mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
@goodtoo*go wrote:yes. tracking shows waiting for item. took to post. gone.
OK that just means the shipping label had been created through an electronic method and the information is sent to USPS letting them know you had created and paid for a label.
Now if your carrier, the person that picks up your mail, or the person you are dropping your mail off at the PO is not scanning your packages at the time they get them, that is a real problem and they are NOT doing part of their job that USPS expects them to do.
Calling your local PO and ask for the POSTMASTER of that office and let them know the consistent problem you are having. But you need to talk to the Postmaster, not just a clerk. If this doesn't work out for some reason, then go to https://emailus.usps.com/s/personnel-inquiry and file a complaint. Do not be shy about this. You need to let them know.
It has been my experience they are extremely responsive. I've had to use them before and within a week I had my local Postmaster standing on my front porch and we resolved the issues that was happening with the carrier for my home. It was fantastic. There was another time I had to use them for a different reason and again they were extremely responsive and my problem resolved.
Now with all that said, an acceptance scan, or lack thereof, does NOT prevent scans along the packages path nor does it prevent them from scanning it delivered. And if the tracking gets scanned delivered even though you don't have an acceptance scan, you should not have to refund a buyer that says they didn't get it.
Also you need to check your Seller Dashboard. If you are having so many packages not getting an acceptance scan you will be getting a lot of Defects for late shipment if you don't get a Delivery scan on or before the ETA of delivery on the purchase. And with as many as you are reporting to have had, it is likely you are in the Below Standard ranking and therefore you would be paying 6% penalties fees for every sale on top of your regular fees.
So check your Seller Dashboard.
https://sellerstandards.ebay.com/dashboard?region=US
The only solution is to insist upon watching them scan it or use the APC to do it yourself (though that's a provisional scan). I go through great inconveniences to make sure that EVERY SINGLE package is scanned. It's on you to make sure it happens. Some carriers do it, some don't, some PO's do it, some don't. You have to insist they do it & watch them do it. That's the ONLY way to be certain!
My carrier retired, he would have to text me his schedule & we communicated via text every day b/c if he was off, the subs would never scan, despite a giant 3 color, laminated sign, requesting them to. Then once he retired, I got a different carrier every day & sometimes it happened, sometimes not, despite the aforementioned 3 color, laminated sign that the USPS suggested I create & put out. Last time it happened, I not only had the giant, laminated sign, I also made a 2nd sign, all in red & stapled it to the plastic bag with my pkgs. They could not get to the pkgs without seeing the ALL RED sign STAPLED to the bag....yup, you guessed it. They removed the sign, took the pkgs, left the sign & again, no scans. So, once again, I had to quit doing carrier pick up & I take them every day & either use the APC or go to a human & have them scan it.
It sucks. But it's the only way to be sure.
While I'm happy for @mam98031 that they have had good response from the complaints, that may not work for you. It does not work here. I have complained through official channels probably 100x over the last 5 years. This is what the Post Office that I use WANTS me to do. It doesn't matter, it never gets resolved. The problem is two-fold as they have repeatedly told me. They hire subs in groups of 60 or so. By 2 months it is typical for only 10 to be left. They can't keep subs & the subs don't have benefits so they don't care.
Last time they explained further, when I talked to the latest in the string of C/S people at my PO (after filing a complain through the official channels as requested). They said the subs now have benefits, but the carriers are Union & will take any time their spvsr files a complaint about them to the Union, so the Spvsr can't do anything without a great deal of filings, meetings with Union Reps, etc. He told me they basically can't be fired unless they hurt someone or steal. I saw the guy the next day & asked if he'd talked to the sub carrier, he had. I asked what the response was. Response was a gesture I can't print here. He didn't even seem a little bit shocked, I was like 'don't you get fired when you use that gesture to your spsvr'? Apparently not if you're Union. I could fill pages here with the details. But some of us have Post Offices that are simply unable to do anything b/c the system is completely broken. Postmaster here is in jail for S. Assault (big news story). Doesn't matter though, his office never responds to messages or answers their phones. I've tried the last 3 Postmasters we've had over 5 years. The most you'll get is a secretary who takes your info & never responds.
This is not some backwoods PO either, it's a good size city of almost 1M people, it's the culture at that specific PO b/c they handle about 5x the packages both in & out bound of any other PO in the city. They feel they are above the rules 😞 & official complaints get closed as soon as THEY feel it's resolved (ie: they've sent someone to pick up the pkgs or they've talked to the sub), then the next day it happens all over again & you complain again & they close it b/c they're REQUIRED to close all cases in 2 days. And escalation only gets sent back to the same PO. Over & over & over again. Sorry, like I said, I could fill a book.
Moral of the story: DIY or watch it get done, it's the ONLY way to ensure that it happens.
@goodtoo*go wrote:Over a hundred dollars I have spent refunding sales because the Post Office does not scan. Buyer files a claim, tell me they never got it. Happen to you? Solution?
There have been a few questions asked of you on the thread. I hope you will consider coming back and answering them. Likely the most important one is about the scans. Even if your local PO is not scanning your packages as received, are your packages getting scans along the rest of the journey to the address on the label? What about Delivery Scans?
Missing the initial scan does NOT prevent other scans from happening as the package moves.
@carlmarxx wrote:I have parcel that a seller I bought from , handed it over and the usps employee scan the package . the scan stopped after it was processed through at the sorting center .that has now been 10 days no scan .
This happens sometimes. Especially at the Seattle, Atlanta and Memphis hubs. You need to go and file for a trace on the package. That will often get the package moving.
@a_c_green wrote:
@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:The only solution is to insist upon watching them scan it or use the APC to do it yourself (though that's a provisional scan).
While it is indeed a provisional scan, that scan is accepted by eBay as proof of mailing. On occasions when I have dropped off a package using a scan by the Self-Serve Kiosk, within an hour or so later the eBay tracking page will update to show that "The Carrier Has the Package."
The only drawback to this is that the package must fit in the lobby drop chute (I need to measure it sometime, but I think its maximum width is 20"), and the drop chute must actually be functional and not clogged with other packages. (It's a good idea to check that the chute is working before doing the package scan at the SSK.)
@a_c_green I agree with everything you said & have experienced same. In fact, sometimes I get an additional automatic scan, that's it's on the truck, I forget exactly how they word it.
I agree absolutely the MOST with checking the chute before you scan your items LOL. At my PO, even during the day, the chute is blocked about 50% of the time. Though during the day, there's an alternate place to leave your pkgs. On the evenings or weekends, we ALWAYS check the chute before using the APC & if anyone walks in, we ask them to wait, JIC the chute locks.
@1tuna wrote:my post office only scans half of what I drop into the chute
I am OK with it because none of them get lost
I drop off around 10 packages every monday morning and the scans dont start till weds. for many of them
maybe one out of every 5000 packages will go missing
it takes me three years to ship that many
the only packages which I wait in line for are the signature required
I only ship with first class
I dont want to make a pest of myself insisting on scans all the time
@1tuna If it works for you, do whatever you like. But I just want to be clear for OP, it has NOTHING to do with whether pkgs get lost or not. Absolutely NOTHING. The problem is that you are rated on 2 different metrics on your Dashboard, that you have to meet minimum standards of. Those metrics are tied (one even interfaces with the USPS) to the Acceptance Scan date & time. If you don't get that Acceptance Scan, your metrics may be a disaster!!! It is crucially important b/c YOUR metrics & ratings are based on that Scan.
Also, for some of us, like me, my sort center is over an hour away. It is totally normal that the Sort Center scan happens AFTER MIDNIGHT, making it the next day. So, if I didn't get an Acceptance Scan for the actual mailing day, most of my pkgs would not meet the metrics.
