Anyone know how to trace a missing parcel?

[diddie17]

Hi,

I odered some stuff from a US website a couple of weeks ago and they shipped via United States Postal Service (USPS) through the EMS service.

Apparently this normally arrives through New Zealand post, and I have a USPS tracking number which NZ Post show has only just been picked up from the supplier. However USPS tracking shows that it has been attempted to be delivered to me together with all of the usual route points, but that it went through Australia to get here.

The best advice I have had so far is that it has almost certainly mistakenly gone to Australia rather than NZ and would have been put with another courier to get it into NZ. Unfortunately I don't know who this courier is or have a new tracking number.

USPS shows that it was attempted to be delivered to me yesterday, however my wife was home at the time they say they tried and no note or card was left, so I have no idea who tried to deliver it.

NZ Post's best guess was that they think TNT probably deal with stuff that has gone to Australia by mistake, but I've called them and they can't track without a TNT tracking number which I don't have.

I have even called USPS in the US who say once it is delivered to a country it has nothing to do with them and they can't help.

I have no idea who to talk to to track this down. Any ideas?

[Grub]

Have had this hassle in the past.

NZPost are the USPS inbound agents so those two are responsible. What you next do is ask for faxed or electronic copies of their tracking record. Then you start quizzing them, particularly USPS. Like who tried to deliver them, when was the attempt made, what time of the day, who was the courier and what exactly was the address etc etc

The upshot of the experience I was involved with (workmate buying Ebay perfume) was never resolved. It seemed that there were two possibilities

- Perfume is a prohibited import and Customs seized it
- Somebody in the Auckland NZ Post depot is stealing it.

The latter explanation is the one we favoured. The package was small and valuable. So we contacted NZ Post's Fraud Unit and they said they would look into it ... last we ever heard

[barty5]

had hassles with the us poat in the past it suck there service is poor and very slow most people i have dealt with up there wont use it because of this

[mazz1972]

We deal with NZ Post over "missing" mail fairly regularly at work, but is it always outgoing, not incoming.

I presume EMS is a (supposedly) trackable service for parcel from the US?

Get in touch with the company you purchased from asap and get them to send you a copy of any documentation/invoice etc that went with your parcel, and triple check they had your address correct!

Either USPS or NZ Post have royally stuffed up here. Definately ask both of them to look into it further.

USPS need to investigate further what has happened to the parcel. If it really did take the route/attempted delivery that their tracking records show, then NZ Post would also have a record of the attempted delivery. Keep checking the NZ Post track & trace on their website.

Ask NZ Post to go back to USPS and start an investigation, although possibly they may say the investigation has to start with the sender, ie. USPS/the company you purchased from. If NZ Post can do it, get them to ask for copies of USPS records to show where the parcel was tracked, and attempted delivery etc. They should be able to do all this by email.

Go back to the company you ordered the goods from and tell them what has happened. They should be able to instigate an inquiry with USPS at their end. Check their website or contact the company for for their policy on lost orders.

FYI it's my understanding that in Australia DHL handle incoming parcels, but possibly that is only incoming from NZ, and all parcels are given a DHL tracking number once they get their hands on them.

If you paid by credit card, you should have some recourse there as you could dispute the charge due to the goods having not been received. If you point this out to the company you purchased from, it should motivate them to get onto USPS asap! Make notes of all your enquiries, dates, times, who you spoke to etc. This, along with any of the tracking info from USPS/NZ Post may be needed if you claim a refund from your credit card company.

Another thought, you could always check with customs whether they have your package. Packages are stopped there if the documentation shows the value is over the threshold for GST/duty, and/or the documentation is incomplete or inconclusive as to value they will ask the recipient for proof of value (ie. invoice/receipt). They send out a letter and sometimes that can take a while to get to you.

Best of luck!

[mazz1972]

- Perfume is a prohibited import and Customs seized it

This is quite likely, NZ customs are getting very picky on parcel contents now. So is NZ Post, their website has an amazingly extensive list of items you cannot send, even within NZ.

[diddie17]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I did finally track it down and it arrived this morning.

Apparently the parcel went to Australia, and the attempted delivery I had seen was in Melbourne. Apparently the dumb Oz post guys didn't realise the package was for NZ until they actually tried to deliver it in Melbourne.

Finally tracked it down on the Auspost website rather than the NZ Post website and managed to talk to someone in OZ and got it re-routed.

All good in the end though, thanks for your help

[Mom]

- Perfume is a prohibited import and Customs seized it- Somebody in the Auckland NZ Post depot is stealing it.

A friend of mine once sent me a big boxed bottle of Tequilla from the States, it got stopped at the NZ border and returned to her as a prohibited import. She re-wrapped the parcel (complete with her house/car keys, she is blonde what can I say) and sent it back saying it was perfume. It was delivered no worries!

I also go for the second option!

Sorry to hear mate, I hope you get some resolution. Just a thought, contact your bank and try to get the charge reversed off your card?

[scracha]

I wouldn't use UPS....too many issues. Stick with DHL or TNT. They're sometimes cheaper too. If your USA based supplier only deals with UPS then give them the flick.

Re missing parcels and last you heard from them. Insist that they get the police involved if it's not resolved otherwise you will do it yourself. The parcels normally turn up in a few hours when you say that.