Coryoon said:
That was with UPS, I paid a lot to get the package fast (arround 30$) but it's terribly slow. Neogeo2k2 has Pmed me about this, it seems that the UPS site isn't up to date here in Canada...
Anyways, that's really weird because I bougth a game from Monkey Attack! (awesome seller) and he sent the game on the 1th of June with UPS and I got it today... and the status was always updated on the site...
I don't know the particulars of your situation, but I assume that by "fast" you mean "Next Day Air" service, or at least some transport via Air (e.g. 2-day). I used to work part time handling air packages so maybe I can give you further insight.
At UPS, when the package is loaded into the truck or air container, it is scanned by the person who loads it.
If you send something via UPS ground, you will be lucky if every hub the package is passed through will scan the package, simply because UPS makes all their money in air volume -- UPS ground pricing is near cost -- so they don't really care about ground packages as much. (as an aside, don't ever ever send anything even remotely delicate via UPS ground) I personally have had a few UPS ground packages delivered to me that were NEVER scanned during transport, only scanned when the package was initially received and when it was finally delivered.
UPS Air is a little different. The people who load the packages into the air containers are extremely careful about handling every package that passes through their hands, mainly due to the high regulation of air cargo: one small mistake could potentially cost the company thousands of dollars. Furthermore, with certain service levels (such as 1-day) there is a guaranteed level of service, and if it doesn't make it there in time then the shipping is free (you'll get reimbursed or, more likely, get a free next-day shipping) Thus, air packages are carefully examined by every person who touches it, and it is very rare for a package to not get scanned.
When a package is scanned the tracking number is uploaded to the building's server. About a year or so ago, UPS fired almost all of their IT people, so if there is a problem with any hardware involved in the tracking process, it can take up to 1-2 weeks to fix. Yet, if you are sending the package using any method where the package spends SOME time in an airplane, it's unlikely that there would have been no tracking at all. Even if one hub is having problems with their servers or whatever, chances are slim to none that this is the case across the board.
Not saying that you're getting the runaround necessarily, but if you send something via UPS and it goes in an airplane, I can almost guarantee it will be tracked carefully.
