doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lost in Shipping...

My A. Blair 12b is missing in transit via USPS registered mail from Missouri to Honolulu. I mailed it on the fourth with an estimated maximum 4-6 days of shipping time according to the USPS window clerk there. I've been using the tracking function on their site but all it's ever said is that the package was accepted and processed in Missouri. Today I called customer service and they admit it should have been here by now and have no idea where it is. They said they will contact me within one business day...we'll see, I guess. I thought USPS was the way to go over UPS and FEDEX.....maybe not.

Anyone else ever had this problem with USPS? What kind of resolution should I expect? Do they usually find their missing packages?

It may turn up. The package will ride on a FedEx airplane. It's possible your box may be receiving very low priority this time of year, due to FDX weight limits on their Hawaii flights. USPS is pretty careful with registered mail... not fast, just careful.

U.S.Postal Service is the only way that I will ship anything of value. Especially a gun.
Best,
John

Hmmmm, I'm waiting to see if USPS suffers from the same issues that the commercial outfits suffer.

Bob, the only time that I've had a problem with USPS registerd mail was on the last gun that I shipped. It took 16 days to get from Alaska to Arizona. It did finally make it. And like you say the site never only ever said "picked up" at the start point until the day it arrived. Give it a few more days. Unfortunately you're going to have to wait 30 days anyway before you can file a claim. That's what I was told when I asked 2 weeks into the mystical flight. Good luck. I know it means a lot to you.

i don't think it's time to start worrying. i shipped an FAL receiver to a dealer in VA from fort worth and if i remember right it was 11 days. tracking showed identical to yours: "accepted in blahblah" and nothing else. i was worried and what the USPS customer service desk told me is that registered is the most fool-proof, risk-free, method of shipping anything valuable out there but it's also the SLOWEST. that was confirmed by a clerk next time i shipped a gun. every day at every point it has to be signed in and out and locked up when not in transit and if anything happens it's somebodys bu++ on the line so they take no chances. on top of that, nothing short of priority to HI is going to be quick. regular parcel to HI is usually listed as 3-5 weeks.

one thing that's confusing is that the receipt indicated that i shipped it priority but that's not the case and "priority mail" is not what's indicated by that word in this case (unless you did in fact specify and pay for priority but priority to HI should be 3 days and not 5-6).

i was also disturbed that tracking on line didn't at least show where it was locked up every day but the customer service guy couldn't see any more than i could see on line. since then i've sent everything priority and insured. one made it from FW to washington state in 2 days flat. granted it probably wasn't as valuable as what you're talking about.

4 to 6 days seems like an awfully generous estimate of delivery time for Registered Mail for the distance and this time of year.
Registered Mail is actually Priority Mail with the added security of the sign off at each handling point (that's the Registered part along with the added value insurance). Mail never goes a direct route, lots of indirect routes to resorting centers and the like. The last registered package I sent took 15 days betw NY and Missouri,,and they didn't trax that one either. Everyone has what they consider the 'best way to go' in shipping a firearm. That's the one way that they themselves have never encountered a problem with. When they do, it becomes the poorest service on earth. Truth be known, they all have problems at some point.

Thanks guys. Most of that makes me feel better. Maybe they'll come through........hope they don't take too long.......I've got some roosters to kill in a couple of weeks over on Kauai!

I've heard of other people having problems with UPS, but I've both sent and received quite a few guns that way and have never had any issues with them. Worst thing ever happened was a gun coming to IA from MASS that got about halfway here, then turned around for some reason. But one good thing about UPS . . .their tracking system. I knew exactly what happened to that gun, and it eventually headed back in the right direction.

Don't worry, USPS registered is safe as a...safe. It will get there or the last guy that signed for it goes to jail.