USPS question...

Do they track ALL packages, or only the ones you particularly want tracked?

It would appear that either they, or Verizon, have lost the package we sent back to them. We thought Jin's phone was dead, so they sent us a new one for free. Turns out Jin's phone was fine, so we just turned the unopened sucker back to the Post Office. They said they would right "refused" on it, so it would get sent back at no charge.

After a MONTH Verizon says they haven't gotten it and is trying to shut off our service for an unpaid pill of $700. :yikes:

:wall: :wall: :wall:

So now we are in a scramble to figure out who lost the package - USPS or Verizon. I'm assuming if USPS says it was delivered, Verizon will drop the charges. Hoping, actually.

But USPS never gave us a tracking number, or even a receipt. Does anyone know off the top of their head if they can look it up? They aren't answering their phone, and I'm waiting for Jin to get home from the field before we go shake them down.

I don't use USPS (being in Canada and all), but I'm thinking if you don't have a tracking number, likely not.

ETA: Though, if they labelled it as "refused" and didn't charge you, they should have that in their computer, and that should be enough for Verison, because techincally then you never got it, as far as records go. Though, again, that's just how it works in Canada, not USPS.

Depends on how you sent it. Regular first class mail isn't tracked by default. Priority mail and other options like that are tracked if you request delivery confirmation, I believe.

Anything like what you describe I always send with a tracking number. It's cheap insurance.

Verizon should have sent you an e-mail of some kind with a tracking number on it when they sent you the package. I don't know if USPS would use that tracking number again if they sent it back as "refused" though. To Verizon, that number will read "delivered" unless USPS did anything when you took it back to the post office. I know when I had an issue with a FedEx package, they sent it back as "refused" and rescanned it, but I'm not sure if USPS would do the same...

There should have been a return shipping label inside that package that had tracking included. It wouldn't have cost you anything to ship it back that way either and then you would have that tracking number. I hope they can figure something out and you don't get stuck with the bill. When Verizon had to replace my phone they were really clear that I needed to use the return label and send it back very quickly or I would be charged a lot of money...

If it was refused you never took ownership

Same here

My dad is a mail man and he says Verizon should have the original tracking number since there wouldn't have been a new one given since they put "refused". But the package should have been scanned at that point as "refused" or "undeliverable" which would be on the tracking information (thus, should have a tracking number)

It did come with a tracking number, absolutely. They had us read it off the package when we called to say we didn't need it anymore. Verizon said if we never opened the package, then we could just drop it off at the Post Office and they would send it back for us. Which we did, but somewhere in-between Verizon hasn't received it.

So, technically speaking, the best case scenarios are:

A) It has the same tracking number Verizon sent it with to begin with.
B) It's marked undeliverable/refused and in which case should still have a tracking number.

Worst case scenario,

C) It's laying around in limbo somewhere.

Do you have access to the e-mail with the original tracking number? I'd look it up and see what it says before I did anything else.

It's probably lying in limbo somewhere.

I ordered a free set of USPS priority mail shipping boxes and envelopes. When I received them, they were all sealed together in a clear wrapping. As I opened them to get a box out, I found someone's package in the midst. It was a padded envelope with an ebay-printed postage on it. I promptly got into White Pages and did a search for the sender. I found the info, called the person, and explained what happened. He was ecstatic, especially since this package obviously held something somewhat valuable and was mailed 2 MONTHS PRIOR to me finding it in with my unused boxes/envelopes.

I put it in my mail and it continued on it's way.

Verizon never sent us an email, either to my account or Jin's accounts. Would they have it on file somewhere? Or perhaps on our account?

ETA: I checked order history on our online account, and it says there's been no orders for 150 days, which doesn't sound right at all. So hopefully they'll have it on our account in their computers when we call them back.

They often have different depts for various things and the right hand doesn't always know what the left hand is doing if you know what I mean. I had an issue with a dell computer years ago, some backordered stuff, months and months went by, things got escalated and they sent me an entirely new system. a year later, my backorderded stuff showed up and I called them to straighten it out and they had no clue or record of what I was talking about because it was a different dept crazy, but sometimes they are just too big for their own good.

Well, if there are no orders or 150 days . . . then ask them WTF are they billing you $700 for?

The only possible way this could happen is if they SENT us the package over 150 days ago. In between them shipping, it getting here, and us sending it back. And then of course, the month wait between us sending it back and now.

Ugh. And they've done the whole "Oh, let us check our warehouse.." thing. No luck there, either.

For now they'll charge us a late fee on top of our regular bill in order for our phones to stay on while this all gets worked out.

Technically, you never received the merchandise.

Sounds like it's time to get loud.

Okay, that's really weird. When they had to replace my phone, I got an e-mail confirming they'd sent me the phone and with the tracking number in it so I could track it on it's way to me. I'd hope they would have it somewhere - otherwise how would they even know you received the replacement phone in the first place??

I don't envy you having to deal with Verizon customer service. I had a crappy time with my phone getting replaced. I finally had to talk to a supervisor to get anywhere. ugh.

When my Verizon phone needed replacing I basically told them to go screw themselves and bought one from Ebay.

I think it's pretty ridiculous that we're having to pay late fees until it's all sorted out. They don't really seem all that motivated to finding the issue. They just want to make sure we're still paying. :wall:

Jin is on his way home now, and should be here in the next hour or two. I guess the major issue is trying to figure out if either Verizon or USPS have the tracking number, because we definitely didn't get it from either of them!

Thanks for all the answers. It's been pretty impossible to get answers from anywhere since it was the holiday weekend. Now that the week is back on track, hopefully this will be sorted out quickly.

You only get tracking if you pay for certain methods of shipping. Most ground shipping has no tracking unless you request, there's standard air shipping with or without tracking depending on what you choose and all the priority and expedited services have tracking I think.

Technically, we didn't ship anything. Verizon did. We refused it and sent it back. Same packaging, assuming same tracking number. Or at least hoping. It would make things a lot less complicated at this point.

But I'm pretty sure Verizon uses Priority Mail to ship orders, so it does automatically come with a tracking number. The question is, why has it been over 150 days since they sent it?! And why isn't a month plenty of time for USPS to send the darn thing back to the unholy warehouse it came from?