subject: How Long Do I Have To Wait Before Putting A Trace On A Package? Patience Is A Virtue! [print this page] We know that patience is the last thing you want to talk about. You want action because the unthinkable has happened, and a package is lost. Every courier service in Chicago knows what you are feeling, because we have all lost at least one package in the midst of the millions of deliveries we have completed successfully. There is always that eventuality, and much as we hate to face it, we have to admit to a loss occasionally.
Most losses, however, are not realized at once, at least not by us; they are realized by the sender or recipient, both of whom are waiting, one to get word of receipt and the other to receive. And there is nothing more frustrating than a missing shipment that was promised to you, or for you.
Nevertheless, your courier service in Chicago would ask that you exercise patience, and, if you are the sender (not the recipient, since all traces must originate with the customer), wait 24 to 48 hours (preferably the latter) before putting a trace on a package.
This waiting period is for us to recover the lost shipment. You do not really put a trace on the package; we do. And we want to give our delivery team every opportunity to find it.
After all, boxes do not simply vanish, as your mother probably said once or twice. They may have been mishandled or delivered to the wrong party; they may have labels for the wrong freight class affixed (either by us or the sender, which would mean a box on the wrong route); they may have somehow slipped to the bottom of a pile, the back of a van or the well by the gear shift in one of our larger model vehicles.
We do ask, therefore, that you give us time to make a thorough search, and determine that the box is indeed lost (whether in a wrong delivery or in a wrong routing). Once the trace is placed on the package, we do have technology on our side in our satellite tracer.
Of course, if the satellite finds no location listed (which means the package was signed for), you can process a claim for the value in ten days (which should cover the possibility of the box being returned). After that period, we will begin the claims process to compensate you for your loss.
In the meantime, we do thank you for your patience, and for letting us to try to make things right.
