USPS didnt do an acceptance scan. No tracking for over a week & refunded buyer. Am I screwed?

[oddsandendsshop]

Hi, I sold an item April 29 and shipped it the morning of april 30. 
USPS never did an acceptance scan, no updates for over a week.
On May 7 buyer opened a case against me for item not arrived. I had no evidence w/o an acceptance scan obviously, and Ebay gives bad marks if you don't respond to a case before it closes, I got nervous and refunded May 8.

Four god **bleep** hours later, tracking updated. Radio silence from buyer. 

I want the money for the item I sent. Is there anything I can do?

[mrgoodlite]

scan scan scan.  either get the counter to scan it in at the PO ...OR...if the PO has a self machine mailing machine in lobby, you can scan each pkg and get a receipt and just drop at counter.  do not trust the PO to scan on a drop off or pick up, 90% of the time they do not.  and in some cases the only scan is at delivery.  protect yourself and be your own advocate.  it is your money and this past christmas season was a night mare with missing pkgs.  in the fall of 2024, the PO opened a huge processing facility in Indianapolis.  all customer service was moved there also.  the problem was, not properly staffed so pkgs moving across the US got delayed.  i did get a human at some point as i had 14 pkgs floating around the US.  she was very kind and explained the problem and all but 1 pkg made it to the buyer eventually.  her advice was...scan scan scan.  it is your protection.  

[gloryglorygifts]

I usually look at my shipping a few times a week to see if packages are moving along. I did have one two weeks ago that didn't get scanned, so I sent a message to the buyer telling them that the package was picked up by our carrier, but because of the volume in NYC they aren't always scanned correctly. In most cases, the package is scanned once it hits the destination state and I've only had one, in all my years of retail, that was delivered without one scan the entire way. I told the buyer that I would keep an eye on it and be back in touch in a few days. This way, they know I'm aware of it, working on it and know that I'm on top of it. The only tracking that showed up on the one last week was out for delivery, and delivered. I sent them a follow up telling them.

You should have just uploaded the tracking to the case. It would have protected you in this case. So sorry. Who knows? Maybe you will get lucky and hear from the buyer. 

[gloryglorygifts]

Don't you have to pay for an intercept? 

[gloryglorygifts]

How do you request payment again if they have already paid for something and been refunded? 

[coastaltechsolution]

@gloryglorygifts 

Yes there is a charge 

Paying for Package Intercept

• All intercepted items are redirected as Priority Mail. You must pay the applicable Priority Mail postage, except when the item was originally sent using Priority Mail Express®, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage®, or First-Class Mail®.
• Customers will not be charged if the shipment was not intercepted. If successfully intercepted, the non-refundable Package Intercept fee is applied to each intercept request.
  
  
• Retail and commercial customers can also purchase additional services for the intercepted package, like Adult Signature Required, Adult Signature Restricted Delivery, Signature Confirmation™, and insurance.
  
  

[gloryglorygifts]

I thought so, thanks! Everyone forgot to mention that in their suggestions. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@gloryglorygifts wrote:

How do you request payment again if they have already paid for something and been refunded? 

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Most do it through Pay Pal or another service like that.

[a_c_green]

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@adamcartwright wrote:

@a_c_green 

When I do a kiosk dropoff at my local post office, it won't be scanned at that location.

Its first scan will be at the next stop, which I have noticed is called the Regional Facility or Regional Origin Facility. 

Sounds like other Post Office locations do it differently?

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@adamcartwright : Yes, yours appears to be skipping one or more required steps. Packages are required to be scanned in for Acceptance regardless of whether the customer is present. Once that is done, they are supposed to scan the outbound container when it leaves the post office, and that record is applied to the tracking history of every package that has been Accepted at that PO (as those packages are now assumed to be in that outbound container). Obviously if the package itself has not been scanned already, there will be no record of it leaving the post office either, as the system does not know where it is.

At minimum, you can and should do a Provisional Acceptance scan at the self-serve kiosk in your lobby before you drop it in the chute. (It has a barcode scanner for that purpose.) As I said previously, eBay recognizes that for shipping purposes within your Handling time. I don't believe that Provisional scan alone will get the package logged as part of the day's outgoing shipment; for that you will need an actual in-network scan, which your PO is supposed to do when they empty the drop chute.

[a_c_green]

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@gloryglorygifts wrote:

Don't you have to pay for an intercept? 

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If the intercept is successful, yes; there is an $18.35 intercept charge, plus any applicable postage for returning it.

Ref: https://www.usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm 

I hate to add a depressing data point or two here, but I have attempted two package intercepts at various times in past years, and neither one was successful: the packages were delivered anyway two days later. 🙄

[a_c_green]

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@gloryglorygifts wrote:

How do you request payment again if they have already paid for something and been refunded? 

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Not through eBay; their role in this is done. You should find the buyer's phone number in your Order Details, so you can phone them up, get an email address for them and send them an invoice via PayPal.