Why are you tracking your orders in the first place?
And there is no need for you to contact the buyer.
USPS has very likely already done that.

USPS will attempt redelivery usually the next day. Then they will leave a notice for the buyer to pick up the package. Don’t babysit your tracking numbers…it will drive you crazy unnecessarily. If someone reaches out with a problem, then look into the situation.

I respectively disagree with the other comments about not attempting contact with the buyer. It takes about as much time to IM him/her via Amazon Messaging System as it does to write on this forum. Last time this happened to me, I immediately sent a note to the buyer via Amazon system … marked “Important.” She replied back with an alternative address. Eventually, she got her package at the other address and was delighted that I had given her the “heads up.” I won a top rating for service. (Of course, I’m just a small seller, But that’s how I would like to be treated.)

@raw_books is right, don’t change the address, ever, unless you want to take the risk of losing your product and your revenue from the transaction. And the sophisticated scammers know this.

If it was shipped to the upper midwestern states, many locations were inaccessible due to the monster snowstorm that hit the area yesterday.

It seems to me like the consensus is USPS knows how to do their job and I should let them do it.

It is against Amazon phone number privacy to contact the customer by phone. Phone numbers are only for carrier use when required. You should use buyer-seller messaging system to contact a customer.

I don’t think it is a waste of time to track your orders, especially since you are mostly FBA and only do SF once in a while, and you have the time to do it.

I track my shipments to get ahead of any problem. I know if there has been any problem before the customer contacts me. Sometimes I have already determined that a delivery scan was missed and called the PO, etc.

Then I wait for the customer to contact me if the items never gets delivered. I can usually give them a resolution or explanation on the FIRST initial contact.

This is key to the customer’s peace of mind. Most are a little irritated when they contact you. The buyer doesn’t think they are being put off or that their issue isn’t important to you. Buyers don’t care about your work load or volume, they are interest in THEIR order. I average about 2 sales a day, so this works for me.

If you are a high volume pro-seller this will not work for you. This info is solely for the original poster and their situation. The PO usually make 3 attempts before the item is returned to sender. They all leave a note for the customer with choices they can choose, such as reschedule date, hold at PO for pickup, etc.

On the 4th or 5th day, you should see updated tracking information about the status of the item if not delivered.

I do understand the reason for tracking initial orders to see how they pan out. USPS will update the buyer, I don’t think they would contact the buyer, though. They would only post their updates on USPS.com, which many of my buyers don’t look at. They just go by what Amazon updates them on. I fall in the same issue sometimes, too, where they don’t have access. It’s a killer, so I do call USPS to see if there’s a way to provide more information for access.

So do we think the package will be delivered? Can this have a negative impact on my account? I bought shipping through amazon.

Obviously if the address is wrong it won’t get delivered I know that. I tried to contact PO and couldn’t get through to talk to a person.

Could be anything - downed mailbox, driveway snowed in or ice covered…if they are unable to deliver the package is kept for two weeks (I believe) and then returned to sender.