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Kirk (KC) Constable
01-01-2006, 9:54 AM
I sent a box out USPS Priroity Mail on Friday the 16th to my sister in Southern Indiana. In it were 13 pens for several family members. With the pen parts, fancy blanks, and presentation boxes I figure I have right around $250 worth of parts in that box...and a few hours of labor. Far as I know, said box has not arrived at it's destination. She's recently moved...and as it turns out, I had the CITY wrong. Street address was right, ZIP CODE was right...but the proper city name is one of the little 'burbs' of the original bigger (but still small) township. Both my other sister and I assumed (!!!) that since the zip code was the same, the city would be too. Sooooo....where SHOULD the box be? In a 'can't deliver' bin somewhere? On it's way back to me? The street name doesn't 'exist' in both cities, so I'm assuming somebody didn't get a surprise box full of individually wrapped packages with to/from stickers on them. :(

Doug Shepard
01-01-2006, 10:49 AM
In theory it ought to be at the post office that services whatever zip code was on the address - at least until some postal employee manually intervenes. Back when they added the extra 4 digits to zip codes I remember reading an article that it's supposed to be possible to actually leave off the city and state from an address and still be deliverable. I dont think I'd ever want to try it though.

Tony Falotico
01-01-2006, 11:36 AM
Try the USPS webb site, they do have a tracking system, somewhat inept and archaic, but still a tracking system. If you can't get anything, Bring your receipt to the post office and ask them. They might be able to locate it for you.

Good Luck

Ken Garlock
01-01-2006, 12:19 PM
Kirk, if you paid for delivery confirmation, you can go to the USPS site and check to see if it has been delivered; otherwise it is a crap shoot. There is no way to tell where a package is in the system unless it is sent by registered mail. Just set back in your rocking chair and wait for it to show up someday at your sister's or back to you. In addition, I have heard that "priority mail" is very questionable(little priority) during the Christmas rush.

Howard Norman
01-01-2006, 1:25 PM
KC, I don't know how to find your package but I bet it will show up either at your sisters or back at your place withing the next week. I have been very satisfied with Priority Mail this past year. As long as the street address and ZIP codes were correct I bet it will be delivered correctly.

Howard

Randy Meijer
01-02-2006, 2:22 AM
My neighbor works in a smaller post office and we were discussing both of the above questions just a few days ago.

1. According to Rick, the package would go to the PO that served the addressed zip code. Only after it reached the local PO would the error be detected(hopefully) and corrected manually.

2. At their PO, at least, Priority packages are given extra consideration around the Christmas holiday to be sure as many gifts as possible are delivered on time. This year a shipping contractor dumped a bunch of packages(3x what was expected) on them at the last minute...Saturday morning. They made some special arrangements and gpt ALL of the parcels in the hands of the adrerssees before the end of the day. You don't read abouit this kind of effort in the paper.....only hear about the PO when stuff goes missing or the cost of stamps goes up.

3. I expect that your package will show up at Sis's in a few days as the researchers have a chance to work through the backlog of "problem" packages. But it is possible that the package is lost or stolen. With as many pieces of mail as the PO handles, even if their delivery rate is 99.9999999%, that still creates a lot of missing or delayed packeges. recently, I had mail stolen from my mailbox. It was all junk mail and I never missed it. Received a letter from the Postal inspector about 2 weeks later saying that an investigation had been completed and returning to me the mail that had been found in a dumpster. Apparently a couple of kids picked up all of the mail along our street, one day, looking for credit cards.

I immediately started looking for a locking mail box......know what......they are not real common.....most are pretty crappy and the one that I thought was any good was too darn expensive. We wouldn't think of leaving our homes unlocked....I wonder why we are so careless about our mail boxes???

Randy Meijer
01-04-2006, 12:55 PM
Kirk: Any update on your problem?? I just got an email from a guy in Ohio that has not yet received a package I sent him from Dallas around the same time that you mailed yours!!

Cecil Arnold
01-04-2006, 1:48 PM
Same here. The wife sent a package Dec. 23 and it still hasn't arrived in Los Angeles. It was supposed to be priority mail.

Randy Meijer
01-04-2006, 11:34 PM
The Priority package I sent arrived today so it took a little over 2 weeks to get there??

Tony Falotico
01-04-2006, 11:42 PM
The Priority package I sent arrived today so it took a little over 2 weeks to get there??

Next time send it HIGH priority, not Standard Priority :D :D :D

and USPS wonders why they are losing market share !! Blame it on e-mail :confused:

Bruce Shiverdecker
01-05-2006, 12:18 AM
I sent a present to a friend in Granada , West Indies on July 7. Sent it registered. Insured. Never got there. Have been fighting with USPS since. Ain't givin' up. I figure that eventually, they will get tired of me.

Bruce

Randy Meijer
01-05-2006, 1:05 AM
Next time send it HIGH priority, not Standard Priority :D :D :D

and USPS wonders why they are losing market share !! Blame it on e-mail :confused:

If I send it high priority, it will probably take "THREE" weeks to get there!!!:D