USPS Tracking glitch, no website-visible scans on random packages (see evidence here)

[gurlcat]

In just the past couple weeks I have had to file an unprecedented FOUR missing package cases with the USPS, none of which have shown any updates, in fact one 'closed' because it didn't even get an acceptance scan, despite shipping the same day as another package that got all of its' scans including delivery.   The other 3 got no scans past my city post office.  Gradually it has dawned on me that it's kind of surprising none of the buyers have gotten antsy.  
Then yesterday I read a post here (titled "Missing Package"), which you can read if you want, but it made me wonder if there's something going on with the USPS tracking on some number of random packages.   Then just a moment ago I realized that 1 of my 4 lost ones is a GSP package going to Australia.  So I thought, what if it DOES show international scans?  And lo and behold, LOOK, it does. 

If this is indeed a wider problem than just this other seller and me, then we have a delicate situation on our hands.  What he/she did was go to their post office and get a printout showing that the item was in fact delivered (somehow THEY were able to generate that at the p.o.), but Ebay still refunded the buyer who claimed they never got the item.  Other buyers may do this, and even if they don't, I don't know what happens to a seller's service metrics if there is a (or multiple) items that just go "undelivered" but without the buyer filing anything to get a refund. 

Anyway here are my screenshots.  Note that I've had no updates on the USPS website since filing the Search on the 19th, but Ebay's international tracking shows that Kentucky received and shipped out the package on the 18th.  

  

[dbfolks166mt]

In just the past couple weeks I have had to file an unprecedented FOUR missing package cases with the USPS, none of which have shown any updates, in fact one 'closed' because it didn't even get an acceptance scan, despite shipping the same day as another package that got all of its' scans including delivery. 

     Did you drop these at the PO and get a scanned receipt? If you did not drop and get a scanned receipt then there is the possibility that the package in fact never made it out of the PO. Depending on the distance a package is going I have had short leg packages that only had the initial acceptance scan and the final delivery one. Buyers are probably not worried until they have not received the item by the expected delivery date. 

     Are you checking the tracking through the eBay order shipping link or directly through the USPS tracking. There have been times when I have had the tracking differ between what the eBay link shows and what USPS tracking shows. 

 The other 3 got no scans past my city post office.  Gradually it has dawned on me that it's kind of surprising none of the buyers have gotten antsy.  
Then yesterday I read a post here (titled "Missing Package"), which you can read if you want, but it made me wonder if there's something going on with the USPS tracking on some number of random packages.   

The other posting had some unique and unusual nuances to it that may or may not be related to any USPS tracking/scanning issues since the poster was not or did not utilize the USPS tracking to validate/verify the tracking they instead went to the PO and got a printed copy but unclear how they provided that information to eBay and/or if they included it in the response to the INR case. To the best of my knowledge there are no issues with the USPS tracking system and I have not had any issues but I am not a huge seller/shipper. 

Then just a moment ago I realized that 1 of my 4 lost ones is a GSP package going to Australia.  So I thought, what if it DOES show international scans?  And lo and behold, LOOK, it does. 

     One caution with the GSP shipping. If you are accessing the tracking information through the eBay order numbers rather than the USPS and APG in your case, I have had issues on international sales that have differed between what the USPS tracking showed and what the USPS tracking and foreign carrier showed. Through the USPS tracking site the tracking information for the international package will stop when it is delivered to Erlanger at which point the foreign carrier tracking system will pick it up. You can generally access that tracking information through the foreign carrier leg link/site. 

[gurlcat]

Yes I made those points about the difference between Ebay/USPS website in that other post (that was me).  
The screenshot you see above with the red lettering is on the USPS website.  According to THEM (not just ebay) the package has had no scans since Oct. 12th, here in Mobile.  But according to ebay's international tracking the package did get shipped from Kentucky. Here's a screenshot I just took from the international carrier's site.  
The package is definitely NOT still in Mobile, LOL.  What I don't understand is why I'm not getting any kind of communication or updates from the USPS, considering I have 3 open Missing Package Search tickets, and they've been open for going on 6 days now.  

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

The USPS tracking system is a Crap Shoot! You can only wish and hope any tracking or delivery info is scanned at any point.

Well I guess you get what you pay for. A whole lot of money for very sketchy service!

[gurlcat]

I don't know about that, their tracking has always been perfectly reliable for me.  I've never, ever seen this before.   And in a way that makes me more nervous, because it has always been the 'rock' that both Ebay and the seller could stand on, when (for instance) a buyer says they didn't receive an item but tracking shows it was delivered.  That's always been something where the seller could depend on Ebay to have their back, because Ebay knows how solid the tracking is.  But if it's suddenly NOT solid ....... then what? 

Edit: I don't mean to say that the USPS never does stuff like skip scans between acceptance and delivery.  Yes they to that.  But I'm saying is I think they didn't even do delivery scans on these 4 missing items of mine, even though they were delivered. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

No scans are guaranteed, so I don't see this as a glitch.  Unusual, yes, but especially come the holidays, I know my PO often dispenses with scans, in lieu of just getting the pkg on its way.  Just a few years ago, it was a common scenario to have no scans (and yes, eBay relied them even then).  Nowadays, it's not very common & all smart sellers ALWAYS get an Acceptance Scan, but it still happens from time to time.  It's just a pretty rare occurence to have no scans at all, these days.  

Were all 4 of your pkgs sent from the same PO?  If so, that's where I would look.  Some PO's are very sloppy with scans. 

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

I am at my local post office everyday dropping 24-36 packages. They don't get scanned at that branch. Every evening trucks pick up the days take and transport them to the main sorting facility.(This process has taken 2-4 days in some cases/holiday weekends)  Then I will start seeing acceptance scans and "in transit".  I prefer to use the official USPS tracking and website rather than eBay's as well.

[gurlcat]

I guess what I'm talking about just boils down to DELIVERY scans.  Never mind acceptance (yes I got that) or any of the journey 'leg' scans.  Clearly this ^ package should have been scanned DELIVERED to the Ebay GSP facility in Kentucky on October 18th, but it wasn't.  So for all I know, the same could be true for the other 3 packages whose deliveries were to regular U.S. addresses. 
  
So when you say it was common in the past to have NO scans, what proof could you offer against a buyer claim that an item never arrived?  Did you just have to refund them and go after the USPS for insurance (if the package was insured)?  

As I said none of these 3 domestic people have contacted me, and they're all now 10-13 days past their expected delivery date.  I do know that some buyers don't inquire until wayyyy after (either because they were so patient or they just forgot they ordered something, then eventually remembered).  But all 3 of these?  I know the simplest solution might be to write them and just ask if they received their items, and at some point I may do that.  But if any of them are the sheisty type, I don't want to draw attention to an easy refund opportunity.  I know I would answer honestly, but some people wouldn't.  

[gloryglorygifts]

That happens once in a while with my packages, but I live in NYC so many times the packages are not scanned right when they are on the belts moving through their system. In the majority of cases the tracking shows up once it arrives in the next destination post office. In really rare times I have had packages arrive without any tracking but that's only been like 2 or 3 times over a 13 year period. I usually do reach out to my customers to tell them that their package was picked up by my carrier. Sometimes reaching out to them is best to let them know that you are aware of it and on top of it. The USPS seems overwhelmed this year and has been since covid hit. I know how overwhelming it is  for you, as a seller, to have open cases with them. In 2020 I had 12 of them open during the holidays, and was pulling my hair out with anxiety, but every one of them was resolved with help from the USPS and time. 

[gurlcat · Accepted solution]

     I should have concluded this thread because I actually figured out what happened.  So, none of those buyers ever contacted me, and I'm 99.9% sure they did receive their packages, even though their tracking still doesn't show 'delivered' to this day.  I'm pretty sure the USPS had to resort to using the actual recipient addresses printed on the labels (not the bar codes) for routing the items at each leg and then delivering. 

     This is because for a while there my printer was doing this weird thing where it would print everything bold and perfect on the first label, but if I was printing more than one, each subsequent label would have a weaker and more 'broken' bar code than the last.  And I mean ONLY the bar code; everything else would be perfect no matter how many labels I printed.  I figured out what to do: clean the drum in certain spots with alcohol and a q-tip, fixed it completely.  However, the bar code fade has gradually snuck-up a couple of times since then, and I've just repeated the cleaning process.  

      I don't know how it happens, especially considering the first one or two labels look pretty good, bar code and all.  Like my uncle told me, 'computers are a science, but printers are black magic.'  

[spark-chaser1]

As a buyer, I use the Dunnacare tracking method... I place my order and dunna care in the interim period  until I receive it or it gets past the EDD. 

I used to hemmorage over it and check it every thirty seconds, but age, time, and blood pressure meds have whittled it down to a numb feeling. 😁

Once I receive my package the seller gets a positive feedback and a separate Thank you message in communications. I do that regardless, but in those cases where tracking didn't update at least the seller wasn't left hanging wondering if I got my stuff.

[gurlcat]

Ha, I wish all buyers were like you, in fact I wish I was that kind of buyer.  Instead, the more time that passes the more irritated I get.  I think it comes from being a seller who holds myself to the highest possible standard.  I ship next-day or same-day if my mailman hasn't come yet, and watch my people's tracking fairly closely.  That may sound silly, but I'll tell you, the fall/winter of 2020 (what I refer to as 'Shipnado') when tons of sellers were having to issue refunds for Item Not Received, some so many they just shut down their stores until mid-January, I never had to refund a single penny, and I made TONS of sales in that time.  If I noticed a package's tracking appearing 'stalled' somewhere in the journey, I didn't wait for the buyer to write me; I wrote them FIRST, to let them know I hadn't forgotten them and would start a missing package search if needed.  Any seller that just says "Sorry it's out of my hands!" is lying and some buyers know it. 
I just think, whether buying or selling, after the buyer has paid the seller has their money and they have nothing.  Not only is it 'righteous' to treat them that way, it's also how Ebay treats things; you make a buyer mad and they WILL get their way through Ebay.  

[spark-chaser1]

I totally get it, and you're completely correct.

I think it is fantastic you communicate with buyers when a shipment is stalled. I agree that it can be irritating when a seller just writes a buyer off because they can't do anything. They can- they can express concern and try to make some effort.

I try to treat everyone with respect, in business transactions and life in general . I need the item, and the seller needs the money. We have equal interests in the game. 

In most of my dealings here, I've had great transactions and met some great people. The sellers worked with me, and I worked with them. The ideal symbiotic relationship, as it should be.

But in reality, its not a perfect world, and some people go overboard. As a seller,  always protect yourself, and in the end, the buyer can protect themself.

[gurlcat]

Ha I'm glad you took that reply how I meant it, because I just reread it and it reminded me of the brown-noser people at jobby-jobs I've had, where they're alway like "Ah give a hunnert and ten percent, no excuses!" (I live in the deep south, so that's how they sound, lol).  And I can't stand people like that because they typically just brag to get brownie points from the boss, like dude if you're so great the boss will notice, no need to make a big production.  But when I talk about doing the best possible for Ebay buyers, it's partly because I also buy so much here, and I've seen such a wide range of service from sellers, so I want to help sellers avoid being the kind that kinda suck, really.   I don't think of sellers as competitors; if this place goes down because too many buyers get sick of lousy service, we all go down. 

[spark-chaser1]

Nope... I think you have the right mindset.

(Even though y'all talk funny👍)

I travel to SC every year to visit my buddy down there. He used to live up in New England too and somehow his "ak -say -ent " developed over the years and is now thicker than the natives! LOL.