Patent ID: 8463716

Claim:
A method for issuing refunds for misprints of mail pieces, comprising: generating, at a postage-issuing computer system, a unique postage indicium in response to receiving a request for a postage purchase transaction, wherein the unique postage indicium is logically linked to a unique tracking identifier to track a mail piece delivery status within the United States Postal Service (USPS); indexing the postage purchase transaction with the unique tracking identifier logically linked to the unique postage indicium in a database coupled to the postage-issuing computer system, wherein the database associates the indexed postage purchase transaction with the mail piece delivery status associated with the unique tracking identifier logically linked to the unique postage indicium; retrieving information associated with the indexed postage purchase transaction from the database in response to the postage-issuing computer system receiving a refund inquiry for the postage purchase transaction, wherein the retrieved information associated with the indexed postage purchase transaction includes the mail piece delivery status associated with the unique tracking identifier logically linked to the unique postage indicium; and refunding the postage purchase transaction based on the mail piece delivery status associated with the unique tracking identifier logically linked to the unique postage indicium.