Best way to return this package?

December 23, 2020 10:09 AM

I need to return a fairly large package via USPS. I'd like to avoid going to the post office (I'm in California, where COVID cases are surging). I think the box is too large to go in a dropoff box. It looks like USPS will let me request a pickup, though I'm a little worried about package theft if I have to leave the box out. Does anyone know if the postal carrier will scan the package when they pick it up, so that it's trackable right away? Are there any other ways to do this?
posted by pinochiette to Shopping (15 answers total)

Pay someone on Taskrabbit to go to the Post Office for you? With the way things are with the USPS, don't expect any sort of reliable tracking or even for your package to arrive in a reasonable time, btw.
posted by peacheater at 10:12 AM on December 23, 2020

Best answer: My post office has a larger drop box inside the lobby for packages up to 70 pounds--I go early in the morning, before the postal counter hours start, and there's never anyone there.
As for pickup, when I've scheduled one I just wait to put it out until the mail carrier is about to come--they do the pickup at the same time as they drop off your regular mail. Obviously that only works if you're home when your mail is delivered, but it works for me!
As for scanning, theoretically yes they scan it when they put it in the truck, but I've found scanning and tracking to be pretty unreliable lately; the volume is so high that a lot of things are coming up scanned once and then magically arrive at their destination without being scanned again.
posted by assenav at 10:22 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Many post offices have lobby hours that are much longer than their retail hours, meaning that you can walk in and drop a package in the package drop box even when no one is staffing the counter. Some post offices have 24/7 lobby hours, even.

The USPS website has the detailed lobby hours and retail hours for each post office. Here is an example of a California post office that has lobby hours 24 hours a day, 6 days a week.

Find a post office near you with extended lobby hours, and go in (masked) at a time when traffic will be low, and it should be quite safe; you might not see another human.
posted by Syllepsis at 10:33 AM on December 23, 2020

just fyi, i went to my post office this morning and it was so empty that i had to wait two minutes for someone to even come to the counter. it's too late for usps xmas shipping so no one is going!
posted by noloveforned at 10:45 AM on December 23, 2020 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks! I think I'll try scheduling a pickup. It looks like it might be a little too big for the dropoff boxes (also, some of the local Yelp reviews suggest that some packages that are dropped off might be stolen, ugh).
posted by pinochiette at 11:04 AM on December 23, 2020

You could also ask the seller if they would extend the return deadline, all things considered. Obviously you would need that from them in writing.
posted by happy_cat at 11:18 AM on December 23, 2020

Around here, you can usually not wait in line to drop off large parcels.

Just a couple days ago, I tried to drop off a large box in the rotating drum drop off, but my parcel was too big. The office was already closed. So i got home and happened to catch our lettercarrier, and asked if she'd take the box, and she said "No problem!" and tossed it in the back of the truck.

A local po box/shipping business would collect for various delivery services, USPS, UPS, Fedex. I've dropped off stuff there before.
posted by 2N2222 at 11:30 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

UPS stores will also take USPS packages, so I usually leave all of mine with them.
posted by mcgsa at 12:18 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I scheduled a USPS pickup for Monday for the first time. I live in an area with frequent package thefts. My mail carrier picked it up at his usual time, scanned it immediately, and I received an email before he'd left my back step that it had been successfully picked up. The package arrived to its recipient Tuesday and I also got a notification that it had arrived. (And an email from her that she received it!) I recommend the package pickup service.
posted by shadygrove at 1:25 PM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]

Also, USPS lets you specify where you want to leave it, exactly, which is also helpful. I suspect you could have the carrier knock for it.
posted by shadygrove at 1:26 PM on December 23, 2020

I recently discovered that UPS stores do USPS, and you can drop off there. Usually much less crowded/crazy than the Post Office. I did so the other day and walked in and walked right back out. They can't give you a receipt, but I took a photo of the label and it was fine.
posted by radioamy at 8:54 PM on December 23, 2020

When I scheduled a pickup, they knocked, and it was not my usual carrier. I'm also in a place with rampant package theft. I've also given packages to my regular carrier on his package round (vs walking around with the letters).
posted by sepviva at 9:54 PM on December 23, 2020

Our post office has a spot marked on counter for leaving drop-off packages. Walk in, put it down, walk out. Less then 3 minutes inside, everyone masked, I might pass within less than 6 feet but only for seconds. Feels very safe to me and let me know that the package is dropped off without having to worry about intercepting the letter carrier.
posted by metahawk at 10:54 PM on December 23, 2020

We scheduled a pickup last week, and then rescheduled it the next day when no one showed. By the third day, our household had the negative covid result back, so we ended up taking our packages to the post office. Which is to say, even if you schedule one, you may not have it get picked up.
posted by Margalo Epps at 2:58 PM on December 24, 2020

Heh, I read this and was about to say the post office near my former place of employment (we had a busy EBAY store, so I was there almost daily) had a revolving window at the counter that you could just stuff your parcel in and walk away... and it seems to be your post office, just off Piedmont ave! So yeah, you can run in during open hours, skip the line and walk up to the revolving window, put your package in and wave to one of the postal workers and it's fine as long as the postage is on it. People do it all the time.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:26 PM on December 24, 2020