Does USPS at least refund for the label when they lose a First Class package?

[gurlcat]

First of all I love the USPS and very rarely have any trouble with them at all (especially compared to the alternatives).  I know that when I file a missing package search that doesn't get any results for a couple weeks, then I file a claim on the package and if it was Priority, I get the insurance claim check in a few days.  I know there's no compensation for items lost with a First Class label (unless you added insurance), but what about the label purchase?  I mean if they utterly failed to do THE thing you paid them to do (transport something from Point A to Point B without losing it at any point) then they can't justify keeping that money.  Right???

[12345jamesstamps]

Did you physically go down to your post office to ask where is the package?...that's what I do to find where package is. I never do online or call by phone...a waste of time. There is a refund on lost items. Is there is a refund on a label purchase? That is a good question and might take a while to get a refund if the answer is yes. Did you scan it at the post office or just dropped your box off? A receipt would be helpful for a refund with a label purchase. I see so many people just drop their packages on the counter and walk off because they don't want to wait in line for a receipt.

[gurlcat]

I explained how I do missing package searches and they work just fine for me.  I have just not had to do one on a First Class package before.  That's all I'm asking about, not any of the other aspects of searches/claims, as I already understand all that.  

[klhmdg]

@gurlcat  I have never seen them refund for postage. 

I had a package destroyed and they only refunded for the cost of the item. I think, it was pointed out, that on the USPS site insurance is for item only.

Very hard since Covid to get them to refund for anything even if you can prove it was run over by them.

[danteeqs]

In my experience they do not refund the postage that you paid when a non insured package is not delivered/lost. From a general legal standpoint you should get a refund if the service that you paid for was not performed. That is the usual default unless it's overridden by some fine print that is agreed to beforehand.

[simba6]

I was told  " the postage was spent".   Nope no refund for me either.   Lucky it only happened once so far.

[momdadsstash]

No they don't but they should since you paid for a service that wasn't delivered...excuse the pun,

[gurlcat]

That's weird because they have ALWAYS refunded for my (Priority) labels that they lost, on top of the up-to-$100 Priority insurance (or more if I bought extra insurance).    And the way the claim file page is laid out, I would not have to include the label in the "requested amount"; they would automatically add that themselves.
I gots receipts, lol.  Here's my most recent one.  It doesn't show the line-item description of the refund payment amount for shipping, but  $8.10 is the current Ebay price for a Small Flat Rate box, which was how I shipped that small mixed lot of jewelry.  
My only guess as to why you weren't refunded for your label is if you paid for it with cash at the post office or maybe Pirate Ship or something like that?  Even still, the tracking verifies to them that it was indeed a Priority package, and since they somehow "know" I bought my labels from Ebay and how much I paid, seems like they should be able to do that with all Priority tracking numbers.  

[gurlcat]

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@momdadsstash wrote:

No they don't but they should since you paid for a service that wasn't delivered...excuse the pun,

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Exactly.  Not compensating for the lost item unless you paid a minimum of $7 or whatever the cheapest Priority label is ....that's bad enough because even with FC you paid to have the item safely transported ....but okay it's in the user agreement that Priority is the minimum tier for guaranteed safe delivery.  However the fact that tracking SHOWS they had the package with the tracking bar code that you paid FC postage for, and it just stopped showing scans after such-n-such town, that proves THEY lost it, THEY did not even deliver the label to its' paid-for delivery.  Like even if the item was lost because you didn't tape the box well enough and it fell out, the box would still go to the delivery address, but when it doesn't that means they completely fumbled the whole thing!     

[mtgraves7984]

In my experience, my only First Class package that was ever lost (Memphis Dist. Ctr. 2021) was not refunded.

[gurlcat]

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@simba6 wrote:

I was told  " the postage was spent".   Nope no refund for me either.   Lucky it only happened once so far.

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Uh BEE ESS it was "spent" LOL!  If my buyer is on the Pacific coast then I pay considerably more for the label than if they were in (say) Texas, so if the last scan was in Texas, that's how much of my label was "spent."  Matter of fact my own local Mobile facilities have been the problem several times, so  how much of my label was "spent" driving it from my post office to the distribution hub 5 miles away?!   

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@gurlcat wrote:

That's weird because they have ALWAYS refunded for my (Priority) labels that they lost, on top of the up-to-$100 Priority insurance (or more if I bought extra insurance).    And the way the claim file page is laid out, I would not have to include the label in the "requested amount"; they would automatically add that themselves....

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But that postage reimbursement was part of the insurance coverage. USPS insurance will reimburse postage if the package is lost, but not if the item is damaged.  The postage reimbursement is because the package was insured, so there's no postage reimbursement for uninsured packages.

Many years ago, USPS insurance used to reimburse postage  if the item was "totally destroyed" but apparently they got tired of arguing about the threshold for that, so postage is no longer reimbursed for damaged packages; only for lost ones.

[mtgraves7984]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@simba6 wrote:

I was told  " the postage was spent".   Nope no refund for me either.   Lucky it only happened once so far.

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Uh BEE ESS it was "spent" LOL!  If my buyer is on the Pacific coast then I pay considerably more for the label than if they were in (say) Texas, so if the last scan was in Texas, that's how much of my label was "spent."  Matter of fact my own local Mobile facilities have been the problem several times, so  how much of my label was "spent" driving it from my post office to the distribution hub 5 miles away?!   

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@gurlcat 

I think that @simba6 meant that the PO said "the postage was spent"... after all, they handled it. We all know that your postage was purchased  by you, and you suffer the out-of-pocket. Granted, it's a bummer, though.

[gurlcat]

Ahhh, see I must have read his comment too fast because I didn't catch that he said "destroyed".  Well, my bad for not noticing that, but his bad for going off-topic (my question was purely about LOST packages).  

[gurlcat]

Maybe simba6 will chime in, but if a postal worker said that to me, I would think they meant "the label was used" because just as postage stamps are akin to cash currency, using them is "spending" them.  But telling customers to go pound sand because they "spent" their labels even though they got nothing in return .... I mean the only business I can think of where that's acceptable is a casino, lol.  It's not supposed to be a literal gamble in the service industry, let alone a government-run one.  Imagine if you bought your car's renewal tag online but never received it, and the DMV was like, "Well you paid us so the money is just ours now I guess."  LOL!