Strange USPS occurrence...........
tennesseebanker
Posts: 5,433 ✭✭✭
Look at the tracking info below, The seller shipped the item June 1st. The item wasn't scanned until June 9th. The item was shipped in a Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope and made it all the way to Memphis about 100 miles from me. Three days after it made it to Memphis, it was apparently marked Return to Sender and sent back to the seller. The seller received the package back today and confirmed it had RTS marked on, but the package seemed fine with no damage.
What could have made the USPS send the package back to the sender ??
Service Type: USPS Tracking™
Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 10:48 am
Out for Delivery CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 9:43 am
Sorting Complete CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 9:33 am
Arrival at Post Office CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 4:44 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 13, 2014 11:19 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility MEMPHIS, TN 38136 June 10, 2014 2:09 pm
Depart USPS Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 10, 2014 3:28 am
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 9, 2014 7:47 am
Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 9, 2014 6:32 am
Electronic Shipping Info Received June 1, 2014
What could have made the USPS send the package back to the sender ??
Service Type: USPS Tracking™
Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 10:48 am
Out for Delivery CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 9:43 am
Sorting Complete CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 9:33 am
Arrival at Post Office CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 4:44 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 13, 2014 11:19 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility MEMPHIS, TN 38136 June 10, 2014 2:09 pm
Depart USPS Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 10, 2014 3:28 am
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 9, 2014 7:47 am
Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 9, 2014 6:32 am
Electronic Shipping Info Received June 1, 2014
0
Comments
postage could be one reason.
Or a bad or incomplete address would be another.
The reason should be marked on the package.
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Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>If I have to open a case against this guy will it affect the case if it shows the item as delivered even if it is to his address ? How many days do you have to open a case...30 ? >>
45. I believe for him to prevail in a INR case, it would have to show that the package is dlvd in same zip code as buyer. I know they do not bother with the exact address. It does seem rather odd by the tracking data--for an item to be returned to sender, there should be some indication of that. It almost seems like he addressed it to himself.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Looks like insufficient postage to me. Or shipping label damaged so it was undeliverable and RTS. >>
But, why would the USPS go so far as to deliver it within 80-100 miles of me and not go ahead and send it postage due ? Instead they send it 500 miles back across the country. Also, the seller e-mailed me this morning and said the shipping package was not damaged FWIW.
<< <i>He states in his auctions that once he leaves the item with the post office it is the buyers responsibility, and if the buyer wants insurance to contact him before mailing. >>
eBay would never honor this, no matter what he said.
Media mail could be part of the problem--you can't use it for mailing non-media (i.e. a card).
My guess is still insufficient postage. Outside shot at "busted misusing media mail". Unlikely but still possible: seller lying about damaged label due to improper packing.
In any regard, you are 100% fine. eBay is SUPER buyer friendly. You will NOT lose your money without getting the card. If you get to that point, post on these boards and a number of people can talk you through a series of unbeatable steps to get a refund. Until you get to that point, don't stress--it's not worth it to worry over nothing.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Media mail? That explains it--media mail packages can be inspected or opened at any point to verify that contents are bound printed matter. If not, it's RTS. That would explain why the package was returned to him. You can't use media mail to ship sports cards or memorabilia. He's lame to begin with for waiting 8 days after printing your shipping label to actually ship the item. >>
Since the item is Sports Illustrated magazine wouldn't media mail be sufficient ?
<< <i>
<< <i>Media mail? That explains it--media mail packages can be inspected or opened at any point to verify that contents are bound printed matter. If not, it's RTS. That would explain why the package was returned to him. You can't use media mail to ship sports cards or memorabilia. He's lame to begin with for waiting 8 days after printing your shipping label to actually ship the item. >>
Since the item is Sports Illustrated magazine wouldn't media mail be sufficient ? >>
No, SI contains ads. By definition, media mail covers bound printed matter with no advertisements.
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<< <i>Media mail? That explains it--media mail packages can be inspected or opened at any point to verify that contents are bound printed matter. If not, it's RTS. That would explain why the package was returned to him. You can't use media mail to ship sports cards or memorabilia. He's lame to begin with for waiting 8 days after printing your shipping label to actually ship the item. >>
Funny story about the only time I tried to use Media Mail to send out some comic books. I cut up some priority mail boxes to use as packaging on the inside of unmarked boxes to make sure the comics were secure. Send the packages out via media mail on a Monday. Wednesday I have a nasty letter left on my door from the local postmaster stating that they inspected the packages, were not happy with how I misused Priority Mail boxes and that they were being sent still to my customers but had now been marked as additional postage required on each one to make up for the difference in postage. Mind you I cut up a mix of medium and large flat rate boxes so the postmaster attempted to get me for large flat rate on each of the packages. Now no mention of comic books NOT being allowed to be sent Media Mail was mentioned (not allowed due to ads in them) just the fact that I misused the Priority boxes. What is annoying is that I had been sending out close to 20 packages a week during this time Priority Mail and one day the lady at the desk recommended after I told her what I was always sending out that I should use Media Mail instead and that no one in this office ever checks them, they just clear them all along.
Out of 6 packages 4 of the 6 were delivered without the mailman giving a dang about collecting extra postage from the destination even though they were marked up all ever stating not to deliver unless the difference was paid. The other 2 packages instead of being dropped off the mailmen left notices to pickup at the Post Office with postage due. One person paid the difference and the other complained and the lady at his post office just said here take it.
So out of all of this my local postmaster managed to collected for the USPS on only 1 of the packages.
EDIT: Forgot to mention as soon as I received the letter stating what the postmaster had done I reached out to all 6 buyers and explained the situation and that I would refund them the difference if forced to pay along with a full refund on the original shipping charges they had paid.
Yes - they told me you have "no reseptacle" meaning you have no mailbox. I can't believe that's true but I will return Mail 1st class priority so you should be expecting it in 2 to 3 days. It is a box which will not go in a mailbox. Wouldyou like me to mark something on the box to help with delivery? let me know thanks.
Here is the E-mail I sent back................
Obviously someone at your local Post Office is not taking their medication. First of all, if they would have looked at the address label they could have seen it didn't make it within 100 miles of my house. Second, I know I have a receptacle because I just finished mowing around it. I also check it everyday, and have received mail in it for the last 15 years. LOL. Thanks for sending it Priority Mail this time I appreciate it, looking forward to receiving it.
This guy comes off to me like a used car salesman.
Sounds like there might be multiple factors at work here all together in a single situation. Aside from what's been mentioned, thought I'd add that when you have a ship date / scan date discrepancy, usually the reason for that is that the seller printed the shipping label one day but didn't actually ship the package until the later date. Might not have anything to do with your case here, but it does come to mind whenever I hear ship/scan date problems.
<< <i>Look at the tracking info below, The seller shipped the item June 1st. The item wasn't scanned until June 9th. The item was shipped in a Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope and made it all the way to Memphis about 100 miles from me. Three days after it made it to Memphis, it was apparently marked Return to Sender and sent back to the seller. The seller received the package back today and confirmed it had RTS marked on, but the package seemed fine with no damage.
What could have made the USPS send the package back to the sender ??
Incompetence
Service Type: USPS Tracking™
Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 10:48 am
Out for Delivery CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 9:43 am
Sorting Complete CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 9:33 am
Arrival at Post Office CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 14, 2014 4:44 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 13, 2014 11:19 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility MEMPHIS, TN 38136 June 10, 2014 2:09 pm
Depart USPS Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 10, 2014 3:28 am
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility GREENSBORO, NC 27495 June 9, 2014 7:47 am
Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility CHARLOTTE, NC 28213 June 9, 2014 6:32 am
Electronic Shipping Info Received June 1, 2014 >>
The excuse is totally bogus, The fact that he now says he is sending it Priority Mail leads me to believe he got called out on shipping it Media Mail.
RTS with insufficient postage. Crazy thing is that I sent the exact same item the week before the same way and there were no issues.
https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/pdub1819/othersets/6204
<< <i>There's no way they know I don't have a receptacle because the package never went through my local PO. The last PO the package was scanned was Memphis, I live approximately 100 miles from Memphis.
The excuse is totally bogus, The fact that he now says he is sending it Priority Mail leads me to believe he got called out on shipping it Media Mail. >>
I agree, I think the seller was being cheap and trying to sneak a card through Media Mail, but got busted.
<< <i>Crazy thing is that I sent the exact same item the week before the same way and there were no issues. >>
This happens. I think items have to get pulled and weighed to prove they have insufficient postage. USPS can't do it for everything, so it's probably more like a random check of borderline items. A lot of times, it'll slip through and you won't even know that you didn't pay the right amount.
I had an item a few months ago get sent back for insufficient postage, but the thing was, I TOOK IT TO THE COUNTER AND THIS IS WHAT THEY ASKED ME TO PAY!!!!!!! Am I supposed to look at the total and say "Are you sure??" or maybe "I dont trust that you can do your job correctly, so would you please double check the amount of postage you say is correct!!!"
To me, if you pay for the postage AT the counter, it is a done deal. Maybe they undercharged you, maybe the scale was off, maybe gravity was in flux that day, but to say "That'll be $2.56" and then Send it back to me or worse yet, send it to the buyer with postage due on it, is just bad business.
For clarity: I know this isnt what happened to the OP, just a story about the USPS
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<< <i>If it was eBay shipping, I doubt it was insufficient postage and if label was damaged he'd probably have mentioned it. Very odd. >>
It is was eBay shipping, good chance it was insufficient postage from my experience. Their system doesn't seem to always take into account the extra charges the post office has now days. Like the extra zone fees. Or at times the package fee.
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