When do you file a claim or find out more about a lost package? USPS

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deathhorse

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 29, 2010
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I sold something recently shipped it out and the shipping is just sitting as the last update of 10/12/2016.

Do i consider this lost? The buyer still hasnt contacted me about the item but i did send him a message on 10/14. Should i got to USPS and ask more questions. Will it update to lost one day? Im not worried about refunding and no there wasnt any insurance this would be my first sent lost package.

Thanks

t# 9400109699937968165694
 
I wouldn't consider it lost yet. Depending on the distance it could still be in transit, especially if the buyer is rural.
 
Its likely that there was some sort of mixup with either the mail carrier or the post office. If something like this happens they can lose track of the package and it may take a week or two to figure out what happened to it. I had a similar situation where I shipped something out and it was out for delivery then it never showed it was delivered, then 3 weeks later I got the package back return to sender... The post office wouldn't even refund me for the shipping label I paid for, I wasn't pleased (but its pretty rare that they make mistakes)
 
ok guys thanks yea this hasnt ever happened to me.
Anyone ever had a package show up without the tracking updated?
I usually see the tracking data from start to finish update everyday or so.
 
Where is it going to? If it's going back east or in the Carolina's it could be delayed.

I've had packages show up and shipped packages that have gotten to their destination for a day or so before the tracking updated to reflect it was actually delivered.
 
Just call USPS- they can investigate and get you more details. Chances are it will see movement by the time they get the details :)
 
As someone that works in the USPS's second largest bulk mail/distribution center I'll give you guys a little insight into what happens when these packages get "lost" like this. Typically one of only a few things happen to it:

- It fell off a conveyor somewhere and is waiting for a mail search guy to find it and pick it up, then it will go to hand sort which can take a while, this will typically not be more than a week delay.
- the box was damaged and culled out for re-wrap, this can be especially time consuming, our rewrap room has like 3000 sq feet of boxes sitting outside of it right now for processing.
- extremely unlikely but possible, it could have been completely destroyed or the address portion of the package lost. I've pulled the strangest things out of machines like a brand new pair of lawnmower blades that had no packaging whatsoever. Orphaned items are naturally pretty hard to get shipped or returned.

I've done mail search under the conveyors here many times and pulled out boxes a couple of months old. Its a very tiny percentage of packages but it does happen, there are miles of conveyors and machinery to move packages and sort them for AO's so things do get lost - several of the machines here see 40-60k packages a day. You local office will have no idea where it is, but you can call the USPS help line and they will have the sort facility check for it (there are records of where it is that do not show up on the website).
 
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