USPS Tracking

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BlazenGem

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USPS Tracking sucks quite bad.

They dont update often. Usually is "item left country, into country, into customs...then nothing...then its delivered'

anyone else have any input?

what shipping do you like to use when you ship to Canada and outside? with best tracking.
 
I've often found the only time that USPS tracking was updated was after the item was delivered. It's not even worth checking the tracking page.

I've even had an item returned to the sender — because USPS "couldn't find the address" while happily delivering the rest of my mail — without the page being updated.
 
BlazenGem said:
I have a sharpmaker coming, its been two weeks, and tracking still says 'item has been accepted at...blah blah blah'


anyone else have this problem?
Click to expand...

When we get that message at work, it means the package was
immediately lost or was never sent.

When you ship a package from a UPS pick-up station, all packages
are processed through the day, then we electronically send in a
'End of Day' report. It prints out a sign sheet for the driver and
is put with the packages. He has to/should verify count of packages
before signing off.

We've had packages left at the warehouse and "Item has been accepted"
is a usual tracking response. Or the package reached the first terminal
and was shipped to the other side of the country.

mike
 
US Postal Service tracking is useless, not to be confused with UPS tracking. You usually get the package before any update. Forget about this totally lame feature from the US gov.
 
My experience is similar. United States Postal Service tracking sucks, and always has. UPS tracking is great, and DHL is good too.
 
USPS doesn't really have tracking. There's a web page you can go to that might have some information, but if it doesn't that means nothing.
 
If I sell something on Ebay I use delivery comfirmation.Same as tracking but less frustrating.
 
USPS does not offer tracking on its packages other than Express Mail and the international versions of Express. The only scans you get are acceptance, arrival (at destination office), and delivery.

For the other classes of mail it offers Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation which provide a delivery scan or delivery signature.

For any of these services you might get some intermediate scans but they are freebies and are not part of the service offering.

The only real tracking done by USPS is based on passive scans of PLANET barcodes as letters and flats pass through automated processing equipment. You need to be a CONFIRM subscriber to get that data about the flow of your mail through the postal system.

Maybe people think USPS tracking sucks because it doesn't really exist and they don't understand the limitations of the services they are purchasing. The guy at the window is just going to sell the service, not the limitations! :)
 
As mentioned, USPS has a "item accepted and item delivered" sort of tracking. So it's not really a tracking feature. And, yes, sometimes it takes way longer than expected. I posted a thread here not long ago where a 2-3 day Priority delivery hadn't showed up after a week. Then when I called their customer service they just repeated what their tracking website said and told me they were not sure where my package was.

It ended up making it to the destination but just late. That is the only time that has happened to me. But other's had similar stories. I am sure it is just crazy this time of the year.
 
mycroftt said:
USPS does not offer tracking on its packages other than Express Mail and the international versions of Express. The only scans you get are acceptance, arrival (at destination office), and delivery.

For the other classes of mail it offers Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation which provide a delivery scan or delivery signature.

For any of these services you might get some intermediate scans but they are freebies and are not part of the service offering.

The only real tracking done by USPS is based on passive scans of PLANET barcodes as letters and flats pass through automated processing equipment. You need to be a CONFIRM subscriber to get that data about the flow of your mail through the postal system.

Maybe people think USPS tracking sucks because it doesn't really exist and they don't understand the limitations of the services they are purchasing. The guy at the window is just going to sell the service, not the limitations! :)
Click to expand...
Ya'll read this again :D

I never have probs with USPS and use them all the time. I have found that putting a delivery confirmation on my packages will get them there quicker.
 
My understanding is that insurance isn't enough to track a package, which i just found out 2 days ago. I was told by the usps people that it would allow me to track, it doesn't. Seems like if you want to know where your package is you should use UPS, FEDEX or some other like company. The post office is not fast or convienent when it comes to tracking packages or shipping packages. I had a guy at work mail a package on friday, he paid 16 bucks for overnight delivery of a letter. It showed up tuesday, and USPS said that was standard for a package mailed on friday's...overnight is not 4 days later, and i dont believe it should matter if its a business day or not for 16 bucks (for a letter.)

I wont be using the post office to mail packages anymore, ups is on post and they have yet to lose anything i have sent.
 
Don Hanson III said:
Ya'll read this again :D

I never have probs with USPS and use them all the time. I have found that putting a delivery confirmation on my packages will get them there quicker.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I stopped using insurance and priority with tracking for costs. The delivery comfirmation was cheapest.How much quicker?
 
:cool:...As strange as it is , there seems to be times that USPS tracking data actually shows up. I mailed a knife to West Virginia a couple of weeks ago and they tracked it to the recipient's door. I saw an update each time I looked. Here's a pic of the delivery summary. Seems it works when they want it to doesn't it?...:rolleyes:...click the thumbnail...then click the larger pic...

View attachment 84321
 
USPS is finicky. Like the Federal government it represents.

So all of my shipped knives have gotten "accepted, processed, arrived at routing location, etc" except for ONE package... that contained a $270 Sebenza. I email the buyer the "delivery confirmation" the day I sent it and 4 days later he emails me that the knife isn't even in the system. I check the # and plug it in... "no record of this item" ?!?

So I called USPS and the rep said "DELIVERY confirmation" only requires an update of the record when the item is actually delivered. Not when it's processed, not when it's accepted, and certainly not when it gets lost or delayed. It may get scans at all its stops and be updated (which is great when it does) but it is not required to - since it's only DELIVERY confirmation. Guess that's what you get when you pay $0.65 cents for the service.
 
mister_wilburn said:
My understanding is that insurance isn't enough to track a package, which i just found out 2 days ago. I was told by the usps people that it would allow me to track, it doesn't. Seems like if you want to know where your package is you should use UPS, FEDEX or some other like company. The post office is not fast or convienent when it comes to tracking packages or shipping packages. I had a guy at work mail a package on friday, he paid 16 bucks for overnight delivery of a letter. It showed up tuesday, and USPS said that was standard for a package mailed on friday's...overnight is not 4 days later, and i dont believe it should matter if its a business day or not for 16 bucks (for a letter.)

I wont be using the post office to mail packages anymore, ups is on post and they have yet to lose anything i have sent.
Click to expand...

I hope the guy requested a refund on the postage for that 4-day delivery of an ovvernight package - because he will get his money back if he asks. If he says he didn't get his money back he is most likely lying about the whole thing.

An interesting feature of the USPS overnight product is that it is delivered 365 days a year with no surcharge for Sunday and holiday delivery - it is the only shipper that provides that service.
 
its been 21 days since my package has gone out...

its not even a knife, its a sharpmaker...

can I get my money back from USPS?

its taking WAY too long.
 
No but the sender might be able to if it was insured. Personally, I've never been able to make successful claim agains postal insurance so I would tend to doubt whether the sender can either. Your beef is with the sender. He owes you a refund.
 
I'm waiting for a knife right now.It was scanned when it shipped from the location.Its been two days without a scan. I recon it'll get scanned once it hits Mass.
 
If you are talking about 'delivery confirmation' you have to get your facts straight.

That isn't tracking. If you want tracking you have to use signiture confirmation and then you can track the package where it is in transit daily, and see the time and who signed for it when it was delivered.

Delivery confirmation tells you it was delivered. It doesn't say to whom it was delivered to. It just tells you it was delivered even when it was delivered to the wrong house! Been there done that.

I had a BenchMade Aries knife I bought off of these forums that was mailed to me and delivered to the same house number on Toledo Drive instead of to me on Woodville Road. Now how this got confused I'll never know but its the next street over from me in my neighborhood. The guy I bought the knife from wrote me saying he saw that it was delivered and I had to tell him I never got it. He thought I was being less than truthful and it got kind of bad for about a week until my postman tracked it down because of my complaints.

Turned out a family down the road not only got my package but opened it up and had used my knife and then put it back in the package laying on an end table in the hall way along with a book I had ordered from Amazon.com about two months earlier. Had my postman and myself not confronted them about it I'd probably never had known what happened to the knife or my book which Amazon had already replaced for me.

Don't get me started about the so called good church going family that was keeping my stuff. They had a nice chat with the postal inspectors about their little keep the neighbors mail routine.

STR
 
I just looked at the USPS link. Scanned in Shrewsbury. Looks like I'll get it today or tomorrow. It's funny how the USPS and UPS central distribution is in the same town. I'm beginning to wonder if the Post Office doesn't sub contract UPS.
 
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