen I started keeping all of my receipts organized! 🙂

[asaiw_0]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

It can happen with any carrier, and is thankfully rare.

Just insure next time - Shipsurance online has less expensive insurance and will cover one package at a time. You don’t need a membership.

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Yes but by the time we're done paying for insurance on every parcel it's cheaper to just take the occasional loss.

They know it too, remember Insurance is not free money, it is a BUSINESS (read: they MAKE money, off of us!)

Let me put it this way...

If it were cheaper to have insurance on every package the insurance company would go out of business!

[upgradedendmills]

The idea is to insure those packages that you can't afford to absorb a loss on, not every item. Tracking on the other hand is a complete must on any item. This is more to cover a seller on defects than monetary loss.

[escuintla]

I have this case that shows "sometimes" how stupid the USPS people are.

I gave my mail carrier 5 packages. 4 of them identical size, weight and "price". 4 made it, 1 is missing, one of the 4. It never made it and it shows I printed the shipping label. Nothing else.

Then, I shipped after that a package that weighed 8-9 oz. 2 bottles of the same thing, similar to the package lost a month before. First class, it made it. 

A package is given to the MC and it disappears from earth, again, nothing about any movement, just me printing the shipping label.  Now I am short $140

Later, I shipped another package, same size, and weight with 2 bottles. I paid first class with insurance ($150) to a town in Northern CA. It was scanned by the post office. Nothing wrong right?

I got a message from Ebay and the USPS that I needed to pay $3.60 more, which indicates me that the package weighed double. Then they said that the method I should have used was Priority Mail. Remember, we are talking about an 8-9 or call it 10 oz. 

When I responded to them, complaining about 2 packages lost in 2 months they started sending me messages about this and about that. They said I had to call this x number. 

But my questions is how on earth you need to call a phone number so they can "check" if your package is somewhere? Responsibility is out of the window when you need to beg for them to do their jobs. 

Plain and simple folks, you can say we don't pay insurance, but the mail carriers are deflecting their lack of responsibility on us. Many times, your margin of profit goes out of the window paying insurance, that simple.

Mail carriers, get off your butts and do your jobs. Period!