New (to me) USPS issue
 

On eBay last week I purchased a card which I expected would be delivered today. I received today's mail but not the card in question so I checked the USPS tracking. It shows now not only that it was delivered this morning but that it was given to me personally and that I signed for it. No such thing happened. How concerned should I be that it was lost or stolen and I'll never receive it?

Probably drop it off later tonight or tomorrow. Not all packages are equal or delivered at once. And I've had this happen to me before too. Usually it's an over zealous mailman who wants to get the scan out of the way.

Usps
 

I've had it happen to me too. It came the next day. Hopefully it shows up for you too.

I swear some of these postal employees give no consideration to my baseball card neuroticism.

You will get it

Yep, I've had this happen multiple times. They like to take care of the "administrative" signoff portion ahead of the actual drop-off. Should arrive either today or tomorrow.

Like the others, the same thing (minus the signature aspect) happened to me. My ebay page told me it was just delivered, so I went to the mailbox and nothing (but the regular mail). I immediately messaged the seller to tell him I don't know what's going on, but the package was not delivered, etc., and I will keep him apprised in case it went to the wrong house or something. He was cool and said he'd sit tight. It was either later in the darkness that night, or possibly the next day, and the package was delivered. When I asked the woman at the post office to be honest with me, she admitted that *wink wink* sometimes the carriers mark everything as delivered before actually being delivered, because it saves time. Of course, this scenario doesn't explain 'your' signature. That's just wrong.

I thought signatures were not being obtained due to COVID so anything that was sent with signature required wasn't actually being signed for by the recipient.

If so, this should be a little more obvious to anyone purchasing or expecting this service. I was in the same place as the OP last fall, when I heard the postal carrier arrive on a day I knew a card was to be delivered with signature confirmation. He left, no package, but it showed up shortly that it had been signed for. It showed up on my porch a short while later, but it made me very nervous!

Consider it a character-building experience

A similar thing happened to me in January. I got the email that a package had been signed for without me actually having the package. I chased down the postal worker, who told me that due to COVID they were allowed to sign for it themselves and leave it. The package was in my mailbox. It makes the signature confirmation absolutely pointless. I was not happy about it, but at least I got my card safe and sound. FYI, FedEx does still knock and ask for a signature. I requested that a valuable card to be sent to me using FedEx recently for just this reason. I keep wondering what would have happened if the package was stolen out of my mailbox after showing that it had been signed for and delivered. I doubt that things would have gone my way on any claim to get my money back.

Is it any different for registered mail ?

I'm convinced this is about numbers and making it work. My thought is they cant make the delivery they say they did to keep their numbers good, and of course it will show up the next day. This has happened to me several times, USPS has turned into a complete joke and they need to clean house starting at the top.

Fudging delivery times etc isn't all that new in general.
USPS has been pretty good, but the others?

Back a few years ago UPS advertised something crazy like 99% on time delivery.

I had a package I really wanted... So I looked at tracking.
Due Tuesday!
Tuesday, no package.
track
Due Wednesday!
No package.

It finally showed up Friday, with a "delivered on time!" note in the tracking.
Not hard if you get to change the expected delivery date.

USPS' temporary COVID procedures DO NOT include them signing for it themselves without your knowledge . . .


From: https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-...ness-Customers . . .




Will there be any modifications to Certified Mail® or mail requiring signature deliveries with customers? If so, how will this be supported?

One significant measure being implemented is a temporary modification to mail handling procedures for mail that requires customer signatures. We recognize the close proximity and additional handling that occurs when employees must ask customers for a signature and government issued identification when required. To reduce health risks, we are temporarily modifying customer signature capture procedures. Effective immediately and until further notice, our employees will follow the temporary process below for signature service items. This process applies to all letter carriers:

• Avoid ringing the doorbell when possible. Knock on the customer’s door. Avoid areas that may be frequently touched when knocking.
• While maintaining a safe, appropriate distance, employees will request the customer’s first initial and last name.
• For increased safety, employees will ask the customer to step back a safe distance or close the screen door/door so that they may leave the item in the mail receptacle or appropriate location by the customer door.
• If there is no response, employees will follow the normal Notice Left process.
• If there are delivery points on the route where social distancing recommendations are difficult to follow, alternative delivery methods can be explored. (Industry Alert – 3/20/20)"

Just because that is what is posted doesn't mean it's happening. I have had several packages requiring signature left without any attempt at contact from my carrier.

call your local p.o. and have them find out where the carrier delivered it.

Same here...I've had 3 packages requiring a signature dropped on my doorstep without even a knock on the door to let me know it was delivered. On the 3rd one, I happened to hear the footsteps and package drop on my stoop, as I was near my front door at the time. I was expecting the package and knew it was coming with signature required. I opened my door as the mail carrier was walking away and asked, "Don't I need to sign for this?" He turned toward me and threw up his hand and said, "No, we're not doing that during Covid."

You guys don't seem to understand.

When timzcardz wrote, "USPS' temporary COVID procedures DO NOT include them signing for it themselves without your knowledge . . ." with "DO NOT" in all caps, he was specifically pointing out that this shouldn't have happened.

CORRECT!

Obviously it’s happening, and obviously some postal employees are not doing what they are supposed to.

Are they misinformed?

Or willfully ignoring what is required and taking shortcuts?

In my case described above, there was also no attempt to approach my door, let alone knock. I know because I was sitting six feet away from it. When I chased down the postal worker and got his explanation, I asked if not getting the customer's signature and leaving the package in the mailbox was allowed. His exact words to me were "my supervisor told me to do it". Sounded like a CYA statement if ever I heard one.

Yea that is correct - They cant risk running into a zombie at the front door

I would think the simple solution for people that have mail delivered to their residence would be to leave a notice that they have a package at the post
office that requires a signature.

......

Sellers responsibility
 

If a package shows delivered and the buyer didn't receive, I'm not sure Ebay will allow a case to be opened, the item shows delivered? The seller shipped the item in good faith and timely manner and printed the shipping label using Ebay's label system, the carrier made a error.

I wouldn't count on the carrier to pay any insurance claims if the item shows delivered.