[reichard]

I had a package shipped via Global Express Mail to an address in Switzerland. I regularly ship to Western Europe, and Switzerland i've shipped to many times.

The order was just over $640-US. I received a chargeback under the claims of fraud. I tracked the order -- it was delivered in INDONESIA! The USPS was equally curious how the package was destined for Switzerland but was "rerouted" to Indonesia.

I traced the IP to a netblock in Western Europe, had a CVV2 match, emial address verified, etc, etc, valid tele# to country. Nothing looked fraudulent on this one.

I have this case under investigation with USPS Inspectors so I can't say much more.

[drhall]

Please keep us updated on this re-route situation. If they can do it globally, then they can do it locally, too.

[tp]

We had a similar experience last month with an address of switzerland for the country but the remainder of the address being in Indonesia. Fortunately, the package was returned as undeliverable so we only lost the shipping cost. We used to see this with an address in Indonesia but using Malaysia as the country and these did get delivered so we took Malaysia off the list of countries we ship to.

[ningyoushi]

same thing happened to me. Country marked to Switzerland but Indonesian address. Same customer tried to do it again too. I should contact the Postal Inspector as well.

[reichard]

Ok, here's an update. After calling the USPS and filing a formal inquiry, I was told that I had to wait up to 30 days for a reply.

Much as expected, I received no reply. I called the 800-222-1811 number the the autoattendent said that my label# was stored offline, and it would be a few hours before it was available -- fine -- . So, I waited, called back, spoke my number, and "no additional info is available".

Round and around I go for two hours trying to get to a human. I call the local postoffice, and was told that I must call the 800# and no other "solution" exists.

I was told that Global Express Mail can and will be rerouted in the destination country if the recipient moved.

So it appears that I'm out of luck getting my insurance back as there is no one to speak to. I''ll give it another week and call Postal Inspections field office in Philly. What terrible service!

[Lightning2000]

Hi,
I had one unusal experience with Global Express where they couldnt deliver the parcel. It was eventually returned to me and they even refunded the cost of shipping. Surprising, I thought.

Having said that, the USPS customer service for international deliveries is indeed a joke. While they may be the cheapest means of delivery, they dont provide any proof of delivery nor can they tell you where it is in transit. You would think that afer all these years, they would have a foolproof method of delivery to certain countries whereby they could hook into a foreign postal service to see where the parcel was once it left their hands. I can understand that no one country uses the same tracking devices but cant they develop a software program where the foreign tracking delivery numbers can somehow be imported into the USPS system, and visa versa? Heck, we may be sending men to Mars soon, yet no one can seem to figure this one out yet!

On a separate subject, I did have a bad and good experience with UPS. Apparently, they lost a domestic parcel valued at around $100 during the holidays. They did all they could to locate the parcel and ask about its contents. Eventually, they sent us a check for the value of the item plus delivery costs. If this had happened with the USPS, I would still be filling out forms in triplicate even though they've now moved to a "for profit model." We also just signed a contract with UPS, which will hopefully reduce our shipping costs based on business volume. Unfortunately, the new rates cant be reflected in the Volusion UPS API shipping information so the customer doesnt get to see the lowered rates. I guess our only solution is to offer lower advertised shipping information on our home page whereby customers spending "X" on merchandise get certain shipping rates, "Y" gets a different rate, and so on. Another nightmare we'll soon have to grapple with. Anyone know of any other workarounds?

[tp]

We've had two EMS packages lost by USPS. Followed the procedures, filled out the paperwork, waited the 30 days, jumped through all the hoops and still never collected the insurance. USPS insurance is a joke - probably one of the biggest organized frauds goings. They make a fortune selling insurance and rarely pay out anything.

[Lightning2000]

Yeah, I've often heard how they rarely pay out anything if you purchase insurance and they cant locate the parcel.

Here's another one I never understood with them. Delivery Confirmation. First off, they're raised the prices for delivery confirmation (which UPS includes free-of-charge with their shipment, along with a copy of the signature of the person that took receipt of the parcel) to $.75 for Parcel Post and $.65 for Priority Mail parcels. To begin with, why is there a $.10 price differential between Parcel Post and Priority Mail delivery confirmations when they use the exact same paper and procedures? Second, why do they even charge this much for delivery confirmation when UPS does it for free? Moreover, the USPS tracking system blows big time when compared with the UPS tracking system, which shows you exactly where the parcel is at any given time. Essentially, we're paying the government more for a poorly run system.

I guess with all the lost revenue arising from emails vs. snail mail, they have to make up the revenue somewhere. I wonder which will go the way of the dinosaur first, newspapers or the USPS?

[ningyoushi]

Delivery Confirmation isn't a tracking method.

"Delivery Confirmation™ free with your order. Delivery Confirmation service gives you the date, ZIP Code™ and time your article was delivered. If delivery was attempted you will get the date and time of attempted delivery."

Delivery Confirmation is free if you use an electronic shipping service like Click and Ship. But yeah it's a government run system, we can't put a man on the moon but we can't find out if my customer in Arizona got his package on time.

[ritchey]

If you contact your local congressional office, you may get a better response from the USPS. For the couple of thousand packages I have shipped, I have only had 2 lost. Of course one of them I mailed for my Mother-in-law to her sister recently. The other was to an apartment a couple of years ago. Post Office Districts vary, so because of problems with one I drive a bit further to drop off at another one.

If you use stamps.com, endicia, or their own service delivery confirmation is free.

Stamps.com and Endicia also offer their own insurance.

Re-routing is a problem, which is why a previous company I worked for (Billion Dollar Computer Reseller) would not give out tracking information. They had problems with FedEx and UPS, where items would get re-routed enroute.