If your buyer is claiming they never received the parcel, yet tracking says Delivered, there is no reason to panic!  Most people don't realize that even though all YOU can see on the tracking number is "delivered", internally, on USPS's end, they can see boatloads of data including GPS imagery; it's really quite impressive!

The entire key to resolving this issue is to act QUICKLY. The sooner your buyer tells you about the incorrect delivery the better. If weeks pass before your buyer contacts you, there is very little chance the issue will be resolved by them getting their merchandise.

When USPS scans a parcel, the scan gun logs the exact GPS coordinates of the delivery.  When someone claims a parcel was incorrectly delivered, USPS logs-on to their super amazing computer program map that allows them to see if the delivery scan coordinates match the correct address. This means if the parcel was delivered to the wrong address USPS can see this, and can act on fixing it right away!

STEPS TO TAKE IF BUYER CLAIMS MISDELIVERY

BEFORE STEP #1, does the Tracking say "Delivered TO PARCEL LOCKER?".  If this is what the tracking number says, check out our article How to Locate a Package that Says Delivered to Parcel Locker. 

Now that you have confirmed that it does NOT say "Parcel Locker" 

1. If it was literally just scanned as delivered, wait until the end of the day before you freak out. Some carriers will scan a bunch of parcels at one time then deliver them one by one. Obviously they're not supposed to do this, but not every employee follows the rules. This means the scan could say delivered at 12pm and not actually show up until 5pm. Also, REMEMBER, the mail runs until 8pm. During the holiday season it can run as late as 9pm, Even though one carrier brought junk mail at noon doesn't mean a 2nd carrier wont bring parcels at dinner time. Be patient.

2. Ask your buyer to look around their property. USPS may have hid the parcel on their property. We once had a mail carrier put a parcel in our side door that we never use. It does happen!  Potential places it could be: inside mail box, next to mail box, at side door or back door, under porch furniture, behind trash cans, on back yard deck, etc.

3. Ask your buyer to ask their carrier. Chances are the carrier delivering the buyers mail tomorrow will be the same carrier that delivered mail today. If you ship in specialty packaging, provide your buyer with a photo of the packaging so they can show the carrier. If you ship in boxes with sparkly pink tape, chances are the carrier is going to remember the parcel.The carrier may instantly know where he put the parcel. The carrier may say "your neighbor in the yellow house said she would bring it over to you". Its better to simply ask the carrier than to go through the rest of the process to find out where the carrier put it.

4. If the buyer lives in an apartment complex or similar, the parcel was likely delivered to the front desk area. Sometimes the delivery scan will say "delivered to parcel locker". This means it's at the front desk parcel room or locked mail boxes. 

5. This should be obvious, but, unfortunately it isn't. Ask your buyer to ask their roommates /spouse /children or whomever they reside with. It is exceptionally common for a member of the household to accept the parcel and forget to mention it arrived.

BUYER INSISTS NOBODY HAS IT

Hopefully the buyer actually *attempted* to help you help them. It doesn't help at all when a buyer flat out lies and tells you they looked around and asked the carrier when they didn't. Buyers do not understand how hard it can be for you to locate a parcel on their property when you are across the country from them.

6. NEW INFORMATION 2.12.20: USPS h    as now launched a new program called PREMIUM TRACKING for situations just like this!!!: 

With Premium Tracking you can PAY around $2.50 to retrieve tracking data that may help you prove that the parcel was delivered.  This is a fantastic option if the buyer has filed a chargeback without ever contacting you, HOWEVER, before you pay for this service I would encourage you to first read step #8 in this article. 

7. The next step is to launch an investigation or file a USPS insurance claim. THERE IS A TRICK TO THIS! Unfortunately USPS does not have any option for filing "misdelivered mail" claims, but, (here's the most important advice in this entire article!)... when you are selecting your "issue" from the drop-down menu on Usps.com, 

DO NOT PICK "LOST"!!!!!!  because...

if you select "Lost" the case will be instantly closed when the USPS employee looks up tracking it shows as "delivered", therefore it is not "Lost".  Instead, pick "missing contents" and in giant letters type:

" ********BUYER CLAIMS DELIVERED TO WRONG HOUSE!!!!********* "

.(make sure you type the asterisks) 

Don't type anything else.  The more simple you keep it, the better.  USPS is not going to read a novel-worth of information.  Telling USPS how angry you are doesn't help them find it. 

8. Alternately, or at the same time, you can go to your local USPS and politely ask them if they could kindly look and see if the parcel was delivered to the correct GPS coordinates. If you are cheerful and explain you are just trying to figure out if the buyer is a scammer or if the buyer is right and deserves a refund, you will LIKELY get assistance from the USPS employee. TIP: The nicer you are to the usps employee the more likely they will help you. If you scream and yell I guarantee you're not getting assistance.  IF the USPS employee is a total asshole, you have two options:

A. You could ask to speak to a manager.  BUT chances are the manager of that specific location will also suck which is why the employee thinks it's ok to give you the run-around and treat you poorly.

B. You can drive to a different USPS.  It does take effort to find a great USPS location, but its so totally worth the effort!  Our two closest USPS's are TERRIBLE, so we only deal with one USPS location that is in a different city, about 20 minutes drive away.  Even though driving to USPS sucks, we get AMAZING customer service; when we have an issue they take the time to help us however possible.  The manager is fantastic and the staff is phenomenal.  The branch we choose to go to is a small branch is a small city.  The two large-city branches closest to us are the absolute worst ever.  If you go in there with a question they act like you are an inconvenience to their day.  They seem to have forgotten that people who purchase postage are the reason USPS stays in business!  TIP: If you have good USPS service, THANK THEM! Bring them a $10 gift card to whatever the closest fast food place is to their location.  At Christmas, get them a little gift.  TRUST ME, the small amount of money you spend on a "Thank you" will pay for its self when you don't have to issue refunds to pissed-off buyers!

9. Another option is to call your buyers local USPS and ask them the same thing (Can you kindly look up the GPS coordinates and let me know if this parcel really was incorrectly delivered or if this woman is trying to scam me?). All you're trying to do at this point is find out if the parcel is sitting on your buyers property or not.

10. If the parcel was really misdelivered the previous day usps will actually go to where they delivered it and retrieve it!!  Yes, seriously!!! It is a FEDERAL CRIME to keep mail that does not belong to you, even if it was left on your doorstep! So, NO, the person who got the incorrect delivery did NOT just get "free stuff"!  

On that note, it is also possible that the person who got the misdelivery wrote "RETURN TO SENDER" on the parcel and put it back in the mail.  This is what any NORMAL person does to avoid committing a felony. IF the person put it back in transit, within 24 hours the Tracking Number *should* update and say "Return to Sender".

11. In Step #7 you launched an investigation and/or filed an insurance claim.  Now you will receive a letter via standard mail from usps. The letter arrives in a blank envelope, so if you aren't keeping your eyes peeled, you'll probably throw it away because it looks like junk mail. 

The letter will either say it was correctly delivered OR it will say usps cannot find it. If it was correctly delivered then there's only a few possibilities:

• The buyer is flat out lying.
• It was stolen off the buyers porch
• The buyer never attempted to look around and their kid threw it on the couch and a pile of clean laundry is on top of it.

IF USPS says it was delivered correctly, and if the buyer lives in an apartment complex or has any kind of Unit Number in their address and IF the merchandise is super valuable you still have one option left.  You can google their address and find a phone number to the front desk / receptionist.  You can explain to them that you shipped a parcel to 5678 Oak Street, Unit #6 and the mail carrier says it arrived last Tuesday. (then ask) "Do you have any kind of parcel locker or parcel holding area where it could be? Because Mrs. Smith is stating it did not arrive and this merchandise is very valuable"

If the address is a Freight Forwarder, it is best to directly contact the forwarder and work directly when them instead of relying on the buyer to relay information to the forwarder for you.  We have found that often times buyers will lie and say "The forwarder said it's not there" when they never even attempted to ASK the forwarder if the merchandise arrived. Personally, we prefer to email the forwarder and copy the buyer on the email.  However you could also call the forwarder.  

If the letter says USPS cannot find the parcel then you can move forward with filing an insurance claim, sending your buyer a replacement, offering a store credit etc.

Sometimes it's easier just to give a store credit than to keep investing time in dealing with this if the parcel is of low value.  

MEGA IMPORTANT ADVICE...:

Although you cant change this, you can learn from it and move forward.  Money is just money; you make money, you lose money, you can make more tomorrow.  The one thing that can never be replaced is TIME.  Time is genuinely the most valuable asset in the world.  You can use your time to make more money but you can never use money to create more time. On that note, save yourself time in the future by following these super simple steps:

We strongly suggest always putting signature confirmation on any parcel being shipped to an apartment, po box or any address with any kind of unit number, ESPECIALLY freight forwarders for this exact reason. There has been so many times that buyers claimed they didn't get a parcel and signature confirmation proved otherwise! I think sometimes people just completely forget they received it.

If you have a parcel of very high value, you can sign yourself and your buyer up for tracking updates right away. This means they will he notified when its "out for delivery".  TIP: If the buyer is ok with you signing their CELL PHONE number up for Tracking Updates, this is the best option because some people don't bother to check their email!  NEVER sign up a buyers cell phone number for ANYTHING without their permission.  They could literally sue you over it! OR....

If the parcel is of very high value you can insist that it is "held for pickup". This means the buyer will have to drive to the post office, present their ID and pick it up. WARNING: This method is a HUGE turnoff to a lot of potential buyers. I'm one of them! My "local" post office is a remote branch which means I have to drive quite a long ways to get to the post office where stuff is held.  One easy way to have it held for pickup is to use a sharpie and write on the parcel "USPS: HOLD FOR PICKUP  :)"

ANOTHER OPTION: if the parcel is of high value, coordinate with the buyer in advance. If he or she works does it make more sense to have it shipped to their work so they can be present to get it?

If your buyer has tracking updates and he knows he cant be home to get the delivery, he likely has a cool neighbor who can grab it off his porch for him and hold onto it until hes off work.

Did you kind of enjoy this article?  We have TONS more online selling guides for beginners, amazing authentic designer wholesale clothing and accessories in addition to a ton of information about how we started out in 2005 and turned $2 into a massive business.