SirGorbachev said:
Well, do enjoy your PeekABU’s, everyone who got them! I was unfortunate enough to have my package of samples “delivered” by USPS, though it clearly never made it to me. The USPS already assigned a case and investigated it, but concluded that their carrier definitely delivered it at the stated time nearly a week ago
Been there, done that. Your package was most likely delivered to the wrong address. Possibly to the right house number on a different street. This has been a chronic problem for me, and I'm on a "non-permanent route" that gets different carriers all the time, so it's not just a carrier-specific problem. The USPS is the only delivery service at this point that doesn't have a GPS on their datapad, to record
where a delivery was left. Their data pad DOES record if they make the delivery, they have to scan the package bar code and tap Delivered, but it doesn't record where they were when they scanned it. So here's how the investigation goes: "Gary, did you leave that package at 1313 Mockingbird Lane?" "Yep sure did!" Case Closed! seriously, that's how it works.
EVERY time you call the 800 number they will try to ditch the blame. They tried that on me more than once, but guess what, I have a wildlife camera on my porch and can
prove the carrier never made the delivery. You either have to have that or a postmaster at your location that will get involved. Otherwise "our carrier said he delivered it, and
we never make mistakes, so he MUST have delivered it to your house. You have a stolen package, contact the police and file a report. Good luck good bye!" That's what they try to pull on me. It's rule #1, "never admit guilt".
Don't bother with the 800 number. Go to your post office in person and talk with the postmaster. I get a lot of packages (I order stuff on the internet a lot) so I know the people at the front counter very well and have had many talks with the postmaster. He's aware of my circumstances, and knows what sort of errors on their end can cause bad deliveries. My most recent experience, I got an email notice saying my package had been delivered. When I got home, nothing there. No mail in my mailbox even. No recording of a postman all day. Called the 800 number, same BS, "Our carrier says he delivered it so that's gospel truth, your package must have been stolen, call the police". Called my postmaster. He's a great guy, he got in his own personal car
with the carrier that did my route, and they drove to my house. Carrier (thankfully!) says "oh, that doesn't look like the door I left the package at..." Postmaster knows just what to do next. They drove to adjacent blocks on both sides of me, and within 15 minutes found my package, three blocks away, at the same house number, still leaning against the door. (also thankfully the people that lived there hadn't gotten home yet!) This was after I had called the 800 number and they told me to go pound sand. (and the shipper had not insured the delivery...)
Then after much research, I found a solution. It's a bit inconvenient, but 100% effective. Go to your post office and ask for a "leave no unattended packages" form. They'll hand you a sheet that you have to sign. It's good until you cancel it. (or they lose it...) What it says is they are not allowed to leave packages (non-letters/postcards) unattended. It must be handed to someone. They'll knock on your door, and if you don't answer, they're not allowed to leave it on your porch. They're required to then leave a pickup note (similar to how they do for "signature required" deliveries) and take it back with them to the depot. You could either sign the note (allowing them to leave it unattended) or give it a day to make it back to the main office and go pick it up yourself. Basically it's as good as making EVERY package you receive be "signature required".
I still get occasional packages left at my address, most of them left in (or
stuffed into) my mailbox, and a few bigger ones left by my door. BUT here's the kicker. If they DO say they delivered and it's not at your door or in your mailbox,
it's not your problem because they mis-delivered it. Now it's
their responsibility to chase it down, not yours. Normally when packages are left at your door, ownership is transferred to you. But with that order in place, ownership is transferred
when they place it in your hands (or you sign it over on the pink slip) So if they "abandon" a package somewhere, even at your door, they're still on the hook if it disappears. Since it's not "your" package yet,
they have to call the police and file a report if they think it's been stolen
This does wonders to motivate them to find your package. (also sidenote: refunds go to the SHIPPER not the RECEIVER, so they will handle the claim with whoever sent you the package, you won't receive a refund or replacement from the post office - basically the shipper paid them and has the contract for service with them, not you, so they don't have to interact with you AT ALL if they don't want to)
But as I said, I still get bad deliveries from time to time. I get my neighbor's mail, they get mine. I've had people come from blocks away to give me packages left at their door, and I've taken packages houses or blocks away that were mis-delivered to me. The point here is to prevent them from worming away from taking responsibility when a package goes missing. A cheap trail wildlife (deer) camera is a good idea too though, "porch bandits" are becoming more common - people that see a delivery get made at a house and steal the package. If they take a box off your porch, it's a local theft. If they take a package out of your
mailbox, its a
federal crime. Postmen and postmasters take this surprisingly serious, and the criminals seem to know it, so they tend to leave packages alone that are in mailboxes because that will get the
feds after them. (unless the postman stuffs them in, they can't be seen anyway, whereas a cardboard box leaning on your door is a much more tempting target for theft)
I still get a lot of padded envelopes left in my mailbox, about 15-20% of my orders. The rest I get an orange pickup slip to collect them the next evening at the post office. It all comes down to carrier training I think, and my route IS used as a training route, so owell. But at the end of the day, they can't make their delivery problems MY problem. And I'm much less worried about small items being stolen from my mailbox because of the federal angle. It's the bigger boxes left sitting by my door or on my porch in full view of a busy street that worry me. Leave No Unattended Packages has cut my package count down to around 5% of what it was, and that 5% they have to go hunt for now if it goes missing. It's quite a relief. I still use the wildlife camera, but it's more of an entertainment to show the gals at the counter the bozos still leaving packages in my mailbox when I'm there to pick up a package. They often recognize the carrier, and I think they get the word passed around that someone's screwing up.
