Why is UPS Surepost delivery tracking not accurate?

[danomac63]

We're having an issue using UPS Surepost and Ground Saver options. Often when a customer selects one of these options, UPS turns it over to USPS for shipping. The shipping confirmation that the customer sees is UPS, which then doesn't accurately track the USPS progress. So, through UPS tracking it looks like the package isn't moving (since it's actually working it's way through USPS), which doesn't leave our customers with that 'pleased and happy' feeling we like them to have.

Has anyone else run into this? Any suggestions on resolving this? 

Thanks for any and all feedback!

[Mirdas]

Hello  @danomac63 ,

In the case of UPS SurePost, it's expected that the UPS tracking number should also show the final leg USPS delivery updates. It's possible that there might be a slight delay in the update reflecting.

As an alternative, you can locate the USPS tracking number on the bottom of the UPS SurePost label. You can use this USPS tracking number, but you may need to send it manually to the buyer.

[danomac63]

Thanks for that info. Yes, it shows the USPS tracking number on the label, but it's not indicated on Shopify shipment notifications, it only shows the UPS tracking info. 

My client has had to manually look up that info and provide it to the customer, which turns into quite a bit of work and a delay for the customer to get their tracking info. We're looking for a solution where the USPS tracking number can be accessed directly by the customer without them needing to contact us for that info.

[SKRASTS]

We are working through this too - did you figure out a solution?

We've had instances where the delivery status is delivered but only was delivered to USPS. Very confusing to the end customer.

We're hoping to trigger an email to the customer that lets them know that the order has been transferred to USPS. I'll reply back if I come up with anything.

[danomac63]

So far no resolution to this. I think that's exactly what we'd like to be able to accomplish as well, something - ANYTHING - to let the customer know it's not coming via UPS and save our staff the hassle of having to follow up manually and contact customers directly.

Really hope someone has some kind of solution for this flaw.

[AThriftyNotion]

We're having the same issue and our current solution is to avoid shipping via UPS and go with USPS directly in the first place. Unless it's a particularly large parcel, it's more cost effective to pay a little extra for shipping and avoid the extra labor cost of manually copying down tracking numbers to email to customers. You can't even copy/paste the tracking number from the shipping label PDF, so the likelihood of mistakes is high as well.
One would think that if enough people do this, UPS will notice a drop in sales and get a solution worked out.