Yesterday I mailed 8 books as part of a deal to one of our members.

I just checked the Sales Receipt from the Post Office and they made a mistake.

The package I mailed had a zip code of 62521 and they marked it as 92521 - so will the package go to IL as it should or is it on the way to CA???

Perhaps I should PM the receiver and let her know of the mix-up??

Update:  The package was received today (6 days in transit) - the package took no detours. 
 

Your books may go on a magical mystery tour.  They may go to zip code 92521 and then be re-routed to the correct zip code.  Did you use DC so you can track the package? I wouldn't PM the requestor yet.  The books have a month to reach their destination.

As of 30 minutes ago the box is on the way to Jersey City, NJ.

I'm thinking you're right, a magical mystery tour is beginning.

It's impossible to predict where the package will end up. If you are referring to the pink and white sticker that the Post Office puts on packages as having an incorrect zip code but the address on the label is correct, then the package may still end up in the right place.

A package sent as media mail should also have a sticker with a tracking number affixed by the Post Office. The tracking number should show on your receipt and this will enable you to see how the package is being routed. I suggest monitoring the progress of the package and then alerting the requestor with a PM only if the package is taking an excessively circuitous route and much longer than normal delivery time. PBS allows 26 days (plus a grace period of a day or two?) for packages to be delivered before marking them lost in the mail.

The pink sticker with the postage has a barcode that is used to machine-sort parcels.  It won't matter if the parcel is hand-sorted, but if sorted by machine it is liable to go astray until it reaches 92521, at which point a human will probably mark out the barcode & send it on the correct way.

Thanks for  the input everyone.

I'm going to send the requestor a PM and explain the situation.  I'll give her the tracking number

so she can watch the tour as it unfolds.

Yep, it will take the long way round........I just had that happen on a package last month.

This has happened to me as a receiver at least twice.  Both times the books were marked "undeliverable" and returned to the sender, who then had to take the book back to the post office, explain the error, and have them send it again (at no additional cost, since it was their mistake).

As Diane said, the machines read that barcode and do the sorting the majority of the time. Most likely it will go to CA first. If by some chance a human notices the mistake early on it will get corrected before it gets that far. But honestly, your chances of that happening is about the same as your chance of winning the lottery - possible, but not likely. Most likely, it won't be noticed until it reaches the delivery office for 92521. At which point they should mark out the barcode and send it back out the same day as a missent package.

Sending the tracking number to the recipient was probably a good idea so that both of you can see it's "scenic route" because it's probably going to take it twice as long to get to her/him than it should have. So whatever your receipt says as the expected delivery date add about 10 days to that as the new expected delivery date.

If by some chance the book gets returned to you (and especially if they try to charge you postage due for it) take it back to your post office and point out the mistake. They should resend it for you at no additional charge since it was their mistake.

I had the same thing happen with a book I mailed.  The book ended up in Texas where it was scanned undeliverable and then scanned missent.  The book was then sent on to the requestor and not back to me.