Update 12/31..USPS just shipped my package 2800 miles away in the wrong direction!

ITDEFX

ITDEFX

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Not a deal or brag but my local USPS has been pretty good over the years with me being in and out of the PO within 10 minutes and the packaging arriving with no real problems.

The other day I sent out two dozen 4x6 pictures from an event last year with the pictures on CD just in case they wanted more. Paid about 6 bucks to have it shipped, DC and arrive by Saturday at the latest. It should have taken two days to reach it's in state destination, which is about 2 counties away. I checked the status online and guess what? It would seem that it got shipped out to FEDERAL WAY, WA 98003 when the actual zip code I sent it to was 22630.

So how can this be fixed? According to the web site it was processed and left at the Federal Way station in Washington State as of the 28th.

Do you think the PO will give me credit for this mistake? I can reburn the cd, and reprint the pictures so that's no biggie.
 
They usually don't sent out something from the initial facility (where you shipped from) until they have a sufficient amount packages. This way, they save money. That's why cheaper methods tend to take longer and they sometimes tend to move in funny ways.

Believe it or not, they actually don't have a direct connection to each and every city all the time no matter how close. So even if it's close by, it might have happened because your PO happened to have a plane leaving to that WA location the next day and that WA location has a plane leaving for where ever you were sending the pictures to the day after.

That's how the USPS works.
 
Yeah I once had a package go from Pennsylvania to Connecticut to New Jersey to Massachusetts to Rhode Island that originated in New Hampshire :whistle2:# .
 
[quote name='Vinny']They usually don't sent out something from the initial facility (where you shipped from) until they have a sufficient amount packages. This way, they save money. That's why cheaper methods tend to take longer and they sometimes tend to move in funny ways.

Believe it or not, they actually don't have a direct connection to each and every city all the time no matter how close. So even if it's close by, it might have happened because your PO happened to have a plane leaving to that WA location the next day and that WA location has a plane leaving for where ever you were sending the pictures to the day after.

That's how the USPS works.[/QUOTE]


You know I was actually thinking this as well. They might have done it like a connection flight. I can understand if I shipped it at the cheapest, slowest way possible, but when you pay for 2 day shipping and they are suppose to get it there by Saturday. I would never have thought they would send it 2800 miles across the country , then ship it another 2800 miles back. If it has been processed by the Federal Way Station in Washington, wouldn't that have sent up a flag saying this thing is not suppose to be here and would be sent back instead of holding for several days. :(

Wow, my USPS at work. I will be going to the PO I sent it from tomorrow and see what can be done. Glad I didn't send a check or a valuable package because then I would have lost it :(

Not angry..just surprised that's all.
 
[quote name='FeNoM91']That's a big mistake. Have you called them yet?[/QUOTE]


Tried to but all I get is the automated system and no operator :(
 
[quote name='davo1224']Yeah I once had a package go from Pennsylvania to Connecticut to New Jersey to Massachusetts to Rhode Island that originated in New Hampshire :whistle2:# .[/QUOTE]

What was it's final destination ?
 
they really screwed up big time. it they cant retrieve the package (if they try anyways) then its covered under their insurance upto $50 i think. it happens alot during the holidays. i think some employees are so dumb thats why you cant have any logos or bar codes or anything cause of their fear of losing track of the package.
 
[quote name='phear3d']they really screwed up big time. it they cant retrieve the package (if they try anyways) then its covered under their insurance upto $50 i think. it happens alot during the holidays. i think some employees are so dumb thats why you cant have any logos or bar codes or anything cause of their fear of losing track of the package.[/QUOTE]


It's not really a big loss financially, but more of loss in gas, time, and a few bucks.
I would like it to be sent to it's destination soon.
 
I've had packages I sent that were intended to go to NY state go to Philadelphia(2 hours to the south of me), then out to north central NJ, then get 'stuck' for 2-4 days and FINALLY arrive at their destination after a week or more.

And, right now, I'm waiting for a package from a Goodwill in Buffalo, NY containing games that I won from an auction on Shopgoodwill.com. However, the quickest route is NOT a straight line according to the USPS, since my package has bounced to Swedesboro, NJ en route to here and will probably be stalled due to New Years, so I'll probably receive it by weeks end.

I just don't get how hard it is to send off stuff that's going in a direct path TO its destination without bouncing all over fuckin creation.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']What was it's final destination ?[/quote]

Sorry it never actually went through New Jersey. I got it confused with New Hampshire.

I live in RI. I did however find it amusing that a package essentially took a brief tour of New England before getting to me.
 
i know if i get a package mixed in with packages i am delivering it gets sent back to the distribution center the same day...and if not then the very next day at the latest, mistakes do happen and of course it depends how you send it as well...

and dont forget we are talking thousands of packages coming and going daily at these facilities so mistakes do happen
 
That reminds me of how shipping from Walmart works... They do the UPS mail innovations or whatever, which basically means they ship my package from somewhere in Ohio down I-40, straight through Knoxville down to Atlanta and then ship it back to me in Knoxville. Totally efficient.
 
Well, I've had some packages go from western Kentucky to Louisville to Chicago to Long Beach, CA to Westminster, CA before.

All of the above makes sense but the Louisville part. Louisville is about 3 hours EAST of here. @_@

My westbound packages usually spend a night in Evansville first.
 
I will give you guys an update on what the PO says when I speak to them about how a small package, with DC and two day delivery to a destination about 30 miles away can somehow be shipped 2800 miles away across the country. Here are the excuses I expect to hear:

-It's the holidays and things get sloppy around here (even though Christmas was two days earlier).

-Human Error.

-It's more cost effective to do it this way to save us (the PO)money.


UPDATE: I just checked the status before I was about to log off... guess what??!?! Now the package has returned to a near by PO as of 1:32am!! So it's back in the area. At this point I see it getting delivered by Wednesday at the latest...so my 2 day delivery has now become a six day delivery. :(
 
One has to wonder though....wouldn't it have been more cost effective in the end to just drive the 30 miles and hand deliver the package? I mean, seriously, aside from greeting cards for Christmas, if I have something I have to get to friends in the next town down from me(20 miles away), I'll simply hand it to them when I'm down that way.

It seems that with the trek your package has taken, it would've been easier to simply drive the pictures and cd there.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']One has to wonder though....wouldn't it have been more cost effective in the end to just drive the 30 miles and hand deliver the package? I mean, seriously, aside from greeting cards for Christmas, if I have something I have to get to friends in the next town down from me(20 miles away), I'll simply hand it to them when I'm down that way.

It seems that with the trek your package has taken, it would've been easier to simply drive the pictures and cd there.[/quote]

Yeah, this to me seems totally like a USPS error most definitely. Yeah, for me the round trip 30 miles would have cost me about $6 is gas so I would have done that...but if you are driving some big huge 4x4 or something then the gas cost could have been upwards of $12, in which case I would just mail.

On the other hand, I have mailed things to people very near to me before...but this was because I didn't want to see them in person...
 
I don't know, I guess my older car must get better mileage than many other CAGs vehicles do, since I've routinely driven to a neighboring town about 20 miles away for a quick day trip and still had 90-95% of my gas easily.

For me, 30 miles is like nothing basically, but I can understand not wanting to travel even that far in states with higher than average gas prices.

For example, I know when I'm going up to NY state, to expect their gas prices to be at LEAST 20-30 cents over what ours is, which is why I rarely make a trip to NY state for anything other than business anymore.

What I still laugh at is the fact that the USPS sent my package from Goodwill about 400+ miles from its point of origin, to a facility in NJ, which then means that the package has to travel about 2 and a half hours to get to my area.

The package is going almost 600 miles, when it could've gone half that and been to my house already probably.

Understanding the PO is like understanding women at times(no offense to the CAGs on here who are women), in that you're just sometimes better off not even trying to figure out wtf they're thinking.
 
The Post Office has it's ways. I know some of the major hubs for them and your packages will eventually run through them in a weird manner. I have a package that originated from Phoenix, AZ only to go to the East coast first before coming back to my destination just north of Los Angeles, CA. I just happen to be lucky with UPS due to on of there hubs being no more then 7 minutes from my house.
 
I am amused by this thread simply because I live near Federal Way, Wa. (work there, actually) so all my mail gets routed through there.

If it makes you feel better, I've gotten mail from Virginia before.
 
Ok I went to the PO where this all got started at. Talked to a Korean lady named "Young". When I asked how my package which had a destination of about 51 miles ended up across the country, the lady replied "Which country?" I was like oh my god and responded, "this country we live in.." Half the stuff I have no idea what she was talking about because it was hard to understand in the first place. She claimed she talked to a supervisor and couldn't tell me why. When asked if the new PO it was sent to early this morning was in the same district as the destination address, she said yes, but I checked online and there is no way that PO could cover a 50 mile radius to reach it's destination. Checking USPS online I found where it was suppose to go to.

When asked how could this have happened again, she said it was a computer error or someone typed in the wrong numbers. I could understand if the las two digits were off, but the entire front end of the zip code was way off 9x vs 2x.

Wow, just wow. They also claim they don't guaranty delivery with DC :( Oh well I was just trying to be nice to a friend of mine. Seriously good thing this wasn't something expensive because god knows where that thing would have ended up in.
 
what is it that you dont understand about a package being misshipped?...and there is only a guarantee with certain services and DC is not one of them
 
Well, I got my package today. Sorry to hear that yours may still be in limbo, ITDEFX.

I gotta say, that for $34, I lucked out, even though half or more of the PC games are for Win 95/98. LOL
 
[quote name='Jedi1979']what is it that you dont understand about a package being misshipped?...and there is only a guarantee with certain services and DC is not one of them[/QUOTE]


No I understand what was going on, which was "we don't know what the fuck happened"..it was how she was saying it since her English wasn't good and it was hard to understand :( Looks like it still stuck at that other PO and hasn't moved. :(
 
The most likely answer is it was caught in one of the postal containers and people were too lazy to pull it out or didn't notice it stuck on the bottom there. Since the containers are sent back as empties and used all over the country they can end up anywhere. It can be even worse than that if it was a regular envelope. Those are the worst when they are missent. Because they get a bar code sprayed on that will make that piece of mail continuously get sent to the wrong place until someone in that office is diligent enough to black out the black bar code on front and the red/pink one on back.
 
That sounds like what was happening with what appeared to be a Christmas card we kept getting resent back to our house, crowbb. The street was the wrong one, but the house # was correct. Apparently our mailman can't take the time to verify that the address is for OUR street before just plunking the mail in the box.
 
The V in VA probably looked too much like a W (or was it a printed address label?)

I had a package shipped in state take the same cross country trip to WA. Luckily the buyer was patient.
 
Don't they usually rely on the zip code for that exact reason? I think at the sorting centers they type in the zip code and that tells them where it's going. How did you send it? Priority?
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']Don't they usually rely on the zip code for that exact reason? I think at the sorting centers they type in the zip code and that tells them where it's going. How did you send it? Priority?[/QUOTE]


Agreed, it might have looked like WA instead of VA but they rely on the Zip Code. This had a DC on it with a barcode so whatever computer scanner should have know it was going to stay in the state of VA, but it didn't and left the state :( I forget how I sent it, but I was told 2 day delivery (then later I was told 3 days) for arrival on Saturday. There was a cheaper option and was told it would get there by Wednesday if I went that route but since I owed the guy package for quite sometime, I wanted him to get it asap. I checked the tracking today and it looks like it got there this afternoon. So basically I just paid the higher/faster delivery rate and got the slowest delivery possible. It should have arrived to it's destination by Monday at the latest since it was back in the state at almost 2 am in the morning that day.

At this point there is nothing I can do about it because it has been delivered so I am going to email my friend to see if he did get it.

:|
 
Yeah Priority is 2-3 days AVERAGE, it's not guaranteed. Express mail is the only USPS service that is guaranteed, and it's next-day and way more expensive.
 
I know i'm a few days late but my latest experience with the Post Office...

Delivered, December 27, 2007, 10:04 am, GLENDALE, AZ 85304
Arrival at Unit, December 27, 2007, 3:01 am, GLENDALE, AZ 85302
Processed, December 19, 2007, 4:49 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 15, 2007, 11:39 pm, CHATTANOOGA, TN 37421
Processed, December 12, 2007, 8:45 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 08, 2007, 10:47 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 07, 2007, 10:44 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, December 04, 2007, 8:40 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 02, 2007, 7:04 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, November 30, 2007, 10:11 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 29, 2007, 5:39 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, November 28, 2007, 12:17 am, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 27, 2007, 10:15 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 25, 2007, 4:19 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, November 23, 2007, 8:27 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 21, 2007, 6:37 pm, COPPELL, TX 75099
Shipment Accepted; November 17, 2007, 12:22 pm, PLANO, TX

keep in mind that's upside down... sent from on bottom... but i would have thought it got sent early enough for Christmas...
 
[quote name='makito']I know i'm a few days late but my latest experience with the Post Office...

Delivered, December 27, 2007, 10:04 am, GLENDALE, AZ 85304
Arrival at Unit, December 27, 2007, 3:01 am, GLENDALE, AZ 85302
Processed, December 19, 2007, 4:49 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 15, 2007, 11:39 pm, CHATTANOOGA, TN 37421
Processed, December 12, 2007, 8:45 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 08, 2007, 10:47 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 07, 2007, 10:44 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, December 04, 2007, 8:40 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, December 02, 2007, 7:04 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, November 30, 2007, 10:11 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 29, 2007, 5:39 pm, KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, November 28, 2007, 12:17 am, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 27, 2007, 10:15 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 25, 2007, 4:19 pm, [KNOXVILLE, TN 37950
Processed, November 23, 2007, 8:27 pm, PHOENIX, AZ 85026
Processed, November 21, 2007, 6:37 pm, COPPELL, TX 75099
Shipment Accepted; November 17, 2007, 12:22 pm, PLANO, TX

keep in mind that's upside down... sent from on bottom... but i would have thought it got sent early enough for Christmas...[/QUOTE]

er why was it going back and forth to TN??!?!?!
 
LOL Damn Makito, a month for a package to make it to its destination? That's messed up. I've had guide packages take 2 weeks before, but never a month and that was going the cheapest available rate too.
 
My mom sent me a FedEx package a few months back for my birthday. At first, they claim they just "left it at the door" (which would be absurd at an apartment complex). After calling many reps, we discovered it was delivered to someone in AZ or something.
 
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