Overseas Shipment Lost - Advice

Hello OF,

Figured I would post and ask if anyone else has run into an issue with an overseas shipment going MIA with the USPS. We are running up on almost 2 months. Package was supposed to go from USA to UK. Somehow it ended up in Japan for a couple of weeks?! The last status update was from a few weeks ago saying it had departed Japan.

After the buyer informed me of this I went to the post office to see what was going on and the lady there looked it up and said it must have just gone there by mistake and it should be en route to the U.K. now. Well - that was over 2 weeks ago. I went to the post office again and they informed me they would have to have the postmaster look into it. A couple of hours later, the post master called me to tell me it was en route to New Zealand?? I told him something was very wrong because this package was supposed to go to the U.K. and is somehow making a world wide tour across the globe. He seemed just as confused as I was and said he would have to reach out to consumer affairs and had tried to contact them earlier in the day and had sat on hold for almost an hour and a half. His plan was to try again and then contact me once he talks to them.

My question is has anyone else on this forum run into a similar issue? Any advice? Are the buyer and I just out of luck?

Also what's protocol for buyer/seller on this forum if this package is completely lost? I am glad this wasn't an extremely valuable watch but it did have 2 aftermarket inserts that are worth about $500. Insurance was not purchased and it was sent Priority International Mail.

Any advice would be greatly welcomed.

Once something goes erratic its erratic until you get it. At least they have eyes on it. I'd bet on you getting it... Eventually...

Good luck!

I had a package shipped from Maine to Croatia go to Chicago, then down to Kansas, then to Europe. It was 3+ months before it arrived. In the meantime, I sent a second parcel to the same location. It arrived just before the first. This was last summer, so COVID problems were still new.

COVID is still affecting shipping. Even within the US almost every parcel I ship or receive is late and in some cases, sent to the wrong PO before they redirect it. In one case, I sent an insured parcel ($3000). It arrived and was picked up by the recipient at the PO, but they never cleared in in their system. I believe I could (at this point) make a claim if I were so inclined, since they have no way of figuring out it was already delivered.

So, to answer your question, Problems are occurring. The international nature of yours makes it more nerve wracking. If you haven't done a formal request for clearing it up (on line) yet, I would do so. At least it will get another level of interest generated (although every time I have done so, the situation solved itself as the people at USPS fumbled around with various excuses).

I've given the whole "who is responsible" question a lot of thought. In a sale, the person responsible is whoever the participants agree is. If it isn't ironed out before the sale, in my opinion, the seller is. For that reason, I always factor in the cost of full insurance on everything I sell. If it gets lost along the way, I claim the money from the USPS and refund to the buyer. Luckily, I haven't had to do that.

I’ve always assumed that if I say “nope, I’d rather save money on shipping, please send it uninsured”, then as the buyer I am out of luck if it goes missing and never arrives. It’s a bit of a case by case basis though I suppose.

I’ve never shipped anything over $250, but if I did I might insist on it going insured - this from someone who doesn’t sell a lot of high ticket items. I don’t know the percentages, but most packages eventually arrive, and those that buy and sell a lot likely play the odds and don’t insure the smaller items?

It all seems a bit random. I ordered a watch from a small watch company in Indonesia and had the watch posted to the UK. Arrived in less than 10 days.

I have had good success sending packages internationally from the US using USPS Registered Mail. Hope your situation gets sorted out.

I really appreciate all the input and information. This gives me a lot of hope that the package should still get there eventually.

USPS tacking updates are horrible. I don’t remember this bad before COVID.

People have been making fun of the inefficiency at USPS for my entire life. It used to be where you went for a passport, but now the county offices do it weeks faster. The only thing they do well is fill my mailbox full of spam faster than yahoo or gmail. I’ll be shocked if they get their act together.

I currently have one lost en route from Kiev to Toronto. Can see it all the way to Canadian customs. Then pfft! It is very annoying at the moment.

I think if you can see it, you are likely fine.

It will probably show up eventually.

Don't put total faith in the tracking scans. They are not scanning your individual package for most of them except at the origin and destination. Someone packs your package in a bag which is then put in a truck, plane, ship, etc., and then the scans of the truck are applied to every package that's supposed to be in it. But if your package is accidentally recorded as being in the wrong bag, you'll get the scans for that wrong bag, possibly for weeks, as it goes wherever it goes. Eventually your package will be found and it'll go into somebody's "weird packages" bin and scan it and you'll start getting correct scans again.

I purchased a vintage clasp from Lithuania back in October as a gift, then nothing.... after a bit of searching and complaints, still nothing. Oh well, I gave up and forgot about, then BAM, it shows up a couple of weeks ago. Give it a chance (i.e. 12 months) before you completely give up.

Maybe it’s not lost. Probably due to covid, there are not much US to UK flights. Hence the circuitous route. Post Office shipments fly with passenger traffic i believe. Not like FedEx, DHL or UPS which have dedicated cargo planes.

I send a parcel (returned item) from Australia to Spain in April 2020. Nothing for 10 months and it showed up again. Back on my doorstep.