USPS Tracking

SA-708

Appalachian-American
When I arrived home today, there was a small box in my mailbox with one of those "a preferred shipping service on eBay" labels. That wasn't unusual, but I didn't recall any recent eBay purchases. It turned out to be a Swingline Cub stapler I had bought mid-July. I had written it off as lost, not worth pursuing for the $6.00 cost, and already forgotten about it.

If USPS tracking says they delivered it to me over a month ago, where has it been for the past month?

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?tLabels=9400109699939126469422
 
Well, I doubt that was the case as the box was still sealed with the original tape, and didn't have any indication of the contents.

So, when they posted to their tracking database on July 23rd that it had been "Delivered, In/At Mailbox," does that mean that it was delivered to someone else's mailbox at a different address? There's no writing on the box, just the preprinted label as it was originally printed, so there's no way to tell, I suppose. It would be nice if the tracking somehow acknowledged that the parcel had reentered the USPS system and was delivered a second time.
 
I have had FedEx and UPS say they attempted delivery when I was actually home. They didn’t do it and just said it was attempted. Probably the same thing on a small package and it was just thrown in a corner of a truck. Fast forward and someone sees it, and it gets delivered.
 
I must have a really frightening doorbell on my porch. None of the delivery services ever ring it. I have been standing by the door and watch them drop it and run. They used to ring-what happened? Are they afraid I will answer and slow them down?
 
My experience is that all of the services can be bad occasionally, but USPS is by far the leader in funky delivery. Their tracking system is a real mystery; "we acknowledge that you left it with us, but we can't tell you where it is until it arrives, in which case you will already have it."
 
The label has a tracking bar code on it. Do they actually scan it at the point of delivery, or is it just scanned when it goes out for delivery, and then updated to delivered when the vehicle comes back empty at the end of the day?
 
I believe it is scanned when delivered; I had an incident recently where I sat waiting, just like the other posts above, and then received an email saying my package had been delivered. As long as you scan it, it is considered to be "delivered;" and mine was delivered to another address.
 
I have cameras on my house, and when I have a scheduled pickup, they scan it with a mobile scanner right on the porch. However, on a drop-off, they just drop it and run. I assume it gets scanned on the truck. So yours probably got scanned on the truck and never actually delivered for whatever reason. Or it got delivered to the wrong house and it took that long for the other person to bring it over.

I know I live in a typical grid-system neighborhood (each parallel street has similar/identical numbers). My street name is also very similar to the next parallel street. So, similar street name + identical house number = my crap going to other people's houses.
 
I've had stuff stop scanning but never anything that showed delivered but went missing. Recently, I had a shipment go missing. USPS paid my claim and I refunded my customer. I instructed USPS to deliver if found. Maybe he will get a freebie.
 
Probably delivered to the wrong house and they either finally got around to dropping it in your mailbox or left it for the postman with a post-it note saying 'wrong address' and they finally delivered it to the right place. The place where it was originally delivered might have had nobody there for awhile.

The best thing with the post office is once they scan it as delivered they are off the hook for an insurance claim for a lost package. I've run into that twice where they just say 'sorry, it was scanned as delivered'. And don't try using any logic like "I'm not saying it wasn't delivered just that it wasn't delivered to me". I even had camera footage of the carrier dropping off one package when they said we got two and the claim was denied with "he might have put the other package in the box at the street"

<snip> They used to ring-what happened? Are they afraid I will answer and slow them down?

They have such impressive benefits and retirement plans that they can't afford to hire more employees so they just work the ones they have to death. The overtime these guys get is crazy; but it is cheaper to pay them time and a half than to give benefits to more employees. If they get someone that comes to the door and wants to ask them about something they are screwed. Plus all the movement of their boards is monitored by GPS so management will be on them as to why the delivery took so long.
 
The best thing with the post office is once they scan it as delivered they are off the hook for an insurance claim for a lost package. I've run into that twice where they just say 'sorry, it was scanned as delivered'. And don't try using any logic like "I'm not saying it wasn't delivered just that it wasn't delivered to me". I even had camera footage of the carrier dropping off one package when they said we got two and the claim was denied with "he might have put the other package in the box at the street."

That was my experience last time this happened, with a package of compact discs. Also, eBay wouldn't let me report the package as undelivered, since the tracking showed that it had been delivered, giving me little chance of getting my money back. That's part of why I didn't bother trying to complain or get my money back for this $6 stapler.
 
Amazon recently fired up their delivery service in my area. Bunch of rental couriers apparently, but their tracking has a nice feature - they snap a pic of the package on the porch as proof of delivery. Hard to argue with that. Maybe the other services will catch on.

My only complaint so far is the weird assortment of vehicles pulling into the yard for delivery. I've had everything from an old beat up Taurus to a high end Audi, and last one was an Enterprise rental truck. One of em had an Uber sticker on the window. No Amazon identification on the vehicles either.
 
The label has a tracking bar code on it. Do they actually scan it at the point of delivery, or is it just scanned when it goes out for delivery, and then updated to delivered when the vehicle comes back empty at the end of the day?

Yes, they scan it when they drop off at your mailbox/and or front door. I hear them scanning if I'm outside going to get the mail. Or when they hand it to me at the front door they scan it.
 
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