Rescinded purchase but USPS didn't deliver mail

[mimi598]

I purchased PP on October 13th. Decided we didn't want them so sent a letter certified mail via USPS on October 17th. I have the receipt and certified paper. I've been following it on USPS...they sent it from Orlando to Naples so I put in for assistance. Someone from Orlando post office called and left me a message saying the machine read the zip code wrong which was why it went to Naples but they realized the mistake and it's on its way to the correct address. I had contacted them on the 26fh and they called me on the 30th. Today I tried calling and no one picks up so the message literally says "goodbye" and hangs up on you. I put in a second request for assistance and got an email this evening saying my claim was closed because basically, they can't help me. Sums up saying, they can't track my mail...that's not what certified is for (it should've been "certified and registered" if I wanted it tracked). Sounds like they have NO idea where my letter is and don't seem to care. I have proof it was sent...is this enough for Hyatt? Not sure what to do...should I call and explain? If anyone had this issue and can offer advice I'd really appreciate it thanks!

 

[geist1223]

Under most States' Laws a letter is presumed delivered on the Date of Mailing. So long as you keep Proof of the Date you mailed it you should be ok.

 

[rdc]

Most definitely call Hyatt sales and advise them and offer your proof of mail as well. Hopefully Hyatt will accept without much issue.

 

[DeniseM]

Sales has nothing to do with rescinding - it's a completely different department. Don't call them, because they will just try to trick you into not rescinding. Be patient.

 

[dioxide45]

Send another letter including copies of your proof of mailing the first one. Also include screen shots or other evidence you have from the USPS showing the tracking history and anything provided from the USPS that it is lost.

This is why I also suggest sending just a plain stamped first class envelope in addition to whatever primary delivery method you use. Stamped envelope could have gotten lost too, but chances of both being lost are much smaller. The extra $0.66 is cheap insurance.

 

[dioxide45]

(it should've been "certified and registered" if I wanted it tracked)

Certified and Registered are two different services offered by the USPS. Registered is just that the mailpiece is handled manually vs through the automated sorting processes of Certified. There are other differences, but Registered provides for a slower delivery process but apparently more meticulous. Both services offer tracking. Perhaps with Registered there are fewer touchpoints to look at in the event of a lost mailpiece. So it may be easier to find if lost.

 

[elaine]

I doubt you’ll have any issues. And if so, just show proof of date mailed. You have followed rescission instructions as required by law. You’ll be fine.

 

[emeryjre]

Check your recission documents
See if there is any mention of this situation and how to resolve
Also see if your recission documents allow you to use an email
I was just corrected on a Facebook Forum when I said a recission could not be done using an email
The end result was the OP found the paragraphs in the recission instructions that said an email could be used
They posted the applicable paragraphs so it is an option for Marriott
I am not sure of any other system

 

[Passepartout]

I agree with others that you'll be fine, but you might expedite the process by sending another letter along with the explanation provided by USPS and copies of the original dated receipt as proof of mailing. Send it to the rescission office.

 

[dioxide45]

Check your recission documents
See if there is any mention of this situation and how to resolve
Also see if your recission documents allow you to use an email
I was just corrected on a Facebook Forum when I said a recission could not be done using an email
The end result was the OP found the paragraphs in the recission instructions that said an email could be used
They posted the applicable paragraphs so it is an option for Marriott
I am not sure of any other system

It may also not be an option in every state. I have seen people here reference the email address, but other people had contracts that didn't list it. I would still suggest in the event an email is present, to still send a letter via first class mail. One should always use two methods when we are talking about tens of thousands of dollars.

 

[ScoopKona]

And this is why I always recommend people spend the extra couple bucks for return receipt.

The only safer way to mail something is registered. (Most people have no idea how to mail registered letters and packages. Or what's involved.) With return receipt, this post would never have been written.

 

[dioxide45]

And this is why I always recommend people spend the extra couple bucks for return receipt.

The only safer way to mail something is registered. (Most people have no idea how to mail registered letters and packages. Or what's involved.) With return receipt, this post would never have been written.

Return receipt wouldn't have helped in this situation. The mail was lost before it got to the recipient. Electronic tracking should be just as good as a return receipt? If on wants true proof of mailing, they should send first class with certificate of mailing. Only $2.61. Perhaps one can add return receipt to that also.

 

[emeryjre]

It may also not be an option in every state. I have seen people here reference the email address, but other people had contracts that didn't list it. I would still suggest in the event an email is present, to still send a letter via first class mail. One should always use two methods when we are talking about tens of thousands of dollars.

I recommend everyone check their recission documents carefully
As you mention
What works in one state, may not be valid in another

 

[ScoopKona]

I recommend everyone check their recission documents carefully
As you mention
What works in one state, may not be valid in another

USPS is the same everywhere, though. Even in Alaska and Hawaii. If I'd lose sleep over a piece of mail not reaching its destination, I'd send it registered or return receipt. They are handled differently than other regular mail. Registered especially -- the sender is paying for an unimpeachable chain of accountability.

Diamond merchants send $10 million gemstones this way. For a timeshare, I'd be ok with just return receipt. But if that timeshare was a serious financial mistake, what's $14 to be absolutely certain it arrives?

 

[emeryjre]

I seldom use USPS for any serious purposes
I use FedEx mostly
Pay more
I know there are occasions that FedEx drivers go off of the rails and throw their entire load into a ditch
But I think it happens more with USPS employees

 

[ScoopKona]

I seldom use USPS for any serious purposes

I think that's a mistake. If it's important, it goes registered. Safest, most secure way to send anything in the US. Our postal service is the envy of the world.

It's a shame most people don't even know about this service. I'm more confident with registered mail than I am paying a courier to hand deliver something.

 

[Sapper]

I seldom use USPS for any serious purposes
I use FedEx mostly
Pay more
I know there are occasions that FedEx drivers go off of the rails and throw their entire load into a ditch
But I think it happens more with USPS employees

If the item is truly high value, USPS Registered is the best way to go. FedEx/UPS are significantly faster, however, if you need the item to be secure, send it USPS Registered. There is a chain of custody the parcel travels through. Other mail is left in open bins, Registered is in a locked/secured access area. If regular mail is lost or stolen, USPS will pay whatever the insurance value is and forget you and the parcel ever existed. If a Registered mail item goes missing, the USPS Postal Inspectors (they get no respect, but are federal law enforcement with more authority than you might think) will open an investigation and will actively work it (vs other police organizations I can think of that don’t want to be bothered to do the paperwork). Why, you may ask, would the USPS Postal Inspectors do this for a piece of Registered mail? Glad you asked, they will do it to ensure the integrity of the Registered mail system. But who cares about that? Great question, the US Government does because they ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cash, stamps, sensitive items, etc around the country using… the Registered mail system. The Postal Inspectors care about making that system as secure as possible because of the other items that travel through it. How do I know this? At one point I had a company that dealt with restricted/controlled items. We shipped everything via USPS Registered and had access to observe the system in action (I won’t bore you with the details, but the systems and security was better than commercially available services).

 

[dioxide45]

I seldom use USPS for any serious purposes
I use FedEx mostly
Pay more
I know there are occasions that FedEx drivers go off of the rails and throw their entire load into a ditch
But I think it happens more with USPS employees

USPS is legally recognized as a method to delivery for just about any type of legal document and certainly for timeshare rescission in every US state. The same is not necessarily true of FedEx or UPS. Those two are also not able to deliver to PO boxes.

 

[ScoopKona]

(I won’t bore you with the details, but the systems and security was better than commercially available services).

Adding to that, not just better but night-and-day better.

If I had to fill a lead pouch with plutonium and ship it to someone at the Department of Energy, registered mail.

If the Hope Diamond turned up at my farm and I wanted to return it to the Smithsonian, registered mail.

If the Mona Lisa was stolen, and I found it in the bathroom at the KFC in Kailua-Kona, and wanted to return it to the Louvre -- well, too bad. Registered mail is only domestic. The Louvre would have to send someone to fetch it.

Return receipt is also handled at a slightly more elevated way than regular mail. And if it's not life-or-death I'll gladly use it.

But let me reiterate -- we're only talking $3 or $14 to goddamned guarantee that your piece of mail gets there. It's worth it. I'll bet OP wishes he or she spent $14 for registered right now.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

One great reason to use the USPS is because of the all important POSTMARKED. The USPS is a semi government agency and the Postmark date is excellent viable proof should you ever need to go to Court. The USPS Postmark is recognized as "the" official date of mailing.





.

 

[emeryjre]

OK
Uncle, Uncle
If I need to rescind a timeshare sale after being talked into it by a salesman during my next vacation
I will use USPS Registered

 

[Kal]

I seldom use USPS for any serious purposes
I use FedEx mostly
Pay more
I know there are occasions that FedEx drivers go off of the rails and throw their entire load into a ditch
But I think it happens more with USPS employees

I have a friend who is a diamond merchant. He always uses USPS registered and NEVER uses UPS or FedEx. There are issues with trust of UPS and FedEx theft.

 

[ScoopKona]

I have a friend who is a diamond merchant. He always uses USPS registered and NEVER uses UPS or FedEx. There are issues with trust of UPS and FedEx theft.

I don't have any friends in the business. But I've met some. They are unequivocal.

Americans refuse to accept they have the best postal system on the planet. I don't get the general hate for our postal system. I can mail a vinyl record from Guam to Puerto Rico for $3. Suggest mailing a package that far to any other country's postal workers and all you'll get is laughter. "You want to do what? Where? For how much? Get tf outta here!"

When hiked across Africa, I had to insist that the postal worker hand cancel the stamp. Otherwise they'd peel it off, toss my mail, and re-sell the stamp to another tourist. I've had mail and packages stolen by postal workers in Southern Europe. Russian mail is famously corrupt. And even the handful of countries with postal systems that don't suck are expensive. Canada for instance. It costs a fortune for Canadians to buy things in the US -- in some cases one-third of the total cost is shipping and customs.

And yet I can bring the Hope Diamond to a US post office and mail it. And it will arrive at its destination. Uninsured, it would cost about $50. (I don't know the exact weight of the Hope Diamond.)

 

[emeryjre]

I don't have any friends in the business. But I've met some. They are unequivocal.

Americans refuse to accept they have the best postal system on the planet. I don't get the general hate for our postal system. I can mail a vinyl record from Guam to Puerto Rico for $3. Suggest mailing a package that far to any other country's postal workers and all you'll get is laughter. "You want to do what? Where? For how much? Get tf outta here!"

When hiked across Africa, I had to insist that the postal worker hand cancel the stamp. Otherwise they'd peel it off, toss my mail, and re-sell the stamp to another tourist. I've had mail and packages stolen by postal workers in Southern Europe. Russian mail is famously corrupt. And even the handful of countries with postal systems that don't suck are expensive. Canada for instance. It costs a fortune for Canadians to buy things in the US -- in some cases one-third of the total cost is shipping and customs.

And yet I can bring the Hope Diamond to a US post office and mail it. And it will arrive at its destination. Uninsured, it would cost about $50. (I don't know the exact weight of the Hope Diamond.)

I am glad you feel the USPS provides a good service
I am just not as big a fan as you are
I have had several different experiences that have given me pause about the quality of their service
The original OP tells us of their experience of mailing an important document and the USPS seems to have lost it
Just saying.....

 

[ScoopKona]

The original OP tells us of their experience of mailing an important document and the USPS seems to have lost it
Just saying.....

Car manufacturers put out different products at different prices as well. You can buy a Volkswagen Jetta. Or you can buy a Bugatti Chiron. They're both made by the same company. Slightly different price and slightly different market.

The post office will mail your post card to your grandmother for next to nothing. Or they will mail a $10 million gemstone to a Diamond Merchant on 47th St. for around $50 plus insurance (which can reach into the thousands).

When I sell one-of-a-kind vinyl records, they go registered. The box is packed by the post office clerk, who notes the contents on the ledger, which then serves as the chain of custody until it is signed for by the recipient. And yes, the clerk writes "The Beatles, 'Beatles For Sale' vinyl record album" in the ledger. The smart ones ask to see the record to make sure it matches the jacket. The box is sealed with tamper-proof registered package tape. All sides. All edges. All openings. And then every person who touches that package signs for it. If the package is lost, I'm getting my insurance money -- no quibbling. And the post office is going to the last person on the ledger and demanding some answers.

That's the difference between a VW and a Bugatti.