What would you do? (AKA, would you worry USPS lost the letter?)

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.cheese.

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I recently placed an order with Sporting Arms Company in Texas for 3 items. They have 2 items from the order on hand, and have the 3rd on order. It's 2 rifles, 1 handgun.

I placed the online order itself on May 20. I gave them my CC# as a guarantee of payment so that they'd hold the items, but decided to use USPS money orders as that's how I typically purchase things via mail.

On the morning of May 21, I walked into the local USPS office. I paid for a little under $4,500 in USPS Money Orders via cash and after filling them out, placed them in an envelope that I had printed the address of Sporting Arms on via my computer along with a letter just reminding them what the money orders are for (my order number). The whole thing got mailed Certified Mail.

Here's the problem.

That certified letter with my USPS Money Orders for Sporting Arms in it mailed out on May 21, 2009 at 10:37AM.

It is now June 1. I have been tracking the letter. All it says for the status is "Accepted" as in, "USPS has it". Nothing about whether it's moved an inch, arrived anywhere, etc. Typically after day 3 I see online that either it was delivered, or a notice was left. Then in another 2 days or so, I receive a return receipt.

I'm a little concerned.

I called USPS today to see if they could track the letter via the certified mail tracking number.

No luck so far. Hopefully somebody will call me again tomorrow.

In the meantime - what should I do?

Keep watching the tracking page day by day tracking the Certified Mail number? Or... should I try to void the money orders and start all over? Can I even do the latter? I have the top stubs still for the money orders.

It's bad enough that I'm keeping Sporting Arms waiting on me for them to ship the items out, but it will be terrible if something happened to that letter and it walked off or got lost or something.

Am I wrong to think that the letter should have gotten there already?

ETA: I'm also posting this here b/c it always seems that when I have a problem, right around the time that I post in on THR, that problem disappears. Fingers crossed that THR does it's voodoo magic this time like it's done so many other times.
 
I sent a $1200.00 payment to a GB seller in LasVagas for a gun a few months ago, and I sent it priority mail with delivery/signature conformation (like I always do). He contacted me four or five days later asking where his payment was so I tracked it and just as you stated all I got was "accepted" at my post office. :scrutiny:
Then I began to get concerned so I checked every day for about four days with the same results, at this point I am very concerned, :eek: and the seller is thinking that I am a deadbeat bidder. :uhoh:
Finally ten days after mailing I checked the tracking site and it sowed that it had been processed at the Marion Washington center. :what:
It seems that someone put it on the wrong truck and it went to LasVagas by way of Washington state, it finally arrived at it's destination eighteen days after I mailed it and the seller got a good laugh out of the tracking info and the deal was finalized. ;) So I would keep checking and try not freak out yet, it is the postal service and they only handle about 120,000,000 peices of mail every day, it is a wonder they get half of it right not to mention the 99.7 success rate that the have, Good luck and I hope that it all works out for you.
 
So I would keep checking and try not freak out yet, it is the postal service and they only handle about 120,000,000 peices of mail every day,
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Fair enough. It just seems so odd that it's taking so long. Is there a time limit for me to take advantage of the USPS Money Order insurance each MO has? My only real concern about this whole thing is the money orders.
 
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Yes..I would be worried. However, I have had USPS orders arrive 2 to 3 months late, as they were simply routed wrong or were "lost." Now, given your situation, this is a bit more dire. I would continue hounding USPS regarding this MO and stress the important nature regarding the situation.

See if they will give you a timeframe of delivery, so to speak. If the delivery is not made and/or verified by a particular date, ask if the MO can be re-distributed and the old one voided (although, I have no experience with this so I cannot answer truthfully regarding the validity of such a process).

Regardless, I would be hounding USPS from here to h*ll and back, considering the amount of money at stake here. In the meantime, keep in contact with the "recipient" and make them aware of the issue and any progress relating to it. Just cover all of the bases here as best as you can.
 
One thing about USPS tracking. It always shows just 'accepted' until it arrives and is signed for. I have had this issue before. Why they can't track from point to point like the private companies is beyond me, but that's just the way it is. When I asked I got no answer, and was told that that's just the way it was. The also told me that it had to be (I think) 2+ weeks before they would consider it lost and replace the money orders.

Good luck.
 
The USPS can delay and/or lose stuff.
I had a payment mailed to me last year postmarked February 7...it finally arrived at my home on July 7th....from two states away....go figure.
I've had entire batches of packages disappear (12 packages mailed at the same post office at the same time).
I had OSU/Michigan football game tickets sent CERTIFIED and they sat in the post office itself for 6 days, then they were mailed to the next state over.
I had one package take 21 days to go 20 miles up the road. Another took 7 days to go 1.5 miles to the next post office over in my city.
I've even gone through four different post offices to try and minimize delays/loss, but all are the same. The USPS is not as reliable as it once was.
I avoid sending large amounts of money in the mail. Although, if you must, a USPS Money Order is at least THEIR concern....they will track it down for you. Been there, done that, also.
 
Actual tracking is the "beast in the night" for the USPS. They cannot and probably will not ever do it. They are technically incapable of it and it would show up their poor preformance with premium services. Some of their most important pieces of equipment use computers from a company that has been taken over twice and has been out of business for almost ten years. That being said, first class and bulk are a daily miracle given the volume.
 
I exclusively use USPS Priority Mail (with DC) for all my outbound shipments.
They have their faults, but it's been the most cost effective carrier
for me for almost a decade now.

A tip if I may.
When buying online, try to use your credit card as often as you can.
It offers you the most protection, in the event a deal goes south.
 
.cheese. said:
Is there a time limit for me to take advantage of the USPS Money Order insurance each MO has?
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Money order insurance? Never heard of such a thing, but you have 2 years to file a claim for loss.

As far as your ordered goods, I'm sure Sporting Arms Co. has seen this before. I suspect it's YOU that is the antsy party :neener:

It's not yet been 2 weeks. As mentioned, it probably got put on a truck to New York or something.


Patience is a virtue.
 
One thing about USPS tracking. It always shows just 'accepted' until it arrives and is signed for. I have had this issue before. Why they can't track from point to point like the private companies is beyond me, but that's just the way it is. When I asked I got no answer, and was told that that's just the way it was. The also told me that it had to be (I think) 2+ weeks before they would consider it lost and replace the money orders.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

These are the same folks who now run your banking system and most of the American Auto industry.

And soon your health care.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Go figure.

Fred

Stupid should hurt
 
If you sent by certified mail they should be able to find exactly where your envelope is, or where exactly in was mislaid, by the info that's contained in the numbers on your receipt.

You DO have the receipt? Without it your sorta' kinda' screwed.

The money order(s) itself is fine until cashed, but if it's cashed by anyone other than your intended payee then you'll have to get a claim started as quickly as possible.

Certified and registered mail are classifications that get much more careful handling than the normal first class mail, although first class mail is treated very carefully normally and their rates of successful delivery are really excellent.

I'd say that two weeks having elapsed is too long for you to be accepting an "Wait and see" sort of response for a piece of certified mail. You paid for better service than that, so go get it.
 
You DO have the receipt? Without it your sorta' kinda' screwed.
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I have all of the receipts. The little green certified mail receipt, the MO top stub receipts, and the receipt from the register at USPS. I put it together as a stapled package just in case. I didn't expect to have to use it at the time.

I went to the USPS store I mailed the whole thing from this morning. They had nothing to offer and told me to wait for USPS to get back to me again after I called again yesterday afternoon and started a new complaint because they closed the old one supposedly without having figured anything out.

I was also told by USPS that I should wait until the end of the week before I submit a claim and track the money orders to get a replacement.
 
If you sent by certified mail they should be able to find exactly where your envelope is, or where exactly in was mislaid, by the info that's contained in the numbers on your receipt.
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Almost. That's registered mail. Certified mail just provides a receipt proving you sent it, and optionally a return receipt proving it was delivered. Registered mail is logged at each location it's handled.
 
I sent a ham radio via USPS Priority Mail once and it was "misplaced" once for about a month. I was able to track it and it finally turned up at a sorting office for undeliverable packages. It took a LOT of work, but I finally got someone to physically find the package and send it off. It arrived in a different box than what it was sent in. My guess is that the label was mutilated (hence the different box), but the green tracking label was still good. I had covered the original shipping label with two layers of crystal clear packing tape, so something must have happened to the box itself. Now I put address labels on all six sides of the box. It finally arrived after a month of work on my part. Keep after them. Open up a case on it and call every day.
 
I called again and opened another case number because they keep closing my case without having had anybody call me or gaining any information at all. Haven't a clue why as that makes no sense at all to me.

They claim my case has now been upgraded to being handled by Consumer Affairs instead of Customer Service because I've called so many times. What's the difference between Consumer Affairs and Customer Service? I feel stupid asking.
 
USPS had an upper of mine I bought on here for 36 days. Sent priority w/ confirmation & insurance. It finally arrived last month.

The way it was explained to me is that while they CAN track package process, it's up to the station/employee to actually scan the box. No scan - no update.

Tried my local hub, main hub & originating hub - "we can't track it".


Then, I had something sent USPS to me last week, and it updated 3 times - "accepted at X", "arrived at Y (my city/hub)" and "Delivered".

It's 21 days until you can file an insurance claim, and 2-4 months before you'll see a check.

Don't lose hope though - there's a very real possibility it could turn up.
 
Unless it arrives tomorrow, I'm probably going to have to call Sporting Arms and tell them to hold the items until I have my permit to purchase in Minnesota. I was hoping to avoid that by having it shipped to Florida while I still live here, but I leave next Sunday.

Then again, if I have to wait 2 months should it be lost, I'll have my MN permit to carry by that time which doubles as a P2P.
 
Why does USPS get to charge me $5+ per money order to find out how badly they screwed up and/or to rectify the situation within 60 days?

Also, if anybody here is a regular customer at Sporting Arms in Lewisville, TX and knows the folks there, please PM me.
 
Now I put address labels on all six sides of the box.
Click to expand...

USPS once refused to mail a package because I had address labels on 2 sides. Clerk said that a handler might see the "backside" label where there were no stamps, and send it back for lack of postage. :rolleyes:

I sent a ham radio via USPS Priority Mail once and it was "misplaced" once for about a month... It arrived in a different box than what it was sent in.
Click to expand...

Helpful hint I read years ago recommended taping a label with return and destination addresses directly to the item being mailed just in case the box is destroyed. I always remember the hint as I'm leaving the post office. :eek:
 
Consumer Affairs called today. They are supposedly going to call the hubs the letter would have gone through as well as the post office it would have eventually arrived at to make sure it's not sitting there for some reason.

I don't expect them to find it.

They asked me if I suspected foul play. While I have about as much reason to suspect there has been no foul play as I do to suspect there has been foul play, I was honest when I told them that I find it coincidental that I've never had a letter go missing until I put over $4,000 worth of money orders in it. That seems somewhat coincidental, but maybe it's just that - a coincidence. I may never know.

To be honest, I don't care. I just want that money to get over to Sporting Arms already.... or back to me so I can figure out an alternative way to pay them. I'm worried that they're going to eventually charge my credit card because they haven't received payment via the mail, which will end up double charging me.

I emailed them yesterday and left a message with somebody via the phone today for Becky to call me, but I guess they're really busy. Hopefully I'll get a callback or email soon saying that they won't charge my credit card and will wait for this situation to clear up before doing anything.
 
Good news. According to USPS, they found the envelope and supposedly it got delivered today. Don't know how they got it there the same day they found it, and I haven't confirmed yet with Sporting Arms that they received it, but I'm hoping it's true. It took 2 weeks, but I'll take 2 weeks over having to pay USPS to file a claim, then waiting 2 months to be able to start all over with new money orders.

If it's true, that's fantastic. Just when I had lost all hope that they would find it, it worked out afterall.
 
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I've just completed my first two postal money order transactions. Both money orders arrived quickly, (one incomming and one outgoing) with little hassle. I like the idea of using a postal money order, in case there is foul play, I'm guessing (I don't know) if it becomes a felony for 'mail fraud'.

But, after hearing your tale, I would think that if I'm going to send that amount of cash, perhaps a cashiers check from a bank, and a FEDEX or UPS 2 day letter might be worth the $20 or so.

glad it worked out ok, (seems to have done so) but what a stressful few days!
 
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