Track a Package from FedEx, UPS & USPS

Shopping online is no different from hitting the old bricks-and-mortars. You want to keep an eye on your purchase throughout the transaction so you know exactly what’s happening. If you read consumer-advocate blogs, you know it’s easy for a package to go astray, whether shipped via UPS, FedEx or USPS. Nobody is perfect and these carriers handle countless packages each day. (That’s why it helps to use a delivery service that insures your package.)

Merchants usually supply customers with an order number via email or at the end of the checkout process. Make sure you print out either the email or verification page.

Keep in mind it usually takes a day or two before your package is traceable because the purchase is likely being processed by the retailer. You often can’t track it until the package actually reaches the hands of a carrier service. To verify processing is complete, check your online bank or credit card statement to see if the merchant has withdrawn payment.

Most merchants post the time required for processing and delivery on their websites as a guideline for tracking. You may want to check the progress of your package several times throughout the process, beginning with the day it should’ve reached the carrier. If delivery is promised within 3-5 days after processing, begin tracking on the third day. If you don’t find tracking information posted at this time, repeat the process on the fourth and fifth days.

If you still haven’t received your package and it isn’t showing up on a tracking system, make sure the package wasn’t delivered inappropriately and off-record.

Begin by checking with household members, neighbors, your building manager and any others who might have accepted delivery. Second, look around to see if the package wasn’t placed in an obscure location. Plenty of YouTube videos reveal placement is sometimes haphazard, so your package may have ended up in the bushes.

Still no luck? Call the carrier and ask if your package is being held for some reason -- perhaps because of an "inability to deliver."

If all these methods don’t pan out, it’s time to call the merchant’s customer service line. Make sure you have the order or confirmation number handy, along with the date you placed the order and the exact delivery address.

Customer service contact info can be difficult to find on a retailer’s website. If it’s not obviously placed, look under links for "FAQs," "Site Map" and "Contact Info."

Be tenacious and good luck!