# UPS lost my package. How can I locate it without a tracking number?



## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Anyone have any experience with this? I've been ordering from Amazon Prime for over a year now, and this is the first time something has gotten lost. It was sent via UPS without a tracking number on June 2nd. It was expected to arrive by June 22nd. It's now the 29th and no book. It was a book on the Chukchi tribe (the eskimos who gave us the Siberian Husky) that normally sells for $136, and I found it for $55. The seller already refunded me, and said if/when the book arrives to keep it, which was a nice gesture. I just want the book really bad. It's a rare find, especially in hardcover for that price. What can I do? I was going to do an online chat with UPS, but you need a tracking number to communicate with them. I'm probably going to have to call them, or see if I can do the online chat with a fake tracking number just to get through the system and chat with an actual person. I'm hoping some of you might have experienced this and figured out a way to hunt down a lost package.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

Call UPS and speak to customer service- basically just keep pressing 0 until you reach someone. Give them your name and info and they should be able to look it up for you. Did the seller get a tracking number? They should have...


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

counter said:


> Anyone have any experience with this? I've been ordering from Amazon Prime for over a year now, and this is the first time something has gotten lost. It was sent via UPS without a tracking number on June 2nd. It was expected to arrive by June 22nd. It's now the 29th and no book. It was a book on the Chukchi tribe (the eskimos who gave us the Siberian Husky) that normally sells for $136, and I found it for $55. The seller already refunded me, and said if/when the book arrives to keep it, which was a nice gesture. I just want the book really bad. It's a rare find, especially in hardcover for that price. What can I do? I was going to do an online chat with UPS, but you need a tracking number to communicate with them. I'm probably going to have to call them, or see if I can do the online chat with a fake tracking number just to get through the system and chat with an actual person. I'm hoping some of you might have experienced this and figured out a way to hunt down a lost package.


The shipper is the person that will have the tracking #. When you ship via UPS, a tracking # is automatically generated. So the shipper would have to obtain that information from UPS. Normally its printed out on a sticker, and then scanned. You could try calling UPS, but normally they will not provide the information to you since its not under your account.

FYI-UPS is my nemesis! They are always losing my packages


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Maybe there's an order # that could be used by Amazon to find tracking #??


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

UPS always uses tracking numbers. Every package is scanned at pickup, and every stop along the way. Even if the number wasn't provided to you, there is one, which the seller should be able to look up for you. I don't know if UPS will be able to help you without that number.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

dogma13 said:


> Maybe there's an order # that could be used by Amazon to find tracking #??


Amazon may not have the tracking number if the seller didn't provide one. But they might be able to get it upon request.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

According to the shipper, there is no tracking number. They sent it "MI" mail, whatever that is. I'm thinking UPS's version of media mail, since it was a book, and I know with USPS media mail it goes really slow and costs very little money for S&H.


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

counter said:


> According to the shipper, there is no tracking number. They sent it "MI" mail, whatever that is. I'm thinking UPS's version of media mail, since it was a book, and I know with USPS media mail it goes really slow and costs very little money for S&H.[/QUOTEA
> 
> Are you sure it went UPS or USPS?
> 
> There is a difference...USPS does not always have a tracking #, UPS always DOES have a tracking #


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Oh, and I'm hoping UPS can plug in my address to locate any info. I would think the "shipped to" address would be in the system somewhere.


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Was reading again and you said mail so I am going to assume that this went USPS which would make sense...They can't issue a tracking # for everything dropped in the snail mail (had the same issue last week with some zucchini seeds that were mailed to me from an ebay vendor). Very rarely will you get one since most are just putting a stamp and mailing out. Unless they pay extra for tracking, you won't see a tracking #.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

That's UPS Mail Innovations. UPS forwards the package to your local post office, who makes the delivery. There still should be a tracking number. http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/tracking/tracking/usps_tracking_id.html


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> That's UPS Mail Innovations. UPS forwards the package to your local post office, who makes the delivery. There still should be a tracking number. http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/tracking/tracking/usps_tracking_id.html


Yup totally right, but would still start with the following prefix:
1Z
followed by 6 digit account #

And it would still show up on UPS's website as being transferred to local facility. I think counter needs to verify who the actual company that picked it up is first. I've been doing shipping for a few years now, and everything that goes via UPS always has a tracking # regardless of service level.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Even though the postal service is delivering the package, UPS still would be picking it up. I suppose it's possible that the seller doesn't record the number anywhere, but if they have a UPS account they should be able to retrieve it. If they just drop the packages off at a local UPS terminal, maybe not. We have a daily UPS pickup at work, and I can sign in online and look up everything charged to our UPS account number, both outgoing prepaid and incoming collect.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Here's what the seller sent me. I'm scrolling through our email conversation history. I'll also be calling UPS today. UPS, FedEx, and USPS all deliver on my military base, so not sure why it might've gone from UPS to some other mail company. UPS brings up packages to our doorstep every week.



> Thank you so much for trusting us with your valuable order. Your order
> has been carefully packed and shipped on 2nd of June, via UPS MI
> standard mail without a tracking number. Your message worries us a bit
> as it should have been delivered a while ago.
> Could you please check the delivery address to see if it is correct?


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Amazon may not have the tracking number if the seller didn't provide one. But they might be able to get it upon request.


This. Call Amazon. As a primer member they want you to be happy and they really do investigate shipping issues.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

counter said:


> UPS, FedEx, and USPS all deliver on my military base, so not sure why it might've gone from UPS to some other mail company. UPS brings up packages to our doorstep every week.


FedEx and UPS both work with the Post Office. FedEx's service is called Smartpost. I assume that companies use those services rather than the regular UPS and FedEx parcel delivery because they're less expensive. UPS can deliver a bunch of packages to one location - your post office, rather than to each address individually, which saves them a lot of time. The post office is already delivering mail to your door every day. It usually adds a day or two in transit with my deliveries.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I'm not sure this will help, but a few years ago one of my packages got lost. I forgot how long I had to wait before filing a complaint with UPS, but I waited and finally filed one (I had a tracking No.). It took a while and I "think" they sent someone out looking for the package (we have some vacant houses and some snowbird houses around here), and suddenly it showed up at my gate one afternoon ... you could tell by the box that it had been out in the weather for a long time. I called UPS and cancelled the lost package claim. I hope you have similar luck with your book!!!


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

counter said:


> Anyone have any experience with this? I've been ordering from Amazon Prime for over a year now, and this is the first time something has gotten lost.


I had something that was sent via Amazon Prime that got lost. I had to wait 3 days to report it and they sent me out another one. The original one finally got here many weeks later and I sent it back to them. It was done via USPS though.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

So I've called UPS, military base USPS, and downtown USPS. No one could help me. I tried to file a claim on Amazon, and it said that since my money was already refunded, there was nothing they can do. I sent an email to the seller asking for them to double check for a tracking number after many of you said everything sent via UPS has one. I also asked them that, if/when the book might get found and possibly returned to them, could they notify me and I'll re-purchase it again.


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## lauren43 (Jun 14, 2014)

If you had a tracking number (which I know you don't)...you'd at least have the option to file a claim with UPS.

If it went UPS, UPS should deliver it. Same goes for FedEx and USPS, they deliver their own mail. The only exception is that USPS will use FedEx for express mail...otherwise they really don't overlap (they aren't supposed because we all have different rates for different services).

Counter I'm really sorry this happened to you. There is a good chance the book was lost in translation somewhere. Many times if the packaging and the product get separated the mail becomes a dead piece. Otherwise it will one day make it to you or back to the sender. Best of luck! I really hope you get some good news.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

lauren43 said:


> If you had a tracking number (which I know you don't)...you'd at least have the option to file a claim with UPS.
> 
> If it went UPS, UPS should deliver it. Same goes for FedEx and USPS, they deliver their own mail. The only exception is that USPS will use FedEx for express mail...otherwise they really don't overlap (they aren't supposed because we all have different rates for different services).
> 
> Counter I'm really sorry this happened to you. There is a good chance the book was lost in translation somewhere. Many times if the packaging and the product get separated the mail becomes a dead piece. Otherwise it will one day make it to you or back to the sender. Best of luck! I really hope you get some good news.


 Thanks. I'm hoping it's like that package in Tom Hanks' movie Castaway, that arrived years later. Ha! As long as it gets here at some point, awesome. Now I need to determine if I can wait, or if I should try to find it again for a similar reduced price. It was $136 selling for $55. It was a steal for a brand new hardcover.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Just got a reply to my email from the seller. Not much help though.



> Thank you for your reply!
> The reason why we don't have a tracking number, is use bulk shipments and we receive a general tracking number, for the entire shipment. If the package returns, we will let you know!


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

counter said:


> So I've called UPS, military base USPS, and downtown USPS. No one could help me. I tried to file a claim on Amazon, and it said that since my money was already refunded, there was nothing they can do. I sent an email to the seller asking for them to double check for a tracking number after many of you said everything sent via UPS has one. I also asked them that, if/when the book might get found and possibly returned to them, could they notify me and I'll re-purchase it again.


1 to 2 percent of the packages I ship are lost or damaged. Of the 7 or so packages lost by the shipper in the last 8 years, only 1 ended up eventually getting delivered a month late. The others - who knows? I can see their reluctance to try to track a refunded lost package especially when it originated from one of the largest shippers in the world (Amazon). Even if someone did locate it in the computer system, it will only show the last scan point which may say what city it made it to and really nothing else.

I did get persistent with the USPS supervisor over one lost package as it was the 3rd one they lost in a month's time. No tracking, but he searched his program and found the last scan point. He told me it had gone to the dead letter warehouse (apparently a huge complex they have in one of the Southern states). He assured me I would be contacted by them and the package rerouted to it's proper destination - never heard a peep.

I have received photos from my buyers of some of the damage a package can suffer in transit. You wouldn't believe it. Most were damaged by getting jammed in or getting crushed by machinery. That's why you got the refund. Stuff happens.


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