I’m expecting a package that I ordered online. The tracking link they provided showed that it had reached my local post office last Monday. But it hasn’t shown up here, nor have I received any notification to come pick it up (the apartment mailboxes are tiny, so most packages are held at the post office).
Last week, I went in to the post office to ask about it, and was told that they had no record of it ever being there. Obviously it was, at some point: Somebody scanned it for the tracker.
What do I do now? I suppose I can re-place the order, but that puts me out the cost. Is there any way I can get reimbursed by the USPS?
First step: Contact the sender. Often they will send out a replacement package as a courtesy. If not, they may be willing to trace the package from their end and figure out what has happened to it. The sender of a package, but not the recipient, can submit a lost package form to the post office. In general, I have found that I get much better customer service from the companies I order from than from the shipping companies/USPS.
Unfortunately, the USPS does not have a mechanism for reimbursing you if the package was not insured.
True story: Many years ago a package that my sister sent to me on Halloween went missing. Per the post office, I had her submit a lost package form. In April of the following the year, the package showed up at my door, along with a note saying that it had been found at the bottom of a supposedly empty mailbag.
Contact the sender. They’re the ones who are owed delivery by the post office, and who owe you whatever was in the package. The post office doesn’t really have much of an obligation to you here.
If the seller won’t do anything, contact whatever payment method you used.
If it’s not a large city Post Office you may get some help from contacting the Postmaster. He’ll get the word out that a package is missing and someone may find it or remember delivering it to the wrong address. I don’t have any experience with large Post Offices but I’d expect a less cooperative effort.
It’s the sender’s obligation that you get it. If it is lost in the mail, either he has to ship you another one or refund your money. If he doesn’t come through after a reasonable time, either contact the site he listed on (like Amazon or eBay) or your credit card company to have them reverse charges. Obviously you need to give the sender a reasonable amount of time to fix the problem first.
OK, thanks, I’ve contacted ThinkGeek.
GO back to your post office and talk to somebody in charge.
They scanned the thing after all, it’s got to be somewhere.
But if you ordered from ThinkGeek, it likely came UPS, not USPS.