# Why the hell even bother with internet tracking USPS. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878 "2010-12-03T23:39:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/1 "2010-12-03T23:39:19Z")
Why they hell are my tax dollars going to support this “process”? Has anybody in the history of time ever actually had anything show up on their website before it was delivered? If you are going to claim package tracking, then allow me to track my fucking package. I live alone, I don’t sit waiting by the mailbox, I am at work. If I have something really important coming, I need to figure out when so I can slip out of work to get it. Their commercial brag on package packing, but they don’t use. I feel like Seinfeld at the car rental counter. I don’t think they understand the tracking number. Anybody can give a tracking number, the key to the whole thing is to actually track the package. ---
**Author:** ![Shoujin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoujin/32/3884_2.png) [@Shoujin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoujin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/2 "2010-12-04T00:35:32Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Why they hell are my tax dollars going to support this “process”? As a Letter Carrier, it always makes me chuckle when someone comments on their tax dollars funding my employment. Your tax dollars haven’t funded any USPS actions for over 35 years. :smack: Now, tracking your delivery confirmation parcel shouldn’t be difficult. If it is, then someone along the way isn’t doing their job, in which case your ire is justified. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/3 "2010-12-04T00:57:07Z")
Forget package tracking…how about package delivery? I ordered a comic book the first week in October that was supposed to ship USPS; it has yet to arrive. Yeah, the company was great about replacing it…but from now on I’m using UPS or FedEx for shipping. I’ll pay a lot more, but at least the package will get here! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/4 "2010-12-04T01:02:13Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Forget package tracking…how about package delivery? I ordered a comic book the first week in October that was supposed to ship USPS; it has yet to arrive. C’mon, the postal workers just aren’t finished reading it yet! (Yuk yuk yuk.) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/5 "2010-12-04T01:07:13Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Why they hell are my tax dollars going to support this “process”? They’re not. > [@wolfman](#): > > Their commercial brag on package packing, but they don’t use. Is English your first, or even second language? > [@wolfman](#): > > I feel like Seinfeld at the car rental counter. You sound more like Costanza at his parents’ place. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/6 "2010-12-04T01:16:12Z")
I approve of this pitting. The usps package tracking is completely useless. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/7 "2010-12-04T01:17:25Z")
USPS is no longer federally funded by tax dollars, but that has been covered. I believe the OPs ire lies in the fact that while the USPS touts “package tracking” as a feature, what it really amounts to is delivery confirmation. Whereas UPS will trace the package’s journey from pickup to transfer stations to your doorstep, USPS merely tells you when the package was delivered. So to the OP I suggest using UPS, which really isn’t that expensive, or have your package delivered to work. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/8 "2010-12-04T02:31:32Z")
I just looked online to see the tracking of a package that was supposed to be delivered today. It says it is delayed because it was “mis sorted”. That’s just fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/9 "2010-12-04T09:37:12Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > USPS is no longer federally funded by tax dollars, but that has been covered. > > I believe the OPs ire lies in the fact that while the USPS touts “package tracking” as a feature, what it really amounts to is delivery confirmation.\*\* Whereas UPS will trace the package’s journey from pickup to transfer stations to your doorstep\*\*, USPS merely tells you when the package was delivered. So to the OP I suggest using UPS, which really isn’t that expensive, or have your package delivered to work. As will FedEx and DHL. So why can’t the USPS buy the same software one of the private carriers use? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/10 "2010-12-04T10:26:36Z")
Weird, I tracked my packages through Amazon just fine. Does the Amazon connection do something different or something? ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/11 "2010-12-04T11:25:08Z")
The USPS tracking system is useless. It has never worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/12 "2010-12-04T11:59:55Z")
last time I had a package sent USPS, the tracking said it was already delivered… but I didn’t have it. I went to the post office to ask about it, and the guy said that’s normal, it happens all the time, it probably means it arrived there and was waiting to be delivered and to give it a few days. Sure enough, it finally showed up two days AFTER the tracking said it had been delivered to me. Between that and how much longer it took to get it (over a week when UPS is usually 2 - 3 days) I don’t use USPS anymore… It’s worth the extra money to use a real shipping service. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/13 "2010-12-04T12:44:43Z")
My experience has been that the tracking updates will tell me my package has been delivered 2 or 3 days after the fact. I just quit using that service - it seemed like a waste. Not that I ship much any more… ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/14 "2010-12-04T13:57:10Z")
I lost three packages last winter because my mail carrier randomly decided that I didn’t live at my address anymore, and returned them without ever trying to deliver them. WTF? Package tracking was indeed useless… since they were never delivered, NOTHING ever showed up in the tracking information. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/15 "2010-12-04T16:06:38Z")
I think USPS is awesome. Priority mail rocks and Click 'n Ship is much easier to use than UPS or Fed Ex’s software. I have sent hundreds of packages that way and have been quite happy with it. I think y’all should go back and drink some tea. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/16 "2010-12-04T21:18:40Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > As will FedEx and DHL. So why can’t the USPS buy the same software one of the private carriers use? It is my understanding that they do, however; they don’t take the time of effort to utilize it correctly. UPS’s distribution system is set up so they can scan the package at each step. It is my understanding that USPS doesn’t do this because they don’t have the processes in place and/or doing so would actually increase the time it takes to ship the package. > [@Sattua](#): > > I lost three packages last winter because my mail carrier randomly decided that I didn’t live at my address anymore, and returned them without ever trying to deliver them. WTF? Package tracking was indeed useless… since they were never delivered, NOTHING ever showed up in the tracking information. This happened to my neighbor. He didn’t pick up his mail for a few weeks and the carrier decided he didn’t live there anymore so his carrier decided he didn’t live there and all his mail was designated as “return to sender.” He didn’t mind because he is one of those ‘live off the grid’ type of personalities. > [@sh1bu1](#): > > I think USPS is awesome. Priority mail rocks and Click 'n Ship is much easier to use than UPS or Fed Ex’s software. I have sent hundreds of packages that way and have been quite happy with it. I think y’all should go back and drink some tea. USPS is indeed awesome. I too am very happy with their services and prices. What we’ve found here is that their tracking system isn’t really tracking the package but rather confirming delivery. And apparently it doesn’t confirm delivery to your house, but rather at the local distribution center. If USPS loses a package between the origin and the destination they will have no way of telling you where it went lost. UPS, FedEx,et.al. can narrow down where the package went missing. Also, with UPS at least, their insurance and procedures for reimbursement in the event of a lost package are much more friendly for you than USPS. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/17 "2010-12-04T22:37:56Z")
Yesterday, at about 10:30 a.m., i sent a small package by USPS Express Mail from San Diego to upstate New York. This morning when i got out of bed, i checked online for the status of the package, and the USPS website ave me details of the package’s departure from San Diego and its arrival in Syracuse. A few hours later, another check told me that it had arrived in Utica, and was out for delivery. It was delivered at about 2:00 p.m. Eastern. All recorded and updated on the website. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/18 "2010-12-05T10:09:24Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > IWhat we’ve found here is that their tracking system isn’t really tracking the package but rather confirming delivery. That’s because unless the package was sent via Express Mail, then all you can get is **Delivery Confirmation**. That’s the name of the service. If you look on the little green and white receipt that has the “tracking” number on it, it says “_Delivery_ Confirmation” right at the top. Only Express Mail, which is handled differently, is eligible for point to point tracking, but USPS counter workers routinely sell Delivery Confirmation on Priority Mail and Parcel Post by calling it “tracking.” Every bit of training and documentation says that they should not but they do it all the time anyway. (Small consolation, if they do it when they’re mystery shopped, which happens twice a month at non-rural USPS stations, they lose points on the assessment.) It doesn’t help that on the website, the box where you type in the Delivery Confirmation number for non-Express mail and the Return Receipt number for Express mail are the same box, with the misleading label “Track & Confirm.” Poor showing there, USPS. But in any case, rather than pitting the entire postal service, pit the employee who tried to sell you something that the USPS just doesn’t offer for the type of mail that you sent. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/19 "2010-12-05T10:52:04Z")
USPS workers have breached federal law TWICE to my parents. I sent a package priority mail. It arrived a week later than it should be, and the contents had been replaced. Instead of the presents I had gotten them in Brazil, they got an English-Spanish dictionary and a can of chili peppers. That was 3-4 years ago. Just a few weeks ago, my sister sent them some DVDs by regular mail. Instead of the DVDs, they got a cheap tape recorder. The problem is, under USPS rules, it is up to the receiver to be mainly in charge of the complain. My parents don’t want to create a fuss, so they won’t do much. My sister and I, OTOH, want to prosecute the scum who did that. We’d rather have our stuff stolen than have someone deliberately steal it and replace it with something else, as a prank. They can stuff the chili can and tape recorder up their… well… enough. That aside, I usually like the service they offer. Except for some reason, the branches closest to me won’t accept cards (either debit or American Express). Only cash and check. What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878/20 "2010-12-05T17:24:02Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yesterday, at about 10:30 a.m., i sent a small package by USPS Express Mail from San Diego to upstate New York. > > This morning when i got out of bed, i checked online for the status of the package, and the USPS website ave me details of the package’s departure from San Diego and its arrival in Syracuse. A few hours later, another check told me that it had arrived in Utica, and was out for delivery. It was delivered at about 2:00 p.m. Eastern. > > All recorded and updated on the website. You sent this Express Mail. I worked as a postal clerk for 3 years in college. Express mail is the ONLY category of mail where the package is tracked and logged at every stage of the delivery process. It comes in special sealed postal bags with logged numbered tags, and all packages are logged at each step. If I am sending something USPS and I NEED to make sure it get there, Express is the only way I send it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-even-bother-with-internet-tracking-usps/562878.md?page=2)