What to do when kava package does not arrive in mail, appears to be lost UPDATED 11/21/20

[Plantacious]

If your package appears to be lost by the postal service, who do you contact first ? I don't know the normal practice or protocol for this ?
Do you contact the vendor first and see what they can do ? Or the postal service ? And if it's the postal service, what specific action do you take ?

 

[Groggy]

If your package appears to be lost by the postal service, who do you contact first ? I don't know the normal practice or protocol for this ?
Do you contact the vendor first and see what they can do ? Or the postal service ? And if it's the postal service, what specific action do you take ?

When that happens to me, I give it a day because the PO screws up sometimes, 9/10 times I get it the following day. If you don't get it then contact the post office.

 

[Michael Nielsen]

If your package appears to be lost by the postal service, who do you contact first ? I don't know the normal practice or protocol for this ?
Do you contact the vendor first and see what they can do ? Or the postal service ? And if it's the postal service, what specific action do you take ?

USPS has stated that they have issues....

Can you trace your shipment.
There have been cases where people had no tracking but suddenly they received their parcel.

 

[kavamehameha]

First contact the vendor. If they can't to anything, contact the postal service and apply for a search enquiry by telling them the tracking number. Depending on the postal service, this is something which the sender has to do, thus contacting the vendor is the first step.

 

[Plantacious]

Thanks for the suggestions. Here is basically what happened.
First it had some very unusual activity. It arrived in a PO in my state, a few hours drive from me.
Then instead of going to my town from there, it went to a PO several states away, about 1000 miles away.
Then it went back to that same PO in my state.
That was 3 days ago. There has been no updates whatsoever in 3 full days. I don't know if it's still there, or on the way.
So, the first time it arrived into that PO, it got kicked back to some PO far, far away. Then the 2nd time it went back to that PO, it apparently got stuck there and went nowhere. It seems that one particular PO is having serious issues.
It was mailed one week ago. It was Priority Mail, which usually takes 2-3 days.
I went to my local PO, and they told me to call an 800 number. But from my experience, that phone number usually has a 45 minute wait.
But if I'm not mistaken, I think there's a way to file a report online with them, that does the same thing.

 

[Michael Nielsen]

Thanks for the suggestions. Here is basically what happened.
First it had some very unusual activity. It arrived in a PO in my state, a few hours drive from me.
Then instead of going to my town from there, it went to a PO several states away, about 1000 miles away.
Then it went back to that same PO in my state.
That was 3 days ago. There has been no updates whatsoever in 3 full days. I don't know if it's still there, or on the way.
So, the first time it arrived into that PO, it got kicked back to some PO far, far away. Then the 2nd time it went back to that PO, it apparently got stuck there and went nowhere. It seems that one particular PO is having serious issues.
It was mailed one week ago. It was Priority Mail, which usually takes 2-3 days.
I went to my local PO, and they told me to call an 800 number. But from my experience, that phone number usually has a 45 minute wait.
But if I'm not mistaken, I think there's a way to file a report online with them, that does the same thing.

Try this and file a complaint https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm

 

[nabanga]

I wouldn't worry about a few days - you must be used to good service being in the US. It often takes a month for my kava to get to me, being in Asia. The batch I recently ordered for delivery by FEDEX went NZ- Australia - China - Singapore, sat in Singapore for 10 days, and then went back to China. They tell me that next week they will send it back to Singapore and try again. The tracking hasn't been updated since it got to Singapore the first time 2 weeks ago - I had to go to their office and ask them what was happening as they don't answer the phone or emails. Luckily I still have a few kg of manky Tongan wedding kava as a COVID backup supply in the freezer...

 

[ThatDankK]

Hello! Welcome to the United States Postal Service, how may we screw you today?

 

[Plantacious]

Let me ask this ?
In light of the constant, notorious, and major issues with the USPS, why don't any vendors offer UPS Shipping, as opposed to USPS ?

 

[Michael Nielsen]

Let me ask this ?
In light of the constant, notorious, and major issues with the USPS, why don't any vendors offer UPS Shipping, as opposed to USPS ?

A lot let's you chose choose among different shipping providers.

 

[Plantacious]

Try this and file a complaint https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm

I filed that online a couple days ago, and only got an automated response that says they will look into it. But nothing else.
It was Priority Mail, which I paid extra for. It normally takes 2-3 days. It's been about 10 days now.
It even had unusual activity of initially going into my home state, then it got kicked back to another state about 1000 miles away.
Then it went back to my home state. And since then, it's shown no movement or activity whatsoever, in 5 full days.
The vendor just said to keep waiting.
What is the next step ?
Will they at least refund the Priority Mail fee ?

 

[kavamehameha]

The next step is exactly this: keep waiting. There is nothing you could do right now. If you get no response from the postal service in a few days, ask again.

I doubt that you will get any refund on the mail fee. As far as I know, the proposed shipping time (2-3 days in your case) is not legally binding.

 

[Plantacious]

The next step is exactly this: keep waiting. There is nothing you could do right now. If you get no response from the postal service in a few days, ask again.

I doubt that you will get any refund on the mail fee. As far as I know, the proposed shipping time (2-3 days in your case) is not legally binding.

Thanks. So if the answer right now is to keep waiting, my next question is how long to wait, until the next course of action ?
When is the turning point ?
Do I wait 2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc ? And then try something else ?

 

[The Kap'n]

The next step is exactly this: keep waiting. There is nothing you could do right now. If you get no response from the postal service in a few days, ask again.

I doubt that you will get any refund on the mail fee. As far as I know, the proposed shipping time (2-3 days in your case) is not legally binding.

Yeah, you'd need a 5 star lawyer to get your shipping fees back.

 

[Plantacious]

Yeah, you'd need a 5 star lawyer to get your shipping fees back.

Priority Mail seems like a scam then.
You pay extra fees, and you're promised nothing for those extra fees.
They don't even seem to give it a "priority".
You could pay for "priority" and get it weeks later, even later than someone who didn't pay extra at all, and their response is "Too bad".
Basically we pay extra for the possibility of getting it soon.
And that possibility is getting more and more slim these days.

 

[ThatDankK]

I think Amazon needs to provide shipping services for products that aren't on Amazon. They have the best shipping service ever lol

 

[Michael Nielsen]

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Missing-Mail-The-Basics

 

[Plantacious]

Somebody who uses them a lot, said that Priority Mail includes $100 insurance.
I had no idea

 

[AlexisReal]

I think Amazon needs to provide shipping services for products that aren't on Amazon. They have the best shipping service ever lol

I can go along with that. And their moto is almost- the customer is always right, as well.

I did buy some kavafied Tonga from Amazon.com. came super fast with tracking.

 

[Groggy]

Somebody who uses them a lot, said that Priority Mail includes $100 insurance.
I had no idea

I believe it's $50.