Open Forum

I had a mailing of about 8 trays of 1st class letter sized mail that we dropped on 2/1/16

Customer called on the 9th about people not receiving the mail, a few had received it but most had not.

So I hop on gateway and out of those 8 trays only 2 are showing up under Informed Visibility as being scanned

I gave it a day just to make sure and still no deliveries (even local) so I filed a Service Request in BSN Eservice 

I uploaded a .pdf of the mail piece, the .hdr file, a .pdf of the tray tags, .pdf of the postal receipt

The BSN rep took the scan of the mail piece and sent an alert to all the mail facilities, did nothing with the full service data I supplied and closed the Service Request saying it was resolved.

Fastforward to today the 19th and still nothing has been found and no more scans have showed up, my assigned BSN rep (not Eservice rep) is trying to help me with this but is clueless about using the full service data I supplied to track the mailing internally and I am having to walk them through using the data, I just had to copy and paste the tray tag data out of the .csm file for them to try using today a full week after putting in the Service Request.  It seems like they just want to use the scan of the mail piece and continue to send out Alerts like the old days.

Are the rest of you seeing the same issue?  How do I go about getting them to use the Full Service data from the beginning to track the mailing instead of just doing alerts?

I had a mailing of about 8 trays of 1st class letter sized mail that we dropped on 2/1/16

Customer called on the 9th about people not receiving the mail, a few had received it but most had not.

So I hop on gateway and out of those 8 trays only 2 are showing up under Informed Visibility as being scanned

I gave it a day just to make sure and still no deliveries (even local) so I filed a Service Request in BSN Eservice 

I uploaded a .pdf of the mail piece, the .hdr file, a .pdf of the tray tags, .pdf of the postal receipt

The BSN rep took the scan of the mail piece and sent an alert to all the mail facilities, did nothing with the full service data I supplied and closed the Service Request saying it was resolved.

Fastforward to today the 19th and still nothing has been found and no more scans have showed up, my assigned BSN rep (not Eservice rep) is trying to help me with this but is clueless about using the full service data I supplied to track the mailing internally and I am having to walk them through using the data, I just had to copy and paste the tray tag data out of the .csm file for them to try using today a full week after putting in the Service Request.  It seems like they just want to use the scan of the mail piece and continue to send out Alerts like the old days.

Are the rest of you seeing the same issue?  How do I go about getting them to use the Full Service data from the beginning to track the mailing instead of just doing alerts?

Good luck with this, we have had at least 3 full service 1st class jobs in the last 2 years that went into a black hole and were never accounted for.  We did get a partial refund on one of the mailings but the other mailings we were told the DMM indicates that missing scans are not proof of non delivery or grounds for a refund.  

Shawn,

     This is a good discussion you have started.  I could not agree more with the suggestion about implementing a mail tracking and reporting solution into your operation.  I am thinking you have not already done so since this issue has arisen.  While this solution will not help this mailing, it will prevent the feelings of hopelessness going forward.  For this issue, get with the local postal people you usually work with and demand they provide some useful information that can help you determine how best to proceed.  Ask them to show you the data they have available, to teach you what it means to them and what they can do to provide some sort of resolution that will be meaningful to your customer.  I would also offer to reproduce and mail the job at your cost using mail tracking and reporting so this customer knows you value their business and are willing to work with them to resolve the issue.  You can literally put the solution in place within a day!

     Terry mentions the "black hole" that many in your situation mention.  This goes away and the emotion of the moment and issue disappear when you an show the USPS their data indicating where the mail was last "seen" and allow them to reach into the process to resolve the issue.  Without this type of data, you are asking them to find a specific cup of water in the Pacific Ocean and accepting the frustration that goes along with them not being able to help.  I have seen your posts before and know you are a great vendor and advocate for your clients.  Tracking all of your mail will only enhance your reputation with them.

     Being their "One throat to choke" is a precarious proposition without having this valuable tool at your disposal.  Mail tracking and reporting is a valuable tool that customers will pay for and will enhance your reputation in the industry.  It will differentiate your services and abilities in a competitive market place as well so that you can build your business and create what I call "Stickiness" for your customers.  By offering mail tracking and reporting will strengthen the bond of trust they feel for your company which is what all businesses desire.

If you would like to discuss this further please call me at 800-233-0555,   

I understand the value in mail tracking if you are triggering a pre/post delivery action.  How would a mail tracking service in this case help get this lost unscanned mail back into the mail stream?  Wouldn't I just now have a customer that can see two scans of the trays instead of me seeing it in Gateway and telling them?  Wouldn't we be in the same boat?  Six trays of this mailing were last "seen" at check in.

I have not seen anyone say that their mail tracking services can show more tray scans than what I can already see in Informed Visibility.

The Post Office already has the full service data and the scans, my issue is trying to get my rep to use it to track these mailings internally with the info I have already provided them.

What is the recovery rate of lost mail using tracking services vs not using tracking services with Full Service?

Will using tracking services guarantee a USPS claim on lost mail?

Shawn,

     Thank you for the questions.  Having a mail tracking and reporting solution would be valuable in many ways.  Weather you provide your customer the information or provide them access to view it themselves is totally up to you.  The value is that you would have the tray scans and the piece level scans of this mail as it was processed by the postal service.  You would also know what the timing for each should be from first scan to all others in the process the mail would usually follow at the postal facility.  This is helpful so that you can call when issues are noticed at the time they are happening (Or should be) rather than after a customer has noticed.  The lost time associated with teh latter in never helpful to the resolution process for such issues.  The data does come from them and is information that is available through Informed Visibility.  I would never promise you more data than is available and the USPS provisions this data through various platforms.

     Informed Visibility is being touted as a tool for USPS operations to proactively monitor their operations and identify capacity "pinch points" so they can react better and keep the mail moving.  What you would get through by building in a mail tracking and reporting solution access to reporting that you determine is meaningful and actionable.  The raw data can be effective but is cumbersome to interpret.  You would also see what the next steps in the USPS processes are and be able to speak with them to determine where the trays you see scans for should have gone next and what scans you could expect (Piece level in all likelihood) depending on where they were destined inside the facility where the trays were seen.  What should the next process have been and why are there no scans for that USPS processing step is the question you are really asking.

      I am sure you have asked all the right questions.  My thoughts are that the process has been delayed because it is not proactive but rather reactive.  As you mentioned, the trigger here was the customer calling to complain about the lack of delivery (Actual or real).  Then there were delays after being told to wait as you detail and is all too common for mailers today and very frustrating.  In the recommendation I made, you would regularly check every mailing and the facilities involved in your distribution plans.  You would know and understand the processing times for each process and the "normal" sequence of events for mail being processed at each.  With this type of history the USPS has to be more accountable and their processes need to be more predictable and stable.  I guess what I am saying is that by having a solution you use proactively and gather data for all of your mail with (This extends well beyond the raw data for any single mailing provided by the USPS) you will be better off as a mailer.

     Even very large mailers have abandoned using simple "seeds" and have gone to mail tracking and reporting solutions.  The powerful data mailers can now gather and create is what keeps their mail on track.  Nothing is perfect but we are all better off with the knowledge and information implementing a full system can provide us as we work together with the USPS to try to identify these issues proactively.  This can be done with a great deal more work without a full mail tracking and reporting solution and each business has to weigh the costs agains tthe benefits for themselves.

Thanks again for your thoughts and input,      

This is just my 2 cents since tracking was brought up, the Associations should be holding the Post Offices feet to the fire to offer tracking (trayed) mail the same way that is already in place for Parcels.  They wanted us all to go Full Service and we did, now what, what is the Post Office doing to enhance our "Full Service experience", they have the data and the platform, use it.

I don't have to pay a 3rd party to track my Fedex packages.

One problem with tracking is the added cost per mail piece, my customers right now have either reduced or eliminated mailing due to high postage costs.

Good luck with this, we have had at least 3 full service 1st class jobs in the last 2 years that went into a black hole and were never accounted for.  We did get a partial refund on one of the mailings but the other mailings we were told the DMM indicates that missing scans are not proof of non delivery or grounds for a refund.  

I have attached the Post Office's response to the lost trays refund I have been fighting with them about.

What good is it using Full Service if they say the mail is not trackable and will still deny the claim?  I uploaded all the data they needed but they refuse to use it.

Anyone have any ideas, my only recourse at this time is to appeal to the same person who has already denied the claim.

Good luck with this, we have had at least 3 full service 1st class jobs in the last 2 years that went into a black hole and were never accounted for.  We did get a partial refund on one of the mailings but the other mailings we were told the DMM indicates that missing scans are not proof of non delivery or grounds for a refund.  

So we had yet another mailing get lost, this time earlier this month in the Holiday mail.

What is different is this time we had used BCC's Track N' Trace on the mailing, it received 0 scans, called to confirm with BCC.  Post Office is still dragging their feet on the Lost Mail Claim with a 1st class presorted postcard mailing.  Gave them all the TNT reports showing 0 scans up to earlier this week.

Only 1 tray out of 6 received a scan going to the SCF and they have no idea where it went.

Even with tracking they are making up excuses about how they have checked SPM failed pieces reports and found no inconsistencies so it it must have been delivered, even though it wasn't since we had seeds in that mailing that never made it.

Just goes to show that even with Tracking services it doesn't make it a slam dunk with the PO in getting your money back for a lost mailing.

So we had yet another mailing get lost, this time earlier this month in the Holiday mail.

What is different is this time we had used BCC's Track N' Trace on the mailing, it received 0 scans, called to confirm with BCC.  Post Office is still dragging their feet on the Lost Mail Claim with a 1st class presorted postcard mailing.  Gave them all the TNT reports showing 0 scans up to earlier this week.

Only 1 tray out of 6 received a scan going to the SCF and they have no idea where it went.

Even with tracking they are making up excuses about how they have checked SPM failed pieces reports and found no inconsistencies so it it must have been delivered, even though it wasn't since we had seeds in that mailing that never made it.

Just goes to show that even with Tracking services it doesn't make it a slam dunk with the PO in getting your money back for a lost mailing.

I have attached the Post Office's response to the lost trays refund I have been fighting with them about.

What good is it using Full Service if they say the mail is not trackable and will still deny the claim?  I uploaded all the data they needed but they refuse to use it.

Anyone have any ideas, my only recourse at this time is to appeal to the same person who has already denied the claim.

Good luck with this, we have had at least 3 full service 1st class jobs in the last 2 years that went into a black hole and were never accounted for.  We did get a partial refund on one of the mailings but the other mailings we were told the DMM indicates that missing scans are not proof of non delivery or grounds for a refund.  

Shawn -

We likewise had a poor experience with a mailing, and although we shared tracking reports with them, we got very little response or any accountability. We had dropped the mailing on the 21st of November, and even though we tracked delivery scans all across the country within 8-10 days (it was a nonprofit flats mailing), we still did not have ANY local deliveries. This went on for another 10 days before they found some pieces and started delivering - but even still we went on for another week before most everything was delivered to zip codes that were within just 10 miles of our drop at a sectional center (Palatine, IL). This has been very frustrating and we are looking to continue up the ranks to hopefully find someone that will take responsibility, but do not have high hopes!

So we had yet another mailing get lost, this time earlier this month in the Holiday mail.

What is different is this time we had used BCC's Track N' Trace on the mailing, it received 0 scans, called to confirm with BCC.  Post Office is still dragging their feet on the Lost Mail Claim with a 1st class presorted postcard mailing.  Gave them all the TNT reports showing 0 scans up to earlier this week.

Only 1 tray out of 6 received a scan going to the SCF and they have no idea where it went.

Even with tracking they are making up excuses about how they have checked SPM failed pieces reports and found no inconsistencies so it it must have been delivered, even though it wasn't since we had seeds in that mailing that never made it.

Just goes to show that even with Tracking services it doesn't make it a slam dunk with the PO in getting your money back for a lost mailing.

I have attached the Post Office's response to the lost trays refund I have been fighting with them about.

What good is it using Full Service if they say the mail is not trackable and will still deny the claim?  I uploaded all the data they needed but they refuse to use it.

Anyone have any ideas, my only recourse at this time is to appeal to the same person who has already denied the claim.

Good luck with this, we have had at least 3 full service 1st class jobs in the last 2 years that went into a black hole and were never accounted for.  We did get a partial refund on one of the mailings but the other mailings we were told the DMM indicates that missing scans are not proof of non delivery or grounds for a refund.