Late and Lost USPS First Class Deliveries

[aperture]

I have had two different first class items that were missing in transit in the last three months.  In both cases, my customers alerted me that they had not received their items.  I have a few observations, and I am wondering if you guys have a standard approach to these occurrences (first time it has happened to me in 5 years of selling eBay).

Observation: Both were small, thin light weight items shipped First Class in a 4″ x 6″ envelope with a total shipping weight of 1 – 2 oz.  (I speculate that these small items may fall into crevices or off of machines at the post office.  I may do better by padding them out a bit or putting them in a bigger envelope).

In one case, I asked the customer to wait two more delivery days to see if the item arrived.  When it didn’t, I refunded them. The item arrived one or two days later and the customer ghosted me when I messaged them. It was a loss of about $10, and I let it go.

In the second case, I asked the customer to wait a week. (This was easier because of all the recent news about mail delays.)  After a week, it still had not arrived.  I refunded the customer. I completed a missing mail request with USPS and asked that it be delivered back to me if found.

Observation: Filing a missing mail search with the USPS is pretty useless – it takes many days to process (intake) and weeks to get a final status. The one use I can think of is AFTER I have refunded the customer, I can complete the missing mail search and specify that if it is found, it should be returned to me instead of delivered the customer.  I haven’t had the experience of mail being found through this process yet.

Final Observation: From the Senate interrogation of the Postmaster DeJoy (sp?), I gleaned that it is first class and bulk mail that has suffered delays.  It may be that priority mail is still treated as a priority.  At the point of mailing items, I am now considering upgrading shipping from Media Mail or First Class to Priority. This obviously applies to items of sufficient value that I would be really unhappy if they are lost.

So what is your approach when the customer alerts you that the item you sent has not yet arrived and the tracking just shows “in transit” with no recent check ins? Thanks, Daniel

[Temudgin]

I take it case by case as far as responding to buyers but basically it’s the same as you’re doing. File the search and appeal to reason, asking them to wait for as long as I think I can get away with asking for depending on the item and situation. The missing mail process has worked well for me as it seems to knock things loose and get them on their way. I have not had any domestic first class packages completely lost but a 6×9 padded mailer is the smallest flat I use, or 6×6 boxes either 2 or 4 inches thick. No losses with my postcard or DVD envelopes with stamps either.

I did have a recent Priority package get stuck at a distribution center for over a week before I noticed it (nothing from the buyer on that one). I submitted a search on a Sunday that got it delivered that Tuesday. USPS also called me to let me know it was delivered.

[sonia]

I’ve had delay issues with Priority Mail.

There have been a couple of recent threads on the topic of what to do if the customer complains about not receiving a package.

 

 

[aperture]

Thanks @sonia, I found this thread helpful:

https://www.scavengerlife.com/forums/topic/what-do-you-about-items-not-delivered/

[Jay]

So far, we’ve had good luck with all forms of USPS mail. I think there are issues depending on region and postal center.

[Author]

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