Bad USPS lost my package and lied

How accurate is the GPS data?

(I use GPS data and was told by ex-military test pilot that if I didn’t think it was accurate enough with respect to what we are tracking, he could “adjust it.”
 
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craytab said:
Do they know that you know that they have a GPS location of that delivery scan? I didn't see you mention that above.

I'd try going to the local PO once again in person. Be very nice and professional but make it clear that you will not be leaving until you know they have done everything they can (check the GPS, and give you the location). Bring all your evidence. Set aside some time for this and prepare to be dicked around. Just be calm, polite, yet firm.

If this does not result in satisfaction, get the contact information for the postal inspector and/or whomever is in charge. Take down names of everyone you talk to.

If they know you are not going to drop this or go away, more will happen. They are betting on you giving
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craytab said:
Okay. Above you say this:

"-GPS, according to USPS the mailman went back to deliver the package so they checked GPS, it shows two identical records at the right location."

What does two identical records mean?

The tracking links show different delivery times, no? Is a GPS marker linked to each delivery time? I'm wondering how this works. Perhaps Monofletch Monofletch can explain. It seems to me that two different tracking numbers delivered to the same place but at different times should have two corresponding GPS markers linked to them. Same GPS location, different times.
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If both packages were scanned in the same “event” the it would be identical. But 2 separate events, no way.
Tell them to check the Geo location or RIMMS breadcrumbs. They can track that carrier every 10 seconds or so if they are carrying the scanner.
 
annr said:
How accurate is the GPS data?

(I use GPS data and was told by ex-military test pilot that if I didn’t think it was accurate enough with respect to what we are tracking, he could “adjust it.”
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It is pretty close. They use the same gps technology to program “dog warnings” when we carry overtime on other routes. Id say within 1 house
 
Monofletch said:
It is pretty close. They use the same gps technology to program “dog warnings” when we carry overtime on other routes. Id say within 1 house
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Interesting. Thanks. Does this create a problem when packages go missing? Or how is it handled when the GPS data show delivery occurred to house next door to recipient?
 
We are supposed to scan at the POD (point of delivery) sometimes it does show next door or even across the street- in St. L the houses are so close together it does happen. We had a feature that would alert us “you are 675 feet from the delivery address- do you still want to complete delivery?” But they have turned that off for now. The scanner battery can only keep up with so many features turned on. And they haven’t figured out what is most important.
I know I’m don’t have a glorified job like a fireman or an astronaut but I still take pride in what I do. I owe that to my customers. Those are MY customers- If they can’t depend on me they might turn to UPS or FedEx and I am out of a job.
 
Yeah, I figured it was trickier than merely scanning, although that is likely useful for many things.

So when they try to recover a missing item, do they check with nearby customers for possible misdelivery? (Considering proximity of addresses and scan limitations, etc.)
 
If it’s the same day- Most of the time the carrier will get a message from the supervisor to go retrieve it. That is why it’s important to get on a miss delivery quickly.
 
Three years ago around xmas we got a package sitting on the doorstep. We get a lot of stuff off the internet so my wife brought it in and opened it. A big gift box of candy, meat and cheese. We started digging into the stuff and with my mouth crammed with cheese and summer sausage I asked who had sent us such a great gift. Whoops, Same number, next street over. It's RR#s and can be fairly confusing out here. So we go all the way across town to the mall (which I hate) because they have a Hickory farms store and buy the closest thing to what we had already started snarfing, take it home, put it in the original box and run it to the house it's supposed to go to. My wife normally isn't the quickest walker but she had that package on the porch and was back in the car in about 5 seconds flat. It happens, I hope you get your knife.
 
Not sure if this could be what happened to you or not, but our one mailman likes to scan a bunch of packages at once (apparently for the next leg of his route). I've seen tracking updated as "delivered", will go outside to get it, and nothing's there. The second I get my coat and shoes off, he's pulling up to the mailbox.

We've also had packages marked delivered where he apparently forgot to leave it. Typically marked "delivered" around 11am, and then dropped on our porch at 5pm. These are usually the packages that don't fit in the mailbox.

I'm only sharing this because perhaps your mailman left it at your building much later than you expected, and you didn't go far enough on video.

Just a shot in the dark, and by no means condoning it, if that's what he did....
 
^^^
Yes, my mailman did that until I spoke with him. Very disconcerting to open the door and see nothing,esp. when expecting important international mail.
 
GPS data can also be an issue when they 'pre-scan" before delivery (which they are probably not allowed to do). I have seen carriers on my street, a townhouse walking route scan all their packages while sitting in the truck, then walk the route to delivery. There would be no direct tracking then if any were dropped at the wrong house. They typically do this in bad weather as it speeds up the process rather than doing it out in the rain or snow.
 
And I wonder how often when you file a case with UPS, they tell you that the tracking does not show your address. If this is a common situation than they should be frequently reporting this.

But I'll bet they don't.

It looks like I was lucky that I had a rep who really did look at the GPS data and figure out where my delivery really was, the one time they ever mentioned GPS in the ones I reported.

Definitely hope it works out for the OP: on these things I think it's vital to be right on it. The same day or the next day, the Post Office does seem to make an effort, sending a carrier out to check. As others mentioned persistence may be key too.
 
Also depends on luck of the draw. The USPS employs half a million people. You get a group that size, some are going to be great, some meh and some down right crap.

I'm lucky, my regular delivery guy is awesome. When he had a day off and a substitute delivery guy lost my package, the next day the regular guy drove up and down the street, checking all the delivery boxes to see if my package was in any of them. He followed up with me twice after that and contacted somebody in the office to also look into it.
 
I forgot to mention in my other comment that just this year we got an xmas card from an elderly relative that had been opened. When we spoke to the relative she said she had put a visa gift card in the greeting card. When we got the greeting card- from our locked mailbox- no gift card and as I said the greeting card had been opened. There's no way anybody except a USPS employee could have stolen it. Our regular mail lady, who is awesome, was on vacation. Since the greeting card was first class mail it wasn't insured and there were so many temps filling in there was no way to know who did what or whether it was swiped in the town our relative lives in, our town, our route, the hub the mail went through, nothing, no way to track down the thief and couldn't even file a claim. Basically we were s.o.l. on it. Because our elderly relative got pretty upset we told her we did get it, it had somehow come out of the envelope and was in our mailbox and we found it the next day because if she thought we didn't ever get it she'd have sent another and she's fairly old and doesn't need the stress or the burden of that. I used to think the USPS might lose a package occasionally but now I know they'll steal too which is a pretty sad thing. At any rate it may be a good idea to tell relatives to send a check instead of a gift card because obviously the thief felt the card in the envelope and knew it was an xmas gift. I sure won't be mailing any more gift cards and we used to do that quite a bit.
 
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JJHollowman said:
I forgot to mention in my other comment that just this year we got an xmas card from an elderly relative that had been opened. When we spoke to the relative she said she had put a visa gift card in the greeting card. When we got the greeting card- from our locked mailbox- no gift card and as I said the greeting card had been opened. There's no way anybody except a USPS employee could have stolen it. Our regular mail lady, who is awesome, was on vacation. Since the greeting card was first class mail it wasn't insured and there were so many temps filling in there was no way to know who did what or whether it was swiped in the town our relative lives in, our town, our route, the hub the mail went through, nothing, no way to track down the thief and couldn't even file a claim. Basically we were s.o.l. on it. Because our elderly relative got pretty upset we told her we did get it, it had somehow come out of the envelope and was in our mailbox and we found it the next day because if she thought we didn't ever get it she'd have sent another and she's fairly old and doesn't need the stress or the burden of that. I used to think the USPS might lose a package occasionally but now I know they'll steal too which is a pretty sad thing. At any rate it may be a good idea to tell relatives to send a check instead of a gift card because obviously the thief felt the card in the envelope and knew it was an xmas gift. I sure won't be mailing any more gift cards and we used to do that quite a bit.
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You may have been able to do something through the purchase receipt , but that would involve the sender. It happens a lot during the Christmas season.
 
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