UPS/USPS lost my bass

[Marley's Ghost]

I sold my Carvin XB75P on evilbay on 9/21. Luckily, the local UPS store had a box, since music stores around me have stopped selling or giving them to customers. on 9/22 I paid $20 for the box and packaging and the UPS store worker packed it for me. The manager at the UPS store claims that he personally handed it to the USPS letter carrier on 9/23. However, there is no record of it being scanned in at the local USPS office. I have made more than a dozen calls to USPS customer service and call centers, and visited the local USPS office twice and spoken face to face with supervisors. No one will call me back.

Any suggestions? Law enforcement? Lawyer?

 

[powmetalbassist]

Did you get insurance, do you have a tracking number/reciept handy? These can be helpful. Go to them in person, might get more of reaction than calling them.

 

[Handyman]

Do you have a receipt with the tracking number? Did you insure the package?

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Wait... they pack it for you and ship it through a different carrier?

USPS will not do crap if they never received a package, this is UPS's error.

 

[fakeneckplate'65]

You've gotta have a receipt & tracking number or @ the least an online bank statement showing the debit?

 

[PortlandBass77]

I have never heard of this..... sounds like a big goof by UPS, sense when do they outsource a shipment to a competitor...... yet another reason not to use them I guess.

 

[fakeneckplate'65]

It's my understanding that the UPS Store is a franchise & seem to be very loosely associated with UPS @ all. Their prices are often much higher & they charge a lot for boxes & packing material.

 

[fakeneckplate'65]

You can also ship USPS packages through the UPS Store because they measure & weigh a box & print a label just like you can from home.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

I have sent basses through this UPS store before with USPS click and ship. I have all tracking information. The UPS and USPS locations are 2 miles apart and this is a medium small town. I smell foul play.

 

[Handyman]

I have sent basses through this UPS store before with USPS click and ship. I have all tracking information. The UPS and USPS locations are 2 miles apart and this is a medium small town. I smell foul play.

Did you insure the package? If so, the claims process is well documented. If not, pray that the package shows up, because you're otherwise SOL.

 

[fakeneckplate'65]

I feel like there's something you're not telling us. If you have a receipt & a tracking number, this shouldn't be much of a mystery.

What does your USPS tracking number say when you enter it @ usps.com?

 

[lowendblues]

I shipped a Sansamp BDDI via USPS economy once, trying to save a buck on shipping. It had no tracking,,, but "hey", I've done this before right? It ended up getting lost, never to be heard from again. A hard lesson learned.

Now, if I must use USPS for anything, I use priority mail as a minimum, getting tracking info and insurance.

 

[gln1955]

If the UPS guy just gave it to a USPS letter carrier, would he get a tracking number?

Did the OP get any kind of receipt from USP when he gave them his bass?

This just seems like a bizarre way of doing business these days when everything is easily tracked.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

There is a tracking number - it shows as not being entered in the USPS system as processed.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Your contract is with the store where you dropped it off.

 

[MDBass]

I sold my Carvin XB75P on evilbay on 9/21. Luckily, the local UPS store had a box, since music stores around me have stopped selling or giving them to customers. on 9/22 I paid $20 for the box and packaging and the UPS store worker packed it for me. The manager at the UPS store claims that he personally handed it to the USPS letter carrier on 9/23. However, there is no record of it being scanned in at the local USPS office. I have made more than a dozen calls to USPS customer service and call centers, and visited the local USPS office twice and spoken face to face with supervisors. No one will call me back.

Any suggestions? Law enforcement? Lawyer?

If you didn't insure it, unfortunately you're probably SOL.

USPS lost a package of mine before that had tracking but no insurance in a similar manner; I try avoid using them if at all possible, but regardless insurance when shipping a bass in essentially mandatory.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I would get it in writing from the store manager that he personally handed the bass over to USPS.

 

[punchdrunk]

Your receipt and tracking number are your meal ticket here. I would go back to the ups store and file a police report with the manager who packed your gear. Document everything.

 

[coreyfyfe]

I have never heard of this..... sounds like a big goof by UPS, sense when do they outsource a shipment to a competitor...... yet another reason not to use them I guess.

They've been doing this a lot lately, fedex as well. Basically they deliver to a local hub then that hub drops it at your local post office. Adds at least an extra day to all their processing times and they've been doing it with all my amazon prime "2 day" shipping lately so it's been taking 3-4 days instead. Kind of a pain.

I'd definitely agree this sounds like UPS messed up. Usually once they deliver to USPS they put in the USPS tracking information on the UPS tracking site and the USPS number takes at least 24 hours to become active.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

As others have mentioned, USPS has nothing to do with this. Your contract is with the UPS store whether or not it is shows as scanned in by USPS or not. You can call UPS national customer service, and ask how they think you should proceed. Otherwise, you can file a theft report with the police, or a small claim at your county court house.