Is the USPS really not required to scan packages?

[timelord_science]

I've been off & on the phone with various USPS branches (as I'm sure many of us have been) and I keep getting conflicting answers on this.

The branch in Virginia told me that postal employees are required to scan/get items out in a timely manner (however long that may be these days); however, when I called my local branch, the employee told me they aren't legally required to scan packages at all.

Which is it? 

[pooh333piglet]

It's still ok. That's not uncommon. The problem is how patient are the buyers?

[timelord_science]

So far, out of the 7, one opened an INR this morning saying 'package never updated, i'd like a refund' - I'd been updating her with everything (postal delay information, missing mail case ID #, etc) the entire time and never got a response once until she opened a claim last night. I'm hoping it'll magically pop up on the radar in 2 days because day 3, I'll likely have to refund her just to avoid the defect from eBay (which stinks since that just means she gets her money back and the item; it's not expensive enough that I'd pay 15 to intercept it and she doesn't seem the type to try to pay me back when it does eventually arrive, all because they apparently aren't scanning packages now).

[a_c_green]

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@1grandmashope_1 wrote:

Yes, but right or wrong,  it is not always being implemented. 

That is the reality.

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Oh, I don't disagree at all; I was just trying to clarify that the clerk was simply wrong, and the USPS does expect packages to be scanned in at Acceptance time (which is, after all, the whole point of the Acceptance scan: documenting when and where the USPS took possession of the "prepaid mailpiece," to use their terminology).

[a_c_green]

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@timelord_science wrote:

I thought that was the case/had read similar somewhere so if nothing else, I'm glad I'm not crazy. 😓 But now I'm seriously worried about my local post if that's the idea they're working under (no scans required, that is)

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Okay, I've found the original article I was thinking of. It was from Roy Betts of the USPS Corporate Communications office. Here's a very short quote regarding our topic here:

"Every item accepted at the retail counter at a local Post Office that has a USPS Tracking number must be scanned, whether the customer requests it or not."

Ref: https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2014/4/1396456422.html

This was originally a letter from the USPS to eCommerceBytes in response to many inaccuracies circulating about how the tracking system is intended to work. It was later posted by the USPS as an FAQ article, and other third-party sites picked it up as well. It's a good read.

[intergalacticplastic]

I've had 3 customers message me in the last hour asking me about their orders. They were all dropped off, but they never received a single scan. I have a bad feeling about this mess and I don't want to have to fight off negative feedback and refund request just because the USPS isn't doing what we paid them to do.

[purplerain123]

All packages are required to be scanned at each stage. If they are not scanned, they are considered a failure, which the employ then gets in trouble. Several "hubs" around the country are so overloaded with packages, that sometimes it is taking weeks for the packages to move. I, myself, has a package sitting in a hub since December 2 and there is nothing I can do.

[pooh333piglet]

Ebay extended the time to refund by 10 days. Read the announcements. Also protecting sellers from Defects. So dont refund buyer for Something that is out of your control. Also ebay will remove negative feedback so your covered no matter what she threatens. She can wait like everybody else

[pooh333piglet]

See announcements. Your covered. 

[buyselljack2016]

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@pooh333piglet wrote:

Ebay extended the time to refund by 10 days. Read the announcements. Also protecting sellers from Defects. So dont refund buyer for Something that is out of your control. Also ebay will remove negative feedback so your covered no matter what she threatens. She can wait like everybody else

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There is no coverage, or time extension for packages that do not have a scan, or those not showing movement in the eBay specified time frame

[eenus-56]

For what it's worth, I ship from NYC and most of the time nothing gets scanned at my post office or at the New York, NY distribution center. Since around April packages just say "Preshipment" until they arrive at a sort facility in the destination state. It's a big problem when that takes more than a week or so. Buyers think it means the item hasn't shipped.

On the rare occasions I use a scan form I get the "Shipment Received, Package Acceptance Pending" message in the tracking and then usually nothing until it arrives in the destination state.

[timelord_science]

Yesterday I drove a town over to another post office and they said ''they have to scan all packages in'' and what the person told me at my local post was incorrect.

Went IN PERSON to my local post to talk to them about it in hopes that perhaps it was a misinformed employee. Got to speak to administrator (I don't think she was the postal master) there who said they were told 'by higher ups' that they are no longer scanning packages and packages are only being scanned at hubs so my 7 missing packages since the 6th that never got acceptance scans are likely just sitting in a container somewhere waiting to be scanned into a sorting hub.

... so, I apparently either have to use more gas to drive to a different town to get things scanned or stop selling as I'm about to have to likely issue refunds on all of those packages.

[timelord_science]

On the plus side, apparently you can now scan labels via the APC if your post has one for acceptance scans starting today.

SURE WISH THAT WAS A THING WHEN I DROPPED MY PACKAGES OFF.