I got this tracking update 25 hours ago.
What time zone do they live in? UTC+37?
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USPS sent one of my packages to Canada last week. It seems like Canada Post realised the obvious cockup and sent it right back the next business day.
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I suspect there may have been some confusion between CAnada and CAlifornia.
Also this was the last update I got from Canada Post before they sent it back to LA:
I love āverifying recipientās addressā. Thatās like the tracking message equivalent of āwait, what the hell is going on?!ā.
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Latest update: Oh phew itās in Australia finallāFRANCE!?? Why is it in France, USPS?? Did the USPS workers have a little too much fun over Christmas break and when they came back to work their eyes were so hazy that they misread Australia as Austria? If this keeps up my package will have visited more countries than me before it gets here!
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(Warningā¦. If you donāt really enjoy long postal misadventures, save yourself some time and just Skip this Journey.)
Several years ago, a friend sent me a package from Germany. It wasnāt sent by expensive carrier or dirt cheap carrierā¦ It was just sent pretty much standard. Itāll take a while but youāre gonna get it method.
I figured Iād get the package in about two weeks.
A few days after the package was sent, the center contacted me and told me it was on the way.
I got an email within a day or two stating package was processing at point of origin.
A few weeks later when I checked the tracking number, it said we will update you as soon as we hear from the sender and accept the package. Once we have the package in our possession, we will update the shipping progress.
A few weeks later, the shipping update stated the packages in New York. The package was then sent from New York to Florida. The package was then sent back to New York. From that point, the package seemed to stop in about a half a dozen states and not necessarily in order of which ones were further away or which ones were closer
I would understand if I was looking at a map and the package was moving like a bunny, hopping across the field. In other words, each would be closer and then the following stop would be closer, etc..
But it would show that it would be not too far from me and then be headed back east somewhere and then be headed up north somewhere and then be headed to the southwestā¦ Somewhere, lol
Finally, a miracle, it ended up at a male station in Southgate, California, which is about 30 to 40 minute drive from my house.
I called up the mail station at that specific location and actually got somebody on the phone. That was nice enough to entertain my curiosity and asked me for the tracking number?
I could feel my heart beating in a happy way so to speak as I read the number off to him. He said please stay on the phone. This might take several minutes, but I will see if itās here?
About 10 minutes later, he got back on the phone and he said Iām sorry youāre probably not gonna believe this, but your package is actually scanned as here. But for whatever reason, it was put back on a truck itās being sent back to the sender because it appears that the Recipient address was not legible.
He said this is kind of crazy. Let me talk to my supervisor. We donāt do this very often, but please give me your phone number and I will get back to you if I have any good news or any news at all? Give me an hour or two.
About an hour later, he said I got great news. The driver has not left yet and we were able to retrieve your package. It will be here at the front desk. Can you get here in the next hour before we close?
I told him I most certainly will be there and ask for you specifically. He said yeah that will work. I will keep an eye on it, but please make it today.
I drove there in late afternoon traffic like a taxi cab driver that someone was paying to get to the airport, lol. I just happen to be a lifetime resident of Southern California and I pretty much know how to get from here to there in a swift Manor.
I got there 20 minutes before they closed and immediately was at the front counter asking for the guy. I knew there was a problem when I saw the look on his face. He said I donāt know how else to explain this, but I was taking care of another situation and took my eyes off that package. One of my overachiever coworkers saw the package out of place so to speakā¦ Pulled the tracker up on the computer and it was identified as being designated to be returned to the center because of a problem with the shipping label. So it was put back on the truck and itās on its way back east on the way to the next destination point. And at some point, it will be put back on an airplane and end up in Germany.
I asked for the supervisor immediately and told him I know that truck doesnāt have a mind of its own. My uncle Jim work for the Postal Service for 40 years and told me a couple things give me a quiz and youāll find out I know stuff that most people donāt know. I know you can track this thing down. Itās not whether you canāt. Itās whether you will. And trust me on this one. Iām kind of not happy right now and Iām ready to make a big thing out of it because this is kind of stupid when you think of it. Matter fact, it stupid no matter how you think of it. .
I got to admit when I left, I wasnāt happy at all. Itās not that I needed the package. Itās just that the whole thing was so damn stupid and seemingly incompetentā¦ I could not help but entertain the thought that what if this wouldāve been something very valuable? That wouldāve been really something.
Several days later after I had given up, checking the tracking number, the post office called me. They told me they tracked down the package and once again had it in their possession. And once again, they asked me if Iād be willing to drive down there in late afternoon traffic and get there before they closed to get the damn package? I said certainly I donāt fade easily. Iāll be there with bells on.
Believe it or not, and I still donāt believe itā¦ I was actually stupid enough and stubborn enough and determined enough that I did the same thing all over againā¦ I drove to that station went up to the counter and saw nothing but stupid faces again. They said we canāt find the package. Weāve looked everywhere in preparation for you appearing and the package seems to have vanished. We donāt know what to say.
I know this is hard to believeā¦ But I didnāt have anything to say either. I think if it was humanly possible I couldāve bit through my own teeth. I very politely said this is a perfect example of āAā for effort and āFā for results. And I left.
The very next day, a courier delivered the package with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. My wife happened to be home and he just kind of ran up to the front porch and threw the box at the security screen. He didnāt say delivery he didnāt say anything he didnāt say heads up he said zero. Just ran up to 15 steps to the elevated porch And toss the package at the front door pranced back down the steps like a little fairy.
As soon as I got homeā¦ I looked at the shipping label. It was absolutely as clear and readable as any shipping label I have ever seen in my life. As a matter of fact, it was so clearly marked with my name and address ZIP Code city state everythingā¦ That when I stared at the label, I actually felt like my vision had improved. There were no smudges no creases no scrub marks no nothing. A perfect label.
I called the post office up right after I messed with the package and talked to the same guy. He recognized my voice and said man I am so sorry about that package. It mustāve been cursed. We are still trying to figure out what the heck happened?
I told the guyā¦ Iāll tell you exactly what happenedā¦ Iām sitting at a table right now listening to your concerns and the package is sitting on the table right in front of me.
This happened oven a period of a couple of months.
I think one of the most incredible things about this postal journey was that even though it seemed to be a major malfunction in service, eventually I got the package undamaged, dented unscratched, and the contents were in perfect condition.
The end..
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Wowza
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Had a somewhat similar issue but all within the USA. Not quite as dramaticā¦
Sent a package to a company in St. Louis Park about 5 miles from my house (and the post office). I it back with tracking. It went from Crystal to Mpls, then to St. Paul. From there it went to Denver, then to Nebraska, then back to St. Paul, then Mpls, then to the place in St. Louis Park. Total time was a week.
Another time a friend in northern MN sent me a package (I live in a suburb of Minneapolis). It travelled to Mpls ( a little over 200 miles), Then to St. Cloud (70 miles back north), then to Bemidgi (150 miles further north), then to St. Paul (225 miles to the south), then to Mpls (about 12 miles) then finally to my house (approx 10 miles), for 5 days total.
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Mine was not as dramatic either but still very frustrating - I had ordered a video game from Gamestop during the Pandemic. It got to my hometownās post office (Same day that our sky turned orange from the recent lightning-caused wildfires) and I was ready to hide out inside all day and play it when it arrived. Game never showed up. Game no longer wanted to be in California and ended up going to Missouri, Texasā¦Never saw the game for a solid month+ā¦ I ended up getting a refund on the game and ended up just buying it in person when I had seen it at the storeā¦Game eventually did arrive when I had long forgotten about it/moved on. Go figure.
This was a funky shipping situation where UPS handled the bulk of the shipping and then passed the torch onto USPS. This was also around the time āfunny businessā was being done with the USPS for political reasons I wonāt touch haha.
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