USPS express mail??? NOT!!! misdirected payment...

[IamOld]

Well, guys, when it rains it pours. FIrst trustee payment is due on 21st May. So I send cashier's check via USPS Express Mail - nicely done, online label from Post Office IN PERSON, get receipt, etc...Well...they send it to????? drumroll - St. Louis - apparently they catch error (per USPS website and person on phone) should get to Memphis PO Box...today......Or tomorrow....unreal. WHy in the heck does it have to be this?

I should just sent it priority mail...

I take it if it doesn't show up I have to cough up the money again...if I have to send a second check and put a stop on the cashier's check, and then of course if trustee gets first check, and it's stopped, that's going to be a problem right? I cannot afford to make two payments this month...

So I'm screwed right?

Why in the world can't they get a d*((*& to a PO Box for heaven's sake???

SOrry...just venting...and hopeless...

[Kuya]

I would just call the Trustee's office and explain. Offer him/her verifiable proof that USPS has made the error . . . Offer them the receipt and the opportunity to verify with USPS . . . certainly they must be able to have SOME understanding . . . .

IF you have no proof . . then yes, you are out of luck . . they won't accept a story (or what they feel is a story) because people probably give them "lost in the mail" stories every day. But if you have the proof . they should be able to listen to you.

[AngelinaCat]

I always sent our payments to the trustee via regular mail but certified with return receipt. That means someone had to sign for it. Also the receipt for the certification contains the tracking number, and the receipt for the entire overall transaction also contains that tracking number. Go online to usps.com and punch in that number and you can follow the trail. You can also print out that history and put in your file along with your receipts.

[IamOld]

I always sent our payments to the trustee via regular mail but certified with return receipt. That means someone had to sign for it. Also the receipt for the certification contains the tracking number, and the receipt for the entire overall transaction also contains that tracking number. Go online to usps.com and punch in that number and you can follow the trail. You can also print out that history and put in your file along with your receipts.

Thanks guys both of you - I have receipt from post office, printout of the label, copy of the label, and of course the tracking printout of what USPS has done with it - so can PROVE I sent it, when I sent it,where I sent it, what I sent, and what happened. I mean I hope that Trustee will be ok with this - but then it may get there by Friday and then it's no matter...

THANKS guys very much!!!!

[AngelinaCat]

You are most welcome, and since this is the 16th, you probably are okay, and it will get there in time.

But a certified bank check is expensive. I just bought the money order from the post office, filled it out and sent that. That gave me a third receipt and tracking number to put in the file.

Good wishes to you. Please post and let us know when the check actually arrives at its destination.

[IamOld]

You are most welcome, and since this is the 16th, you probably are okay, and it will get there in time.

But a certified bank check is expensive. I just bought the money order from the post office, filled it out and sent that. That gave me a third receipt and tracking number to put in the file.

Good wishes to you. Please post and let us know when the check actually arrives at its destination.

THANKS!!!! I most certainly will use USPS money orders...I just didn't want two Money Orders for the first payment, just one check... :-)

[catleg]

Use USPS money orders, and regular first class mail. Dont waste money on tracking etc. All it proves is you mailed them an envelope, could have been empty for all they know.

Trustees seem to be aware that the Memphis PO box is fairly inefficient and make allowances.

[walkthaplank]

Use USPS money orders, and regular first class mail. Dont waste money on tracking etc. All it proves is you mailed them an envelope, could have been empty for all they know.

Trustees seem to be aware that the Memphis PO box is fairly inefficient and make allowances.

What he said! I buy my postal money order and drop it in the mail right after, standard 1st class, no tracking or anything else. I have a receipt that I bought the money order and I have the stub from the money order if it needs to be traced. It doesn't give me a nifty way to track where the thing was sent, but it proves that I bought a money order and sent it out. You don't have a budget for express mail or return receipt right? Is that built in to your plan? Don't waste the money, it won't do you any good in the long run anyway.

[IamOld]

What he said! I buy my postal money order and drop it in the mail right after, standard 1st class, no tracking or anything else. I have a receipt that I bought the money order and I have the stub from the money order if it needs to be traced. It doesn't give me a nifty way to track where the thing was sent, but it proves that I bought a money order and sent it out. You don't have a budget for express mail or return receipt right? Is that built in to your plan? Don't waste the money, it won't do you any good in the long run anyway.

I suspect I should have mailed this regular mail - as of this morning, it's still not there - still listed as having left St. louis yesterday morning...this is INSANE...I don't have the money for a double payment...I mean why in the world would the Post Office have to lose this one...unreal. I can't even call them again until 8AM - at least if I KNEW this was lost, I could stop money order, but these people can't even tell me that. Unreal.

[Mayo]

Alabama offers checking account debits. You don't have to worry with mail or money orders.

[IamOld]

Everyone I am SO grateful for you all listening to me. I was literally in tears...at any rate, Post Office now shows Express Mail as

Sorting Complete, May 17, 2011, 8:02 am, MEMPHIS, TN 38101
Bullet Arrival at Unit, May 17, 2011, 7:54 am, MEMPHIS, TN 38101

So I think...it is there :-)

[catleg]

I have a little Word document in my computer that I print every month.
On the top third of the sheet, which I cut out and put in the envelope,
it has my name and address, my case number, the dollar amount and the due date of the payment.
On the lower part of the page I have the name and address of the PO box in Memphis which I cut out and tape to the envelope.
I have a spreadsheet where I enter the money order serial number and the date purchased.
When it posts to 13datacenter I update it with the date it arrived.
This is my coping mechanism with the "no bills, no acknowledgement" payment process.

[IamOld]

I have a little Word document in my computer that I print every month.
On the top third of the sheet, which I cut out and put in the envelope,
it has my name and address, my case number, the dollar amount and the due date of the payment.
On the lower part of the page I have the name and address of the PO box in Memphis which I cut out and tape to the envelope.
I have a spreadsheet where I enter the money order serial number and the date purchased.
When it posts to 13datacenter I update it with the date it arrived.
This is my coping mechanism with the "no bills, no acknowledgement" payment process.

Catleg, you read my mind - I've already got my "post petition" spreadsheet set up :-)

No offense to Memphis, but WHY did "they" pick a PO lockbox there...oh well...matters not.