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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?

Hi all (Sorry so long, but I am really disgusted right now).

I purchased an antique wooden box that was made in 1848 that has a rare hand colored lithograph pasted inside of it. I have been collecting antiques for over 25 years and always wanted one of these type of antique sewing boxes with this antique Godey's lithograph to add to my collection. I was thrilled to have purchased it and paid for Priority Mail and the seller shipped it out on August 3rd. 

 

I was so excited about it's arrival that I spent over $40 buying supplies to restore it. I was going to make new trays for the missing trays in the interior of the box. Now I am out the item and all the supplies I paid for. Finding another one of these for the price I paid will be almost impossible 😞

 

I noticed that lately  (the past 2 weeks) a lot of my Priority Mail and First Class packages have all been arriving a few days to a week later than normal. For the most part, my mail has been on time and I have had no other issues. It's been years since they lost any of my packages.

 

The package was going from Cambridge, Ohio to Long Island, NY. On August 5th it reached the Metro New York Distribution Center hub which is 7 blocks away from my house. On the 9th the tracking said "In Transit Arriving Late". After that no more scans were made ever again.

 

I filed service requests/missing mail online and after about a week one of the claims for service was replied back to me via email. It stated:

 

"I am sorry to learn that your parcel has not reached its destination.

Because so much time has passed since its mailing, and our searches initiated by your inquiries have failed to locate the missing parcel or its contents, we must reluctantly conclude that the item is lost."

 

I am so **bleep**!😡 I even sent them photos of the item when I filed the claim. I spent hours on hold when I called the 800 number and couldn't get a rep to help me as by the time someone would pick up they would hang up on me. I called the USPS C&IC here on Long Island and all I got was an automated message to leave my phone number and someone will call me back. Nobody ever did. I also got the private number of my local post office and asked for the Post Master.

 

The person who answered the phone did not want to put me on with he or she and gave me a different number to call where nobody answers and asks me to leave a message which I did, but nobody ever called me back. I also went to social media (Twitter) and got no replies from my DMs that I sent @usps Help.

 

I want my item and not a refund. I guess I am venting here because I am really upset as this item is not some mass produced cheap Chinese piece of junk that I can just replace on Amazon. This item lasted since 1848 until the bumbling idiots at the post office lost it.

 

The tracking number still says "In Transit Arriving Late". Does this mean, I may still get my item? Does anyone know if the Post Office will remove the tracking number after it is deemed missing? I am hoping and praying I will still get my item. I am sick to my stomach about this to be quite honest.

 

Can anyone here give me tips on how I can get someone from the post office to really search for my missing item? I do not think anyone has even bothered to look to be honest. I am only 7 blocks away from the hub. Am I allowed to go there and search for it myself?! I have no problem doing that.

 

I sent a message to the seller requesting a refund since the USPS said it was missing. The latest delivery date that ebay gave me for this item was on August 11th. It is now August 21st. I have have not heard back from the seller yet. If she gives me a refund and they find my item, I would pay her back. 

 

Thanks in advance for any help any of you can give me. Sorry this post is so long. I am just really upset and very disgusted right now.

Message 1 of 21
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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?


@lilbama911 wrote:

Google usps mail search, fill out the appropriate form and the post office will search for your package.


According to the OP it says that he already did. 

 

In the past few months I have had a few packages fall off the radar for a week or two weeks or more. Usually this happens when its supposed to be moving from one sorting center to the next. Eventually they clear the backlog and the package resurfaces but I am seeing delays in that happening this year like I have never seen before.

 

Even though you have already filed the missing mail report you should still sign up for email notifications on the tracking history page for your missing package on usps.com. This does not have any effect on getting the package moving - it is sitting in a mountain of backed up mail someplace and I seriously doubt that the USPS has the personnel available these days to actually do much searching - but at least when it does get scanned again someplace the system will send you an immediate heads up message about it. Better late than never. (I think that is the new motto of the Postal Service. 😁)

Message 16 of 21
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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?

 

I haven't got a chance to read all of your comments yet and will do so later. Thanks to all who replied.

 

Here is an update:

The box showed up on my doorstep and was soaked in diesel fuel or transmission fluid. The box was heavily warped and stunk to high heaven of chemicals. The post office wrapped the box in saran wrap like a mummy because the box was so coated in oil and the label was stained in the oil too. They had stuck a new bar code on the box.

 

When I opened it up, the newspaper padding inside was also coated and soaked in engine fluid or oil too. It had an awful, pungent smell. They box appeared that it was soaking wet and then dried all warped and stained including the tape which was no longer sticking to the box. 

 

I have a feeling the USPS truck must have gotten into an accident and the packages on the truck were laying in pools of this liquid chemical. If not, another box must have had this oil or fuel inside of it that exploded and contaminated all the other packages. The item I purchased stunk of this oil too and was coated in it. I cleaned it off as best I could.

 

I was so thankful that it actually arrived and closed the claim against my seller. I wonder why USPS didn't put one of those sorry we damaged your package labels on the box. I noticed after they sent me the email stating the case was closed and it was missing, after I called 5 more post office officials and post masters and made mass complaints the next day it arrived. I was very aggressive and would not take no for an answer when they said it was missing. I wonder if my tenacity did actually pay off. I am thankful I got it but wonder why the heck it was covered in diesel fuel or transmission fluid. I guess I may never know, lol.

Message 17 of 21
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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?


@quadrajetpowerllc wrote:

We have 75 orders shipped with USPS currently that are delayed, and no tracking. Our customers are complaining. I am wishing we had an alternate to USPS.

 


I sell on Etsy and after using the USPS exclusively since 1998 for my online e-commerce sites, I opened an account with UPS. They gave me 40% off all my shipping costs and it turns out it is almost 50% less than what the UPS charges for my packages that measure over 12"x12"12".  For example packages that were costing my buyers $70-$80 to ship to them, are now costing me $35-$45. I have been very happy with them so far. Good luck with all of your selling endeavors.

Message 18 of 21
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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?

WOW!  Ahhh that's why it was being held up, Hazmat had to be called in for the chemical spill. I bet your right about an accident but I would believe the post office would be liable for the damages to your item, can you still take pictures of the package and file online for recovery?

Message 19 of 21
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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?

"The tracking number still says "In Transit Arriving Late". Does this mean, I may still get my item?"

I had a bunch of packages I ordered, with tracking that said "In Transit Arriving Late".

The ones from a month or more ago all arrived, finally, and a couple that were sent 2 weeks ago still say that in updates. I have become used to the USPS's "new abnormal."

 

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Message 20 of 21
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USPS Priority Mail Package Gone MIA - How Can I Get Them To Find My Missing Antique Item?

Aha! You must be right about Hazmat being called in as the reason for delay. Funny that they just wrapped the box up in about a hundred layers of a saran wrap type of material and didn't even tell me it was damaged or had chemicals all over it. As soon as I picked up the box I thought it smelled like a gas station or a mechanic's garage. 

 

I wonder why they did not slap a Hazmat label on it or damaged by the post office label on it? Whenever my mail comes damaged, I get a notice that explains they are sorry the mail was damaged blah blah blah.

 

I was so thankful to have gotten it, I felt extremely fortunate actually. I had to work hard to get it back. I went off on them on Social Media numerous times, called and left messages at various offices and distribution hubs that it went missing last at, I also asked that a post master intervene, called my local post office hub twice, etc. Each call I made I spent an average of 1-2 hours on hold only to be hung up on several times by the time someone picked up. I refused to give up though.

 

The wooden box's metal hinges came with them broken off. I went on Amazon and purchased new hinges for it that should be coming soon. It is like the package and item had been through a tornado.

 

I also cleaned it several times with Murphy's Oil Soap to get the oil or fuel off of it and restained and lacquered it with a product called Howard Restor A Finish. It is okay now thankfully. I did not feel like filing a claim which would drag on forever. If I wasn't able to fix it I would have been breathing fire I would have been so mad, lol. Gladly, It now looks better than it did in the seller's pictures.

 

Geesh! This was stressful, but thankfully I had a happy ending.

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