USPS tracking: MISSENT

[fergua3]

so i have a package bound for the Seattle area in WA.   It went to a local unit for delivery but then its status became :MISSENT.  I looked that up on USPS and it means it was sent to the wrong unit for delivery and has to be sent back to the sorting facility and sent to the proper unit for delivery. 

However the status has been MISSENT for 3 days now and nothing has changed.   Does anyone have experience with this that can give some idea how long it will take to be delivered now?  The buyer thinks it means i addressed the package wrong, which i didn't and i sent a picture of his package to prove it.

The wrong  postal unit that the package was sent to is only 38 miles from the buyer's address, so it's in the vacinity.

[marnotom!]

I found a couple of old threads on the .com boards on the subject of "missent" items, and the sense I get is that the situation's usually resolved pretty quickly, but it takes as long as it takes.  One poster quoted a 15 day delivery time for one item that had to go through this process.

What's the last estimated date for delivery of the item?

[fergua3]

last estimated delivery date was the original one given,  Nov. 5.   It would have arrived on time or maybe even a day early if not for the error.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Don't worry about it. 

It will get there, probably.

The customer has access to the tracking info, the same as you. If they are concerned, they will contact you.

If they contact you, be polite and professional. Explain that USPS appears to have made an error. The item should still arrive, but might be late. Let them know that their order is important to you and you will keep an eye on the tracking to ensure nothing strange happens. While the package almost certainly should arrive within a few days, in the event it does not you will gladly assist them with a missing mail report.

If it does end up lost, or bouncing around for a long time, you can then assist the buyer with opening a missing mail report through the USPS website. That usually seems to solve things and get the package on the right track. Although, that might be confirmation bias where I have opened a missing mail report and the package would have been delivered a few days later anyways.

The big take away that I have learned throughout years of sending things to the US, is that USPS screws up a lot. Even things like a package marked as delivered, with a customer messaging the same day and claiming that it never arrived. Usually, even in situations like that it arrives a day or two later. USPS just screwed up somehow. 

In general, I don't look at tracking for my orders once they are accepted because especially with USPS, if you do that, it will drive you crazy, and there is not much you can do. If there is a major issue, a customer will contact you and you can be driven crazy by the tracking at that time. If I watched the tracking for every package I send out, I would lose my mind. 

I wouldn't worry about it being lost at all. I wouldn't contact the customer in a panic. I would assist the customer if they contact you and they are concerned about their package. 

[ricarmic]

Exactly why I try to NEVER watch tracking.

Now I'm human and worry, probably more than average so sometimes I break my rules for expensive things or worrisome addresses.

For all the items I've broken my own rules and watched the tracking that had weird, worrisome, return to sender etc messages 0 (as in Zero) percent of them ended up having a problem greater than being delayed a bit. I try to remind myself of this when I feel compelled to watch the item in progres......

[38e_avenue]

Happened to me, too  it bounced for 10 days. I got a defect for late delivery. I asked Ebay to remove the defect - they did it immediately. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

When I sold online more casually, or when I first started, I used to worry so much. Every transaction was like I was sending the holy grail or something.

The reality is that most customers check to see if an item is sent, wait the 1-3 weeks for it to arrive, and if there is an actual problem they will contact you. 

While I think the mindset that every transaction is important and you're going to do your best to delivery an awesome experience is the right one, I also think it's healthy to have certain boundaries. Checking the tracking after something is sent out is a boundary I have. There are better things I can focus my energy on in order to add value to my efforts on eBay and deliver a great experience than to fixate on an item bouncing between the same USPS sorting center 6 times before it is actually delivered.

[fergua3]

well, the package just got a scan update....in Billings, MT, over 800 miles away.  So two screw ups in a row now.   🙄

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Yeah, it will probably get there eventually though. I wouldn't worry too much. Certainly, assist the customer if they contact you, but USPS screws up all the time. If the customer contacts you, you can open the appropriate help form (https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm) and eventually a missing mail report. That is more to make the customer feel at ease though, like someone is doing something about my order. If your package is still showing tracking updates, it's almost certainly not lost, and will get there eventually. 

Some really weird stuff happens with USPS processing sometimes. Each package risks going on a magical journey that none of us can comprehend or explain.