Updated: Panic: Post office lost ALL the invites!?!?

princessleia22

Okay, I'm freaking out a bit.  I made my sisters wedding invites for her. I shipped them to her (she lives 2,000 miles away) via USPS priority mail a week ago.  It was supposed to be 2-day shipping. She still doesn't have them!  I checked the tracking on it and the last update was it getting sent to the sorting facility here a week ago!  So, it looks like it hasn't even left town. I tried calling USPS this morning and sat on hold for 1/2 hour before I finally hung up.  I definitely plan to do whatever I can to track it down, but still freaking a bit. I'll probably go over to post office on my lunch break to see what I can find out.

If they are REALLY lost, that would be a disaster!  The money would be manageable, but I don't have the time (or energy) to remake them all!  Plus, she needs to send them out in 2 weeks! OMG! OMG! OMG! I haven't told her yet... and hopefully she doesn't read this (I don't think she's on this forum). I figure there's no need for both of us to panic.  I'll inform her after I have more info about what is going on.

Maggie0829

I will see what you can find out but if you don't find out anything today then you need to tell your sister.  She will just have to buy an invite kit from a local craft store and print them out herself.  Not ideal but getting invites out is more important then what they look like in the end.

Hoping you find out some good news.

princessleia22

Really, if it came down to it and they truly are lost, I would probably just buy the materials and pull a couple of all nighters to remake them if I had to.  The design is already done, so it's just printing, cutting, and gluing. I just really don't want to.

She had all the envelopes shipped directly to her so she could start addressing them, so at least she has those already.

CrazyCatLady3

I have had stuff like this happen with the post office.  Luckily this package has a tracking number.  Keep calling back the PO until you get a live person.  They should be able to find it in the sort center and get it on its way.

princessleia22

Hmmm... I finally got a hold of someone at post office.  They said that the 2-day delivery on priority mail "is just an estimate".  Um, it's been 7 days!  That's not even close!  She said that "it should be delivered today", but I'm still worried. 

vmj23

I've definitely had stuff take way longer then expected through the post office, especially lately.   Hopefully it arrives today!! fingers crossed for you.  

princessleia22

I think it's very doubtful about it arriving today. The last tracking scan was it arriving at the sorting center in AZ (where I live). If they were going to get it today, I would think that it should have at least been scanned saying it arrived somewhere in MI. Plus, shouldn't there be a scan saying it left the sorting facility here? There was one saying it left the post office here.  Don't they usually scan it when it enters AND leaves each stop?

If it hasn't even arrived at their post office yet, I think its pretty safe to say she won't receive it today.  I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep checking.  The USPS person I spoke with said that if they don't have today or tomorrow, then it may be time to worry. That's not calming my nerves too much though.

theartistformerlyknownas

USPS is the worst. They lost the antique lace for my veil in a forwarding debacle. Good luck.

princessleia22

I've never really had any issues with them, otherwise I wouldn't have trusted them with such an important package.

nebullama

nicoann said:

I think it's very doubtful about it arriving today. The last tracking scan was it arriving at the sorting center in AZ (where I live). If they were going to get it today, I would think that it should have at least been scanned saying it arrived somewhere in MI. Plus, shouldn't there be a scan saying it left the sorting facility here? There was one saying it left the post office here.  Don't they usually scan it when it enters AND leaves each stop?

If it hasn't even arrived at their post office yet, I think its pretty safe to say she won't receive it today.  I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep checking.  The USPS person I spoke with said that if they don't have today or tomorrow, then it may be time to worry. That's not calming my nerves too much though.

They do scan it, but it goes flying through machines that can process upwards of 10,000 pieces of mail an hour. In my experience their online tracking system doesn't always update as well as UPS or FedEx. It's possible that the package is in MI but the website isn't showing it.

I hope this works out!

vsgal

This is why I use Fedex. If I pay for 2nd day, it is guaranteed.  At this point, all you can do is stay all over them.  Have a drop dead date for starting a redo on them.  I would also carry this up the customer service chain.  Talk to supervisors and managers from here on out.

theartistformerlyknownas

Any update??

princessleia22

Still nothing and no change to the tracking update.

Time to get crazy with them, I guess.

Rebl90

If you decide to make more I would really recommend using FedEx or basically anything other than USPS.  Sending good thoughts your way and hoping they track down the package!

Coalette2013

If you call again, see if they will give you the phone number to the sorting facility that it is actually at. I had a package "get lost" and that's who they told me to call, mainly b/c they didn't want to deal with me, our local branch is quite rude. But anyways, the guys at the sorting facility were able to pull up a lot more information on the package than the local office, and were a huge help in locating my package. Turns out, someone at the local office had mistyped my zip code, so it couldn't be delivered to my house due to the error, and the package ended up getting returned to sender.

Good luck!

princessleia22

I'd be fine if it got returned to sender, because it would come back to me. That would mean I'd have to pay to re-ship it (through some other method, like FedEx, next time), but that's better than remaking everything.

mysticl

vsgal said:

This is why I use Fedex. If I pay for 2nd day, it is guaranteed.  At this point, all you can do is stay all over them.  Have a drop dead date for starting a redo on them.  I would also carry this up the customer service chain.  Talk to supervisors and managers from here on out.

You know Fedex and UPS sometimes dump their packages on USPS, right?

Annndreaaaaa

mysticl said:

vsgal said:

This is why I use Fedex. If I pay for 2nd day, it is guaranteed.  At this point, all you can do is stay all over them.  Have a drop dead date for starting a redo on them.  I would also carry this up the customer service chain.  Talk to supervisors and managers from here on out.

You know Fedex and UPS sometimes dump their packages on USPS, right?

That's service is called SurePost and it's only something that is done by selection. UPS doesn't just choose to give your package to USPS; the sender has to agree to it. The sender would agree to send the package SurePost to get a lower shipping rate. With a regular shipment (Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, 3 Day Select, or Ground), a UPS driver would deliver the package. The only exception is an extremely remote area that doesn't even get regular mail deliveries (meaning weekly or even further apart deliveries). UPS or FedEx are far more reliable than USPS in terms of tracking and on time delivery.

princessleia22

So, my sister has been out of town so I had shipped the package to my parents house.  I talked to my dad this morning and the package arrived a couple days ago.  YAY! That is SUCH a relief!

USPS tracking still says the package is on its way to a sorting facility.  So, the package was delivered successfully but they completely failed on their tracking system, causing me a lot of undue stress and panic.  Next time I ship, I'm definitely going with FedEx or UPS instead.

theartistformerlyknownas

YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY! What a relief!

Maggie0829

nicoann said:

So, my sister has been out of town so I had shipped the package to my parents house.  I talked to my dad this morning and the package arrived a couple days ago.  YAY! That is SUCH a relief!

USPS tracking still says the package is on its way to a sorting facility.  So, the package was delivered successfully but they completely failed on their tracking system, causing me a lot of undue stress and panic.  Next time I ship, I'm definitely going with FedEx or UPS instead.

OMG I would be so mad at my parents that they didn't think to call and let me know it was delivered! That would have saved you so much worry!  Yeah their tracking system failed but you wouldn't have had any stress if your parents had just let you know the package arrived!

beethery

USPS tracking system is hoooooorrrrible, I'm so glad the invites got there safely!

princessleia22

Maggie0829 said:

nicoann said:

So, my sister has been out of town so I had shipped the package to my parents house.  I talked to my dad this morning and the package arrived a couple days ago.  YAY! That is SUCH a relief!

USPS tracking still says the package is on its way to a sorting facility.  So, the package was delivered successfully but they completely failed on their tracking system, causing me a lot of undue stress and panic.  Next time I ship, I'm definitely going with FedEx or UPS instead.

OMG I would be so mad at my parents that they didn't think to call and let me know it was delivered! That would have saved you so much worry!  Yeah their tracking system failed but you wouldn't have had any stress if your parents had just let you know the package arrived!

True.  I've even talked to my dad, after he had apparently received it, and he didn't mention it. Of course, I didn't even think to call them and ask until today. I figured that they hadn't said anything about receiving it and the tracking said it hadn't been delivered yet, so I just assumed it was still lost somewhere. Oh well... it all worked out in the end.  And I learned a valuable lesson: Don't trust USPS with important items!

vmj23

Yay!! I've been watching and hoping it arrived!! glad to hear!

CMGragain

Don't trust your PARENTS to tell you when a package arrives!  If my DH had done this, he would have been sleeping in the guest room for a week!

mysticl

Annndreaaaaa said:

mysticl said:

vsgal said:

This is why I use Fedex. If I pay for 2nd day, it is guaranteed.  At this point, all you can do is stay all over them.  Have a drop dead date for starting a redo on them.  I would also carry this up the customer service chain.  Talk to supervisors and managers from here on out.

You know Fedex and UPS sometimes dump their packages on USPS, right?

That's service is called SurePost and it's only something that is done by selection. UPS doesn't just choose to give your package to USPS; the sender has to agree to it. The sender would agree to send the package SurePost to get a lower shipping rate. With a regular shipment (Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, 3 Day Select, or Ground), a UPS driver would deliver the package. The only exception is an extremely remote area that doesn't even get regular mail deliveries (meaning weekly or even further apart deliveries). UPS or FedEx are far more reliable than USPS in terms of tracking and on time delivery.

I just know I've gotten a few packages that I was given a UPS or Fedex tracking number for and when I tracked them they said delivered only they weren't at my door.  Then when I looked back it turned out that they had been at the post office prior to being delivered and were in my mail box.  The sender is the one the provided the tracking information and said nothing about them possibly being sent via the post office.  

tammym1001

mysticl said:

Annndreaaaaa said:

mysticl said:

vsgal said:

This is why I use Fedex. If I pay for 2nd day, it is guaranteed.  At this point, all you can do is stay all over them.  Have a drop dead date for starting a redo on them.  I would also carry this up the customer service chain.  Talk to supervisors and managers from here on out.

You know Fedex and UPS sometimes dump their packages on USPS, right?

That's service is called SurePost and it's only something that is done by selection. UPS doesn't just choose to give your package to USPS; the sender has to agree to it. The sender would agree to send the package SurePost to get a lower shipping rate. With a regular shipment (Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, 3 Day Select, or Ground), a UPS driver would deliver the package. The only exception is an extremely remote area that doesn't even get regular mail deliveries (meaning weekly or even further apart deliveries). UPS or FedEx are far more reliable than USPS in terms of tracking and on time delivery.

I just know I've gotten a few packages that I was given a UPS or Fedex tracking number for and when I tracked them they said delivered only they weren't at my door.  Then when I looked back it turned out that they had been at the post office prior to being delivered and were in my mail box.  The sender is the one the provided the tracking information and said nothing about them possibly being sent via the post office.  

I  have several companies that I order from frequently that do this as well. They don't tell me ahead of time that it will be transferred to the post office.

Jen4948

nicoann said:

So, my sister has been out of town so I had shipped the package to my parents house.  I talked to my dad this morning and the package arrived a couple days ago.  YAY! That is SUCH a relief!

USPS tracking still says the package is on its way to a sorting facility.  So, the package was delivered successfully but they completely failed on their tracking system, causing me a lot of undue stress and panic.  Next time I ship, I'm definitely going with FedEx or UPS instead.

That's definitely a relief!

Even FedEx has been known to screw up.  Once they delivered a computer for my father to the house across the street for his and just left it without even getting a signature.  It was incredibly stupid.

Viczaesar

CMGragain said:

Don't trust your PARENTS to tell you when a package arrives!  If my DH had done this, he would have been sleeping in the guest room for a week!

Don't speak for all parents.

Annndreaaaaa

mysticl said:

Annndreaaaaa said:

mysticl said:

vsgal said:

This is why I use Fedex. If I pay for 2nd day, it is guaranteed.  At this point, all you can do is stay all over them.  Have a drop dead date for starting a redo on them.  I would also carry this up the customer service chain.  Talk to supervisors and managers from here on out.

You know Fedex and UPS sometimes dump their packages on USPS, right?

That's service is called SurePost and it's only something that is done by selection. UPS doesn't just choose to give your package to USPS; the sender has to agree to it. The sender would agree to send the package SurePost to get a lower shipping rate. With a regular shipment (Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, 3 Day Select, or Ground), a UPS driver would deliver the package. The only exception is an extremely remote area that doesn't even get regular mail deliveries (meaning weekly or even further apart deliveries). UPS or FedEx are far more reliable than USPS in terms of tracking and on time delivery.

I just know I've gotten a few packages that I was given a UPS or Fedex tracking number for and when I tracked them they said delivered only they weren't at my door.  Then when I looked back it turned out that they had been at the post office prior to being delivered and were in my mail box.  The sender is the one the provided the tracking information and said nothing about them possibly being sent via the post office.  

A lot of companies do that. They choose SurePost as a shipping option without telling you about it (to save money). Again, though, that's the sender's choice. They may have misled you into thinking you would have a package delivered by the UPS man in a big brown truck. UPS wouldn't have taken the package, decided they didn't really want to deal with it, and passed it off to the mail man.

I only addressed the post because I didn't want you to scare OP into thinking she couldn't trust anybody!