Trouble with USPS shipping?

[PekkaKarhunen]

Mods, sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I ordered some stuff from JCF last week, and, not being in any particular rush, choose the slowest, cheapest delivery method, where UPS sends it off to our friends at the Postal Service for final delivery. Over the last few days, I tracked the package on UPS as it bounced around, until on Wednesday, it arrived at my local post office. As it so happens, I'm on a staycation this week- just hanging around, relaxing etc. My mail arrived sometime before 10am, when I picked it up. Imagine my surprise, then, when I got an update saying at 2pm, the USPS tried and failed to deliver my package, and left instructions on what I should do next.

Of course, there were no instructions left... nor an attempt to deliver my package. I didn't hear the carrier drop off the mail in the morning, but my doorbell is in perfect working order. I went on down to my local post office today to check in and was told they had no record of any package, but also that they couldn't track a package with a UPS tracking number (because, as I was curtly informed, the US Post Service and the UPS are different). The employee at the local office gave me the number for the package depot supervisor, but I got a busy signal when I called (being honest, I didn't even know busy signals were still a thing).

Anyone ever deal with something similar? What should I do here? Just sit tight and hope they try again? Did my package get taken by a letter carrier in need of a new pair of jeans and a flannel shirt? Keep trying the supervisor's (possibly fictitious) number? I'm at a loss, here. Like I said, nothing I ordered is time-sensitive or anything...but I would prefer to have the things I've paid for, y'know, at some point.

[bjmcgeever]

Mods, sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I ordered some stuff from JCF last week, and, not being in any particular rush, choose the slowest, cheapest delivery method, where UPS sends it off to our friends at the Postal Service for final delivery. Over the last few days, I tracked the package on UPS as it bounced around, until on Wednesday, it arrived at my local post office. As it so happens, I'm on a staycation this week- just hanging around, relaxing etc. My mail arrived sometime before 10am, when I picked it up. Imagine my surprise, then, when I got an update saying at 2pm, the USPS tried and failed to deliver my package, and left instructions on what I should do next.

Of course, there were no instructions left... nor an attempt to deliver my package. I didn't hear the carrier drop off the mail in the morning, but my doorbell is in perfect working order. I went on down to my local post office today to check in and was told they had no record of any package, but also that they couldn't track a package with a UPS tracking number (because, as I was curtly informed, the US Post Service and the UPS are different). The employee at the local office gave me the number for the package depot supervisor, but I got a busy signal when I called (being honest, I didn't even know busy signals were still a thing).

Anyone ever deal with something similar? What should I do here? Just sit tight and hope they try again? Did my package get taken by a letter carrier in need of a new pair of jeans and a flannel shirt? Keep trying the supervisor's (possibly fictitious) number? I'm at a loss, here. Like I said, nothing I ordered is time-sensitive or anything...but I would prefer to have the things I've paid for, y'know, at some point.

Usually UPS gives a USPS tracking number after they've handed it off. Maybe you'll have luck with that.

[3piece]

Never happened to me. Contact JCF.

[3piece]

Actually, once I got "We missed you" for package that was not mine one day. I suppose the delivery guy figured it out as I didn't get another slip the next day.

So, it could be the postman left the slip on the wrong address. That happens.

[PekkaKarhunen]

Fantastic...I did find the USPS tracking number. UPS says "The post office attempted to deliver your UPS SurePost package and left a delivery notice with instructions" which is time-stamped for 2:12pm. USPS says there was a successful delivery at 2:04pm yesterday. This is not accurate, since I was home in my living room at 2:04pm yesterday, and would have seen the letter carrier.

The mail already came today, no package or delivery slip either. I guess I should start with the USPS? The thing I'm worried about is that if USPS insists they delivered it correctly, what recourse do I have? I don't really have any way to prove that I didn't receive a package yesterday, and for all USPS or JCF knows, I'm just some scumbag.

[3piece]

And someone could've stolen it. Contact JCF. They might just send another no charge.

[gilla]

I think you'll have to wait a few days to ensure it's not at your door early next week, but if both UPS and USPS both say it's been delivered and you've got nothing then you'll have to contact JCF customer service to get a refund/resent

I had a similar problem a few years ago for a delivery from urban outfitters and took a really long time to settle as it turned out the post office sent it back to their main sorting facility for a return to sender but it was sitting there because of "failed deliveries" which were never attempted because like you I was home and no knocks on the door or delivery slips were left.

[Shomas]

I think you'll have to wait a few days to ensure it's not at your door early next week, but if both UPS and USPS both say it's been delivered and you've got nothing then you'll have to contact JCF customer service to get a refund/resent

I had a similar problem a few years ago for a delivery from urban outfitters and took a really long time to settle as it turned out the post office sent it back to their main sorting facility for a return to sender but it was sitting there because of "failed deliveries" which were never attempted because like you I was home and no knocks on the door or delivery slips were left.

I agree with this advice - it will likely get to you within the next couple of days. USPS tracking is a disaster. I wouldn't trust them to tell me what color their trucks are.

I've had circumstances where Amazon packages were set for Sunday delivery by the USPS (it's a thing in some cities). I've gotten a note that they tried to deliver to my office, but nobody was there so now I have to pick it up because redelivery is not available. This is infuriating for several reasons: 1) there's always somebody at my office. It's a mailroom that's always open; 2) I do not have to pick the package up, as demonstrated by the fact that it was in fact redelivered the next day. What this says is that the mail carrier said "screw it, nobody's going to be in this midtown skyscraper on a Sunday. I'll just mark this as an attempt" and that the USPS system does not have any flexibility in how they categorize packages, even if there's some flexibility in how they actually handle them. So, "will be dropped off when I go by there on my route tomorrow" turns into "cannot be redelivered." Makes me murderous.

I've said it here before, but I'll say it again - I HATE the various "deliver to USPS, who then delivers to you" scheme. I understand the reason for it, but I hate it - partly because of my problems with the USPS, as detailed above, but also because it adds another transfer of the package into the system, which is just another opportunity for the thing to be lost or misrouted. Obviously, it shakes out as profitable in the cost/benefit analysis, but it really seems like a bad idea for packages that the shipper and receiver are actually concerned about. One of the most crazymaking parts is that the UPS tracking system says the package was "delivered," when it was just dropped with the USPS. Why they can't put a new designation in their system for when the these smartpost packages are dropped is beyond me...

[TDurden]

Doesn't really answer your question, but crazy things happen.

1) One time I sold something on a forum, the tracking showed as delivered, but the guy I sold it to contacted me and said he didn't receive anything. He was really nice and didn't even ask for a refund, just asked to make sure I had the right address. Contacted USPS and was told they would do NOTHING since it showed as delivered. Eventually the guy's neighbor found it under their porch blocks away.

2) Bought something one time from someone in teh midwest. I tracked the package, it found its way to my local USPS delivery center. Next thing I know the thing was listed as being in Maine, then NJ, and finally back to Denver. Instead of like 3-5 day delivery, it took 2 weeks. USPS did NOTHING despite repeated calls to get the package routed correctly.

TL;DR: It'll probably show up, but JCF will make it right if it doesn't.

[justin t]

I had a similar problem with an order from Harry's razors. The tracking said it was delivered and left at my front door, but it wasn't. The mailman finally delivered it a couple days later.

[TravelingJ]

I do everything I can to avoid dealing with USPS. Last year it took them 3 months to deliver a package (that was to be a giftmas present). That one just had to go 3 hours within the same state, yet someone went from "delivery failed" in my town, to being out for delivery 2 states over. When I called USPS for help, all they could say is "we don't guarantee a shipping date" "yeah, I realize that, but why did it go to CO when it never had to leave MO?" "we don't guarantee a shipping date".

Our birchbox subscriptions are a constant issue. I've had to have them reshipped 3 times so far. The current one is "unavailable for delivery" which I'm not sure how, since I was out in my yard at the time they allegedly attempted to delivery it.

Just call JCF, make them fix it. And stop trusting a government run service.

[Shomas]

Since I just shat all over the postal service, I will say that the fact that I can reliably get an envelope from New York City to LA in two business days for less than fifty cents is pretty remarkable.

And before we go waxing all libertarian here, let's bear in mind that the United States Postal Service is not government-run. It's a corporation that does some things well and other things really poorly.

[PekkaKarhunen]

Got an update- there was a delay because I've moved recently and whoever was in charge of forwarding the package did so in reverse. What I mean is that they saw the package with my new address and forwarded it to my old address by mistake. The employee at my old post office spent about 15min checking it out and confirmed for me it was re-forwarded to the right post office and I'd have it in a couple of days. I wish the people at my new post office were even half as helpful, but such is life.

As for the gawt damm gubmint argument, according to wikipedia, "the USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.[5] Since the 2006 all-time peak mail volume,[6] after which Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act,[7] (which mandated $5.5 billion per year to be paid into an account to fully prefund both employee retirement health and pension benefits, a requirement exceeding that of other government and private organizations [8]), revenue dropped sharply due to recession-influenced[9] declining mail volume,[10] prompting the postal service to look to other sources of revenue while cutting costs to reduce its budget deficit."

[gsasso]

It's also worth noting that the postal service tried to cut costs last year and congress wouldn't approve it. Not that the USPS is fantastic or anything, but their situation is impossible when they're not allowed to change anything.

[Alex]

1) Nothing wrong with libertarian solutions. Best solution I can imagine is to remove the monopoly for the USPS to deliver to mailboxes. New companies will open and possibly buy some of the existing offices, so as to avoid costs of new buildings/equipment. Competition will increase quality and reduce price, or people will give up physical letters.

2) The USPS doesn't technically receive tax funds anymore, but they do receive subsidies for the reduced rates available...so basically they avoid paying taxes that any non-government entity is forced to pay.

3) Pensions and unions will kill the service eventually. There is no way to continue hiking rates indefinitely to cover these costs when actual mailing services continue to drop.

4) Why the hell do we let the President and Senate decide which crappy bureaucrats will run the USPS?