I don't know if people realize this, but the key 
to a USPS money order being insured is the 
*receipt* or stub that you get from the money 
order in question. (Not a receipt of payment, but 
the acutal carbon recipt or ticket stub that 
comes off the USPS MO itself.) Without this stub, 
nothing can be done to search for the MO.

They're easy to search for, you simply fill out a 
form (I forget the number, but tell the PO 
personnel that you would like a form to search 
for a MO - there's only one form) and mail it to 
their central office. To fill out the form, you 
need to have the MO receipt in front of you 
because it will ask for the serial number. It 
costs $2.25 to mail the search and you *get that 
back* if the money order has not been cashed. (My 
post office is nice, however, and I had 
to "remind" them I was supposed to get this money 
back when they lost a MO of mine.)

Another thing is that you **MUST** check the MO 
when it's given to you. I check everything from 
the amount to the dates on it *right while I'm 
standing there*. In your instance, it's not 
difficult to prove there was an error since there 
IS no *37th* of July in any year. ^_^  Anyhow, 
you still need the receipt to prove this (the 
date should be there).

I have no idea why the bank kept the MO from your 
friend. If her address was on it, that is perfect 
proof that she was the intended recipient and it 
should have been returned to her. (Personally, I 
would have called over the bank manager about 
something like that.) However, if you didn't fill 
in her address - and I know some people don't 
want to take the time to fill out a MO properly - 
so that all they had was your address, then I can 
see where they're coming from. . .

Anyhow. . . As you can see it all hinges around 
the receipt and filling it out correctly. This 
isn't an impossible task. Just sounds like you 
need to kick your PO in the butt to get them to 
help you. Another option is to go to a PO out in 
the sticks somewhere (in the case that you live 
in the city) and they might have more time and 
energy to be helpful.

And also, the rules for IPMO and domestic MOs are 
pretty much the same except that everything takes 
longer with an IPMO.

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac