USPS Streamlines APV Postage Discrepancy Dispute Process

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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USPS is making it easier to dispute Automated Package Verification (APV) postage discrepancy adjustments, launching online form shippers can submit to request overpaid postage refunds.

The APV system allows the post office to recover postage discrepancies in an automated fashion, rather than the cumbersome, manual "postage due" process.

After detecting discrepancies and calculating the postage adjustment, the system submits a file to Vendors with data to support postage adjustment. Vendors pay or collect the adjustment amount and enable customers to dispute postage adjustments.

Previously, those disputes had to be filed either by email or by phone with USPS but a recent Postal Pro Industry Alert reveals updates to streamline the process.

INFORMATIONAL: Automated Package Verification (APV) Dispute Process | PostalPro

Effective October 23, 2024, a new APV Dispute process will beavailable for customers to submit their APV disputes electronically instead of contacting the APV Helpdesk.

Customers will need the Revenue Assurance ID (RAID) and the last 4 digits of the Intelligent Mail Package Barcode (IMpb) to start the dispute process. Users will receive an error message if the incorrect Revenue Assurance ID and Intelligent Mail Package Barcode combination is entered, if there is already an existing Dispute matching the entered Revenue Assurance ID/Intelligent Mail Package Barcode, over 60 days, or trying to dispute an overpaid refund.

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Once the dispute has been submitted, USPS says the customer will need to check with their PC Postage Entity for the status of their dispute after 15 days and they will also receive an email notification confirming the submission of the dispute.

The new AVP dispute form can be found on the USPS website at:

https://apvdisputes.usps.com/

What do you think of the new USPS Automated Package Verification (APV) dispute process? Let us know in the comments below!

USPSShipping

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.

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LongTimeShipper
The new APV dispute process is not working! I've been using Stamps.com for years and have always emailed my disputes to USPS. The last couple of weeks I wasn't getting a reply with a case ID so I figured something was up. I called today and they told me about the new site for submitting disputes. Out of 15 disputes I had to open (we ship a lot) only 2 of them worked. The rest gave me an error message that stated : "Dispute is not valid. Please contact your postage provider to confirm your information." I contacted the help desk toll free # and they were useless. They told me to contact Stamps.com which I did. Also useless. I am going to contact the local consumer advocate and see if they can help.

Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderMksowa10 hours ago
They need to fix a very broken system full of nasty attitudes. The patrons no longer matter.
Avatar PlaceholderMarty_JYesterday
Was just checking to see if it would post without creating an account but….
eBay seller since 2022
Just started selling about a year and half ago

800 items sold 99.7 feedback

Recently I went away for family things for 30 days set my acct to be away … got back with items not received cases opened

I wasn’t able to revise existing listings post new listings OR refund the buyer from my eBay funds …

The items were caught up in recent wild fires but ended up being delivered late. I had to beg the buyer to let me pay them off of eBay to close the case because it was on hold and I wasn’t able to refund them from my eBay acct etc…. So luckily they obliged and I did … but ever since then my acct must be strikes as high risk because funds have been on hold 3 days after delivery since then indefinitely might I add… I get the run around everytime etc etc FINALLY I got someone saying it’s temporary it’ll be back to normal etc. these r all reps from escalated departments… one lady told me that with my history and feedback I’ve proved beyond doubt that I’m reliable seller and shouldn’t be on hold she put in for a appeal never heard back got the run around for another few months… they keep telling me I’ve been chosen for the new update they r rolling out total BS … do you believe that sellers will stay on eBay with these holds ? No they will simply go to another platform … they r 100% making money on the holds and use any reasoning to tell you basically no and keep profiting…. The get around is creating a new acct… these cases were closed without eBay having to step in and might I add I lost $$ and its been truly frustrating esp since I’ve built the acct up but I know I can do it again.. when they tell me its going to happen to all accts I just mention how my brother just opened one n now has immediate payments they don’t know what to say I don’t think they really even know.,, its sad n scummy but I see a class action lawsuit coming honestly ! I don’t know💬 if I forgot anything but well written thanks for the information. Have a great one!
Avatar PlaceholderJkvinyl3Yesterday
As many have already quoted - us sellers now can not charge for packaging. I will be £500 a year out of pocket.