I wanted to inform the e4 community what’s been going on with USPS specifically in the greater Houston area: Missouri City, Texas and the North Houston facility. They are facing a logistical nightmare that started back in December with thousands of citizens missing packages including but not limited to; medication, collectibles, wedding dress, and more
Timeline
• bought item on eBay on the 19th of January
• item gets shipped on 22nd of January
• item arrived at Missouri City, Texas facility on the 22nd of January
It has been there ever since. It says it’s in transit but other folks have also had this only to find out it never left. I filed a missing claim on Monday. The stuff I bought is only $200 and with eBay’s guarantee, I’m not tripping about it.
This is more letting folks know, if you are planning to buy items from Texas, be weary if it’s in the Houston area or anywhere remotely close where packages have to funnel through these facilities. It’s all over the news.
You’re more than likely to have a very delayed package.
If you want to see the exact breakdown, see below. I know @Dizzle and @bigtucktv have had this issue as well with these facilities. See Reddit link below for more information.
I live in the area and I can confirm that it’s pretty bad. I had a package that was lost and thankfully I got it refunded on Ebay. Things are improving a bit, they brought in 30 staff from various mail hubs to work through the backlog and to move any new parcels through quickly. I had a card that was scheduled to be delivered yesterday and was only held up by one day, got it late this afternoon. Word going around that the backlog most likely won’t be cleared out until April.
While I know I have that option on eBay to let them know that I never recieved the package, what happens to the seller? Does eBay still pay them out? Or do they take the L? I know I can easily as of today submit my case to eBay, but I don’t know if I should continue to wait, or submit my case to them? Never have had to deal with this before.
It was my first missing package as well. The seller was chill about it as we messaged each other a few times. I was proactive and initiated a case like you did. My card was supposed to be delivered on 12/26 and it was out for delivery but it never was. So it was I think a bit different situation since yours is stuck at a hub while mine did make it all the way to the local post office.
I waited about a week after the intended delivery date and when the case didn’t bring up anything I filed for a package not delivered claim with ebay and the seller refunded same day.
Ah noted. If I don’t hear anything back by this upcoming Monday, I’ll submit my case to eBay. I believe eBay gives you 30 days to dispute if you don’t receive an item if I read that right.
I sent in to get my vehicle registration sticker December 1st. They mailed it December 6th. I was planning to go to the DMV this week because it hadn’t arrived. Got it last Friday and the envelope was indeed dated Dec 6th.
Also, I’ve had one case opened on eBay due to the shipping time. Most of my packages are getting to the buyers in a week or less, but some are taking much longer. For some, just the Origin Acceptance has been taking up to 4 days.
You have 30 days from the last updated expected delivery date. When I’ve run into this problem (and I think the seller is good and has done nothing wrong), I’ll give them a heads-up after like 20 days if I haven’t received anything, letting them know that I’ll wait until the end to file the case. I also let them know that, if it does come in, I’ll gladly just tell them to re-list the item, and I’ll purchase it again. (Nothing that has been lost has shown up though )
This situation looks pretty bad though. Not sure if I have anything routing through the Houston area, but I’ll keep this in mind.
(Note: most of my purchases are small though, so I’m not sure the sellers care either way most of the time.)
Yeah, echoing here that its been rough and I was affected on the selling side. I had a package get stalled in the same exact way for about 3 weeks before finally moving, but overall it was just backed up and not lost. Hopefully this is also the case for others, but best bet is definitely complaining to USPS too to get a fire sparked for things to change quicker.
How does something like this even happen? I’m not buying some random reddit explanation that claims USPS just overhauled some system that time of year and it only impacted one city.
This explains one package I’ve been waiting on for almost 3 weeks now. Luckily only in the double figures and MtG related. Thank you for the info. I cannot imagine the absolute stress of being a postal worker or citizen in that area right now. Also curious as to how this developed.
Shocking. There’s about a 2-3 week delay. Though I am surprised mine moved when there are still packages stuck since December that haven’t. I got really lucky with the expected date of tomorrow. We will see!
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