ARRGGH. US Post office...

[feng_shui_house]

On Jan. 6, 2026, I sent 2 packages by US Priority Mail, one package got to California in a few days. The second one, sent to Arizona, sat for 4 days with no tracking. On Jan 10 the tracking just said it was late but it was moving.

It didn't say where it was. On Jan 14 I complained on line & the automated said I had to wait for a response before I could issue a missing mail report or file a claim for lost mail.

On Jan 16 the tracking said the package sent from Florida, destination Arizona, was at Puerto Rico.

On Jan 17 I got an email saying my customer service request was RESOLVED because they don't know when it will arrive, and insurance is included with the Priority mail. They gave me a URL to file a claim, needing proof of value. Normally I don't HAVE any proof of value because I send hand made gifts. This time, though, I had made a throw blanket from Minky fabric printed with my design, and a mug, and a jigsaw puzzle printed with my photos, so at least I could DL invoices for the fabric and the mug and puzzle.(nothing for my time or the backing fabric that I had no purchase proof for).

So I tracked down the purchases at the site and printed invoices (they don't SEND invoices, so you have to DL them) and then I started to file the claim. I put in the tracking number and the date, and it came up with an ERROR message saying


This claim falls outside the acceptable time limit to file a claim for Insured Mail including Priority Mail® and USPS Ground Advantage™ of 15 - 60 days. You may continue with this claim, but it may be rejected.


BUT when I went to check the times for submitting a claim it said 'MUST be submitted immediately- and for Priority mail no sooner than SIX days if submitted by going to the post office website. WHICH IS what I WAS Doing.

And I don't think they'll let me claim the postage cost--which was $68! I thought by spending that much they could at least get it to Arizona without a 3,000 mile detour to Puerto Rico.

I gotta look into United Parcel Service next time I want to send something, this is infuriating.

The CuSS Disservice rep replied immediately- which was nice- and said, oh, file a missing mail search (which is NOT what they said the first time- the first time it was file a claim request).

Comments

[sallymn]

God what a pain - they seem utterly incompetent.

[feng_shui_house]

It is amazing- if they gave medals for incompetency, USPS would go for gold.

I'm going to wait for Monday before doing anything. Since it did finally show a tracking event, I suspect the missing mail search would say 'oh, it's not missing, it's pining for the fjords'...

[watervole]

I think it's partly deliberate, so that many people will simply give up.

[feng_shui_house]

It sure feels deliberate. The website contradicts not just the 'support' person, but also other parts of the website.

It's hard to tell the difference between malice and stupidity sometimes.

A further joke- no mailing service will pay the insurance on anything without proof of the value- so if you pay for insurance on a handmade item (a quilt for example), they'll deny it unless you have an appraiser's valuation.

Just for the heck of it (I AM thinking of making a quilt to mail to someone) I tried looking for quilt appraisers-- they're all so far away from me, I'd have to MAIL it to them for them to appraise it (possibly losing it before they even see it).

[watervole]

They won't accept the price someone is paying you as the value? Nuts.

Will people appraise from a photo? (I can see problems with that, though)

[feng_shui_house]

I only give things these days-it's all too complicated for me to try to sell anything- sales tax, income tax, fees on Etsy & Ebay, plus of course, the post office could lose or destroy it... too much aggravation.

I suspect even if I sold something the USPS wouldn't honor what the person paid (and they don't refund the postage even if they admit it never arrived apparently.) I've been reading forums about USPS in the last few days and everyone agrees the USPS used to honor the insurance claims without asking for proof.

Back in Trump's first term, he made it clear he hated the post office (he got the idea that mail in ballots would let people vote against him- yeah, really) and got a crony put in charge to 'make it profitable'. The crony recently retired, but his job was done- he ruined the US postal system in so many ways. The priority postage includes insurance up to $100 or I wouldn't have bothered to try to insure it.

I did google yesterday asking about appraisal from a photo, and the answer was unequivocally No. People who sent their Unappraised quilts off to be appraised, or quilted, or at contests, or to be sold, repeatedly said the best any mailing service would do even if you paid for insurance, would be to reimburse the cost of materials, provided you had receipts for everything.

Scrap quilt' made with many small pieces of different fabrics collected over the years? No receipts.

I did see one interesting thing mentioned- an Air Tag. It's a coin sized device that periodically sends its location anonymously, using the nearest BlueToothed Apple product to the owner. You need an Apple iPhone to set it up. And if it doesn't find an Apple blue-tooth nearby for enough hours it starts BEEPING. Some quilt shows won't even allow them. They cost about $30 but I think it's a flat fee, so if you're sending something expensive it might be worthwhile.

I kinda like the idea of a lost package BEEPING until the post office employee gets annoyed enough to dig it out and send it on... unless of course they get scared and call the bomb squad who blow it up. On second thought, maybe not such a good idea.

I'm rambling today. :^)

On the bright side, yesterday when I googled for 'most reliable mailing service' a lot of reports said that United Parcel Service was good so I can try them in future.

[watervole]

Don't know if it would work, but when you send a gift, ask your friend if you can send a fake invoice for what the market value would be.

Then you'd have some paperwork to show if a claim was needed.

I rather like the air tag idea... (and you could ask the recipient to mail it back to you for re-use)

[feng_shui_house]

I doubt the USPS would accept a self-assessed invoice- they want the name of the company on the receipt. Trying to figure out ways to get around USPS's customer unfriendly system seems futile.

I don't have an Apple phone, so even if I bought an air tag, I couldn't set it up.

I'm hoping the people in Puerto Rico will actually send the parcel on. At least they did scan it yesterday. Here's hoping. :^)

If it ever actually arrives, I'll report back here.

[watervole]

Fingers crossed.

[feng_shui_house]

The good part of all this is the pleasure I get from googling... the Air Tag wikipedia article is fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirTag

[watervole]

Interesting read.

My phone has something similar. If I lose it, I can log on and find out where it is.

[vera_j]

And I thought Czech Post is the worst...

[feng_shui_house]

Maybe the USPS is competing for first place for the worst.

I belatedly realized that Monday is a US postal holiday, so maybe I'll wait until Tuesday to see if the parcel has moved from its tropical holiday. Maybe it's happy there and doesn't want to go to Arizona.