http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/images/smiUSPS Woes- Where's my Lyon & Healy?

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/images/smiUSPS Woes- Where's my Lyon & Healy?

For the second time in as many shipments, an item that has been sent to me via usps is somewhere unknown. Tracking says it was to be delivered on July 2, it actually still says this 3 days after July 2. Further, there is nothing on the tracking page other than that it was accepted at the post office/shipping destination. Why do they have "tracking" if they are not going to track?

I'll wait another day and then ask the seller to make an insurance claim, which I understand the post office will process but not complete for 21 days. I know the respect most of you feel for your instruments, so I'm sure you can guess how I feel about the thought of a 1930 Lyon & Healy soprano getting tossed around wherever for a few weeks until it arrives, not to mention the thought that it is lost.

I had a similar (to this point) experience with the last item shipped to me via usps. No tracking information other than the acceptance notice was posted for 10 days - oh, except for the stuff about how the information is updated throughout the day so I should check back later! Then, the day it finally arrived came the notice, "out for delivery." The notice appeared essentially simultaneously with the actual delivery. This is tracking? Thanks for the heads up! It's good I was scheduled to work from home that day because I certainly had no time to make arrangements.

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

That sounds awful. I am sorry to hear it. I agree their tracking is a joke but I usually get it relatively on time. Hope they find it and get it to you safely.

USPS's idea of "tracking" is basically just delivery confirmation.

I'll take UPS any day.

rem50 said:

That sounds awful. I am sorry to hear it. I agree their tracking is a joke but I usually get it relatively on time. Hope they find it and get it to you safely.

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Thanks. I hope so too. I forgot to mention that when the last package finally arrived it had a big hole in it smack where the seller had written "FRAGILE."

I work from home occasionally and have been home entire days when I was expecting a delivery, only to not get it, to check the tracking, and to see a "delivery attempted, notice left" status. Which means having to go to the Seventh Circle of Hell to pick up my parcel. Yes, one of those negative reviews is mine

Lately though I've noticed that the tracking has been especially inaccurate - I'll see a "delivered" status but will not actually get the parcel until a day or so later, or else it will remain on "out for delivery" for several days even though I've already received it.

One night when my mailman was delivering my mail at, I kid you not, 9:30pm, I had a chat with him about the state of things. He told me that it was all due to budget cuts and hiring freezes. This doesn't excuse it one bit, but I sure don't know what the solution is.

Aloha Hmgberg,
I am saddened to hear of your worries man...I too have a vintage coming my way...it is now setting off my anxiety buttons... hope your arrives soon and it was just premature worries..MM Stan

janeray1940 said:

I work from home occasionally and have been home entire days when I was expecting a delivery, only to not get it, to check the tracking, and to see a "delivery attempted, notice left" status. Which means having to go to the Seventh Circle of Hell to pick up my parcel. Yes, one of those negative reviews is mine

Lately though I've noticed that the tracking has been especially inaccurate - I'll see a "delivered" status but will not actually get the parcel until a day or so later, or else it will remain on "out for delivery" for several days even though I've already received it.

One night when my mailman was delivering my mail at, I kid you not, 9:30pm, I had a chat with him about the state of things. He told me that it was all due to budget cuts and hiring freezes. This doesn't excuse it one bit, but I sure don't know what the solution is.

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Geez!! Jane, I went to your linked page out of Dante - nobody had anything good to say. It sounds like a horrible time going there, like maybe a visit to the dentist would be preferable.

I'd been having trouble with the local post office since we moved to my present home. We moved to Maine in December, 10-1/2 years ago. There is a mail slot in our front door. We received mail for several weeks and then it stopped coming. After a few days, I went to the post office to see what was up. There I was informed that residents in town had to put mailboxes in at the street, and was handed a sheet of information specifying the distance from the road, the height from the road, and so forth to properly install the mailbox. I said I noticed all of my neighbors who had mailboxes or slots at their doors were still receiving their mail. The clerk responded that they were grandfathered and only the new folks had to install mailboxes. I told the clerk that the ground was frozen and it would be virtually impossible to dig a post hole. He recommended that I get a bucket, put sand in it, and sink the post into that. I said, "well, that's kind of unsightly, can't I just pick up my mail here until the thaw." He responded that I could, if I purchased a PO box, but then of course, I'd have to change my address and then change it back again. Arggh! So, I planted the mailbox in a bucket of sand ... for about 3 years! I finally relented and sunk it in the ground.

A few new people moved into houses across the street over the past few years. I noticed that they were not putting up mailboxes at the street. When I inquired of one of them, he told me that the mailbox-at-the-street rule was stipulated by the previous carrier; the new carrier was more than happy to deliver to the door. So, I've been shoveling out the mailbox for years when I didn't have to. Doesn't sound like much, but it frequently gets to be chest high, then I shovel it, then they plow it in again, then I shovel it again...AAARRRGGHH!

The old carrier was a horror show. Mail throughout the neighborhood was routinely delivered to the wrong people. If the house number was the same, but the street name wasn't, no biggie - he'd just stick it in the box. If you happened to share a first name with someone in the neighborhood, there was a good chance that you'd get a few pieces of their mail every week. It actually became comical, people on my block would go out to get their mail and exchange it with each other in the middle of the street.

I must say that the new carrier is delightful. Not a fascist at all. And the people at the post office are nice and helpful, unlike the circle of hell you have to deal with. These deliveries, however, are nerve-wracking.

mm stan said:

Aloha Hmgberg,
I am saddened to hear of your worries man...I too have a vintage coming my way...it is now setting off my anxiety buttons... hope your arrives soon and it was just premature worries..MM Stan

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Sorry Stan, I didn't mean to worry anyone else. Only wanted to vent. Hope you ukulele arrives safely and on time. I'll post a follow up. In the meanwhile, let's try not to fret (no pun intended).

hmgberg said:

Geez!! Jane, I went to your linked page out of Dante - nobody had anything good to say. It sounds like a horrible time going there, like maybe a visit to the dentist would be preferable...

I must say that the new carrier is delightful. Not a fascist at all. And the people at the post office are nice and helpful, unlike the circle of hell you have to deal with. These deliveries, however, are nerve-wracking.

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I can only imagine what we would have to contend with here if, say, things like "snow" factored into the equation. I suspect I'd be making daily trips to the P.O. from hell!

I really, really hope you get that delivery tomorrow, and that things get sorted out. This exact thing just happened to me - tracking number was not in the system, then it finally updated to "accepted" at point of origin - on the day (and after the fact) of delivery. But the item in question was only a $12 aloha shirt from eBay, so there wasn't a whole lot of stress involved.

Post office tracking and estimated delivery times are a joke for parcel post - as is marking anything fragile. When I bought my longneck KoAloha from WestPhillyUke a few months ago it took far longer than it should have (almost two weeks if I remember right), tracking was never updated from "picked up" until after it was delivered, and the box was beat to pieces.

If you're going to ship USPS (and sometimes it is the best option) use priority mail for anything fragile or that you want delivered in less than two weeks. They still probably won't get it there as quickly as they claim they will, but it is a lot more likely to arrive in one piece and usually not more than a day late.

John

OldePhart said:

Post office tracking and estimated delivery times are a joke for parcel post - as is marking anything fragile. When I bought my longneck KoAloha from WestPhillyUke a few months ago it took far longer than it should have (almost two weeks if I remember right), tracking was never updated from "picked up" until after it was delivered, and the box was beat to pieces.

If you're going to ship USPS (and sometimes it is the best option) use priority mail for anything fragile or that you want delivered in less than two weeks. They still probably won't get it there as quickly as they claim they will, but it is a lot more likely to arrive in one piece and usually not more than a day late.

John

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How lovely, John! I'm sure you were pleased when you saw the box. I've read elsewhere that you love this uke, so it must have been spared any damage.

Believe it or not, the package was sent priority. Still don't have it. No updates. I was told today by a USPS customer service employee that, "packages shipped 'delivery confirmation' do not have to be tracked; status may be updated, but only as a courtesy." All they have to tell you is when it is accepted by the post office of origin and when it is delivered. Do you believe it? I'm not sure that I do. If nothing else, it begs the question, "Why post a tracking number if you are not going to track the package."

The seller looked into it as well. He was told that because he puchased insurance, a longer number was added to the package ID and the tracking system does not have the capacity to handle such a long number.

Two completely different explanations for the same thing. Which one do you like, John? Jane? I wish there was one that involved fairies...or flying pigs.

My wife actually believes that the package has been at our post office for a few days; the weather has been beautiful here recently and the carrier has been on foot, with no truck in sight. So, my wife believes that the package is too cumbersome to carry around the neighborhood. She thinks it will either get delivered when the weather turns bad, or when I go up to the post office and ask them if it is there. If the latter happens, I hope they tell me a flying-pig story!

hmgberg said:

Two completely different explanations for the same thing. Which one do you like, John? Jane? I wish there was one that involved fairies...or flying pigs.

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Wha?? Are you kidding me? Then why does their website have a "Track & Confirm" function if it's just a courtesy? I'm not buying that one, not one bit

I have, however, mailed items and purchased a tracking number, only to plug that number into the tracking system and be told it wasn't a valid number. It's happened a couple of times and I think the solution was to not include the last 4 digits. So, *kind of* similar to what the seller was told.

Apparently that whole bit about "neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow" never really was true. Hrmph.

Well, you're right, or at least I think you may be. Sort of. Whatever. I called my post office, again, this morning. I was told that when a package is received by the post office there is a separate ID number applied to the box that is supposed to be scanned. He said that post office employees can track more deeply using this number. The listing for my package has no such number, which makes him "wonder." I asked, "What are you wondering."

him: "Well, some of these Ebay sellers are not honest...I hope that's not the case here...They say they are going to ship something, print the label, and they never bring it in...We follow up on insurance claims made to see if fraud has been committed..."

me: "The tracking information online says that the package was accepted at the point of origin"

him: "Ebay sellers can print those labels and indicate when they will be bringing an item in, but then they don't bring it in when they say they are going to...maybe they'll bring it in a few days later...and people get mad at the post office because they don't get their items on time...when people do that here, I tell them, 'I'll let it go this time, but next time you're going to have to make a new label with the correct acceptance date.' "

me: "You mean to tell me that the post office will post an acceptance date online before they have actually accepted it"

him: "Not exactly, it will say date of anticipated acceptance or pick up...that is not necessarily the same date as actual acceptance"

me: "For my package it reads 'accepted' besides, the seller sent me a note the morning he took the item to the post office just to tell me when I should expect it to arrive...I don't think he would have gone to that trouble if he didn't send it at all...you know most Ebay sellers are concerned about their feedback ratings"

him: "I guess even if it was a few days later that he brought it in you should have had it by now...It just makes me wonder about why it has not been scanned into the system...I mean, don't go to the seller and tell him that I said he is scamming you...maybe he brought it in and they forgot to scan it and it's still there...maybe if he goes back and says that the package never arrived they'll check to see if it is still at the facility...if it is, they'll send it and you should have it in a few days...I'm sorry if this is our fault"

me: "So, it may be sitting in Costa Mesa all this time, but if nobody there wants to take the initiative to see if it's there, we have to wait 21 days to file a claim and then they will be required to check to see if it's still there...you mean they may not even check on it until they absolutely have to"

him: "I think it will probably turn up...if it doesn't, I see that it IS insured"

me: "Well, yes, I've already told you that it is insured."

him: "Yes, it just makes me wonder why it was never scanned."

I don't really understand USPS tracking. I sent a uke overnight from California to Alaska and it was delivered before the tracking even stated that it was picked up from the shipper!

If I have to have something tracked I'd go with FedEx or Brown anytime.

I just sent a Uke to Alaska with USPS it was 4 days later than they said it would be. The tracking was 2 days behind.

I hope it doesn't come in a box that looks like this! = broken neck, I'd like to break.. nevermind

Yeah, it just get's "better and better." I've always had decent luck with priority mail, so I pay extra for it just so the item isn't in USPS hands for too long. When I sent Wolfybau the pocket uke she won in my contest I sent it priority mail, insured, double-boxed, with "fragile" marked prominently on every surface (this in addition to the two small "fragile" stamps that the PO clerk put on the priority address label). I heard back from her - the uke arrived actually more quickly than I expected (2 days) but she said there were two holes punched through the sides of both boxes right over where it said "fragile" in huge letters. Fortunately, the padded gig bag spared the uke any damage.

I told her I think that it seems somebody at the USPS thinks "fragile" is French for "punch here!"

John

strumsilly said:

I hope it doesn't come in a box that looks like this! = broken neck, I'd like to break.. nevermind
View attachment 25427
View attachment 25428

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No WAY! :wtf: Who would ship something like that?? .....I would hunt them down

OldePhart said:

Yeah, it just get's "better and better." I've always had decent luck with priority mail, so I pay extra for it just so the item isn't in USPS hands for too long. When I sent Wolfybau the pocket uke she won in my contest I sent it priority mail, insured, double-boxed, with "fragile" marked prominently on every surface (this in addition to the two small "fragile" stamps that the PO clerk put on the priority address label). I heard back from her - the uke arrived actually more quickly than I expected (2 days) but she said there were two holes punched through the sides of both boxes right over where it said "fragile" in huge letters. Fortunately, the padded gig bag spared the uke any damage.

I told her I think that it seems somebody at the USPS thinks "fragile" is French for "punch here!"

John

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Were the holes where the "G" in "Fragile" was written like it was with my last shipment? I mean, the "G" is dead center of the word. We have to give them some credit for their aim. I know some French. "Fragile" is not French for "punch here." Perhaps some other language...like Postal.

Update!!! Ukulele arrived today, safe and sound. No holes in box. Well packed by seller. Whew!!