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Old 12-25-2012, 11:04 AM
 
301 posts, read 688,786 times
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Merry Christmas everyone! Got a little dilemma here...

It appears as if someone may be stealing cards or packages (sent via USPS only...no issues w/ UPS or FedEx) sent to us. We have had 4 separate relatives ask us if we received their cards/packages, and we haven't received any of them. We have received several cards/packages from friends and family overall, but we're still missing 4 sets of either cards/packages just from people we've spoken to (so there could be more for all we know). Our relatives were able to tell us when they sent the items as well...most of them being at least a couple of weeks ago.

Is there anything than can be done about this (through the post office) or are we just out of luck?
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Old 12-25-2012, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,130,987 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yolli71 View Post
Merry Christmas everyone! Got a little dilemma here...

It appears as if someone may be stealing cards or packages (sent via USPS only...no issues w/ UPS or FedEx) sent to us. We have had 4 separate relatives ask us if we received their cards/packages, and we haven't received any of them. We have received several cards/packages from friends and family overall, but we're still missing 4 sets of either cards/packages just from people we've spoken to (so there could be more for all we know). Our relatives were able to tell us when they sent the items as well...most of them being at least a couple of weeks ago.

Is there anything than can be done about this (through the post office) or are we just out of luck?
It's possible your packages were delivered to the wrong address. You should call the supervisor at your local post office and let her/him know. Did your friends purchase delivery confirmations on the packages? I ship thousands of packages for my ecommerce business via USPS and rarely have one lost. When one is, it's almost always a mis-delivery.
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Old 12-25-2012, 02:28 PM
 
2,076 posts, read 3,410,530 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
It's possible your packages were delivered to the wrong address. You should call the supervisor at your local post office and let her/him know. Did your friends purchase delivery confirmations on the packages? I ship thousands of packages for my ecommerce business via USPS and rarely have one lost. When one is, it's almost always a mis-delivery.
I discovered that delivery confirmation does not always work. Thankfully my package was delivered, but I only discovered that after I check the tracking on USPS and it only had it leaving our local facility, over 12 days ago and nothing else. Another package sent same day had all the tracking to delivery. I called USPS on Sunday, before I knew it had really been delivered and was told they would put in an investigation and get back to me Monday evening. Never heard. Thankfully I didn't need to. It's a good thing your relatives asked, and I hope they have some success on tracking down what happened.
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Old 12-25-2012, 03:08 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,130,987 times
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Sometimes what will happen this time of year is packages will get delivered to the wrong address where people have gone out of town for the holiday. It'll just sit in their mailbox or on their porch until they return.
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Old 12-25-2012, 05:39 PM
 
142 posts, read 241,099 times
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On the other side of the coin, there is the definite possibility of theft. Do you have a box out by the street, do you have a box in a cluster of boxes in your neighborhood? There are theft rings that steal from both kind of boxes especially around the holidays. There are also short time subs delivering mail, mail sorters who aren't pristine characters, and carriers who have been known to lift a few here and there. I worked for a package delivery co. at one point in my life and the stories some of the supervisors would tell about packages going in fields rather than be delivered...And my father retired from USPS.

I would definitely talk with the route supervisor and let them know because maybe this has happened to more people than you.

Then on the hopeful side, maybe they did just get delivered to the wrong address, especially if you have a unit or apartment #.

If you think about all the millions and billions of pieces of mail, there are also some that are going to be just plain lost especially this time of year.
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Old 12-25-2012, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
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Quote:
Originally Posted by springfieldcollegealum View Post
If you think about all the millions and billions of pieces of mail, there are also some that are going to be just plain lost especially this time of year.
I shipped about 500 packages over the past month via USPS and not one got lost. Over the past 10 years shipping tens of thousands I've only had a handful that did. That's one reason I never buy insurance.
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Old 12-25-2012, 08:47 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC & New York
10,915 posts, read 31,262,134 times
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I've never had an issue with USPS, provided the package was addressed correctly. I even had one that was terribly off, and the post office still tracked me down.

Have your friend/relative go to their local post office, from which they mailed the package, and file an insurance claim, assuming the package was insured. Sometimes mail becomes undeliverable due to damage, where the shipping box collapses, etc. I try to use USPS materials for this very reason, since if there is an issue, it's on the receipt that I bought their box as well.

A couple of weeks ago I received a package that looked like it had been caught in a machine, where one side of the box was shredded. It was stamped as damaged in shipping, and the cause was due to the sender not packaging it properly. Now, I think that was a bit of a reach, as I've never had an issue with this huge mail order company (LL Bean) previously, and their packing materials are second to none. Because it was packaged internally so well, there was no damage to the contents of the box, despite the outer appearance. So, it could very well be that the label fell off, or the box in which your missing shipments were sent was somehow damaged.

Another problem can be addresses that are not easily read, missing zip codes, etc. where it takes a while longer for processing. If the cards contained money/gift cards, there could be an issue with theft out of the USPS, though one does hear things about some of the sorting centers, but I'd generally not suspect a USPS mail carrier. Some people do swipe from unlocked mailboxes, so I'd ask your neighbors if there was anything not delivered to them, as well. That could help to pinpoint a problem.

Hope that you did have a Merry Christmas, despite the annoyances of package delivery.
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Old 12-26-2012, 12:11 AM
 
3,650 posts, read 9,462,376 times
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I heard a lot of packages are getting stolen off of front porches in this area.
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Old 12-26-2012, 01:20 AM
 
1,203 posts, read 1,236,451 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
It's possible your packages were delivered to the wrong address. You should call the supervisor at your local post office and let her/him know. Did your friends purchase delivery confirmations on the packages? I ship thousands of packages for my ecommerce business via USPS and rarely have one lost. When one is, it's almost always a mis-delivery.
I agree. Thousands of packages, only 2 incidents in 4 years. (LOL... knock on wood.)
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Old 12-26-2012, 09:33 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,130,987 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MattOTAlex View Post
I agree. Thousands of packages, only 2 incidents in 4 years. (LOL... knock on wood.)
My favorite was the guy from WV who insisted his package never arrived so I sent him out another one. Later he emailed me back to say the original finally appeared when the snow finally melted by the side door where the postman had decided to leave it instead of out front. I've also had a few where "helpful" neighbors decided to take someone's package inside when they were gone but forgot to take it over to them when they returned.
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