I shipped an item to a buyer in MI via UPS. The tracking shows it was picked up on Nov 20, moved through 2 different UPS facilities, then delivered the next day to an address in the same town as where we shipped from. No idea what is going on.
The buyer messaged on the 25th that their package shows delivered, but they never received it. I check the tracking expecting a standard INR and instead get the situation above. Since the item apparently never made it to the buyer, even if I may have been technically covered by Buy Shipping policy, I offered the buyer either a replacement or refund.
This morning the buyer responds asking for a replacement. Before it got shipped out, the buyer messages me telling me that it was delivered… via USPS. The tracking shows nothing past when it was “delivered” on the 20th.
In short, the buyer got the item but I have no idea what the bleep happened with this shipment.
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That’s not right, unless it was UPS Ground Saver? They use USPS for the last mile but tracking updates on UPS
Example from my history:
09/05/2024
2:45 P.M. Delivered
Package delivered by local post office
09/04/2024
1:11 P.M. On the Way
Package transferred to post office
09/04/2024
1:07 P.M. Received by the local post office
Clearwater, FL, United States
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UPS Ground. UPS tracking stops in the wrong state.
None of this makes sense to me.
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We see UPS hand off to the local post office for the last mile as we have a lot of rural PO deliveries. Pretty sure it is not always just UPS Ground Saver (we’ll ask the post office tomorrow … if we remember to).
But as @Pepper_Thine_Angus has said, the tracking normally shows up on UPS but there should be another tracking number that is on the package for USPS lookup.
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The last tracking update on the UPS tracking was “delivered” to a town 4 states away from the delivery address. Not exactly last mile in any case.
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Did UPS tracking show the name of the destination town (going to) to be the same as the delivered town 4 states away or the same town where you shipped from?
The term Last Mile just refers to the last mile(s) of delivery for the shipment. We have packages that have come to us get handed off to USPS in Dallas / Fort Worth TX which is 345 miles away and at that point is considered the “last mile”.
It is possible that UPS miss delivered on the 20th and was notified, picked up the package and then redelivered on the 25th to correct the mistake. That would explain the time difference between the 20th and 25th. The package would loose tracking during that time since it had already been delivered in the system.
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Not clear what you are referring to.
It should still have tracking updates though. The item needs to be tracked in the system and directed to its destination, and that is all done via scanning the tracking label.
What usually happens (in my experience) is the UPS driver scans the package and changes its status from “delivered” to “in transit.” Otherwise, at every scan point along the way, the package will show up as already delivered and there will be no more instructions on where it should go, and the label will be marked as invalid (already used) and best case scenario the package is returned to sender.
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Like right town name wrong state.
Ardmore PA vs Ardmore OK
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It should but UPS handed it off to USPS. UPS said it was delivered but that delivery scan was most likely the hand off scan to USPS. If the package had the second scan bar with USPS tracking, then USPS would be using that in their system to scan. And if UPS scanned the hand off wrong as delivered, then in the UPS system it is probably done and updates given back from USPS wouldn’t go through on UPS although, on the USPS site, the scans would be there.
Just for giggles … try putting the UPS tracking number in on the USPS site and see what it says.
side note ...
If we aren’t making sense, then our thoughts are probably coming out mixed … running on fumes as the wife just got out of the hospital this past Saturday evening …
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I guess it just doesn’t make sense to me that UPS would take the item, send it to a processing center, then send it back to the tiny Post Office near our warehouse to deliver it to the USPS. If UPS was just going to pawn it off onto USPS (and again, this was not Ground Saver) wouldn’t they do it at a distribution center or one of the many PO’s nearer their distribution center?
I believe the destination address is fairly rural, so I can see UPS giving it to USPS for last mile, but not in this manner.
No dice there.
I hope your wife is doing better.
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I think every one is looking for a solution that makes sense for having used UPS.
My best (out of the box) guess is that the package was incorrectly delivered for some reason and the recipient was actually an honest individual. (Diogenes needs to pay them a visit.)
They then sent it to the proper recipient by using the USPS services for some reason.
If that is what happened, none of us would EVER find any answers from tracking numbers that are in the UPS system.
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I’m sure that tracking numbers will reveal nothing more than I have already determined.
What you suggest is possible, but unlikely. It would still require that the random incorrect address was in the small town where our warehouse is located, and the even more unlikely occurrence that the person who received the wrong item was willing to pay out of their own pocket to ship it to the correct address. This situation requires that the shipping label be correct for the MI address or the incorrect recipient wouldn’t know where to send it.
Meh, I dunno. All’s well that ends well, I suppose, but this whole thing has me irritated and confused.
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Just a guess here, wonder of someone (seasonal worker) mis-scanned it as delivered? I mean this happens all the time with USPS, I have honestly never heard of it happening with UPS, but maybe? When it does happen with USPS no additional tracking appears online but there is tracking movement on the back end.
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