Stamps.com tracking has already been used

kirkland · #1 11-24-2021

Saw this bug today and wondering if anyone else ever had it. Had a buyer message me asking why the item he bought yesterday shows delivered back in august. I checked up on the issue, and saw that the postage and tracking I purchased actually ALREADY had tracking updates posted on it... apparently someone had used this tracking info back months ago! And it did indeed show delivered.

I quickly fixed this of course by voiding the label and buying a new one, but I can't help but wonder how many other times this many have happened out of the tens of thousands of packages I've shipped out. And the potential issues that could develop.

To clarify, I use shipstation (and hence stamps.com for my postage). I realize that eventually all tracking #s must eventually be recycled, but I'm wondering if anyone else has ever seen this and whether its a cause for concern going forward.

**SaiJin** · #2 11-24-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirkland

Saw this bug today and wondering if anyone else ever had it. Had a buyer message me asking why the item he bought yesterday shows delivered back in august. I checked up on the issue, and saw that the postage and tracking I purchased actually ALREADY had tracking updates posted on it... apparently someone had used this tracking info back months ago! And it did indeed show delivered.

I quickly fixed this of course by voiding the label and buying a new one, but I can't help but wonder how many other times this many have happened out of the tens of thousands of packages I've shipped out. And the potential issues that could develop.

To clarify, I use shipstation (and hence stamps.com for my postage). I realize that eventually all tracking #s must eventually be recycled, but I'm wondering if anyone else has ever seen this and whether its a cause for concern going forward.

I haven't seen this at a personal level like yours but definitely at a commercial level with UPS.

kirkland · #3 11-24-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaiJin

I haven't seen this at a personal level like yours but definitely at a commercial level with UPS.

Does it still get processed correctly and sent to the correct buyer? I have a second buyer who just alerted me now.. what the hell

EDIT: as I check my shipments now, 40-some tracking #s in the past 24 hours have this issue. I wish I checked them before they sent out... ****

****ing hell:
https://help.shipstation.com/hc/en-u...st-shipped-it-

kirkland · #4 11-24-2021

It appears to be an ongoing bug, literally every new postage I buy is having this issue. Is no-one else having it?

What should I do?

**SaiJin** · #5 11-25-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirkland

Does it still get processed correctly and sent to the correct buyer? I have a second buyer who just alerted me now.. what the hell

EDIT: as I check my shipments now, 40-some tracking #s in the past 24 hours have this issue. I wish I checked them before they sent out... ****

****ing hell:
https://help.shipstation.com/hc/en-u...st-shipped-it-

With UPS what they do is they re-issue a new tracking in their back end but they don't tell you unless you call in.
But it wasn't a bug.

So if this one is a bug from shipstation you'd be best to call them if they have a phone number.

phaz0rz · #6 11-26-2021

All USPS tracking numbers get recycled. I can only remember this happening once a few years ago.. right after I printed a label it was already showing "delivered" several months ago to a different zip.

I didn't void the label, I just sent the shipment out. Once it got a new acceptance scan, all of the old tracking history cleared out. If I were you I'd just send the shipments out.

This is far less of a nightmare than when your mail carrier marks an entire day's worth of outgoing mail as "delivered" rather than "picked up" and all your buyers think you scammed them. My carrier accidentally did that to us about a year ago and I had to spend 2 weeks explaining the situation to buyers. Only about half of those shipments ever got delivered to the customer.. the rest never showed any movement after the accidental "delivery" scan. The best part is that I had zero recourse with USPS. None of the labels were eligible for a refund since in their system the shipments said "delivered." Pricks.

ebaystealth1974 · #7 11-26-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

Only about half of those shipments ever got delivered to the customer..

What the hell happened to them???

phaz0rz · #8 11-26-2021

They just never showed any more movement after the accidental "delivery" scan which was their first and only scan. A few of them eventually trickled back to me months later but the majority just disappeared into the USPS void.

kirkland · #9 11-26-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

All USPS tracking numbers get recycled. I can only remember this happening once a few years ago.. right after I printed a label it was already showing "delivered" several months ago to a different zip.

I didn't void the label, I just sent the shipment out. Once it got a new acceptance scan, all of the old tracking history cleared out. If I were you I'd just send the shipments out.

This is far less of a nightmare than when your mail carrier marks an entire day's worth of outgoing mail as "delivered" rather than "picked up" and all your buyers think you scammed them. My carrier accidentally did that to us about a year ago and I had to spend 2 weeks explaining the situation to buyers. Only about half of those shipments ever got delivered to the customer.. the rest never showed any movement after the accidental "delivery" scan. The best part is that I had zero recourse with USPS. None of the labels were eligible for a refund since in their system the shipments said "delivered." Pricks.

That doesn't seem to be the case here. The old tracking remains intact - its truly a nightmare, the only positive being that ebay is now releasing funds earlier because the tracking is showing "delivered". But Id take correct tracking over early payouts any day.

The rule is supposed to be that they can recycle after 4 months, but mine are still within the 3 month threshold. And another tracking I just purchased was for a package delivered as recently as early November. Like what.

That sucks regarding the lost shipments. Saw a video on my YT pop up about how police found a few abandoned UPS trucks on the side of some highways filled with packages recently. Like how does that even happen

ebaystealth1974 · #10 11-26-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

They just never showed any more movement after the accidental "delivery" scan which was their first and only scan. A few of them eventually trickled back to me months later but the majority just disappeared into the USPS void.

I remember you mentioning it several time prior. That's just crazy!

yankee · #11 11-26-2021

I have HUNDREDS of these right now. Huge frustration.

yankee · #12 11-26-2021

All delivered august 6th....

kirkland · #13 11-26-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankee

I have HUNDREDS of these right now. Huge frustration.

What are you gonna do? How are you handling this?

yankee · #14 11-26-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirkland

What are you gonna do? How are you handling this?

Just got a bunch more now that we shipped today showing delivered November 10th.

We are going to wait for them to be updated by USPS. They show all the new scans along with delivered..... so in time, they will be delivered to the correct addresses and dates.

I will be in contact with Stamps and I may be moving everything to another service. This will cost me many many many man hours. We are paying shipstation a hefty fee a month to save us time, not create nightmares.

yankee · #15 11-27-2021

Tracking numbers are updating accurately.
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfi...08435829365185

kirkland · #16 11-27-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankee

Tracking numbers are updating accurately.
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfi...08435829365185

You sure? The only ones that update for me are the ones that never received a "delivered" scan. I'm assuming the lack of said scan allows for the possibility of further updates en route, and thus a further update when the tracking re-scans.. as opposed to delivered scans which seem to be dead end scans.

This seems to be the case with the tracking you posted as well (it has a "Out for Delivery" scan, but no formal delivery scan, so its fair game). But any tracking that has already been scanned as delivered is not updating

Unless they simply deleted the delivered scan from the previous shipment. Did you round up all the individual scanning #s and send them to stamps / USPS?

yankee · #17 11-28-2021

This one originally said delivered. We also have some with no updates. We found a tracking number printed and shipped yesterday was was delivered YESTERDAY!
This is getting out of freaking controle!

This is NOT HAPPENING on our pirate ship accounts, only shipstation.

phaz0rz · #18 11-28-2021

I wonder if this is regional. Are your tracking numbers similar to yankee's, kirkland? Mine start with 94001116 and 94001118 and all mine seem to be fine.

Sorry I can't contribute much but the delivery scan issue you're facing (kirkland) is similar to what happened to me when our carrier marked tons of orders as delivered. Most never updated after that scan.. but some did, so I don't think a delivery scan automatically rules out the possibility for more scans in USPS' system.

yankee · #19 11-28-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirkland

Did you round up all the individual scanning #s and send them to stamps / USPS?

We notified multiple Post Masters yesterday. We have many hundreds of shipments a day so I am sure this will be an ongoing problem for weeks or months to come as we become aware.

We are not going to spend countless hours looking for these issues, only address them as item not received cases, credit card disputes and messages come in.

yankee · #20 11-28-2021

This number on usps.com does not show new scans but on ebay, it does.... https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfi...08435825445409

kirkland · #21 11-28-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankee

This number on usps.com does not show new scans but on ebay, it does.... https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfi...08435825445409

I haven't checked to see if eBay shows updates that are otherwise not showing on USPS's side. Given the amount of customer complaints I've received so far, I doubt it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankee

This one originally said delivered. We also have some with no updates. We found a tracking number printed and shipped yesterday was was delivered YESTERDAY!
This is getting out of freaking controle!

This is NOT HAPPENING on our pirate ship accounts, only shipstation.

Same. SS seems to be the culprit here. When I print on other platforms, or submit each order individually to stamps as an new order as opposed to purchasing postage for a store-linked order (which has to be manually uploaded thereafter), it works fine.

The reason Ive been a SS customer is to streamline multiple stores into one, but I'll absolutely be leaving them as soon as I find a suitable replacement. Word on the board was that SS doesn't link accounts, do you know if there's any issue with PirateShip and linking?

kirkland · #22 11-28-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankee

We notified multiple Post Masters yesterday. We have many hundreds of shipments a day so I am sure this will be an ongoing problem for weeks or months to come as we become aware.

We are not going to spend countless hours looking for these issues, only address them as item not received cases, credit card disputes and messages come in.

I spent some time with stamps.com on the phone Friday and they don't seem to have any response to the issue. Their response was basically: "we're aware this is a problem, we just have to wait for USPS to update their tracking #". Meaning they won't fix past labels, nor do they have any potential advice or workarounds going forward for new labels to prevent this from happening.