[rjcj2017]

Friends,

I'm 44 years old.

I've been paying my phone bill since I was 18 years old.

So that's what, 300+ payments?

And guess what, I use one regular US postage stamp per payment and have never - in 26 years - had the phone company call me and tell me they didn't receive my payment.

So how is it, that someone who recently sent me their end of a trade, can pay $4+ for one bubble mailer package with tracking, and have the package not get to me?

The "most recent" tracking update says the package was in Pittsburg, CA on September 27 - a week ago.

From where I am, the two cities are a grand total of 60 miles apart.

I asked my post office to contact their post office, and they said they don't have it.

Apparently it's "looping" now.

Great! WTF does that mean?

So I guess we pay $4+ for a tracking number that ensures they don't know where it is.

It was a pretty major PC add so I'm pretty irritated at the moment, in case you can't tell.

Not to mention, a couple of weeks ago I sent out my end of a different trade and once the package was received, all the cards were damaged despite my appropriate packaging prior to sending it out.

Thanks a lot, USPS, you're doing an amazing job right now!

This falls under the classic "You Had One Job" category.

Other examples:

- A movie theater that does not show movies
- A restaurant that has no food
- A car dealership that has no cars for sale
- A playground without equipment
- A garbage truck that just runs over the cans

[kerryandbeth]

Thanks a lot, USPS, you're doing an amazing job right now!

This falls under the classic "You Had One Job" category.

Other examples:

- A movie theater that does not show movies
- A restaurant that has no food
- A car dealership that has no cars for sale
- A playground without equipment
- A garbage truck that just runs over the cans

I can answer this easily...4 of your 5 examples are run by private business, not the government. The End.

Seriously, sorry this kind of crap happens in spite of cost and time making sure it doesn't!

[jplarson]

- A garbage truck that just runs over the cans

That really sucks, sorry to hear that man. But I lolled at the thought of trucks not only failing to pick up garbage, but running over the cans lol!

[rjcj2017]

I can answer this easily...4 of your 5 examples are run by private business, not the government. The End.

Seriously, sorry this kind of crap happens in spite of cost and time making sure it doesn't!

They're like, "yeah, it appears not to have been updated since it got to Pittsburg. That means we don't know the exact location at the moment."

Yep, thanks for the help!

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That really sucks, sorry to hear that man. But I lolled at the thought of trucks not only failing to pick up garbage, but running over the cans lol!

Another good one ...

- Daycare that doesn't know where your kid went

[floydtown]

Use the "wheres my package" request on USPS.com. It almost always works for me

[footbal]

Having gone through this 3 times in the last two years I've talked to a lot of post office people and departments trying to track down my packages (two were ones I sent and one was sent to me). There's no "this is definitely what's going on" type of answers and the best guesses were that the bags of mail that are taken to the next location are dumped into bins and the package was most likely still stuck in one of the bags so it wouldn't turn up until that bag was used again. In all 3 instances the packages eventually turn back up but they've ranged from 2 weeks to almost a full month "missing" or stuck in a loop. One of them was last scanned at the local area where it should have been delivered (same zip) but when it finally got found again it was in another state. They have never located them even though they say they'll be putting a case together to have someone look for it at the last place scanned so don't get your hopes up if they're nice and helpful on the phone.
Sucks for sure but I wanted to share that they all did eventually show up. I would suggest not opting to get notifications for when your package gets scanned the next time. Sounds like a good idea so you can just wait back until they find it but I did that once and received about 15 notifications between 2:30am-3:15am.
Hang in there!

[jaderock]

Sorry to hear that rjcj, hopefully like footbal says "eventually it'll show up". Iv'e had plenty of lost PC mail in my collecting career. It happens. That said, I still heavily favor USPS over UPS and FedEx.

Saw tracking for a package I paid for on 9/28. If it was USPS, it would be here. Instead, the seller shipped via FedEx and tracking shows it's been to EIGHT cities already with six more days before expected delivery. Anxiety intensified!

[rjcj2017]

Use the "wheres my package" request on USPS.com. It almost always works for me

Will do, thanks Bob!

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Having gone through this 3 times in the last two years I've talked to a lot of post office people and departments trying to track down my packages (two were ones I sent and one was sent to me). There's no "this is definitely what's going on" type of answers and the best guesses were that the bags of mail that are taken to the next location are dumped into bins and the package was most likely still stuck in one of the bags so it wouldn't turn up until that bag was used again. In all 3 instances the packages eventually turn back up but they've ranged from 2 weeks to almost a full month "missing" or stuck in a loop. One of them was last scanned at the local area where it should have been delivered (same zip) but when it finally got found again it was in another state. They have never located them even though they say they'll be putting a case together to have someone look for it at the last place scanned so don't get your hopes up if they're nice and helpful on the phone.
Sucks for sure but I wanted to share that they all did eventually show up. I would suggest not opting to get notifications for when your package gets scanned the next time. Sounds like a good idea so you can just wait back until they find it but I did that once and received about 15 notifications between 2:30am-3:15am.
Hang in there!

Well, that's encouraging that they eventually showed up!

---

Sorry to hear that rjcj, hopefully like footbal says "eventually it'll show up". Iv'e had plenty of lost PC mail in my collecting career. It happens. That said, I still heavily favor USPS over UPS and FedEx.

Saw tracking for a package I paid for on 9/28. If it was USPS, it would be here. Instead, the seller shipped via FedEx and tracking shows it's been to EIGHT cities already with six more days before expected delivery. Anxiety intensified!

I agree 100 percent, it does amaze me how often they get it right.

My issue is more with paying extra for tracking and then having it just disappear with no recourse.

And to the other posters, of course there are hundreds of thousands of hard working, honest employees in the USPS.

I never said there weren't.

It just baffles me that a 50 cent stamp delivers something like a phone bill with 100 percent accuracy for 25+ years, but a $4 tracking number literally guarantees nothing.

[foleylion08]

The thing that sucks is the post office employs some 500,000 people, but if one single person slacks on their job or makes an honest mistake just one time, it could mean your package is lost. If a measly 5 percent of the employees are incompetent (which is a low percentage for many companies) that's nearly 25,000 people who have the chance to make a mistake and mess you up. Unfortunately for us, the post office is bleeding government money (reported net loss of almost $4 billion in 2018) so they're likely not fairly compensating their employees who have no incentive to get the job done right if they're not honest, hardworking people. It upsets me as much as the next guy, but with so many moving parts, I've stopped believing that a relative expectation of anything near perfection is possible.

[rjcj2017]

The thing that sucks is the post office employs some 500,000 people, but if one single person slacks on their job or makes an honest mistake just one time, it could mean your package is lost. If a measly 5 percent of the employees are incompetent (which is a low percentage for many companies) that's nearly 25,000 people who have the chance to make a mistake and mess you up. Unfortunately for us, the post office is bleeding government money (reported net loss of almost $4 billion in 2018) so they're likely not fairly compensating their employees who have no incentive to get the job done right if they're not honest, hardworking people. It upsets me as much as the next guy, but with so many moving parts, I've stopped believing that a relative expectation of anything near perfection is possible.

Amen. Speaking of, can you send me the tracking for our trade?

Thanks!