Do people not know their own address? This has to be the biggest problem I have with customers. Just had one that was Expedited shipping returned for this. Seriously?
Expedited.. Oof.
Sometimes I get packages returned for Address Undeliverable and the address is fine. It has even happened with a couple of repeat customers, after successful deliveries. I think sometimes the delivery postmen scan packages that way when they are behind or something. I dunno. It’s aggravating though. Then there are the actually undeliverable addresses.
It is also SAD that Amazon at this point can’t implement basic address verification. It’s built into almost every shopping cart by default now.
Amazon just forced me to use UPS to ship a book to a customer located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Thinking it might be one of those places without USPS delivery (I always thought they delivered everywhere), so I tried the USPS on Pirate Ship, and it worked. Then, thrinking UPS might be cheaper on Pirate Ship, it gave me nearly the same price, but with an unexplained $13. surcharge. RSF ain’t exactly the boonies, so I am not sure what is going on, but shipped using Amazon’s UPS service.
That is an exclusive area by San Diego … one of those communities where some of the people living there have their address protected … the rich and the famous type thing. California has several communities like that up and down the coast.
I cancelled one last week where the only option was FedEx for $25 on a $35 pair of earrings. I wrote the buyer asking if there was another address but no reply. I googled the address and it was on a tiny island.
The book arrived on time, but my shipping prices (USPS media mail and bound printed matter) are not set up to absorb UPS pricing, so I hope this does not happen often. Amazon, of course would never adjust for it.
Rancho Santa Fe is lovely–I have visited twice, for lunch, their thrift shop and their FOL store.
Okay, so this person is back. It’s a business. They ordered expedited (my original post); it was returned shipping address undeliverable. They are now placing 5 orders to the same address. Amazon recommends signature confirmation. What am I supposed to do?
Okay, so I took a closer look and there must be some sort of glitch with Amazon Buy Shipping. The second line of the buyer’s address is missing from the shipping label.
When I print out the shipping label this time, I will add a second address label to paste next to the address so that it shows the second line.
I suppose I could paste over it, but maybe the post office won’t like that?
This would be better than …
… keep it simple … two addresses could cause confusion if it happens to go a sort machine.
I’m looking online and it says we are not allowed to paste over the address on a preprinted label. It also says we shouldn’t paste a label next to the address on the preprinted label. What to do? It’s not like the buyer didn’t put the correct address down. It looks like Amazon (and Shipstation, when I tried it there) want to remove the second line.
Obviously without the second line, it becomes undeliverable.
Oh, they have it, and use it on MCF orders….
If one has the Amazon label download as a PDF and opens it in Adobe, one could edit the PDF to add the second line and then print.
The problem we have seen a lot recently are addresses that don’t verify with USPS but are deliverable … just not in the USPS system … so no zip four.
I once had a label with a second line of:
“Red house and of the driveway. Do not leave packages at the mailbox. Drive to the end of the driveway on the left. We have cookies if you make it.”
That made the font SO TINY the address couldn’t be read! We printed out a sticker normal 10pt font with the address minus the instructions and covered over the unreadable font. It got there!
We have done the same …
I think back on the osfe mlh posted about some paragraph someone had in line 2. Like seriously no character limit guys?
Have you ever tried that? I heard that was a no no, too.
Oh my lord. I asked Copilot, and the answer was whatever we had typed in this thread, links and all.
Thanks copilot for ignoring the ai blocker