General

[WoodsBaller57]

The Post Office Knows the L--O--N--G way to get a package from Point A to Point B...
Add Point C and Point D in <<<<opposite>>>> directions.
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Let me preface this in stating that the USPS does a really GREAT job in delivering my packages on a regular basis. I’ve been buying, selling and trading items on MCB as well as some of the “other” forums and ebay. I utilize USPS exclusively. Over the past four or five months, I have sent over 20 packages via Priority Mail. I’ve also received more than 25 packages via USPS. The Postal Service does a Wonderful job of delivering my stuff for me.
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Now for the EXCEPTION(s)
Last week I purchased a DM6 for my son from a PBN member in Ft Wayne Indiana, I am in Lincoln IL. The distance between me and them is a mere 275 miles to the SouthWest.
The mother of the individual that I purchased it from mailed it USPS Insured Mail with Delivery Confirmation on Thursday. So my expectation was to receive the package on Saturday, usually a package one state away will take two days. At my request, she sent me a picture of the package and included the Delivery Confirmation Number in the message. On Friday afternoon, my son was curious and anxious to get his new marker (imagine that) so I typed the delivery confirmation number into the USPS Tracking site and the result was that the package was in Warrendale, PA. I thought that I had mistyped the number due to my mild and occasional case of dyslexia, so I entered it again, and the result was once again that the package was in Pennsylvania. Warrendale PA is kinda next to Pittsburgh, which is 300 miles EAST of Ft Wayne. OK my package is now nearly 600 miles away from me and I know that Saturday delivery is not gonna happen.

On Saturday (at my son's insitence), I went to the USPS Site and punched in the number again and the result said that it was on its way to HAZELWOOD, MO??? OK they overshot me by a state and my package was going 135 miles south and west from my home address.

Today I entered the number again and it stated that it had arrived in Missouri and was processed for shipment on Sunday afternoon….hey! Wait a minute… the USPS works on SUNDAY?????
Redirect Notice <<<< Link to My Package's Journey

Below is a copy of the information.
Acceptance, February 24, 2011, 4:02 pm, FORT WAYNE, IN 46808
Processed through Sort Facility, February 25, 2011, 11:58 am, WARRENDALE, PA 15095
Processed through Sort Facility, February 27, 2011, 1:09 pm, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Your item was processed through and left our HAZELWOOD, MO 63042 facility on February 27, 2011 at 1:09 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.

So today I went to google maps and enter the cities on my package’s journey. I found that my package, instead of traveling 275 miles south/west to arrive in Lincoln, will have circumnavigated a good portion of the Midwest, and without further detours, will have traveled approximately ONE THOUSAND And Fifty Miles.
A Two Day Delivery turned into a Six Day Adventure of Misdirection.

Well, You Know what…Six Days is nuthin’ compared to a delivery of an item that I sold and sent to a MCB member in Lansing MI.
I sent it Priority Mail with Delivery Notification. Check out the delivery tracking Information from USPS.
USPS - Track & Confirm

I used the exact address that he had given me and he had been using successfully for quite some time. I mailed off the package on Monday, January 24 and it was delivered to the very patient purchaser on Wednesday February 23…that is in transit for 31 Days.

The saving grace for me and the guy I sent it to was, that I had taken a picture of the package that I shipped him and also took a picture of the stamped deilvery notification/reciept from the post office and PMed/emailed it to him.



It just takes a couple minutes to follow a few simple steps

>Take the picture(s)
>Upload it to Photobucket
>Copy the link(s)
>Paste it in a PM to the buyer/trading partner.

And Everybody is Happy because there is Tangible Visual Evidence of the fact that the Item Has Been Mailed. If you take a good picture, the recipient can READ the Delivery Notification Number from the picture and can READ the Expected Date of Delivery Off the Post Office Reciept.

That's what I have been doing it since the beginning of February and it seems to work pretty well.
The mail doesn't get there any faster, but at least YOU KNOW it is on the way and have a pretty good idea of where it is at.
WoodsBaller57

[heinous]

speaking of packages

[Ken448]

Funny you make this thread.. I bought a gun from someone 90 miles from me. Took 4 days to get here. ALSO making a stop in Warrendale PA which is east of both of us. I fdont know what the USPS is doing lately, but wow, their times are suckin! I have a couple packages "in the system": Im waiting to arrive.....

[Winnebago]

you can probably file a claim and try to get your postage money back. priority mail is supposed to be 2-3 days.

[Rickfactor2]

It was zigzagging back and forth across the map tracing out a huge pentagram.

[Deuce]

It might have something to do with the closing/restructuring of many post offices. Sure is weird.

[aka Mich]

Well the good news is that it looks like it's Out for Deliver in your town today. So the story at least has a happy ending.

I agree though, the USPS is really cutting back. I was inline for awhile and got to hear the teller talk about how it's affecting the Post Offices around here in Wisconsin. Definitely not a rosy picture.

[ta2maki]

You know if you bought and sold more things more often, shipping times would not be an issue. I don't know how many times I've gotten an unexpected package, only to realize what it was after I opened it.

You have 1 thing in transit= that's the only thing on your mind. You have 50+ things in transit= you forget about it.

[HurtCow]

Originally Posted by Rickfactor2

It was zigzagging back and forth across the map tracing out a huge pentagram.

Satan doesn't want you to have your gun!

[MaD]

Looking at the tracking and your receipt, the one to Lansing was either your fault or the USPS desk clerk. It was a zip code error. In 2 days it made it to the mail carrier's hands in the destination zip they thought it should be at 48933 (which is what is on the receipt). It was tagged as undeliverable and sent back to the central sort facility (Detroit). It looks like there was some confusion in Lansing for a long time. I suspect the mail carrier was like "nope, not taking that one again...". Finally they figured out that the correct zip was 48833 which I would assume was done by a manual sort and not a machine. Honestly you're lucky they delivered it and didn't just send it back to you. I'm assuming this might be because your label was correct and the desk clerk made a typo.....

It doesn't really matter what you wrote on your label (can't tell if that was correct or not), if they use the big USPS labels with the bar code the machines use those for sorting.

Here's some USPS words of wisdom on Labels.
USPS - Business Mail 101 - Addressing - Delivery Address