Tracked item missing in the US - not sure what are the options.

[darak10]

Hit a brand new situation, not sure what to do.

US customer in central TN bought an item July 20, I shipped it with tracking July 21.

It entered the US via San Francisco and was scanned by USPS there on July 24.  Oddly, the scan does not register a US customs acceptance or clearance scan, just that it was accepted by a USPS processing facility in SF. 

Radio silence ever since....no scans, nothing.  

Customer wanting to know what to do.

I asked him to call USPS with the tracking number and ask to see what they can do to assist or clarify what is happening or what could be done to trace the package (if anything, I'm assuming none, although I dont know for sure).

Anyone else been thru this, what happens / process for lost "tracked" items (I guess if this oxymoron is going to be possible, it will during the COVID era), will Ebay force a refund despite tracking number / potential item disappearance, I'd love to hear from folks who have been thru something like this.  

Cheers!

[marnotom!]

Tracking in and of itself is no protection against non-delivery claims.

Tracking showing delivery to the address on the transaction details page, however, will protect you against a fraudulent claim of non-delivery.

A buyer with nothing to show for their payment needs to have their payment returned to them if the buyer requests it (or even if they don’t). The seller then files an insurance claim with the carrier if they took out insurance.

What is the last estimated delivery date for the item? I’d try to wait a couple of weeks after that date before giving the buyer a refund in case some signs of life appear for the shipment.

[reallynicestamps]

Tracking is only useful as a protection against false claims of non-delivery.

You and your customer agree that the shipment has not been delivered.

If the window eBay gave your customer for delivery has closed, you should be refunding him, with or without a Dispute.

You should also cancel as "problem with address" which will give you your FVF back.

If the window is still open, you get to exercise your public relations skills in soothing your upset customer, but you are not required to refund him...yet.

If the shipment really can't be delivered, eventually it will come back to you, but return to sender is never a high priority for the postal system And with COVID....

If tracking suddenly shows delivery after refund, you can send a cheerful and polite note to the buyer letting him know how pleased you are that he has finally got his purchase, and that he can return the refund using Paypal's Send Money service.

[darak10]

ok guys thanks for the tips, that kind of confirms what I thought the response would be....but it doesn't answer my fundamental question - can anything be done internally within USPS to track this, or is it at the whims of the gods to decide if or when it ever resurfaces?

[travis7s]

I doubt you will get any further information but why not just try calling USPS yourself?

[falinabay]

Would you share what shipping did you use from Canada to pass thru the borders?

Thanks

[reallynicestamps]

When a Canadian shipment is passed to the USPS , it would normally be Canada Post, as part of the Universal Postal Union Treaty of 1874.

In the same way, if you send a Christmas card to your Nonna in Italy, Canada Post hands it over to Poste Italiane and so on to almost every country in the world.

[nostalgicaftertaste]

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@darak10 wrote:

Anyone else been thru this, what happens / process for lost "tracked" items (I guess if this oxymoron is going to be possible, it will during the COVID era), will Ebay force a refund despite tracking number / potential item disappearance, I'd love to hear from folks who have been thru something like this.  

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Yes, unfortunately. This happened to me a few months ago. An order (~$120 CDN) sent to the US with the Tracked Packet service seemingly reached the final facility for sorting and was in transit, but there was no scan to confirm delivery. I had hoped it would sort itself out, but it never did. Whether the courier neglected or was unable to do the final scan, or the package somehow got lost at the last stage, eBay awarded the buyer a full refund about a month after the case was first opened.

To recoup losses, I submitted a claim to Canada Post, but this went unanswered for well over a month. Finally, I spoke with a CSR over the phone about the matter, and after apologizing for the unexplained lack of updates, they promptly saw to it that I recovered the cost of the item plus shipping as part of the insurance included with this service.

[darak10]

good old Canuck post. no chitchats or other similar service.

[darak10]

glad to hear you got something out of the insurance, I've never had to go that far so far.  

post script:

customer called USPS, said they were as useless as mammary glands on a bull.  Then, magically, seemingly out of nowhere, on the verge of hopelessness and giving up, the package re-surfaced and was scanned in Nashville TN yesterday and delivered this am at his home address.  So, it went AWOL for 1 month and 4 days before resurfacing and finding its home.  

[musicyouneed]

I sent an item on Aug 4 and it was not delivered until Aug 27.  It didn't show up as even accepted by USPS.  It finally showed up, thank goodness.  

[femmefan1946]

In my experience, 24 days in transit is not great service, but not unusual either.

Even before the pandemic hit all carriers, I allowed 21 calendar days for delivery within North America.

Usually it was faster, rarely it would run to 30 days around Christmas and the June21-July 4 holiday period.

[zee-chan]

Oh yeah, I had a book sent with letter-post to USA a few years ago during early-January that took like 5 weeks to arrive, and the buyer dinged my feedback stars (still gave a positive) and send me a rude message. Ended up blocking her...