Lost Package

[TheFamilyJewelsWI]

I have been selling on Esty since 2011. I shipped a package on 11/29 priority mail. My customer does not have their item. It was a gift for a party she needs to attend today. Has this ever happened to you? What can I tell her? I feel so frustrated. I called my local PO and they said to contact the postmaster on Monday. That isn't much help to me right now. Any suggestions?

[Former_Member]

Hi, Mary: Yes, I have had that happen. Unfortunately, it was shipped overseas to Great Britain, and all I could find out was that it was delivered to the British mail system. The buyer did everything he could to track it down, checking with customs on that end. I refunded his money with an apology. Did you check the tracking?

[OneFairfaxRoad]

Does the USPS website show the item was delivered? If so , ask her to check with her neighbors to see if they might have it.

I did have this happen to me once. My customer claimed she never received the package but the USPS site showed it was delivered. I called the Post Office in her area, and they asked her to come in and file a claim. They had been consolidating post offices and it did seem likely that they had mistakenly marked it delivered and delivered to the wrong address. It was a small dollar item, and I decided to refund her.

If it just arrives late, it's not your fault. USPS does not guarantee priority mail within the 2 -4 day window. If she wanted "date certain" she should have paid for Priority Mail Express. This time of year, with weather delays, etc., postal delays happen.

Good luck!

[UrbanCoutureJewelry]

Hi Mary, sorry I know how frustrating this situation is. I recently had a package lost through priority mail for the first time ever. After opening a case with the post office they determined they could not track it and told me to file an insurance claim. I then refunded the buyer all her money and proceeded to file a claim on USPS.com. Well after days of several failed attempts I was not able due to glitches on their website...

I call the 800 number and let them know I can't file an insurance claim due to their glitchy webform. They instruct me to get a paper form to fill out at the post office called a PS Form 1000. If you ever have to do this make sure to print out a receipt of the Etsy transaction and include it with the form. I then had to go to the post office and have the postal worker fill the other half of the form out. They were hesitant because they told me I had to do it online.... :-/ So after politely unloading my frustration they just filled out the rest and sent it for me. I had it sent priority mail so I could track it. Hope that doesn't get lost too. lol

I am now waiting for them to contact me for a refund. I hope you don't have to go through any of this.

[fishcouple]

I received a convo from my customer saying that the packaged marked delivered but she didn't receive it. I was a bit worry because it was 1st class mail. I asked her to call her local post office and she did (I think). I followed up days later and she said she got it. I am not sure if it's because she called or the package was just marked incorrectly.

For priority mails, I felt the refund claim was quite simple. I never filed for a lost package but all were for damaged items. USPS was very fast and they actually refunded what I claimed. Therefore, I like Priority Mail a lot. :)

[LovgrenandDaughter]

Seriously? I was told I couldn't get a refund once the PO had it marked as delivered and it was pinched from the porch.

Well thank you all! Last winter, we had packages wait up to 2 weeks for priority delivery as it isn't guaranteed.

If only FedEx and DHL weren't so expensive.

[Former_Member]

I sent a Priority Mail package on November 23 which shows tracking only for the day it was accepted at USPS. It was due to be delivered November 25 yet still hasn't been delivered. There is a known lack of tracking along its route due to frequent lack of scanning by USPS. In addition to the Etsy label I added a hand written label, plus included a full label inside the package. Its securely packaged and item & packaging were photographed in detail. USPS said it's not too unusual for Priority Mail to take 20 days to arrive, and recommended I fill out a search form after its been missing 30 days.

[LovgrenandDaughter]

There's customer service for you. I am so sorry.

[TheFamilyJewelsWI]

On a happy note my customer received her package on the day she needed it. I was overjoyed!! I learned my lesson. Priority mail means nothing. Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate it.

[Former_Member]

I'm happy to hear your customer received her package on the day she needed it. How awesome is that?

My customer is still waiting for her 2 day priority mail package since Nov 23 lol.

I can shed some light on the process for those of you still wondering what to do.

If your missing package was sent Priority Mail, you can make a claim at any time, however it won't be reviewed until 30 days after it was mailed. Be aware... you MUST file your claim before the 60 day mark or it'll be TOO LATE.

I filed my claim on USPS's website. I already had a USPS online account for ordering free shipping boxes, so didn't have to take time to register, however, I believe you'll need to register a free account online with USPS in order to make an online claim.

I agree with a previous writer, USPS website was glitchy and directed me to wrong pages during the multipage claim process which was frustrating, and even though I thought my claim didn't go through, alas due to poor timing of their website, I ended up with two claims and had to cancel one.

Filing the claim was a breeze because our beloved Etsy has all the info USPS asks for concisely in our order, transaction and shipping pages. All I had to do was highlight, cut and paste my info directly from Etsy into USPS claim form pages. Yes..."pages"". Unfortunately it goes on a while, but was fairly simple to fill out.

Upon filing, I received an email from USPS with a direct link to check the status of my claim, which took me to USPS's website and dead ended me into loops of trying to find my claim and its status. So I promptly did what I'm going to suggest you do, I called the number listed and asked a human.

He said my claim was reviewed immediately, was approved as valid, and my check is in the mail. (hope they are using tracking lol)

I'm saddened my sweet customer never received her purchased item, especially since she had Christmas plans for it!! I still would like to know where the package went when it disappeared right out of the tracking system. It's somewhere! somebody has it! Well whoever took it home... hurt a lot of good people. Maybe it just fell into a dark corner of a warehouse, who knows.

A missing USPS Priority Mail package lost within the tracking system, is easy to resolve if you used an Etsy label, and IF you had your package scanned into the tracking system by either your postman, or at a USPS counter. GET A RECEIPT in hand when you do because if you need to make a claim, you will need that receipt. It might seem convenient at the time to drop off your package the post office without waiting in line and getting a receipt, but you can be very sorry later if you fail to have it scanned into the system. it can disappear at any time! If it disappears before its been officially scanned in as being accepted by USPS than you have no basis for a claim!! All you can show is that you printed your Etsy label.

I'm grateful my first claim went well. I hope claims of other Etsyans will go as smoothly as mine!

You are welcome to convo me if you have any questions or need that phone number. Its not the 800 number with the obnoxiously loud hold music, its a different one that actually was a pleasure to call.

Blessings!!