They are broke. Financially.

I don't know, but I do know that they have grown increasingly unreliable. I avoid the postal service at all costs. I get mail for other houses nowhere near mine at least twice a month. Last year I shipped about a half dozen items via USPS and a third (2 of 6) went seriously astray. The worst was a package coming to me (in California) from Florida that somehow went on a mini vacation to Hawaii for a week before circling back to me.

Contact amazon about the order. It's possible that they never actually made it out of the warehouse and got shipped.

Check the listing for the product. Normally, in small print, it will say somewhere "ships from xyz"

I have been having similar problems with items getting lost. On tracked packages, a couple of times I have gotten the email that the item has been delivered to the mailbox but nothing is there. It will show up a couple days later sometimes. I have had problems with several un-tracked packages that have gone missing in the last few months.

Many times I've found out it is coming from China.

They are run by the government, that is what's wrong w/them.............case closed.

The post office is not run by the government.

I'm no big fan of USPS, UPS or FedEx. I ship 100-150 packages per week, roughly 70% through UPS, 30% through USPS. I can't remember the last time a package was not delivered. In fact, I do not think I've had to open a claim this year. And it's extremely rare for a package to even be late unless it's delayed by a natural disaster (hurricane, blizzard, etc.).

So for all of the bitching and complaining that I regularly do about the ever-escalating costs of their service(s), in my case, I have found them to be quite reliable.

What does the USPS website say when you pull up the tracking number? It should at least note acceptance by USPS, otherwise the seller could be lying about it being shipped.

USPS is probably correct then, and you should ask the seller which day they shipped it and also ask why USPS says they haven't received it yet. Amazon might show shipped as soon as a tracking number is provided, but anybody can get a tracking number before they physically ship anything.

It sounds like what may have happened is that a label was created but it was never scanned, meaning it was never taken to or picked up by USPS.

Exactly this for me too. Shirt I bought said that is ships from CA and three and 1/2 weeks later, I get the familiar looking Amazon box but it was dated JUST THE DAY before.

I did a little bit more digging in to the company that shipped the T shirt to me and I found out their comapny address was in China and they were just using a "ship to" dress the make it look like it was shipping from CA.

This has been happening a lot on eBay lately as well.

If you’re shipping usps it has to be priority. It barely costs any more that first class and i have rarely had a problem. I have way more issues out of ups than usps. Stuff gets shipped to ups and sits at the office for days before they deliver it. I call them and ask and they just tell me that they can’t explain why it didn’t go out

Just make sure to leave a detailed feedback of your experience once you receive the package or resolve the transaction. That holds companies accountable.

I've had "shipped from California" items show up clearly marked with Shenzhen postal information.

My experience with Amazon is that they deal through other venders. The problems I have had with Amazon has been those venders not Amazon proper.
A lot of times Amazon is just as much in the dark as you are because the venders are not doing what they are supposed to do.

Things have gone downhill since cliff retired.

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I would think that's plenty of justification to cancel. The seller has provided zero proof of shipment happening in a timely manner.

Second the China thing. Had one thing take over a month to ship from China. Of course the estimated delivery started out only a week or so and got pushed back more and more.

This has happened to me. Warehouse entanglement, not USPS fault. Call the company you ordered from and cancel the order and open a new order. That way you do not have to be involved in finding the lost one, it's not worth the effort. If you cannot deal direct with a company to cancel and reorder when using Amazon, that's a reason to not use Amazon.

I doubt you've ever seen me be this blunt.

Amazon, for me as a vendor, sucks!
12 months, around 600 emails, and screwed over big time, with lies at every turn.
Couldn't resolve, and even begged family that works direct with Bezos, even visits his house
to interfere.
There is a big mess behind the scenes.
Fortunately, is mostly limited to jewelry.

For the op, sounds like the vendor processed shipping, because a vendor is penalized for not doing so timely and didn't have the product on hand.
It's done all the time.

I'm sure you'll get it resolved, but hope you might not open a can of worms, as one customer can actually destroy the livelihood
of a company that feeds their family from this.

I’m 99% sure that this is shipped to you out of China. The “California” seller is not in California on Amazon...or EBAY. They are flown in and customs is usually the hold up.

Take the $20

I agree. Kind of sounds like bullshit, but if you can deal with the wait take the $20.

Well, yes they are considering it is a government agency. Its a establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. My brother in law works for the PO so I get to hear about it all the time. Listen to a couple of this stories and you will understand why they lose 4 billion a year.

I've been selling on-line since 2001. I've had roughly 58,000 transactions during that time, all on eBay. There have been some times that I've had a helluva time finding the item that the buyer purchased, and it's either gone out a day late or I've had to order a replacement from the manufacturer, and have it drop-shipped directly to them. So I've made mistakes. Plenty of them. But the difference between me and the response that you got from this seller is that I always own my mistakes. I don't make up some long-winded, bullshit story, which is exactly what this is.

However:

1. At least you got a timely response
2. At least you got a response
3. They did offer you a partial refund

So they are kind of owning it, even though they put them blame on someone else. It's still a bullshit story, but I'd take the $20 and give it a chance to work itself out. You still have your buyer protection in place, so if they drop the ball again, you're not stuck. And if you do end up receiving the merchandise and the $20, I'd be inclined to give them a good comment and top-rated feedback.

Just my .02

Read closely:

"The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak) because it operates much like a business. It is, however, an "establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States", (39 U.S.C. § 201) as it is controlled by Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General."

Regarding why they are losing money, you may find this tidbit interesting:

"Despite a common misconception and, unlike other government agencies, the Postal Service receives zero tax dollars for its operations and is instead funded entirely by revenues from postage and services. In FY 2013, the Postal Service saw a $623 million dollar profit delivering the mail

Then why all the focus on red ink in the news? Back in 2006, Congress imposed a huge and unprecedented mandate requiring that the Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years and do so within a decade – something no other public agency or private company is required to do.

This unnecessary mandate is the real problem. Learn the truth about postal finances and share the real story with your family and friends!"

I ship daily with USPS and have very few issues if any. UPS has had a few hiccups though. Plus USPS is best bang for the buck. USPS also just started a mail notification program where you can view their scans of your incoming parcels.

Yes, this is a problem because both pensions and the PO itself are outdated business models. Add in union limitations and the government mindset and it is a real mess.

You should have copied and pasted the rest of the article. The article talking about the myth of the post office being independent from the government. It is not independent and is a government agency that is run by congress.

The Supreme Court has even weighed in on what being “independent” means for the USPS, in an opinion from 2004:

The PRA’s designation of the Postal Service as an “independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States,” 39 U. S. C. §201, is not consistent with the idea that the Postal Service is an entity existing outside the Government. Indeed, the designation indicates just the contrary. The PRA gives the Postal Service a high degree of independence from other Government offices, but it remains part of the Government.

Well, I guess you know more about it than a gal that's a member here at my golf course. She's been the Postmaster of the local post office here since 1983. I'll forward your comments and get her straightened out. Thank you.

Good, she needs to get her shit straight.

Ive been really lucky with USPS....fed ex delivered a light bar to a house 2 blocks away on Monday...

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Not that uncommon in Government. Same thing is done within DoD - "nonappropriated funds". Things like Morale and Welfare programs are all self-funded... doesn't make them any less government