I need USPS help please! No more updates.

Hello everyone! I need some help with a problem dealing with USPS shipping.

 

A friend in Sweden has sent me a package and it is somehow stuck in customs. It has been there since May 16th 2018 with no movement shown in tracking. I've called the USPS national number and gotten the runaround and my local PO can't tell me anything more than what tracking shows. It's infuriating to have that box sitting somewhere for weeks on end with no idea what's going on.

 

Does anyone here know someone who works in the USPS? Or know someone who knows someone? I need an insider of some sort to be able to cut thru all the red tape that customers get and actually get some type of info on my package.

 

If anyone can help me out, I would be eternally grateful. I can give you whatever info you need as far as point of origin, my address and info and the tracking number.

 

Please help!

 

 

 

Billy

I would suggest going to the USPS.com site, clicking on "Help" all the way to the right, and on the pull down menu select "Find Missing Mail". I've unfortunately used this three times in the past 8 months to get "lost" or "stalled" packages delivered with pretty good results.

Below I've detailed a recent incident.

 

Back in January I had an EMS delivery from Japan that came "signature required". It is too much work for the USPS delivery person (not the regular carrier) to actually ring a single apartment in a multi-apartment (130+ units) dwelling so the USPS frequently just leaves "pink slips". I immediately got online and requested a redelivery for the next day. After five days went by and having heard nothing, I went again to request a redelivery. This time a note came up saying that redelivery wasn't possible as the parcel had been returned to sender. Yeah, no second delivery attempt and sent back after only 5 days? Right.

Through the USPS "Contact Us" I was able to find out that tracking would continue till the parcel reached the sender. But the tracking hadn't updated and continued to not update for weeks so I was pretty sure it was just sitting on a shelf at my local carrier annex (If you like horror stories, look up Wicker Park Carrier Annex on Yelp).

Anyway, I went to the USPS site and filed a Missing Mail claim (Find Missing Mail on the Help pull down menu on the main page). I filled out the form as best I could and let them get to work. It was not over 3 weeks since the first "delivery attempt".

About a day and a half after filing the Missing Mail inquiry I got an email response:

 

From: eCustomerCare National

Subject: USPS Acknowledgement of Inquiry - Case HQ13XXXXXXX (KMM-lots of numbers and letters-M)

Date: 2/27/2018

 

This message is to let you know that we have received your inquiry at the Post Office.

After we review and investigate the information you have provided, we will contact you and work with you until the case is resolved.

Thank you for letting us know about this issue. We look forward to serving you.

Sincerely,

Your United States Postal Service

Ms Willliams

ECC COORDINATOR

 

Pretty much a form letter saying they got my inquiry.

SIX HOURS later I received another email from the same address/person:

 

I regret learning of the inconvenience you have experienced.

The Postal Service is aware of the frustration and disappointment caused when we do not live up to our commitment of safe and reliable mail service.

 

[based on the information given in the track and confirm system, I am seeing that this package status has not been updated as of 2/01/18, will speak with the carrier concerning this package and will follow up with the customer afterwards.]

 

An apology is no substitute for good service, but I want to offer one on behalf of the Postal Service. We appreciate your reporting this matter to us. It helps to know the kinds of difficulties our customers have so we can work toward improvements. The information you have provided will be shared with management as they continue their efforts to improve service performance in your area.

Thank you for the opportunity to address this matter with you. Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you.

Sincerely,

Ms Williams

 

The information written in the brackets was actually written by the sender (I didn't add the brackets). The rest was a "form letter".

 

Two days later my parcel was delivered. It had been sitting on a holding shelf at the carrier annex from January 30 till February 28.

Thank you for the information! I will try this out tomorrow and see what happens!

 

 

 

Billy

Along with the find missing mail on the website. You should sign up for informed delivery. It will let you know when you will get any kind of mail, including packages. Mine tells me via text and email. It also shows you photos of your regular mail, I guess they scan it or something. You can easily mark a check and tell them that you didn't get your mail. Every time I've had to use that, my mail showed up... Even letters that I thought I'd never get back.

 

I don't know anyone in USPS personally, but when similar things have happened to me... I email them, and then I keep calling until I get someone that cares about what I have to say and wants to help me. The only package I've ever had that was lost, or did not move, for as long as yours was a limited edition Hunger Games poster. I was devastated that it seemed to be in limbo. I kept calling, and eventually I got someone who cared about my problem. She called the last place that it was seen, I don't remember what it was but I think it was like an annex? I waited on hold for a while... Then she told me they found it, it had rolled off and was underneath something.

 

I hope you can find it soon... I'm not sure if I can help other than trying to annoy them with you, haha.

Is it possible that the tracking number has changed?

When it gets handed over to a different carrier, the tracking-number tend to change. And I do not think you get informed of that at all.

Unless you contact the carrier, I guess? So you should have been able to get some info. if you contacted USPS then...

 

I shipped a packet to Canada recently, and it never updated past the "has left country of origin" status.

But it arrived within the 1 to 2,5 weeks mark, as it tend to do when shipping to the US and Canada.

However... being stuck in customs for that long is a bit odd...

 

Could you perhaps ask your friend in Sweden to ask the local post-office to investigate? (and hope they are willing to...) Might be the push it needs. Or perhaps the customs form is not filled in right..?

 

Well, these are just suggestions. Hope it gets sorted out!

I'm seconding the "maybe it changed trackingnr" option. I recently shipped something to the USA. It arrived in the USA in the 24th of May and then no updates.

 

So today, I called our postal services and they told me that USPS had changed the trackingnr to something else. With the new trackingnr, I could see more and just now, my buyer said it had arrived.

I've never, ever heard of or seen this tracking number changing scenario in all my days of buying and selling from and to overseas. That makes no sense to me at all. Why would it change? NONE of the other packages I've EVER gotten from across the pond or from Japan or Australia have ever had that happen. ALL of the tracking numbers from the customs forms have always worked right up to the delivery to my home. If yall say it can happen then I guess it can but I have NEVER seen or heard of it before now.

 

Anyways, I've called the national number again today and sat on hold for 20 minutes. Got passed off to 4 different people and then after being on hold again, they hung up on me. I am so done with trying to call these a-holes. I'm going to try the thing K2 suggested and PRAY to the Dollie Gods that THAT has some type of effect on the situation.

 

Thank you to everyone posting here, I appreciate the info!

 

 

 

Billy

I just went thru all the crap of doing the process of filing the lost/missing mail thing TWICE and both times all I get it this message at the top of the screen in bright red:

 

 

 

Error: 500 - Error UNK404 - Internal failure. Request support for Error UNK404.

 

 

SERIOUSLY GUYS????? CAN YOU NOT EVEN HELP ME OUT A LITTLE BIT????

 

I swear, if I didn't really, really want what is in that package, I'd just give up now. I'm so mad, fed up and ticked off that I can barely see straight.

 

I need one bourbon, one scotch and one beer all crammed into my face at once by George Thorogood right about now.

 

 

 

Billy

I also haven't had tracking numbers change either.

 

If you want me to, I can try to submit the form for you and see if it would work for me. Just let me know if you want any help by PM. I'll be around

I don't know if it would be possible to find the customs center's own number, but if you can find it, perhaps try calling them?

A few weeks ago I had a parcel be sent to my street and number but a in different town. When I called the USPS national number it was no good. Then I found and called the number for the main USPS office in the town to which the parcel had been sent, and they were able to have it redirected to me. Similarly, someone actually at the customs center might be able to help you and check on it directly.

Good luck!

So here we go.

 

It seems that my inquiry DID go thru even with the error codes. I got NINE automated confirmation emails the next morning about it. LOL

 

Anyways, even tho I got confirmation that they received my message about the lost package, I have yet to hear back from them tho. So it seems K2 got very lucky that his emails got to someone who actually cares. Mine? Not so much.

 

Someone on Discord said a relative worked for the USPS and had them ask about it. They replied that I should check with my local PO and get them to give me a dobleepent showing no movement on the package and have them stamp it basically saying it's lost.

 

So that's it really. Unless someone else knows some back door into the system so I can speak to someone who gives a crap, I'm basically out on this. Yay.

 

 

 

Billy

Another actual update! Sort of.

 

I went to my local PO again this morning and talked to the manager there. He looked up the tracking number and said that as long as it is showing in customs, there's nothing we can do about it. It seems that customs is an entity unto itself and as such, the postal system is separate from it. Until the package is released into the actual mail system, there's nothing we can do about it but wait.

 

I told him about me putting in the missing mail thing and he said that I *might* get some type of reply on that but since it's a customs deal, I may not. He has no way of contacting them since they are outside of the mail system as far as management and such.

 

He also mentioned that things can get delayed for everyone when they find a suspicious or illegal package from a specific country. Meaning, if someone sent something they shouldn't have to the US from Sweden and customs found it, then customs will check EVERY package coming from there into the US for a preselected amount of time. That could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 MONTHS or longer. He said he's had customers have packages in customs for up to six months before they got released because of something like that happening.

 

So until customs gets off their butts, I'm in limbo. It sucks for sure but now that I understand the what and why of this, it does make it a little easier to wait. I'm just hoping the box didn't actually get lost instead of just tied up in package searches. If that happens I'm REALLY screwed....

 

I'll keep this updated if I learn more. A big thanks to all those who have offered help and information here, I do appreciate it!

 

 

 

Billy

Which customs office is it at? Some are better than others.

 

I've had terrible luck with the NYC and NJ ones, who move slow as molasses. I always cry a little inside when I see a package has ended up at one of those two, instead of Chicago or Los Angeles, because I know it'll be a while before I'll see my boxes.

Which customs office is it at? Some are better than others.

 

I've had terrible luck with the NYC and NJ ones, who move slow as molasses. I always cry a little inside when I see a package has ended up at one of those two, instead of Chicago or Los Angeles, because I know it'll be a while before I'll see my boxes.

 

It's the NY one of course. It seems they are notorious for being slow, annoying and worthless. >_< I just have to hold out hope that I will eventually get the package from them.

 

 

Billy

I went to my local PO again this morning and talked to the manager there....

At least it's nice to have some possible, credible information.

 

I hope the parcel drano gets the clog moving soon. Fingers crossed!

Any updates on the matter?

 

I just received a letter stating that I have to pay customs for a packet, with tracking number [some number].

I did not recognize the number, so I looked it up. Nothing. I am only awaiting one packet (which has not updated for a while), and the tracking number is not the same.

Went to pay the customs fee online, they show you images of the packet you are to pay for there too. And there they had put a new tracking number over the old one (I could just make out the last few numbers of the old one).

So as I wrote earlier, tracking numbers do get replaced when handed over to a different carrier, or, I guess, country. Without informing, really. (who is that supposed to help? If the packet gets lost, who has any info. about the new label? And how are you supposed to know whom to turn to?)

 

But I still do not know if this applies to your situation...

Just thought I should "strengthen my case", with a definite instead of a suspicion.

Nothing so far.

 

I've tried calling the main PO and the center in NNY but I always get the run around. I've left countless messages about the package and no one seems to care at all. I've never been called back, never gotten any email replies, nothing. Zip. Zero. And it completely ticks me off more than you can ever know.

 

It's not even the money or the items that is the issue to me now. It's the fact that US Customs is basically holding my package for unknown reasons and will not tell me why no matter what I try. That, or they have lost the package and don't want to tell me.

 

Either way I have no idea what's going on and it's infuriating that no one in the postal system seems to give a rats butt.

 

 

 

Billy

So I assume it's still showing as in customs, Billy?

 

Linda S.

galatia9

So I assume it's still showing as in customs, Billy?

 

Linda S.

galatia9

 

This is exactly what it says when I look up the tracking number on the USPS website either online or on my phone:

 

May 16, 2018 10:11am Inbound Out Of Customs

Your item cleared United States Customs at 10:11am on May 16, 2018.

 

Now you would think that meant that the package was NOT in customs anymore because it reads "cleared" customs but both people that looked it up for me at the local PO said that it was IN customs and therefore they could not do anything other than see what I saw on the tracking info page online. They said once customs releases the package THEN they could "see" it again and track where it was.

 

So with no way to really contact customs about this, I'm at a total loss. I really wish someone out there knew what I could do to remedy this situation.

 

 

 

Billy

There must be a way to reach customs in NY!!

 

Linda S.

galatia9

There must be a way to reach customs in NY!!

 

Linda S.

galatia9

 

Trust me I've tried. I've sent a few emails and called the only phone number I could find. Every time I call I either get hung up on or I play phone tag while on eternal hold. I sat on hold for AN HOUR one day until giving up.

 

 

 

Billy

This is what happens when you import all that dollieh contraband from those black listed countries. There are probably customs agents on their way to your house at this minute.

Walking.

From New York.

There are probably customs agents on their way to your house at this minute.

Walking.

From New York.

 

 

 

Joke aside... Again, have you asked your friend to contact the post office on their side? If its got tracking it should be insured, and maybe they could inquire about it being lost (to the main office perhaps), to get some sort of investigation moving..?

This is what happens when you import all that dollieh contraband from those black listed countries. There are probably customs agents on their way to your house at this minute.

Walking.

From New York.

 

I actually wish this were true because then I would KNOW that the package will actually arrive.

 

 

Joke aside... Again, have you asked your friend to contact the post office on their side? If its got tracking it should be insured, and maybe they could inquire about it being lost (to the main office perhaps), to get some sort of investigation moving..?

 

I have emailed him several times and he has not replied. He's been known to disappear for a while online but I haven't had him do it with me til now. I don't distrust him at all and I know he's sent the package. But I doubt he knows what's going on since I've gotten no replies from him.

 

BLAH. That's what I hate most, not knowing what the heck is going on.

 

 

 

Billy

As an update to this....

 

My friend did get back in touch with me and he has hit up his PO *several* times about this and had ZERO success. They basically told him that since it arrived in the US, there's nothing they can do.

 

So it looks like unless someone here knows someone who actually works for the US mail customs and can help me out, my package is lost to me and I'll never get it. At this point that's the outcome I've resigned myself to. I can't blame my friend, he's done everything right on his end. All I can do is silently suffer and curse the USPS on a daily basis.

 

 

Billy