On USPS tracking

[normdiaz]

Hadn't run across the notation "customer recall" on USPS tracking before.  I need to call my friendly branch PO to inquire what it means just to satisfy my curiosity because the item was delivered.

  



"Delivered


August 21, 2013, 11:31 am


KING GEORGE, VA 22485  

Customer Recall


August 21, 2013, 9:15 am


KING GEORGE, VA 22485"  
  

 
 
 


 
 
 




 
 
 


  

 
 
 


 
  

 
 
 

[bobbymike]

Norm,
If you got the package then the comment was an error on the part of the postal worker who scanned it. That comment is used for packages that had been sent back to the sender by a recipient instead of accepting it. Happens occasionally, the buttons on those scanners are tiny. I've made mistakes before and had to back them out and delete them before. Looks like that fellow/gal didn't.

[normdiaz]

Aug 21, 2013 18:19:09 GMT -8 bobbymike said:

Norm,
If you got the package then the comment was an error on the part of the postal worker who scanned it. That comment is used for packages that had been sent back to the sender by a recipient instead of accepting it. Happens occasionally, the buttons on those scanners are tiny. I've made mistakes before and had to back them out and delete them before. Looks like that fellow/gal didn't.

Thanks Bobby.  That must have been an error then.  The package was outgoing and the buyer later acknowledged satisfactory receipt.

[bobbymike]

Not a problem Norm. Since I picked up some hours at our local PO (I run it for half the week) I have learned many secrets about how packages and mail move through space and time. I'm happy to be helpful with that info.

[normdiaz]

Aug 22, 2013 4:32:52 GMT -8 bobbymike said:

Not a problem Norm. Since I picked up some hours at our local PO (I run it for half the week) I have learned many secrets about how packages and mail move through space and time. I'm happy to be helpful with that info.

Do you run a main PO, branch, or substation?  I've found a difference between our area PO and the nearest USPS sub station (inside an Ace Hardware).  If I want to buy tracking for a padded mailer, the sub station refuses to sell it to me (though they won't for larger packages), but the area PO will.  The guys at the PO can't explain why the sub won't sell the tracking on padded mailers.  The sub, as I understand it, says it has something to do with package size and their contract with USPS.  I just go to the area PO more often anyway (though it's 4 miles further) because they can provide a printed/detailed receipt which the sub isn't equipped to print.

[bobbymike]

I run a small rural Post Office. We serve a community of about 1500 people. Not all those get mail from me. About 200 have P.O. Boxes (because they can't get rural delivery by car and about the same number get their deliveries by car to their private mailboxes. The rest of the community either get rural delivery by car from another Post Office, or they have PO Boxes at another Post Office.

I don't know much about those substations. It's quite possible that they don't have scanners. They may just collect mail and then it's scanned by another Post Office. We put tracking on anything a customer wants!

We do it all. Postal Money orders (I'm amazed at how many pay bills with them), foreign packages, etc. There's another gal that works at the Post Office, but we switch days and don't work together at the same time.

[normdiaz]

Aug 23, 2013 15:13:57 GMT -8 bobbymike said:

I don't know much about those substations. It's quite possible that they don't have scanners. They may just collect mail and then it's scanned by another Post Office. We put tracking on anything a customer wants!

You piqued my curiosity on substations.  In an article on the USPS website, I think they are mentioned under the heading of "contract stations".
about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/stations-branches.pdf
(I don't consider them good for anything except mainly the most routine postal transactions like accepting mail, providing forms, and selling stamps/postal supplies.  The one near us is a bit more conveniently located than the main/branch PO, but I don't use them for "serious" mailing".)