If you ship USPS make sure to check your tracking Info Daily

[Futuremogul888]

Now I know most of us Ebay and Amazon veterans are well aware that sending items via USPS is playing shipping roulette. But I wanted to share this story to inspire those, who are naive enough to have any faith in the USPS, to increase their diligence.

I print all my labels out with Ebay shipping so I know that there is never a mistake on my part in putting the correct address on the package. Once a day in the morning I print out the label, the items are packaged and they are picked up once a day. The following day I start tracking the package everyday until it shows delivered.

Yesterday I tracked a package and it had successfully arrived to the delivery unit and made it out for delivery but had come back as undeliverable as addressed. I checked the customer's address in google and it had come up as a valid address. I checked the customers account and he had plenty of feedback and had been on Ebay for several years so I knew it was not a mistake on his part. I also noticed that the address was a really simple address. It was a big single house and there was notice crazy about the format of the address.

I knew at this point it had to be a mistake on USPS's part. I also knew that I had very little time to make sure this package did not get sent back to the stealth address because it would have certainly lead to loss of the product and negative feedback.

So I jumped right on calling USPS and the very unhelpful representative told me there was nothing anyone could do. She said that she could not see the address so it was likely that I had made a mistake in the address. She further told me that the item was definitely going to get sent back to the stealth address and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

There was no way I was going to stand for this so I called the post office local to the customer and spoke to someone who gave me the number to the local delivery unit. I called them and spoke to the manager at the delivery unit and he was able to locate the package in the pile of items that were going to be returned to sender that day. He told me it was lucky that I had called so early because it was going to be on its way back later that day. I asked him what the issue was with the package and he said that a part of the address was a bit smeared and it was a little hard to tell if one of the numbers was a 4 or a 1. When I told him that it was definitely a 4, he admitted that he could tell it was a 4. He then assure me it would be delivered that day. Package made it to the customer early that day thereby adverting a much larger problem.

The moral of this story is never trust USPS. Stay on top of all tracking information and act accordingly and immediately to prevent all issues within your power.

[GreenBean]

With international shipping involving USPS, this is advice I follow too.

My offsides does a resume ( of sorts) for each item.

We check/ confirm address and contactable phone number.

Essential work to avoid being undermined by the Postal Service.


Timely advice for the oncoming holidays

[JJGold]

Sounds to me the moral of the story is to buy a thermal label printer making it impossible to have a smeared address.

[Futuremogul888]

Originally Posted by JJGold

Sounds to me the moral of the story is to buy a thermal label printer making it impossible to have a smeared address.

All my labels are printed with a commercial grade laser printer. While I can't say with 100% certainly that there wasn't some kind of defect on the label when it arrived in the local delivery unit, I can tell you it had nothing to do with the toner I use or my printer. I pack and ship with the highest quality materials. I can only surmise that something happened to the label while in transit or the manager was making excuses.

You of all people should know that the USPS is prone to such incompetencies.

[JJGold]

I was pulling your chain.

[AlanM]

Originally Posted by Futuremogul888

I asked him what the issue was with the package and he said that a part of the address was a bit smeared and it was a little hard to tell if one of the numbers was a 4 or a 1. When I told him that it was definitely a 4, he admitted that he could tell it was a 4. He then assure me it would be delivered that day.

Seriously? It's not exactly a job for Sherlock Holmes, is it? Lazy.

[vogeltron]

Anyway you go. I still always advise taping over the "From and To" part of any address label. Also potentially the the Tracking number part if you print your own labels obviously not the bar-code.

[Futuremogul888]

I agree, Vogeltron, that you have to take all precautions to make sure that the address stays legible through the transit process. I at one time experimented with putting the labels in plastic sleeves with an opening for the barcode like they do with customs forms. Nothing really changed though. Most USPS issues are due to carelessness, laziness, and incompetence. No amount of taping and packaging can prevent them from dropping the ball on much too high a percentage of your deliveries. But you try to control what you can control

[An0nym0u$]

Good suggestions and general practice. Although we have very little control over shipping, some extra steps can help somewhat. For me, I make it a habit of putting clear tape over the Ship To and From sections of the address label.

Although the ink may be nice and dry when it leaves, weather during transport can cause cause it to smear as well. Once in awhile, I do get issues like this and it is a hassle trying to work w/ USPS.

Thanks for the detailed post & advice Futuremogul

[user3657]

Good job 888. Seems like alot of hassle and alot of time on the phone. Very nice outcome though.

[Dmshark25]

Anyone else been getting random fonts printed out ???

Since the change I would say print 10 labels at a time 5 would be the standard font and the other half a different font that has overlapping lines making the address. Harder to read