Dang! Snake-bit again by the USPS!

[robinjojo]

I just received an email tonight from the International Research Group that a shipment from the UAE was lost at the International Sorting Center in New York City.  I was reimbursed by the seller, who in turn is covered by insurance to the tune of $3,300.  This shipment was an International Priority Express package, which is supposed to have a high level of security.  But that ain't so, apparently.  Tracking stopped at the ISC on June 11, 2024 and was never updated.  US Customs acknowledged today that they never received the package. So, something fishy happened at the ISC, but I guess we'll never know - the IRG is pretty close-mouthed about these matters.

So, caveat emptor when it comes with the USPS.  Registered mail for high value items is probably the best way to go, or using FedEx or DHL when available and not exorbitantly over priced.

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I'm sorry to hear that.  Registered mail isn't that great, either.  My U.S. coin disappeared in transit.

[robinjojo]

Here's an update from the IRG (USPS).

"The Postal Service is aware of the frustration and disappointment caused when we do not live up to our commitment of safe and reliable mail service.

Unfortunately, your package has been deemed lost.  Because the sender paid the insurance to his postal service, the payment will go to the sender.  Any reimbursement or reshipment will need to be worked out between you and the sender.  

An apology is no substitute for good service, but I want to offer one on behalf of the Postal Service.

 We appreciate your business and hope to serve you again in the future.

Sincerely,

International Research Group
Enterprise Customer Care Center                              
United States Postal Service HQ"

[rasiel]

DHL lost this one I won: https://www.biddr.com/auctions/numismatiknaumann/browse?a=4527&l=5390717

Wonder how long before it shows up on ebay...

Rasiel

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I did have one lost sent in a plain old envelope. The coin was missing and I received an envelope with a tear in it. Probably was not good way for the sender to dispatch the shipment, just regular first class stamped mail. I am sorry to hear of your situation.

Edited July 22 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[KenDorney]

At least you got your money back.  Others often dont (I've lost plenty over the decades).

[robinjojo]

1 hour ago, KenDorney said:

At least you got your money back.  Others often dont (I've lost plenty over the decades).

Thanks!

It is possible to obtain a refund through PayPal, if that is the mode of payment in a transaction.  I had to go that route when a shipment of three Tigranes II tetradrachms never arrived.   The shipment was lost, or at least never materialized in Israel, so the USPS was not involved in this situation. The process took forever and much documentation had to be provided on my part, but in the end the case was decided in my favor with a full refund from PayPal.

Edited July 22 by robinjojo

[Postvmvs]

Sorry to hear about your lost shipment.

This is the first I have heard of the "International Research Group". Did the seller or you initiate contact with them or do they start investigating automatically? What little I know about the New York ISC is that it is a black hole that shipments fall into and one can only hope they emerge... I have two shipments stuck there, one of which is nearing a month with no updates since the 5th 😬

[DonnaML]

1 hour ago, Postvmvs said:

Sorry to hear about your lost shipment.

This is the first I have heard of the "International Research Group". Did the seller or you initiate contact with them or do they start investigating automatically? What little I know about the New York ISC is that it is a black hole that shipments fall into and one can only hope they emerge... I have two shipments stuck there, one of which is nearing a month with no updates since the 5th 😬

My experience with the New York ISC, unfortunately, is that if the tracking doesn't show a package exiting out of there within a few days, or at most a week, there's a 90% chance you'll never receive it. And there's no longer an email address listed for the ISC to make inquiries. All one can do is file a lost mail search request with the USPS, and those rarely succeed.

Edited July 22 by DonnaML

[robinjojo]

I have a lost mail search ongoing for this package, with zero expectation for a positive outcome.

[robinjojo]

1 hour ago, Postvmvs said:

Sorry to hear about your lost shipment.

This is the first I have heard of the "International Research Group". Did the seller or you initiate contact with them or do they start investigating automatically? What little I know about the New York ISC is that it is a black hole that shipments fall into and one can only hope they emerge... I have two shipments stuck there, one of which is nearing a month with no updates since the 5th 😬

A request for the IRG to conduct a search or investigation has to be initiated by the sender, through the carrier, in this case Emirates Post. 

Two years back, when I received a package from Roma that was resealed with USPS tape, and with some of the contents missing, the IRG got involved following a request from Roma through Royal Mail.  I never heard any follow-up information, but I assume that Roma was reimbursed for the loss.  Roma promptly refunded the loss at my end when I informed them on what happened.

[ominus1]

...well i reckon they think our coins need to see America....on the 19th my coin was a 100 miles from me in St Louis....now its went to Sioux city in north Dakota over the weekend and now is checking out Cleveland Ohio....9_9;.....or perhaps its the 'new' route to my house...

[Postvmvs]

@ominus1 I did have a USPS shipment that was at a facility minutes away, that for reasons unknown, took a 4900 mile detour to Hawaii... and miraculously was eventually delivered. It is when it stops moving, stops updating that I really worry.

Edited July 22 by Postvmvs

[ominus1]

48 minutes ago, Postvmvs said:

@ominus1 I did have a USPS shipment that was at a facility minutes away, that for reasons unknown, took a 4900 mile detour to Hawaii... and miraculously was eventually delivered. It is when it stops moving, stops updating that I really worry.

..well  that' still a happy ending guess...:)...on the other hand i ain't gonna buy any more coins till i get that one in....its my momentary favorite and i may be tried of it when it gets here....><

[DonnaML]

3 hours ago, Postvmvs said:

@ominus1 I did have a USPS shipment that was at a facility minutes away, that for reasons unknown, took a 4900 mile detour to Hawaii... and miraculously was eventually delivered. It is when it stops moving, stops updating that I really worry.

Pretty amazing! But I'm not sure that went quite as far out of the way before delivery as the coin I bought in a Künker Auction in April 2022, which took six weeks to travel from Germany to New York City -- by way of China! See https://www.cointalk.com/threads/3rd-world-mail-service-in-the-u-s.396370/page-2#post-8359513 

The China Post stamps on the back of the Künker envelope:

Translations as follows via Google Lens:

[DLTcoins]

4 hours ago, Postvmvs said:

@ominus1 I did have a USPS shipment that was at a facility minutes away, that for reasons unknown, took a 4900 mile detour to Hawaii... and miraculously was eventually delivered. It is when it stops moving, stops updating that I really worry.

A couple of years ago, I had a parcel coming to Florida from the UK. Everything was fine until Phillipsburg NJ, after which there were no scans for two weeks. The item reappeared at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where it passed through Malaysian customs. The item disappeared again for a couple of weeks, surfacing finally in California and continuing safely to Florida, some 25,000 miles total.   

Edited July 23 by DLTcoins

[robinjojo]

I had one experience earlier this year with an eBay return to a seller in Tennessee, which ended up bouncing between two USPS facilities in the Miami area for weeks, a tennis match it seems without end.  I was advised by the USPS that there was an issue with the bar code, and since the bar code is read automatically, the perpetual motion would continue until someone at one of the facilities intervenes, which eventually happened.

Part of the changes being implemented at the USPS is to relocate sorting centers and closing branch offices in many areas, reducing their number.  This can mean longer waits for delivery.  There are also problems with understaffing at USPS facilities, including sorting centers, which can lead to errors in the routing of packages and letters.  Where this all ends, who knows, but probably not for the better for the USPS and its customers. 

Edited July 23 by robinjojo

[Postvmvs]

Wow, @DonnaML and @DLTcoins  detours to China and Malaysia really put a trip Hawaii into perspective!

I am slowly losing faith of ever seeing my June 23 shipment arriving.

 

[robinjojo]

16 hours ago, Postvmvs said:

Wow, @DonnaML and @DLTcoins  detours to China and Malaysia really put a trip Hawaii into perspective!

I am slowly losing faith of ever seeing my June 23 shipment arriving.

 

You can contact CBP about a shipment using this form.  Make sure to include the tracking number in the text box for Description.  Since this is your first inquiry, I don't think detailed information is necessary, unless you want to do that.  There's also the option to upload photos.

For topic, select Mailed and courier package.

For import date, select the processed date from ISC.

https://www.help.cbp.gov/s/questions?language=en_US

I did this for the now lost package.  My initial inquiry with them resulted in a response that I need to wait 45 business days before I could submit a search request.  Then I sent them a second inquiry asking them only to confirm that the package was in their possession.  To that they responded that it was not in Customs.  In your case the shipment is clearly in Customs, so I would give this form a try.  They might come back with the 45 days requirement, or you might get an actual update.

Another note: If a shipment is being held in detention by Customs, the sender and addressee must receive a letter from them no later than two weeks from the date of receipt.  If you have not received such a letter, then your package is just stuck there for some other reason (shortage of staff, backlog of shipments, etc.).  I would be persistent with them.

Good luck!

Edited July 24 by robinjojo

[TIF]

Knock wood but I've had pretty good luck with all shippers.  There was one memorable exception-- a six month journey-- but it ended well.

Generous CT member Andres2 sent me a gift from the Netherlands-- an old display of faux ancient coins, issued as a promotional item from British Petroleum.  I lived in the US Virgin Islands at the time.   Weeks and then months went by.  We both gave up, and being the great guy he is, he sent me another one!  It arrived promptly.

Soon after, the first package arrived 🤣.  It had been sent to the wrong country-- the British Virgin Islands.  Only 15 miles away, but it took three months for the package to go those last miles.

We decided to regift that set to another CT member who lives in England.  I sent it via USPS and the well-traveled package went on yet another wild and winding journey.  In its six month tour (counting first and second trips), those BP tokens were in the Netherlands, New York, Miami, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Canada... some locations multiple times.  It went south, then north, then south, then west, then south, then north, then east.... truly a dizzying trip 🤣.  In the middle of the second journey it landed in my PO box before moving on again.   Turns out I was to blame for the faulty start of the second mailing- I used initials for my name (sender name), and customs requires spelling out the full name.  Lesson learned.

Anyway... all this to say that it is possible your package may eventually arrive. 🙂

Here's the second set Andres sent-- the one I received first and kept.

Edited July 25 by TIF

[Postvmvs]

@robinjojo thanks for the link and information... but I am happy to report I won't need it 😃 (at least not for the June 23rd shipment) as it has fallen out of the black hole and into my mailbox!!!

Here it is:

Postumus, AD 260-269 AE  Double Sestertius, 30mm, 14.8g, Obv.: (IMP C M C)ASS LAT POSTVMVS (P F AVG); Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev.: (LAETITIA) AVG; Galley left

 

[airhead1983]

On 7/25/2024 at 8:39 AM, TIF said:

Knock wood but I've had pretty good luck with all shippers.  There was one memorable exception-- a six month journey-- but it ended well.

Generous CT member Andres2 sent me a gift from the Netherlands-- an old display of faux ancient coins, issued as a promotional item from British Petroleum.  I lived in the US Virgin Islands at the time.   Weeks and then months went by.  We both gave up, and being the great guy he is, he sent me another one!  It arrived promptly.

Soon after, the first package arrived 🤣.  It had been sent to the wrong country-- the British Virgin Islands.  Only 15 miles away, but it took three months for the package to go those last miles.

We decided to regift that set to another CT member who lives in England.  I sent it via USPS and the well-traveled package went on yet another wild and winding journey.  In its six month tour (counting first and second trips), those BP tokens were in the Netherlands, New York, Miami, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Canada... some locations multiple times.  It went south, then north, then south, then west, then south, then north, then east.... truly a dizzying trip 🤣.  In the middle of the second journey it landed in my PO box before moving on again.   Turns out I was to blame for the faulty start of the second mailing- I used initials for my name (sender name), and customs requires spelling out the full name.  Lesson learned.

Anyway... all this to say that it is possible your package may eventually arrive. 🙂

Here's the second set Andres sent-- the one I received first and kept.

It still hangs on my wall. 😃😃

 

 

Erin

[TIF]

9 minutes ago, airhead1983 said:

t still hangs on my wall. 😃😃

Erin, hi!!  I didn't realize that was you/that you were here on Numisforums.  Good to see you :).

[airhead1983]

I’m glad to see you back, TIF! 😃

I haven’t posted for a good number of months, but, I’m always reading the forum.

Erin