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Hi Guys,
I have a question for the Americans on TT:
Have any of you used the USPS Registered Mail service recently, and have you had any problems with it??
I am bouncing off the ceiling with anxiety at the moment because I have just purchased a very expensive (unbelieveably expensive!!) antique doll from a dealer, and I am having it shipped from Kansas to a dear friend in New York. He sent it last Saturday, Priority mail, Registered, but all I ever when I type in the tracking number is that it was accepted at his local office in Manhatten, KS... after that, nothing - and this is supposed to be a two - three day service!!!
I tried calling USPS but their stupid system kept cutting out on me. In the end I got to speak to someone, who said that the Registered service isn't trackable until it reaches its destination. How can this be??? How can the most valuable items send through the mail NOT be trackable?????
Anyway, sorry for venting here - I am desperately hoping for some reassurance... anybody??
Christinex
Well, I don't know why in this day and age of computers they can't co-ordinate better....Edinburgh Imports sent a parcel to me a couple of months ago. It didn't arrive and I needed it for Hugglets. There was no way to track the parcel on the USPS site..or on the Royal Mail site...their tracking numbers are different apparently..they give it a different number in the UK...DUH? So they couldn't track it at all...neither could USPS.
In the event Edinburgh re-sent a new parcel which duly arrived...followed, about a fortnight later, by the original parcel which I assume is now on it's way back to the USA as I don't want two lots of the same. I can't undertsand why , if they give boxes a tracking number, why can't they use it to track it with?
I sent a parcel once to Thailand which took 6 whole weeks and I was frantic...I phoned the Royal Mail who told me that there were bandits in Thailand...'Oh thanks, that's cheered me up no end'
Chris, I do hope it turns up..and if my experiences do nothing else at least it proves that they do arrive...eventually!!
Hi Guys,
Thank you for sharing your stories - I will just have to be patient a little longer, I think! I am just dumbfounded though, that I paid over $75 for this service (and remember, it is just a domestic shipment, from one US address to another US address) and there doesn't seem to be any way to track it!! If I had known it would be this problematic, I would have arranged for DHL to pick it up from the guy's front door and deliver it to me here in the UK - it wouldn't have cost much more, would be fully trackable, and I would have got it in a couple of days, grrr!!
If I tell you that I had to insure the parcel for $7,000, you will see why I am getting worried! 
OK, going to lie down in a darkened room for a while now....
Hugs,
Chrisx
Chris...I can imagine how you are feeling...nothing anyone says is going to help till someone on the other side of the pond wakes up and offers some advice....I feel your frustration!!!!! :hug:
Laurie Lou BearsHi Christine,
Have you spoken to your friend to see if they have actually received the item?If they haven't maybe the delivery people tried to deliver the item and no one was in and they never left a card and will just try again to redeliver it or if it was delivered you might not recieve the confirmation until the delivery driver has handed in his paperwork to say that he had delivered it so that the details can then be put in on the computer.There could be lots of reasons as to where it is.I hope it turns up soon-I would be panicking if I spent all that money too but then there is still time even if it was supposed to be delivered by a certain time.
Laurie :hug:
puca bearsHi Chjristine
sympathy/empathy over your experience.............the only time I tried using a tracking number was on a parcel from here (Germany) to Paris - the purchaser insisted on using a number, and having the parcel "to be signed for" delivery............it took an inordinately long time, and when I tried tracking it, all the Deutsche post could tell me was that it had crossed the border..........and as for the "signed for"? - recipient found the parcel shoved in her letter box................
All I can say, is DON'T panic....
huggies
Maria
Okay, not US here, but I do recieve from the US and I can tell you that US to Canada takes forever, even registered and tracking....I have had someone send me a MO from the US before express mail that still took 10 days, so like I said not US but close and I have problems with delivery times....I can actually get things from the UK quicker than I can from the US...I know not much help, but I hope it is a bit of reassurance that the US postal system is very slow.
Hugs,
Krista
The doll has definitely not arrived yet as I spoke to my friend last night. And now she's gone away for a week!!! Fortunately, the doormen at her apartment are authorised to sign for packages for her, but it's an added complication I could have done without 
Right now I feel sick!! It's not even a question about the monetary value - she is fully insured so I will get my money back if she goes missing BUT that's not the point. This is a really special doll, quite rare - and even rarer in my price bracket! I have searched and saved for years to find this particular mold, so when she came up I could hardly believe it - it was a once in a lifetime opportunity... I really do hope she has just been delayed and will turn up in the next few days...
Sad and worried hugs,
Chris
I think the only way to make sure you can track US domestic parcels door to door is by adding the relatively inexpensive "Delivery Confirmation" paperwork to your shipment. If memory serves, though, it's only available for SOME US mail options, like Priority Mail. I know it's available for Priority Mail (unless they've changed their offerings) because I've used it many times. Priority Mail itself isn't even trackable, and it's a premium service. Makes no sense to me.
To be honest, the entire Postal System makes no sense to me. US or otherwise. There MUST be a way to make it simpler!
As for UPS... I used it ONCE, because the UPS office is near to me. It's much pricier than Priority Mail which is why I avoided it. But one day I really wanted to get something out and couldn't make it across town. I shipped a $100 Nordstrom Gift Certificate to a good friend who helped me out with my website when I was first starting in this industry. I included a CD I had ripped for her of some funny Saturday Nite Live videos she'd been wanting. USP lost the parcel, could never tell me where it went, and because they REFUSED to insure it (it was considered "documents," even though it clearly had monetary value!), I was just out the $100. I had saved for that gift and couldn't afford to replace it, so my friend lost her thank-you gift as well.
I won't ever use UPS again.
Hi Shelli,
This WAS sent priority mail. At least, this is what the guy said: "The doll will post by U.S. Mail, Priority Rate, Registered, Insured. The package will have to be signed for. The box should be opened as indicated on the box "TOP" " So now I am even more confused!! The guy is an antique dealer so I presume he ships a lot of stuff this way - I thought it would be safer to have my doll shipped to a US address as I wouldn't want to entrust her to the international postal system - especially as we are in the middle of strike action right now!!
Going to do the grocery shopping now, and will try not to think about it for an hour or so while i am in Tesco's!!
Hugs,
Chrisx
Sorry, I didn't write clearly. What I tried to say was that it seems to me that since it's a premium service, Priority Mail SHOULD BE trackable -- but it isn't! You have to ADD "Delivery Confirmation" paperwork (a tiny slip of paper and it costs, like, a buck or two) in order to track it.
Sorry for the confusion, hun. 
Canna Bear PaintBoth delivery confirmation and registered mail have the same downfall... the most info you will get out of either is when something was accepted at a post office and when it was delivered, with a big BLANK in between the two. A couple of thoughts. Don't panic yet! A week is actually not that long. Yes, priority is *supposed* to be a couple of days, but that is only an estimated time and it is not unheard of for it to be up to 10 days, not counting Sunday or holidays (and Monday is a postal holiday in the US, so no mail will move or be delivered that day). Don't even consider panicking until it's been more like two weeks, I guess is what I'm saying.
Another thought if your package does not make an appearance by the time your friend gets back from her trip. She may want to either call or visit her local post office and have them check to see if it is sitting there waiting. I have, occasionally, heard of priority packages that got stranded at the receiving post office for various reasons. If she can get them to dig through their packages, it may be there.
Good luck!
Kelly
Hi Guys,
Thank you SO much for the words of reassurance!! Sorry Shelli, yes, I had misread what you meant - you're right, it certainly should be trackable!! Boy, am I learning FAST about the Byzantine rules of USPS 
Many thanks, Kelly for the heads up about Monday being a holiday - I would really have hit the panic button if I had tried to call them and got no reply.
Well, I shall just try and be patient - from what I gather, the dealer has packed my doll in a very large box, so she will be hard to lose, I hope!! Keep your fingers crossed, guys!!
Thanks again,
Chrisx
Newcastle, OntarioChristine,
Canada Post is about equal to USPS - they don't call it snail mail for nothing. I shipped two items to the U.S. from Canada on the same day I mailed two items to Europe. Both parcels got to Europe in less than four days - I thought the lady was joking when she emailed me! The U.S. packages took TWO WEEKS! Don't give up hope just yet!
hugs,
Brenda
Registering parcels usually makes them take longer our post office says, because it has to go through more signatures along the way, maybe that is making the journey longer??
I can commiserate and sympathise with you ust be a terrible worry! I felt bad enough once when a box worth $2400 to me went 'missing'(and I already had the check cleared!)
Oh and P.S if I am not being nosy, I have to ask what doll is it?? 
All the Antique dolls I love are the really expensive ones too!
Registering parcels usually makes them take longer our post office says, because it has to go through more signatures along the way, maybe that is making the journey longer??
...
Oh and P.S if I am not being nosy, I have to ask what doll is it??
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the information - that certainly makes a kind of sense!!
When my doll arrives, I will post a picture of her so that you can see what little French miss has caused me so many sleepless nights! I won't do it yet, in case I jinx the whole thing and she disappears without trace!!
But, if you like antique dolls, you will know how special she is when I tell you that she is an early Jumeau Portrait Fashion - and she is 29" tall, which is even more unusual. She has that 'special' face that only a few of them have. Unfortunately, she also has a hairline crack along one cheek, which is how I came to be able to just about afford to buy her. As I say, it was one of those 'now or never' moments!
Thanks, you guys, for holding my hand through this. I promise never to do it again!!
Hugs,
Chris
BruinwerksThanks, you guys, for holding my hand through this. I promise never to do it again!!
Hugs,
Chris
Hey...isn't that what we're here for?
I didn't really have a meaningful contribution to the "postal discussion" (I think that maybe figuring out the post office, would qualify you to address world peace! :crackup: ) but I am nervously following along your dilemma!
Can't wait to see your sweet girl!
Cheryl
Newcastle, Ontario
Christine,
A year ago, my niece sent an antique Steiff clown to Christies for their December bear auction (valued at $4500.00 US). However, they didn't tell her to use Fed-Ex, as they would drop the items off right at Christies. As she used express mail, they refused to pick it up and it was returned to Canada. HOWEVER, when it arrived in Canada some brilliant postal worker, sent it back to England AGAIN and then it was returned to Canada a second time, where it disappeared into the system completely, without a trace.
My niece is a clever gal, and she managed to figure out the email for the President of Canada Post and basically harassed her - she said if something wasn't done to find it she would arrive at the sorting station in Toronto with a reporter from the Toronto newspaper (human interest LOL). She wanted a tour of the sorting plant in Toronto to look for it, herself. She raised such a stink because in Canada, antiques are NOT insurable. She would have only received $300.00 for the cost of mailing etc. They somehow tagged her tracking number so that if it went through a sorting machine it would set of some sort of alarm to let them know where it was, and it was finally found in an unclaimed parcel centre in Ottawa. The post office hand delivered it to her. It took 3 months to get it back, but she did get it.
I'm not trying to make you more upset - just trying to let you know most parcels turn up - even the lost ones.
hugs,
Brenda
PS. She had a huge tea party for the bear and decided to keep him!
I have found that all people who have a Govt position seem to think they know and control everything no matter where in the world you are.
I sent two bears recently to two customers in the USA- both parcels insured. One customer received her bear the other did not. My customer wanted the bear so I had to re make another one and sent this door to door with a courier service which was expensive but I did not want the 2nd bear to go walk about.
I have completed a claim for the insurance - yet trying to get anything is like hitting my head on a brick wall.
However sometimes the service works so well I am surprised.
Holding 
that you get your parcel
Lynette
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the information - that certainly makes a kind of sense!!When my doll arrives, I will post a picture of her so that you can see what little French miss has caused me so many sleepless nights! I won't do it yet, in case I jinx the whole thing and she disappears without trace!!
But, if you like antique dolls, you will know how special she is when I tell you that she is an early Jumeau Portrait Fashion - and she is 29" tall, which is even more unusual. She has that 'special' face that only a few of them have. Unfortunately, she also has a hairline crack along one cheek, which is how I came to be able to just about afford to buy her. As I say, it was one of those 'now or never' moments!Thanks, you guys, for holding my hand through this. I promise never to do it again!!
Hugs,
Chris
oh yes I would be totally the same way about jinxing, but the portrait Jumeau tells me enough to satisfy my curiosity! hehe.. and so big! I hope you have good news soon, I'm sure everything will be fine- the more something is worth the more amplified the worry becomes:) Karen
