When a package is marked delivered and it isn't there, treat it as three overlapping problems: a possible misdelivery, a possible theft after a valid scan, and a payment for goods you never received. The carrier's missing-mail or insurance process, the seller or marketplace refund process, and a credit-card billing-error dispute are separate tracks. They use different evidence, different clocks, and different decision-makers. Using the wrong one first can waste the deadline that actually protects you.

A "delivered" scan is not proof you received the box, and it is not automatic proof of porch theft either. Carriers sometimes scan a stop before the package is on the correct doorstep. Neighbors, building staff, and household members also intercept boxes. Until you check those ordinary explanations, a theft claim is just a theory.

What actually controls the outcome

Carrier insurance and claims rules control lost, damaged, or missing-contents shipments, and only when the extra service or included coverage applies. USPS, for example, tells customers they may file a claim immediately if an item arrives damaged or with contents missing, and that the filing window is no later than 60 days after the mailing date. A money-back guarantee on a product such as Priority Mail Express is a service refund, not the same thing as an insurance payout.

Seller and marketplace policy controls replacements and refunds when the merchant still had the delivery risk, or when the store's own missing-package process says it will reship. That is a company process, not a government claim.

If you paid with a credit card and you were billed for something you never got, FTC guidance on unordered products and missing goods is the consumer-protection track that matters. Billing errors have to be disputed in writing within 60 days of when the first statement showing the error was sent to you. Some issuers may extend that 60-day window when a shipment is delayed, but you should not count on an extension.

What does not control this: a police report alone will not make USPS, UPS, FedEx, or Amazon pay. A social-media complaint is not a claim. A phone call to a card issuer is not the same as the written billing-error notice the FTC describes. UK-style complaint letters and U.S. carrier portals are not interchangeable.

First-day checks, before you file anything

Open the tracking page and read the scan, not just the word "Delivered." Note the date, time, city, and any photo, locker, Access Point, or release note.

Walk the delivery location. Look at side doors, stairs, bins, garages, and the spot in the photo if one exists. Ask everyone in the household, the concierge, and immediate neighbors. Confirm the ship-to address on the original order. A surprising number of "stolen" packages are at the wrong unit or were accepted by someone you know.

If the scan looks premature, wait through the rest of that delivery day before you assume the parcel is gone. Then contact the carrier listed on the tracking page and the seller in writing, with the tracking number, order number, delivery photo, and the exact language of the scan.

Save everything: screenshots of tracking, emails, chat transcripts, the product listing, proof of payment, and any Informed Delivery preview if you use USPS.

USPS: missing mail first, then a claim if coverage exists

Start with a search, not an argument. USPS asks customers who think mail or a package is lost or delayed to submit a Missing Mail search with the details they request. You should get a confirmation email after it is submitted. Call the local post office as well and ask the office to have the carrier retrace that delivery.

Insurance is separate. If the piece included insurance, USPS says you may be able to file an insurance claim. File at the claims tools on USPS.com. Tracking and label numbers run between 13 and 34 characters; have the number in front of you.

Timing depends on what went wrong. Damaged items and missing contents can be filed immediately, still no later than 60 days after the mailing date. Lost-in-transit claims follow the Domestic Mail Manual filing periods, which differ by product and by APO/FPO/DPO mail. USPS notes that its public claims instructions do not include every exception in those regulations, so read the form for your mail class before you submit.

USPS usually sends claims decisions within 5 to 10 days. If a refund is only partly paid or denied, you may appeal within 30 days of the decision. If that appeal is denied, a second appeal is available within 30 days of the denial. Claims assistance hours listed on the USPS claims page are Monday through Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM CT.

Priority Mail can include limited insurance; extra value above that included amount is not paid unless additional coverage was purchased. Don't treat a delivered-and-stolen fact pattern as identical to a package that never received a delivery scan. Ask USPS how it is classifying your case, and keep the missing-mail request open even while a claim is pending.

UPS: the photo and the paperwork usually decide it

UPS delivered-but-missing disputes often turn on where the parcel was left. Before you escalate, check the delivery-location photo, any Access Point or hold notice, My Choice or release settings, neighbor or concierge details, and the signature or name on the scan.

If you file a claim, UPS wants supporting documents that identify the goods in specific terms: quantity, brand, size, color, model, and other identifying details, not "assorted household items." Keep the original invoice or receipt with those descriptions.

The shipper of record is often the party UPS will talk to about a claim. If you were the buyer and a merchant shipped the order, press the seller at the same time you open a UPS trace. Don't assume a recipient can complete every UPS claim screen without the shipper's account information.

FedEx: use tracking and the published support line

FedEx's public pages on "delivered but no package" and "how to dispute delivery" were not returning usable policy text when checked, so there is no reliable public deadline or form sequence to recite from those FAQs. Use the tracking tools on fedex.com, save any delivery photo or exception scan, and call 1.800.463.3339 (1.800.GoFedEx) for a trace.

Ask whether the stop was a direct delivery, a hold location, or a release without signature. Then put the same facts in writing to the seller. Until FedEx or the shipper says otherwise, treat a delivered scan as a completed attempt that you still have to rebut with location evidence.

Amazon orders: fix the address facts, then contact the order

On Amazon, start in Your Orders and confirm the shipping address that was actually used. Check the delivery location, ask household members and neighbors, and open the carrier's tracking page from the order.

If Amazon shipped the order, contact Amazon customer service through the order after those checks. If a marketplace seller shipped it, contact that seller too; the carrier claim and the Amazon message are not substitutes for each other. Act while tracking, photos, and the expected-delivery date are still easy to pull. Amazon help pages in other storefronts have described early "delivered" scans and a limited contact window, but you should follow the help text on your own order rather than assume a single global deadline.

If you paid by credit card, run the billing-error process in parallel

A merchant "we're looking into it" email does not replace a credit-card dispute. The FTC's credit-card billing-error process is for errors that include charges for goods you never received.

Write to the issuer at the address given for billing disputes, not the payment address. Send the letter so it arrives within 60 days after the first bill with the error was sent to you. Keep a copy. FTC instructions say to follow up in writing even if you already called, and they publish a sample letter on that page.

The issuer must acknowledge the complaint in writing within 30 days of receiving it, unless the problem is already resolved, and must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles, not more than 90 days, after getting the letter. You don't need to pay the disputed amount or related finance charges during the investigation. You do still need to pay any undisputed balance.

This path is for credit cards. Don't stretch it onto debit, ACH, or marketplace gift-card balance without checking that issuer's own rules. It also does not decide whether a carrier's insurance applies. It decides whether you were billed for goods you did not get.

Evidence that actually moves a file

Decision-makers want a clean packet: tracking number and screenshots, order number and item list, proof of payment, delivery photo or the absence of one, address proof, dates you contacted the carrier and seller, and a short statement of what you found when you searched the property.

For USPS, include the mailing date, mail class, and insurance amount if any. For UPS claims, describe each item the way the supporting-documents page shows, down to size and model. For a card dispute, attach the statement date and identify the charge as goods not received.

Vague notes such as "package stolen" get stalled. Specific notes such as "scan at 2:14 p.m., photo shows a brown box at 4B, no box at 4B or 4A, neighbor at 4C did not accept" can be checked.

Limits you should expect

Coverage caps are real. Included USPS insurance on common products can stop at a modest amount unless extra coverage was bought. A partial payout is appealable on the USPS timeline above; it is not automatically a full refund of your retail price.

A valid signature, locker delivery, or written release instruction will be used against a theft story. If you told the carrier to leave the package, say so up front and shift the ask to the seller or the card issuer instead of pretending the scan was a mystery.

None of these processes is a guarantee you will be paid. They are the routes that exist: carrier search and claim, merchant refund, and, for credit cards, a written billing-error dispute with 30-day acknowledgment and 90-day resolution clocks.

Pull the tracking page and the original order today. Save the delivery photo if there is one, write down the scan time, and send either the USPS Missing Mail request, the seller message, or a dated credit-card dispute letter, depending on who took your payment and which carrier posted the delivery.