@heartovermind wrote:
Sent a parcel tracked packet to Florida. Item arrived in the small town
days ago - was to be delievered Thurs. by 8pm. USPS. Tracking on their
website now says "Awaiting Delivery Scan" for several days and the buyer
says has not been delivered.
I googled this and apparently it is not uncommon. I have had tracked packet delivered by USPS on a Saturday.
Getting stuck in a small town for 3 days?
has the parcel been lost? At which point should I get worried.
It happens sometimes. Usually a lazy postie who doesn't update his scan or screws up something. It is also important to keep in mind that both first class and priority do not have guaranteed delivery dates so any date shown on the USPS site would be an estimate.
This is easily resolved by having the buyer contact his post office and that would be the recommended course of action. They track everything down to the GPS coordinates of when they scan things and their internal systems will have more up to date information than what is on their website. You can also open a case with USPS online.
Other than a handful of parcels returned for incorrect/partial addresses (usually missing a unit #) I've had zero lost parcels with USPS across thousands of US domestic shipments. In the rare case like yours mentioned here it was resolved by having the buyer contact the post office or opening a case with USPS. The postie either found the package or the package was waiting pickup at the post office.
