I sent my Winchester Model 42 WS-1 solid ribbed skeet Gun with Wenig exhibition wood to an out of state gunsmith using the USPS. That was a week ago last Wednesday. Delivery via priority mail was supposed to have been last Saturday. According to the post office tracking site the gun is “in transit to be delivered late.” I started the tracing process and have now been told the package never left Indianapolis where it had arrived from my local post office. It was never scanned in after being received in Indy. How does a 40”x10”x10” package get mislaid ? ! ! Did I mention this was my grandfather’s shotgun and, to me, is irreplaceable. I’m beyond being p#ssed. I’ve been told the next step is for a search of the Indianapolis facility to occur. I have no idea how to escalate this further. In a worst case scenario (assuming the gun has been stolen) I have it insured through Guns and Trophies but payment of claim won’t salve the hurt of losing my grandfather’s gun. And . . . . being the pessimist I am, I am skeptical of the value the insurer will place on the gun even though I scheduled a specific amount. Anyone ever had any experience with the loss of a package by the post office and what did you do try to remedy the problem. Thanks in advance.
Give it more time. I sent a barrel gauge "PRIORITY MAIL" from Montana to New Jersey---It took 23 days !! You will probably be OK !!
It'll show up, be patient. Back in the summer took 15 days for a check to show up from Texas to Illinois. Priority mail.
I had same thing happen to a set of pilla frames. I sent them Nov 12 and and it ended up taking a lil over 2 weeks to arrive in CT. They also never left Indy till about 3 days before they arrived. I believe it will show up eventually. I recommend using FED Ex as they are more reliable
Tracking the 34" 870 barrel I sold here on our site and shipped USPS Priority. PA to OH on 11/30, "estimated" delivery 12/03. That's 3 days so the "Priority, Mail 2-Day" printed on the receipt is BS but since this is the 65th gun or barrel I have sent USPS Priority in the last year I knew that going in. Tracked yesterday and again this morning. Still shows "going to be late". I did fill out their survey and gave them a zero for the service. Like that's going to do anything, HA. Keep checking on it. They are SUPPOSED to scan any Priority mail every time someone touches it and you have proof they accepted it so you DO have a leg to stand on. Not a gun but my wife waited on a check from Canada for the business she runs and it took 1 day shy of a MONTH.
Really ain't that the truth. The next shotgun I sell I think I'll break it down, put it in a suitcase and mark it ballots. Probably get there the same day.
Thats why I ship guns/barrels by FedEx. USPS is having delivery issues, and it takes much longer than expected to deliver if priority mail. I mailed a gunsmith a check in letter, first class, and it took 4 days. Mailed a couple gun parts to him by priority mail, took 2 weeks. Its a crap shoot with post office, but it is what it is.
For whatever reason you cannot track usps packages to some extant. Not sure why, as recently I called local PO and gave them tracking #, and they were able to update delivery where I could not.
I stopped at the PO yesterday, Wednesday, and the clerk got the same “arriving late” message I got when he checked. Since he used the same USPS site I used I kinda figured he would. Shipped PRIORITY 11/30 still not there 12/10. I’m going to stop today and ask how long it has to be MIA before they call the TOD and I have to start the claim. I know with all the online shopping they are busy but I have a bad feeling about this one.
The PO needs 30 days to "Investigate" before they will talk to you. As for a claim ?? Good luck with that one !! They have a dozen excuses as to what YOU did wrong. Starting with poor packaging !! ( Not their responsibility !! ) ETC.ETC.
I actually had a claim years ago on of all things a Model 42. It took them about a week to write the check for a cracked stock. This is different since it is a “lost” item. I hope I don’t have to find out how long that takes.
For amboy49, Hang in there. I sent a rifle USPS Priority from PA to NC on 12/03. It was supposed to arrive 12/07. After getting the ""it's going to be late" message on the 7th, 8th, 9th and again this morning the 10th, it showed up in the afternoon 5 days after it was supposed to. That 870 barrel I sent is still MIA. The box was 36" long but skinny, just the right size to get 'lost" in the pile of bigger packages. Hmmm, talking wire say white man upset him not get package from Pony Express rider. Me say White man should have patience of buzzard. Maybe rider get bushwhacked and tied to wagon wheel somewhere. Maybe Lone Ranger that wear mask had to rescue him.
Update from this morning, Friday, 12/11 It gets better and better, When I tried tracking that barrel at 2:50 pm today the USPS website shows, "Sorry, that option is not available at this time. Try again later." You gotta love it. Probably overloaded due to a few million people looking for their packages that are late.
Don’t fret. i mailed a package from Central Ohio to Mentor, Ohio 11-24.. Hasn’t arrived yet. Tracking says in transit. Maybe Santa ??? Regards.........Gerald
To provide some closure my gun did show up. In fact the postmaster in the town where it was going gave me a call to tell me it had arrived and they would be delivering it to the gunsmith the next day. The frustrating part was not being able to track where the gun was throughout the shipment. If I could have seen where it was, even though it was going to be late, it would have taken the stress out of being concerned it might have been either lost or stolen.
First Off, NEVER SEND A GUN THROUGH THE POST OFFICE!!!! USPS tracking is useless. It is NOT tracking. It tells you when you dropped it off, and when it was delivered. (sometime down the road) and nothing in between. Send it fed X. UPS needs a firearm certificate for the particular location you drop it at. Otherwise they won't take it. I have had packages with the post office that say it should arrive in 3-4 days. 6 weeks later it gets delivered. Even if you pay for next day delivery, it is still a gamble. If you have your gun scheduled individually on your home owner policy you don't need the additional insurance on carrier. And always keep you receipt with the tracking number in a safe place.
A few minor corrections: Tracking with USPS does show location. Mine showed local post office, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Boise, Homeplace, and delivery. Small consolation, though, when the package sat in Indianapolis for 7 days. You suggest sending it Fed X. It took 3 weeks for Fed Ex to ship a gun from Florida and get it to me in Indiana. Next day delivery doesn’t guarantee next day with USPS. I paid $26 to see d a letter next day from Indiana to Wisconsin. It took three days because the local PO delivered it to the wrong address. I required a signature and the recipient was home. They delivered next door two days in a row until I called the PO and spoke with the postmaster. Ain’t nuthin certain. I think UPS May be slightly better.
I don't think USELESS fits. I'm still waiting on that 34" 870 barrel to be delivered but the last firearm I shipped, number 65 of the hundreds I'm selling, arrived 3 days after the "estimated" date and that one was the first to be late. Not too bad with the millions of packages they are moving. Until this mass online buying spree, and now the Holiday season, all the other firearms made it there within the 3 day window. And I was able to see every stop along the way. "UPS needs a firearm certificate for the particular location you drop it at." Do you mean a FFL? amboy, glad to here it made it there.
Glad it made it safely. Ive used all 3 and like I said I have had best luck with FED EX. I can see they all have problems apparently, but my days of using USPS are over.
Busy shoveling snow three times today and didn't bother tracking that barrel. I just received a nice confirmation PM from the buyer that it showed up today. SWPA to western OH. 17 days Waiting on a check for a shotgun from MA. I know the buyer mailed it on 12/03.
The USPS delivery system has not been reliable on shipping anything for several years. I have only used FedEx or UPS for the past few years after having packages delayed for weeks through the USPS. Sent a gun to Phillip a few years ago and it finally showed up 12 days later and another gun to NE and it showed up 17 days later.
The crazy thing is they only really make one option available within reasonable cost, 2 Day Priority. That if your lucky means a week. Talked to my carrier and he said with covid reducing workers, and the extra shipping of packages it caused has been lethal to the system. They just had a meeting about this. The local main distribution center has had packages backed up there for months at times. The problem then arose of packages that were coming in last, were being shipped out first. This delayed the already delayed packages even more, instead of rotating the packages. That of course would have made all of the packages late for delivery with the system being overwhelmed. One package the wife has been waiting on has been at this distribution center 40 miles away for 6 weeks according to the tracking. Still nothing. So, the fix unfortunately was going to be bad either way. Just add it to the trying times we are in. This is not to mention the fee increase also, which is another story.
My Baker Batavia sat in Detroit from Nov. 29th to Dec. 7th, and it was shipped Priority Mail with tracking. Just received it last week here in Florida, it was shipped from Ohio. Oh what fun the USPS is.
The package i shipped Nov. 24 showed up Dec. 21. Columbus, Oh. to Mentor Ohio. According to USPS tracking it was stalled for 10 days in Cols. My son said a co-worker said the PO was backed up 4 million packages. UPS and Fed X go down my street several times daily. Tegards.....Gerald
I saw two different big brown trucks on the same day last week. They were backed up to the loading dock at my post office.
I sent a Wall Chart to a guy in Michigan only 20 miles across the border from me here in Ontario. He is not 120 miles from my house it took 17 days to get there. Tracking shows it was in the USA. two days after I mailed it. Some took almost a month to arrive others got as far as Texas in 7 days, no pattern to it at all but 14 days is real common.
I've started sending packages by carrier pigeon. Sometimes takes 8 or 10 birds to carry one package, but has really worked great so far. Except if we get a super strong windstorm.
