Comments on: The Limitations of USPS Delivery Confirmation

By: Geo

Geo — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:15:52 +0000

You can’t do 1st Class Mail online. That makes it useless to me. Another can of worms is International shipments. It’s becoming a problem for me because more and more often I’m getting the “I didn’t receive it” complaint whether an eBay sale or a direct sale through my site. In both cases, it boils down to the same thing. PayPal immediately holds the funds to cover the cost of the item(s) and when you tell them you shipped 1st Class Mail International, it’s all over. I can’t charge for better USPS International services because the value of the items that I sell ($30-$50) don’t justify an additional $30+ for shipping/tracking. I would simply not be able to sell anything with the extra high shipping charge. 1st Class Mail International for my packages is roughly $8-$12 for each package. I’ve looked into every other option that I know of, and there’s no better way. I have to “eat” lost packages, and constantly remind myself that the enormous amount of overseas business that I do became a reality when I started accepting PayPal payments 8 years ago. Not one of my International customers would be wlling to get a money order drawn in U.S funds on a U.S. bank. Those days are long gone.

By: Lorraine Walters

Lorraine Walters — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:59:55 +0000

Wow I was browsing BING and was very fortunate to find this article!! I am currenty having a problem & not sure of how to handle it… Here it is..
I ordered a set of exercise dvds off ebay on January 3, 2011. A mistake on my part was clicking “BUY” before I saw that the package was to be sent to my old address. Well I called paypal who said the only thing they could do was email the seller with my change of address. Well when I received reciept from paypal it had the sellers email address so I email him as well of my address. I also called my local post office to make sure everything was correct in their system, it was- & I felt a litte more comfortable. Well when I got online to track & comfirm my package & no info was available until January 11, 2011. That was when I saw it was being shipped from New York!! The buyers “location” to my understanding was supposed to be San Francisco which is only 3 hrs from me!! Ok ok well now confidence is creeping over me as I see my packaging traveling from New York to Minnesota to San Jose thennnn finally to FRESNO on January 15!! (My location) anyways I start to panick again as I see that my package is “out for delivery” then at 12pm Jan. 15 it says that it was “Delivered”!! Well today is Sunday the 17 & I’m waiting to call the post office tomorrow- hopefully I have some luck?! I’m not sure how the mail forwarding sytem works I’m just panicking because it says delivered already! HELP!

By: Willard

Willard — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 03:30:55 +0000

“If a seller on eBay (or any other e-commerce site) is out to purposefully defraud the buyer, they can simply ship an item to an address in the same Zip Code”

Why would a seller do this? What is the point? They don’t get the item back. This is where feedback and reviews come in. If a business is legitimate, they are not going to purposely send the package to a wrong address in the same zip code, what good does that do them? If the address is invalid, it will be returned to sender, and the Delivery Confirmation details will state such. I suppose some joker kid might do this just to be funny, but it does not seem like an issue of real concern.

If you don’t sign for something, you can dispute it with your credit card company, or if you paid with PayPal you can appeal the dispute decision and PayPal will give you the money back directly.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:21:17 +0000

USPS SHIPPING ASSISANT. Its a free download from USPS. It will print prioirty lables with dcn for free without postage. Then you walk threw the door say need postage and they scan the dcn into system so you get accepted scan. It will only print lables without postage. Also can print express mail and everyother type of mail.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:40:12 +0000

In the last 2 months I have sent out of 3 priority mail packages.
I had one lost. I dropped it in the package chute insdie the post office and there is no record of it anywhere. (it was an eBay deal and I had to refund the buyer and lose the postage I paid). I had one that went out for delivery but has not been scanned as delivered after 3 days. I tried to get the desk clerk to scan another and they refused I did insure it and it is the only one that I have a record of being delivered. I think there are problems at USPS

By: Ajay

Ajay — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:45:21 +0000

USPS Delcon service is imporved wastly over the period of time.
Also after introducing the Zip+4 and IM barcode it is moving in right direction.UPS and fedex are too slow and much much expensive and not upto the mark

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:50:03 +0000

I haven’t had ONE good experience with Delivery Confirmation. Not one. So far, the packages that I’ve opted to use Delivery Confirmation for have NEVER been scanned. Not at acceptance, when I walk it into my local small town post office, chat with the clerk, and explain how I need to be able to track acceptance and delivery, NOR AT DELIVERY. Not one. I’d like to know why this is happening – and why no one in the postal service cares enough to investigate?

Today marks the second time they’ve lost a package (there will NOT be a third) in four months that I have paid for delivery confirmation service. (Last time it took six weeks to have someone get back with me, and they sent me TWO STAMPS to compensate for the lost package. Niiice. That started off without a scan – like this one – and was never to be seen again. I complained at my local post office, the source of the problem. They insisted that it had been scanned there at acceptance, but there is and never was any scan.) When dropping off this package, there was a conversation about how important this was with the guy that took our money. (It’s a saddle I sold on eBay – you know how important those tracking #s are for PayPal and buyers claiming non-receipt) When my husband went in there today and spoke with guy who accepted the box yesterday, he said that we must not have paid for tracking (we have the receipt that clearly shows it was paid for along with the tracking #), then he insisted that he scanned it, but basically, he didn’t care and wasn’t going to check into it. (Ummm, if he scanned it, then we could see it. A monkey could figure that part out). With consistently horrible service like this, I’m shipping UPS from now on. And the government wonders why people have stopped using our postal system…

Meanwhile, the buyer is upset that we don’t have a tracking number (I DO NOT blame her, I’d be worried, too), and basically, if it doesn’t show up or is scanned to prove that it was delivered, she can claim she didn’t receive it, ask for her $ back, and have the saddle PLUS a refund. I’d be royally screwed. Lovely, isn’t it?

If this has happened to me twice in such a short period of time (and I don’t ship items often – just the last one that was lost, and now this), then how many others has this happened to? Someone needs to stop in that office and take a look around. I’m getting the distinct impression that the incompetence there is out of control. The ONLY reason that I shipped this out via USPS is because I’d naively wanted to believe that the last lost package was a fluke, but I clearly see that this is daily business at the Manchester, MI post office.

I wonder if my saddle is going to show up again on eBay. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Thank God I insured it, but I’ve no doubt that the claim process is going to be a huge pain in the a$$, I’ll lose my sale, saddle, and $ if/when Paypal reverses the transaction (since there is no valid tracking number). Gotta love it. Thank you SOOO much, USPS.

By: casiotech

casiotech — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:49:46 +0000

I don’t think it’s that easy for buyers to constantly file INR or sellers to scam buyers by sending a false product to the same zip code

Paypal catches on to things like this if buyers file too many INR even though sellers don’t provide tracking, or sellers get too many INR disputes against them, even though the article was delivered, paypal will eventually suspend you.

statistically I think not even 1% of packages are lost so if you are a buyer who doesn’t receive half his shit or a seller who has 40-60% buyer complaints something has got to give.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:10:50 +0000

Delivery confirmation is free when you use
USPS software”Shipping Assistant.” I use it all the time, I do apply my own postage, I never
use their print postage, just the software to
make the labels and use the Delivery Confirmation. It keeps a record of all your
shipping addresses and one click can tell you
where your package is. Works for me!
JG

By: Unhappy Tax Payer

Unhappy Tax Payer — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:44:11 +0000

WARNING REGARDING DELIVERY CONFIRMATION WITH FIRST CLASS MAIL AND MAILING TAX RETURNS TO THE IRS.

I mailed my IRS 2008 return to Ogden via first class mail with delivery confirmation and it was returned. A return explanation label was affixed, “REFUSED BY ADDRESSEE. MUST BE PRIORITY MAIL TO USE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. AFFIX ADDITIONAL POSTAGE OF ________ AND REMAIL.”

I used PayPal Multi-Order shipping to mail 3 tax returns between April 9th and the 15th. All were mailed in 9×11 inch envelopes and were mailed first class mail 2oz with delivery confirmation. Delivery address was 2 to Fresno and 1 to Ogden. Problem 1: PayPal Multi-Order shipping has a problem with validating IRS addresses due to a lack of a street address. USPS click n ship and USPS address validate do not suffer from this problem. I used USPS address validate to look us the street address for both locations and used those addresses in PayPal Multi-Order shipping.

Problem 2. The Ogden return was refused. A return explanation label was affixed, “REFUSED BY ADDRESSEE. MUST BE PRIORITY MAIL TO USE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. AFFIX ADDITIONAL POSTAGE OF ________ AND REMAIL.” I use Paypal Multi-order shipping with items sent via first class mail with delivery confirmation and never have people refuse it, but they did not work for the IRS. I realize that delivery confirmation is not proof of delivery in the eyes of the IRS, I just used delivery confirmation so I knew it was delivered. What bothers me is that I can not locate any information at IRS.gov that says that delivery confirmation will be refused. One Fresno return was accepted, 8 days have passed so I assume it will not be refused. The other Fresno return is still on the way. Any CONSTRUCTIVE information would be helpful to others.