# Package delivery service tracking **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381 "2025-09-25T15:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/21 "2025-09-25T20:16:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nothing. You are SOL. Lol, I suspected as much. It’s just weird they even have the option for the recipient to file a claim. Do they just take a look, close it, and say “Sorry, please contact the seller instead”…? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/22 "2025-09-25T20:17:37Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Do they just take a look, close it, and say “Sorry, please contact the seller instead” Mostly. YOU are not their customer, the shipper is. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/23 "2025-09-25T20:19:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > YOU are not their customer, the shipper is. Yep, I understand that (and told the OP as much), but why does FedEx explicitly say this: > [@Reply](#): > > Recipients: Contact the merchant to request a replacement, ask them to file a claim for you, or **file a claim on your own.** In the same breath as telling them to contact the shipper, they also say the recipient can file a claim directly. Why encourage them unless there’s some point to it…? Wastes everyone’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/24 "2025-09-25T20:24:54Z")
Out of curiosity, I tried to go partway through the process: [![](https://fightingignorance.org/4c7cdd96-b3e6-49e7-b2b9-e722f75f2704-eclaims-september-25-01-23-21-pm-2x.jpg) ](https://fightingignorance.org/4c7cdd96-b3e6-49e7-b2b9-e722f75f2704-eclaims-september-25-01-23-21-pm-2x.jpg) I used an old FedEx tracking number (from a successfully delivered package) and it gave me some nonsensical error. Not sure what would happen if you actually filled out a current tracking number with a package halted in transit… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/25 "2025-09-26T08:05:06Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Most credit cards have ways for you to dispute charges with the shipper if you never receive the item. This would be supported, in a case like the OP’s, by the information provided by FedEx. But if the seller has already offered to refund your purchase price, don’t do this – the credit card company will credit you and deduct it from the seller, and when the seller refunds you that amount will again go from the seller to you. So the seller will be out double the price of the object, plus that object is sitting in some FedEx location, unlikely to ever be returned to the seller. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/26 "2025-09-26T14:36:34Z")
Yes, very true. I was responding to a poster who said that “you” (the buyer) would be SOL if you can’t get a refund from the seller. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/27 "2025-10-01T05:07:12Z")
I presume FedEx can tell which truck the item went into (if that’s where it disappeared) I presume that’s the detail logged as “parcel left the facility”; and of course they have truck logs - when, where, any other issues like someone broke into it during a rest stop, etc. They just aren’t necessarily likely to share that detail level with customers or especially non-customers. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/28 "2025-10-01T20:18:41Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I don’t know what happens if you file the claim on your own. They tell you to f off, you’re not their customer. I know this from personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/29 "2025-10-02T02:05:07Z")
another thing to watch out for is when the seller says “shipped” but the tracking info only says “shipping label prepared”. Means the seller still has it. Which is okay for a day or so, but after that- inquire. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/30 "2025-10-08T16:15:00Z")
The package started out in California and for the last month has been sitting (according to tracking) in Utah. The seller sent a replacement through USPS and arrived 4 day after he notified me that it was shipped. The item was in a box the approximate size of a pencil box so it wasn’t like it was a really small package. Nothing on the package would lead someone to believe it was a high dollar item so someone would be tempted to steal it, it was a $20 car part. Oh well, I got my part and when I am bored I just may check the FedEx site just to see if it ever moves or ultimately disappears, or I finally get the package. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/31 "2025-10-08T17:08:00Z")
It probably just got lost… probably not worth your time to track down unless you were really, really curious 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/32 "2025-10-08T17:23:06Z")
When one of their trucks ends up in the canyon, do you think anyone bothers to try to collect all the stuff? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CyM2wqdKtvQ/maxresdefault.jpg "FedEx truck crash causes I-80 closure in Sierra") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyM2wqdKtvQ) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381/33 "2025-10-08T17:35:23Z")
Perhaps not, but I think their processes allow them to know which packages were in the trailer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/package-delivery-service-tracking/1023381.md?page=1)