Problem shipping car part through USPS

[marcapra]

I recently sold a Fulton Sun Shield visor on Epay.  I sold this part for several hundred dollars, but am concerned about the shipping.  The USPS tracking says the box was Out For Delivery four days ago and continues to say Out For Delivery.  The part was shipped only about 80 miles away to the Los Angeles area.  I have messaged the buyer to see if there is a delivery problem, but no reply.  Has anyone ever had this problem, and does anyone have an idea of what is going on here?? I just hope it is not some kind of scam!  

[Trulyvintage]

Having anything out for delivery

for days is becoming more common

for all domestic parcel delivery 

companies …

 

I waited two weeks for an Amazon

Prime delivery in Michigan recently.

 

Their logistics system showed

multiple delivery attempts - when

in fact - no delivery attempts were

ever actually made …

 

If you are selling parts today  - the best way to limit liability is to put in

your advertising “ local pickup only”.

 

If someone outside your area wants

you to ship to them - only do it if 

they choose the shipper and pay for

independent packing.

 

You can recommend a prospective

Buyer purchase insurance but that

is up to them to do.

 

Times have changed.

 

The largest domestic parcel delivery

service as of November 2023 now is Amazon - they are setting the benchmark for delivery timeframes

and return policies and insurances

claims - all of which are decreasing

overall in customer satisfaction:

 

@ https://www.mdm.com/news/featured/featured-blog/amazon-is-now-the-top-delivery-business-in-the-u-s-and-its-lead-is-set-to-expand/

 

Most Sellers cannot afford to take

the hit when something they shipped

arrives damaged or never shows up.

 

Jim

 

 

[pont35cpe]

Mine was "our records show item delivered".. I`d bought an item for a 36 Buick, tracked it from the start, to "delivered in/at mailbox". "Item" in my mail box, was a piece of a cardboard box with my name/address on it, stuffed inside of a zip lock baggie..

[Peter Gariepy]

41 minutes ago, Bills Auto Works said:

There is just way too much of "The Sky Is Falling" crap going on these days about so many things

I love a good laugh. :)

[edinmass]

2 hours ago, pont35cpe said:

Mine was "our records show item delivered".. I`d bought an item for a 36 Buick, tracked it from the start, to "delivered in/at mailbox". "Item" in my mail box, was a piece of a cardboard box with my name/address on it, stuffed inside of a zip lock baggie..

Had a similar issue with FedEx. Package weight was 100 pounds when dropped off, and I was delivered a label weighing 1oz according to their tracking. Since the package was shipped special handling with an incredible amount of insurance, they were able to track the package through the system with cameras wherever it was handled by human hands. They actually know who put the thing in the “unknown bin” and couldn’t find it afterwards. Long story short, it was delivered to my local post office as FedEx, UPS, and USPS use the same hub for international shipments landing on the west coast. Only reason we got it from USPS was the customer listened to me and placed stickers all over the item inside with my address……….shipping today is a nightmare. Prices are ridiculous. It’s often cheaper for me to toss stuff in luggage and fly it to its destination. $1000 overnight shipping packages are common now.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Peter Gariepy]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

$1000 overnight shipping packages are common now.

Not sure "common" is accurate.  Certainly the exception to the rule and only applies if you want to ship a large item overnight.  

 

MORE TYPICAL EXAMPLES:  

20LBS, 18h*12w*12d dimensions - Tucson to New York

• FEDEX overnight priority = $350
• FEDEX slow (week) = $60
• USPS priority (2-3 days) = $80
• USPS ground (week+) = $55

 

Smaller parts that will fit into a USPS priority box (11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2")  and can wait a few days are still under $20 and including insurance and tracking.  Seems like a deal to me.  

 

I habitually ship 25 packages a month using USPS priority mail without additional insurance but with tracking, and I can't remember the last time one wasn't delivered on time.

 

Tracking has never been an issue. Although I seldom check as I never get anyone asking me where their package is.
 

 

[rocketraider]

It's worse during holiday season.

 

Haven't lost a package yet, actually had two different ones make it cross country via USPS in three days.

 

Regular mail has been a different story. Mailed a credit card payment Dec 17 of 2022. It was going to Charlotte NC, roughly 150 miles away.

 

It hadn't cleared in January 2023 bank statement so I called the CC company and it hadn't been received. 

 

So, resent payment by certified mail with tracking. That one got there in two days, but that tracking number to this day shows it's still in the Greensboro NC mail hub, and the original payment is still off in the ozone somewhere.

 

Not having good internet out here in BFE, I'm quite leery of banking or making payments online so I stick with tried and true.

[nat]

     This is off topic but I still find it amusing.

     The only thing I've ever bought from Amazon was a timer switch for my washing machine.  When I picked it up I said to myself "this is an empty box".  Sure enough it was.  When I told them so they asked for a photo of the "contents".  I sent a picture of the empty box and they gave me a refund.

[3macboys]

Hundreds of thousands of parcels a year go through the post office and we only hear about the very few issues that happen.  I'm willing to bet that most of you screwed up more often at work than the post office does with delivering packages, you just don't tell anyone in an open forum about it.  I just sent a package on Dec 22 - last day here for the post office before Christmas to ship and it arrived yesterday in the middle of Oregon - that's two countries and passing through customs over the holidays all for I think it was about $27 Canadian.  As an aside, these are old cars - who needs overnight shipping?  Most everything I send (20 or so packages a week) arrives in a week to 10 days, around the globe!

 

To the OP there is no scam - you sold through Ebay and got paid, and you shipped through the USPS - those are the two businesses that you dealt with and you are their customer, neither of which are going to run a scam.   You rarely hear from the happy customers but oh boy that one unhappy one....

[edinmass]

Peter……the package I was thinking of was a lower seat cushion for a 30’s classic. Probably 56x30x14 so a fair size. But not heavy. I got a quote to ship a 50x25x25 crate overnight from Florida to NYC last week….$4200. But it was 300 pounds. A direct Spirit flight with it as “luggage” was less than 600 for me and the crate each way. A good reason to fly to see the city for a weekend and save a boat load of money. It’s still shocking what shipping costs are today for even the surface packages. On every car restoration we do now, we figure 15k minimum just for shipping costs of chrome, paint, upholstery materials, ect. Like the 26 dollar omelette I have at the local diner today…….that is the spill over effects of living in a resort area. Same breakfast in mid Ohio on a tour last month was less than ten bucks.

[Peter Gariepy]

18 minutes ago, 3macboys said:

Hundreds of thousands of parcels a year go through the post office and we only hear about the very few issues that happen. 

1. Agreed, USPS success rate is remarkable considering the volume of packages.

2. "Hundreds of thousands" is a little short of the actual number.  USPS delivered 127.3 billion pieces of mail in 2022. To put that in perspective, thats 350,000,000 packages per day or 250,000 per minute.

 

FYI:  USPS is completely self-supporting agency, and takes virtually no money from the federal government. The USA is lucky to have it!

[edinmass]

Interestingly, USPS overall is more reliable for on time or early delivery than FedEx. Worst issue with FedEx……if you overnight package is going to be late…..they will lie and say they attempted a delivery and “no answer”. Well, we have video of the streets in front of our shop, and can prove their BS. Three times in the last year they admitted the attempt was “fake”…….and my package was left at the warehouse. I could go on……as most people who ship every day also can. I have had much better luck dealing with USPS lost or missing things than FedEx or UPS. Big Brown seems the worst to deal with.

[Peter Gariepy]

8 minutes ago, edinmass said:

A direct Spirit flight

Did they let you keep the goggles?

[edinmass]

39 minutes ago, Peter Gariepy said:

Did they let you keep the goggles?

Yup……buy I was exhausted from flapping my arms!

[Grimy]

34 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Yup……buy I was exhausted from flapping my arms!

Flapping your jaws doesn't seem to tire you, my friend!

[leomara]

Yes, had this problem too.  However anything worth more than $100 gets insurance so if it does not get there the USPS, UPS or FedEx has to eat it, not me.  

[zepher]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

Interestingly, USPS overall is more reliable for on time or early delivery than FedEx. Worst issue with FedEx……if you overnight package is going to be late…..they will lie and say they attempted a delivery and “no answer”. Well, we have video of the streets in front of our shop, and can prove their BS. Three times in the last year they admitted the attempt was “fake”…….and my package was left at the warehouse. I could go on……as most people who ship every day also can. I have had much better luck dealing with USPS lost or missing things than FedEx or UPS. Big Brown seems the worst to deal with.

FedEx did the "attempted delivery" lie with one of my sites at work.

It was a delivery of over $6k worth of network patch cables for a million dollar plus network equipment project we just started.

The location is a school so they figured they'd lie and say the school was closed for winter break.

Problem for FedEx is the on site warehouse has been open every day with normal delivery hours.

Our cameras showed no FedEX truck ever pulled up to the gate on the date they claimed to have attempted delivery. 

[39BuickEight]

There is a good chance it was actually delivered.  I’ve sold a lot on eBay over the years and twice this has happened.  It says out for delivery forever but was actually delivered.

[JACK M]

I tracked a small part from Chico CA to my place here in Oregon.

It went from Chico to Sacramento, then to Portland, then to Seattle, then back to Portland. Then to New York, then back to Portland, then back to Seattle. Then back to Portland then out to deliver.

Kind of a long out of the way trip, I received the package the day before the race, just under two weeks. Chico to Newberg is less that 500 miles.

No reason it should have been routed thru Seattle twice let alone that NY jaunt.

This was USPS.

Oddly enough, the part was advertised as being one day UPS to me. The reason I paid extra.

 

If anyone cares, last night my grandson was second fast qualifier and finished his main in third.

We run an inverted lineup so that means he started 12th.

[John_S_in_Penna]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Worst issue with FedEx……if you overnight package is going to be late…..they will lie and say they attempted a delivery and “no answer.”

39 minutes ago, zepher said:

FedEx did the "attempted delivery" lie with one of my sites at work.

I have caught Federal Express lying to me, too--twice.

They delivered packages to my home address, but instead

of bringing them to the door, as usual, they left them along

the country road at the end of my long, wooded driveway,

where I couldn't see them arrive.  And the driver's tracking

of delivery said they were delivered to the front door.

 

I don't accept lying, deceit, dishonesty.  I reported each case.

[Fordy]

I have put it up here before but 12 generator brush springs US to Australia - regular with no priority or insurance cost me $85US. To put that in perspective if I stuffed myself into a crate and flew in the cargo hold, and they charged gram for gram the flight would be around the $500,000 mark.

Stopped buying from non-domestic vendors since then unless they tell me what I am getting charged to ship up front. 

Steve

[marcapra]

Happy ending to this.  It turns out the customer just replied saying he got the sun visor, but was out of town for several days.  Looks like it was an error of the mailman for neglecting to mark the item Delivered.  

[dodge28]

This is how things work with USPS and Canada post . If I mailed an article from Toronto to Niagara falls New York , just 2 hours away, the parcel goes to Misisagua sorting station, then sends it to California Center , Then to the distribution in South Carolina. The Post Office will say 5 business days and charge for that service but 10 days later the tracking number will say out for delivery.   (not actual cities, just an example)

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

I decided to do a major clean out and downsizing of my spare parts this year. I have mailed out, via USPS, 32 packages. Not one problem whatsoever. Several were mailed in December when I told buyers to expect delays. No complaints from buyers about delayed delivery.

[jpage]

You never know! last year, a local policeman found several UPS boxes lying along a local road. One of them happened to be addressed to my daughter-in-law. The officer kindly delivered the package for her. What I don't like is that many the delivery folks, from all the different companies, have a bad tendency just to leave packages lying on porches out in the open when no one is home! Not a real problem here, but in some locations, they'd be gone in a heartbeat! I'm not sure there is any recourse on theft if the package is marked delivered.

[Angelfish]

Back in the dark ages I sold a lot on ebay.  No news is good news, if the buyer didn't say anything I sure wasn't going to chase them down and ask. 

[TAKerry]

I dont sell parts but ended up with a lot of spares I have been getting rid of. I always use fed ex or ups never the post office. Never had a problem. My local post office stinks so I avoid it if possible. I have a pretty good mail depot locally, he measures the package and gives me shipping options. Most of the time fed ex comes in the cheapest. I shipped a part to be refinished and that supplier said he only uses ups because fed ex is so bad. So I think it depends on your area as to who handles things the best. I recently got an envelope package of clips from Australia to MD in 7 days. I thought that was crazy!  All in all mail is pretty good here. There was a guy on another forum that lives in S Africa, he said when he orders something he considers himself lucky IF it shows up. Not when!

[AzBob]

Regarding high prices of shipping, why is it I can order a steel 11" x 12" x 54" 72 lb. gun safe on Amazon with a price discount and free shipping? This is standard shipping without Amazon Prime.

[Peter Gariepy]

10 minutes ago, AzBob said:

Regarding high prices of shipping, why is it I can order a steel 11" x 12" x 54" 72 lb. gun safe on Amazon with a price discount and free shipping? This is standard shipping without Amazon Prime.

 

Come on Bob.  I bet you already know the answer.

Amazon bakes the shipping price into the product.  

[AzBob]

42 minutes ago, Peter Gariepy said:

Come on Bob.  I bet you already know the answer.

Amazon bakes the shipping price into the product.  

Thanks Peter, I didn't know that. Still, initial prices seem low to start with.

[JACK M]

1 hour ago, AzBob said:

 Still, initial prices seem low to start with.

Exactly why I use Amazon so often.

Their own shipping system and several HUGE warehouses fairly close to me.

Oh, easy no questions asked on most returns.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1 by JACK M (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

I ordered something not too long ago and they offered free shipping. I could pay something stupid like $20 for 2 day shipping. I didnt need it that bad so I stuck with the free. I still got the package in 3 days.