Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: sm69me3now on February 22, 2012, 04:30 am
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Hey everyone!
Thank you SO much for all the help here. You all rock!
I've gotten 5 complete and successful orders under my belt.
My most recent round of orders, however, I had transcribed my zip code wrong into my phone, which is where I copied my address from. So, ALL of my orders are missing - 14 days from transit, and several of them were domestic. I'm screwed. Nobody's fault but mine. I've contacted all the vendors and am making arrangements to finalize and rate a 5, even though I never got the product. They can't be blamed for my dumb-ass-ness. I had ordered small amounts of 3 things, but it still adds up in cash, you know?
My questions:
1. Do you think the USPS will figure my address out eventually? I just put a 9 where a 0 was supposed to go. The address is the only address similar anywhere in the large city I live in.
2. I rent a mailbox. My lease on that box will expire. Do you think I should switch to another location to rent my mailbox? Do you think the USPS will open my stuff, see what's in it and connect the dots to me?
This is kinda freaking me out a little. I'm so mad at myself. But I can get over the money, as long as I'm not putting myself in any danger with the law.
I would really appreciate and respect anyone's advice who's got some experience with this, or a good recommendation (outside of, "get your zipcode right, stupid!"). LOL
Thanks in advance for the help.
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They usually stamp it with 'Wrong Zipcode.. mail delayed' and you get it a few weeks later. I'd wait.
US post uses machines to process mail so it could go around the country a few times until somebody figures out the zip is wrong.
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Man... I hope you're right. The good thing is that the mistaken zip is very near my real zip, so I would hope going around the country wouldn't be needed. The wrong zip is like 20 blocks away from the real one. I've just been nervous since it IS so close, and I still haven't seen the packages.
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That sucks brother.
Usually the post office can sort out small mistakes like that with no issue. I have had mail sent to me where the zip code was totally wrong; it just gets routed around local postal facilities until they match your address up to the proper zip-code and get it in the right place.
These types of mistakes happen all the time; and the majority of the time USPS identifies and corrects address mistakes using computer technology. All letter-mail goes through a sorting machine which makes the mail pass by an "eye" that is connected to a computer. This electronic "eye" snaps a pic of the address on the envelope and uses handwriting analysis technology to read it and determine where the envelope is heading, and therefore where it needs to be sorted to. If there is an error in the address, the machine automatically checks the street address on your envelope with the address in their database. If it's a simple mistake (like wrong zip code), the machine is usually efficient enough to catch it. If the address has no close match in the post office database, or if the technology cannot decipher the handwriting in question it gets forwarded to a human to figure out the issue.
I'm not 100% certain that this is how it works verbatim. I got this information from an episode of "How its Made" the TV show. One episode showed people how snail mail works, and they went in and showed every step an envelope takes, from the time it's mailed to the time it's delivered. You can probably find this online (I watched it on NetFlix) if anyone is interested. It's a VERY detailed inside look at how mail moves through postal facilities before it arrives at its destination.
It's very possible your stuff is still in limbo in a post office somewhere. One thing I can say for sure is that USPS is HORRIBLY inefficient at rectifying mistakes. A simple goof-up on behalf of the sender (like yours) can take the post office WEEKS to figure out and handle properly. I have had a box re-routed to a sort-facility that is about 2 hours away from my house before (USPS routing mistake- not the correct facility for my ZIP), and it took an ADDITIONAL two weeks for that mistake to be corrected and for my box to show up.
If nothing shows up within a week or 10 days, I would start to worry. Your big concern should be if they DO get sent back to the return address. Whoever the vendor used as a return address will probably be pretty concerned and alert the authorities if they open the return mail with illegal substances in it...
Gotta be VERY careful, there is really no room to make mistakes like this. Double check, triple check, and check again. Make sure everything is absolutely correct. Read the address at least 10 times and make sure you haven't transposed anything when typing it.
Good luck with everything, keep us posted
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I've actually used a wrong zipcode once and still got my mail on time. Just give it some time and cross your fingers
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Four years ago they changed my zip code (Split the code for my area into two, and my block got the new one). I still receive mail with the old zip code just fine, and they are different in all but the first two digits.
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I think you should be fine, they probably sent out your stuff to the wrong location because from what I hear USPS sorts mail by zipcode. That's why you can completely butcher a town's spelling and still get it to the right recipient. Try to google the zipcode you actually sent them. Now i know for a fact that if you put a 0 instead of 9 as the FIRST digit it's gonna go tot he wrong coast. A lot of zips in the Northeast start with 0 (and add up as you go down), whereas 9 is the first number in a lot of cali zipcodes (think 90210)
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Thanks for the input!
Good news!!! I got one of my packages today! Yea!
Hopefully the rest will be re-routed soon, as they all had the same very minor error on them.
Here's hoping for the best!
Favorite new moment in time: Opening that mailbox and seeing product waiting. AWESOME!!!
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Four years ago they changed my zip code (Split the code for my area into two, and my block got the new one). I still receive mail with the old zip code just fine, and they are different in all but the first two digits.
OK... This thread just saved me from a heart attack. I finally got my first order in last night and 5 minutes ago I realized I put in the wrong zip code. I would've just gone straight to the seller except they were so wonderfully efficient that it was already put in transit this morning. But I'm glad I decided to search the forums (I've been lurking the last couple weeks, gathering info to make sure my ass is covered and waiting for some $ to come in).
The main reason I think I'm ok is that in my area the same city is split into a couple area codes like Horizons described ^ Put the wrong one of the two and they only differ by the very last number. Everyone around here is familiar with them both as if they were interchangeable anyway, so I'm only like a couple blocks off. In fact I'm certain they both go to the same post office. Shouldn't be too big of a deal, right?
Now let's just hope the USPS won't STILL end up sending it around the country first anyway. Well, actually I can live with that as long as they don't pay too much attention to it...