2. misc-audio
  3. 192641-171779

Package Has Disappeared in USPS System

I recently purchased a modestly expensive audio product over the Internet, paid for by credit card, to be shipped to me via the USPS Priority Mail system, with tracking and insurance.  The vendor, who will go unnamed at the moment out of respect for past good service, emailed me that the package shipped on 20 December, although the package did not show up in the USPS system until about 27 December.  Being a patient guy, I figured that the USPS is slow in keeping up with demand over Christmas.  On about 28 December, the USPS tracking system said the package had been received, had been sent to a regional distribution center, and had been shipped on from there.  However, and now it gets "interesting,"  on 31 December, the USPS tracking system said that the label had been created but that the package was not in the system.  In other words, the package had "disappeared" from the USPS system.  At several points in this saga, I contacted the vendor to express my concern, especially after the package disappeared from the USPS system; their response was that I should be patient and await further developments..

On 2 January,I contact the vendor, suggesting they initiate a missing package complaint, file an insurance claim, and requested that they send me a replacement product, assuring them that I would promptly return the first item if it ever showed up. (Coincidentally, on the same date I read a reputably-sourced news item about rampant theft by employees in the USPS system--hardly reassuring.)

The vendor's response again was that I should be patient--in spite of my pointing out that the USPS had obviously lost the package--and await further developments.

However, in spite of normally being a very patient guy, I think, with two weeks having passed and the USPS tracking system now saying they haven't received the package that they previously acknowledged having, it is time for the vendor to send me a replacement item.

I will never use the USPS system for product shipment if there is any other viable alternative.

Several questions come to mind:

1) How long is reasonable to wait for a package that should have been delivered in one to three days?

2)  At what point should a vendor realize that good customer service means providing the customer with a product they shipped with tracking and insurance?

3)  Would it unreasonable for me to tell the vendor that if they cannot provide a replacement product within a few days, I would like my money refunded?  (I am prepared to contest the charge on my credit card for non-performance.

4)  Am I being unreasonable?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 









































 

mike4597
richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
214 posts
 

Thank goodness I live in Australia and buy most of my stuff from the UK and China.

Australia Post provides by far the best courier service locally.  Usually I don't insure and they have never lost anything of mine, ever.  The UK postal service seems just as good - between them they can sometimes ship from England to the other side of the planet in under a week.

I recently bought four cheap items from Temu (China) and got an emailed photo of the delivery, which was left under a mailbox I did not recognise.  Turned out it was a few doors away, and the mailbox owner kindly placed it at the right address.  The package was torn, and a part of one item had fallen out.  Another was missing a USB cable, and the third did not magnify as described. I started down the reorder process but was quickly directed to a refund where I got my money credited almost immediately, with no need to returns the goods.

I always use PayPal if I can. I ordered an amplifier upgrade kit from Europe and it arrived missing RCA connectors.  Rather than pop some in the mail, the supplier arced up, I bought very expensive RCA connectors locally and PayPal sided with me.

Australian Banks are very good at handling disputed transactions - they quarantine the debt immediately.

Then there's Amazon (US shipments!). - the only people to have completely and permanently lost a tracked package in one of their transit depots!

muvluv's avatar
muvluv
48 posts
 

I would threaten the seller with a chargeback on your card, if that don’t work just do a chargeback and order from somewhere else 

tomrk
78 posts
 

I would have already called my credit card company at this point to say you haven't received the product.   It would force action from the vendor.

These are vendors, not a family member.

old_ears's avatar
old_ears
52 posts
 

     I'd just like to point out that the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, appointed by a Trump appointed Board of 9 Directors was a major Trump contributor who in 2012 published his plan to run USPS thus... from Wikipedia:  

In March 2021, DeJoy issued a 10-year plan called "Delivering for America" to stabilize the finances of the Postal Service by slowing first class mail delivery, optimizing transportation networks, cutting post office hours, and raising prices. The plan assumed Congress would relieve the USPS of the requirement to pre-pay retiree health care costs, which with DeJoy's urging it did with the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. 

  My local Mailman is a very nice, hard working, dedicated, long term employee.

    Sorry to politicalize yet another area of concern.

tomrk
78 posts
 

the seller is not the insurer

Not sure what that means, but the seller is responsible for the successful delivery of the product.   He was the one who chose USPS so they are in effect an agent of the seller.  Either way, the seller is on the hook for the delivery or a refund.

More to discover