No more tracking on USPS First Class International parcels!

[Chi]

Just a heads up to those receiving packages from the US via First Class International (usually the standard shipping method, delivering packages within a week or less to most countries) or shipping with USPS to other countries.
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I received a reminder on my receipt today that First Class packages going anywhere except Canada are no longer able to be tracked. When I attempted to track a UK-bound pony, the above screenshot is the result.
I don't know if this is strictly for USPS.com and will update once in the country of destination, but I thought I should let you guys know. Customs numbers are still "activated" upon initial scan and can be used in the case you need to file a complaint for damages or a parcel is lost.

If you require tracking, you will need to ship using Priority or Global Express.

I will call my local PO tomorrow and ask about more information on this. I'm hoping there's at least a departure scan, as this could really cause problems with less-than-trustworthy sellers.

Edit:
USPS has updated their website stating "Tracking available when you ship online to select destinations".. They unfortunately do not have a list of what the select destinations are and when these changes began, but you can purchase postage online and still hopefully receive tracking.

[ooizza]

This is very interesting. I'm happy there's still tracking to Canada!

I wonder if Canada Post is doing something similar? I'll have to check that out 

[Chi]

Definitely worth calling and asking, any info is helpful. I always use FC for international shipping. It has never let me down, and it's cheap for both the buyer and seller with a peace of mind as it has always showed acceptance, departure from country, and final delivery. Depending on where it's going, it even updates once in the country until delivery.
This is troublesome. I don't know what happens when the parcel enters the destination country, and if it is a permanent change.

I trust the Arena members here who have impeccable feedback and will continue to engage in trades/sales, but this also affects selling off-site where people aren't so honest. Companies aren't going to want to side with a seller whose package doesn't show any update, and a seller claiming they've never received their items.

Package containing $25 worth of ponies (or anything!) weighing only 9 ounces with a destination in Australia:
First Class: $15
Priority: $41


Just to put things into perspective for those who are unfamiliar with international shipping..

[Breyer600]

Just a question - did you purchase the shipping online or at the post office?  I checked the tracking numbers on my international packages that are still in transit and I'm not getting the alert like in your screenshot, and I'm still seeing delivery confirmation listed as part of First Class if it's purchased online (only to certain countries but includes more than just Canada).  So, perhaps this is just for shipping purchased at the counter? 

[Leave a Whisper]

well that's a crummy thing for them to do. why would they do that?

[Ringlets]

  I'm hoping its some kind of glitch if not everyone is seeing it..but I'm not in the US so I hadn't heard if its true or not. I'll check it out. Ponylady will probably know for sure

[ponylady]

Just a question - did you purchase the shipping online or at the post office?  I checked the tracking numbers on my international packages that are still in transit and I'm not getting the alert like in your screenshot, and I'm still seeing delivery confirmation listed as part of First Class if it's purchased online (only to certain countries but includes more than just Canada).  So, perhaps this is just for shipping purchased at the counter? 

I just checked a couple packages I had outbound too. I don't see the alert either. Here is a screen cap of what I am seeing.

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[lovesbabysquirmy]

well that's a crummy thing for them to do. why would they do that?

Easy..... because of mail volume. 

If you have a pallet of 50 parcels unloaded from the truck/plane, and you need to scan them all and then send them with a delivery driver.  If it takes the driver about an hour to deliver all the packages, and it takes an hour to scan the tracking on each parcel, are you going to waste 2 hours when your driver can deliver in 1 hour, and update the packages to "delivered" status as they drive around? 

More and more people are using the First Class option with complimentary tracking, (but not guaranteed to be updated) because they feel that Priority is a "rip-off" which means more parcels to scan... at some point, the cost savings centres around, "Scan at delivery, get the parcels to destinations within delivery windows, updating tracking at depots is wasted time/money". 

I have always paid Priority and been more than satisfied with the service, so.... I dunno... YMMV.

[Chi]

That's interesting. Is it possible those packages were shipped before the changes?
I did some searching and found other websites that have people talking about it.
I don't think its a glitch, but rather a recent change or possible for packages going to specific areas of a country?

They changed the option of "tracking" under the features of First Class International on their website to "Tracking available when you ship online to select destinations"..
Link to that is here.
I suppose I should change the original post to mention considering purchasing your postage online.

I wonder what countries are and aren't affected??
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I did purchase mine at the post office as it was the fastest option for me at the time, I had to run errands and the PO was right next to it.

Post Merge: November 01, 2014, 09:17:49 AM

well that's a crummy thing for them to do. why would they do that?

Easy..... because of mail volume. 

If you have a pallet of 50 parcels unloaded from the truck/plane, and you need to scan them all and then send them with a delivery driver.  If it takes the driver about an hour to deliver all the packages, and it takes an hour to scan the tracking on each parcel, are you going to waste 2 hours when your driver can deliver in 1 hour, and update the packages to "delivered" status as they drive around? 

More and more people are using the First Class option with complimentary tracking, (but not guaranteed to be updated) because they feel that Priority is a "rip-off" which means more parcels to scan... at some point, the cost savings centres around, "Scan at delivery, get the parcels to destinations within delivery windows, updating tracking at depots is wasted time/money". 

I have always paid Priority and been more than satisfied with the service, so.... I dunno... YMMV.

I shipped with priority a few times and the delivery time wasn't much different than first class. I continued choosing FC because of this but it's definitely something worth reconsidering if there's a possibility that you may not get tracking depending on where the parcel is going. I'm calling USPS directly instead of my PO and asking if I can get a list of countries that will continue receiving it and when these changes happened.  :/

[flying_narwhal]

Here is the list of the countries where delivery confirmation is provided for First Class International packages [provided the postage is purchased online]:
http://pe.usps.com/text/Imm/immc2_022.htm

Within the past couple months or so I have had delivery confirmation provided for First Class packages I sent to Brazil and Australia. I did order the postage online for those.

[Breyer600]

I didn't know they ever even claimed that tracking was available for First Class International that wasn't purchased online.    Before I started getting it online, I hardly ever got any tracking information past the first hub and I never got a delivery scan.  Once I switched to online, I've always gotten the scans until it leaves the country after which it's been hit or miss with some countries (that are supposed to be trackable) being more reliable than others at scanning on delivery.