Need help contacting USPS

[jcburn]

Hi everyone. I recently bought a bass from a reputable Ebay store and they shipped it USPS Priority Mail International Parcels to me in Australia. They sent me the tracking number and all seemed fine, however there have been no updates on their Track and Confirm service since 12th August(it's now the 25th), it had traveled from Maryland to Chicago, IL.
I have emailed them(which was an interesting experience in itself - you are required as the receiver to enter personal info for them to track the item, however it wont let you enter anything but an American address!) to try and get a response as to whether my item is still in Chicago or whether it left there directly for Australia - my main concern is when I have bought from the States before it has never taken this long, and this sort of service usually travels west and shows tracking results right to Honolulu before leaving for Australia. I sent my email 3 days ago with no response. I am thinking of ringing but it's hard to do for me at the moment.
I'm not to the stage yet where I am too stressed but I am a little worried. Can I have some feedback from anyone with similar bad experiences, and maybe an idea on how to make a claim if my item is lost? Do they reimburse the item cost AND shipping?

[ggoat!!!]

I know for a fact from multiple experiences that USPS tracking sometimes doesn't update AT ALL until AFTER an item has been delivered.

Had a similar unsettling experience with a rare overseas Sony high-end minidisc home deck. Went almost three weeks with absolutely no updates on the USPS site...contacted USPS, they could tell me nothing. Then, suddenly, it was delivered. The next day the USPS tracking site updated that the item had been delivered.

USPS shipping is good except for their tracking system SUCKS...it NEVER updates realistically.

Hope you get your bass...I'm thinking you will, but it might take a bit...I was very worried as you are now, but it all worked out in the end.

[Caca de Kick]

The Postal tracking has gotten better and more up to date over the last year. I have sent alot of stuff, and the new tracking had shown up right away of every port the plane stopped at. Yes usually after typically leaving San Francisco as the last US port, Australia was always the next stop.

There is a center for international shipping that you can contact, and I had to call their investigation division to find me two lost basses to South America, which they eventually did!
But the package has to be missing for something like 30 days before an audit will be started.
I NEVER do emails for this sort of business, no way.

As far as reimbursment costs...it all depends on if the seller bought the added shipping insurance or not, and even then there is a $$ limit per package they will cover. I have never had to make a reimbursement claim, but from things I shipped, the maximum insured limit they will do is about $650 per box. Which is why in the case of a bolt-on instrument I always liked shipping the neck and body separate, that way you can have a total coverage of 1300. So you'll need to find that out from your seller.