USPS Inaccurate Tracking Status

My friend purchased a gift for me from Amazon, and it was shipped via the United States Postal Service (USPS). My friend gave me the USPS tracking number so I could monitor its progress. On December 7, the status was changed to “Delivered, In/At Mailbox” at 4:52 PM.

I happened to check the tracking status around 5 PM and attempted to retrieve the package, but it was nowhere to be found. I considered several possibilities. I felt that the most likely scenario was that the package was delivered to the wrong address because I’ve seen that happen multiple time before—both with my packages being delivered to an adjacent building and with adjacent buildings’ packages delivered to me. Another possibility was that it could have been stolen, but given that only about 10 minutes had elapsed, and our apartment complex has generally not had a problem with package theft, I hoped that this was not the case. Finally, I considered the possibility that the tracking information was just wrong, but I hadn’t personally experienced that in the past, so I thought it was unlikely.

I notified my friend who sent the package to me, and he confirmed that he entered the correct shipping address. We decided that the most logical action was to wait a day or two and hope that if the package was delivered to the wrong address, then the recipient would deliver it to me. Also, Amazon says to wait 48 hours before contacting customer service when you have a missing package.

On December 8, my friend received an update in his Amazon app that the package was delivered at 9:56 AM.

He notified me via text message, and sure enough I found the package sitting on my doorstep. I was relieved that the package was not lost or stolen, but I was a little disappointed that USPS incorrectly documented that the package was delivered when it was not. Somehow USPS got it wrong, and Amazon got it right, despite USPS allegedly being the one who made the delivery. I don’t know the root cause of the error, but it erodes my confidence in the accuracy of USPS tracking statuses.