A Question About USPS Tracking

[aramintaca]

I purchased a widget a few days ago. Tracking showed the widget got to my Post Office today and went out for delivery. 2 hours later tracking shows the widget was sent back to the vendor because of insufficient address. HOW??

I have been using the same address for years. And if there is a problem with a ripped label can't the PO see where it is supposed to go by the information pulled up from the tracking number? I can follow the package online and see it in my USPS account. USPS "knows" it is coming to me and has all my information and knows exactly where I am. Where did the disconnect happen?

A few months ago I had more strangeness with another purchase. The item was forwarded to somewhere in another town about 20 miles away. It spent the day there and then came back to me. Does it sound like there is a problem with my account or something going on at my PO? Is this worth a phone call to them to find out or should I just let it go? I don't want to bother them about something silly but now I'm getting curious. Opinions/advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[lja440]

Glad it worked out.

[muttlymob]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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However, if the OP has already received the Out for Delivery update, then it should be on the truck.

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Not necessarily true.  Also not sure which truck you mean - are you speaking of the mail carrier's vehicle for his daily route?  If so, the Out For Delivery scan doesn't always mean that it is on the carrier's truck.

In some (many, all?  maybe) post offices the Out For Delivery scan is done by clerks sorting the mail to the different routes first thing in the morning.  It means that the package has been sorted to a cart or a workspace.  It does not indicate that it has been sorted to the right carrier's cart or workspace. 

If indeed the package is sorted to the wrong carrier, and that carrier did not recognize the address, it may result in a false "Insufficient Address" scan. 

Even if the wrong carrier that the package was handed to did know where the package was supposed to go, he may not have been able to hand it off if that carrier has already left the office.

None of this may have anything to do with the OP's issue, just some information on how the Out For Delivery scan works in some POs and what it really means - it does not always mean that it was given to the right carrier and will be delivered on that day.

[lja440]

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@muttlymob wrote:

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@a_c_green wrote:

---

However, if the OP has already received the Out for Delivery update, then it should be on the truck.

---

Not necessarily true.  Also not sure which truck you mean - are you speaking of the mail carrier's vehicle for his daily route?  If so, the Out For Delivery scan doesn't always mean that it is on the carrier's truck.

In some (many, all?  maybe) post offices the Out For Delivery scan is done by clerks sorting the mail to the different routes first thing in the morning.  It means that the package has been sorted to a cart or a workspace.  It does not indicate that it has been sorted to the right carrier's cart or workspace. 

If indeed the package is sorted to the wrong carrier, and that carrier did not recognize the address, it may result in a false "Insufficient Address" scan. 

Even if the wrong carrier that the package was handed to did know where the package was supposed to go, he may not have been able to hand it off if that carrier has already left the office.

None of this may have anything to do with the OP's issue, just some information on how the Out For Delivery scan works in some POs and what it really means - it does not always mean that it was given to the right carrier and will be delivered on that day.

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This is so true. Our office is small  but still some mistakes are made in sorting. The clerks little package scanner talks. On a road where I have most of the addresses it still says my route for the 2 addresses (one another route the other is in a PO Box). I am usually the last carrier out. (biggest route and some arthritis and carpel tunnel problems), the PO box isn't a problem but the street address puts it a day late unless we catch it early.