As packages travel through the carrier system from pickup or drop off to delivery, their labels are scanned multiple times. These scans show up in the tracking data for your shipment. If you see no new scans over a period of time, or if you see scans that don’t make sense geographically, your package may be missing or lost.
We constantly monitor ALL shipments. Whenever we believe that a package is off track, we start an investigation and work closely with our carrier to locate it. We may initiate an investigation (also called a “trace”) if :
A package has stopped tracking - there are no new scans for an extended period of time.
We see scans that do not seem physically possible based on where the package should be.
We see other unusual scans that could pose a problem such as multiple departure scans from the same location; multiple departure scans from different locations; or scans that indicated a package is bouncing back and forth between locations.
We use our judgement and 10+ years of shipping experience in deciding when to initiate an investigation. Gaps of several days between scans are not necessarily problematic. For example, when packages are transported across the country or between countries, it’s common for them to go without a new tracking scan for 2-4 business days (Note: business days do not include weekends).
When we initiate an investigation, we provide UPS with details about the missing or lost package including a description of the outside of the case or box and of the contents inside. Whenever possible, we’ll also submit photos, which can expedite the investigation. We’ll share what we know about where the container has previously been in case an older label from a previous shipment is affecting the tracking, and we may reach out to you in gathering some or all of this information.
If you suspect that your package is missing or lost, please contact our Support Team rather than the carrier directly. We work with an exclusive team within UPS to more quickly and efficiently locate packages and get them back on track. If you have already reached out to UPS to initiate an investigation prior to contacting us, please let us know so that we can escalate your investigation to the higher priority that our investigations get.
During an investigation, an exclusive UPS team searches in multiple locations based on where the package could and should be. Most packages are found within five business days, but it can take up to several weeks, and on rare occasions, it may take as long as one month. During an investigation, we will coordinate with you and our carrier and share updates as we learn more.
In the event that all leads are exhausted and we conclude our investigation without finding your package, we will help you file a claim per our Shipping Policy.
The most common reason that packages go missing is because the label comes off. The best way to prevent your bike from going missing is to include two labels on the outside of the box and to properly affix those labels. Read more about how to attach a label to your box or case here. You should also ALWAYS put a copy of your label inside your box or case, so that it can be relabeled and get back on track as soon as possible should your outside labels come off.
