I sold a pair of Energy bookshelfs on ebay. Packed well as I usually do, buyer thought so too. Shipped by FedEx, arrived from WA to Cal in what seemed to be a blink of an eye!
Too bad they slammed the package hard, as the guy reported damage (the baffle had apparently came unglued from the rest of the box on one) I ended up checking the "full refund - buyer keeps the item" box, for a total loss on my part for the efforts I made.
No one wanted them for months. Finally sold during the holidays - the worst time to ship anything. I've worked at a Amzn fulfillment, I've seen what overwhelmed min wage workers do to packages (slam!) to take out their (slam!) frustrations over their endlessly repetitive job.
I almost feel like not starting a damage claim with FedEx, as on one hand I understand - it's "only" $100. I be thinkin twice the next time I see a big 'ol Sansui receiver from the 70's; how will I get it there in one piece? I've had two such smashed so far in the last couple years; it's truly a matter of sometimes, sometimes not. You have to build a box like a battleship -
Too bad they slammed the package hard, as the guy reported damage (the baffle had apparently came unglued from the rest of the box on one) I ended up checking the "full refund - buyer keeps the item" box, for a total loss on my part for the efforts I made.
No one wanted them for months. Finally sold during the holidays - the worst time to ship anything. I've worked at a Amzn fulfillment, I've seen what overwhelmed min wage workers do to packages (slam!) to take out their (slam!) frustrations over their endlessly repetitive job.
I almost feel like not starting a damage claim with FedEx, as on one hand I understand - it's "only" $100. I be thinkin twice the next time I see a big 'ol Sansui receiver from the 70's; how will I get it there in one piece? I've had two such smashed so far in the last couple years; it's truly a matter of sometimes, sometimes not. You have to build a box like a battleship -
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^^^^^ Guys, this is the answer. If you type in Google "Oak creek u" it will auto fill with "Oak creek USPS Delays". This is a notorious bermuda's triangle for packages, there are ton of forum posts about it (maybe not here but I've certainly heard this story many times before)
USPS this time of year has always been a bit of a mixed bag. Weather and holiday traffic have always caused stochastic delays. This year it's just amplified because of COVID and the current administration's attempt at hobbling the USPS before the election. I don't have good measurement equipment for this, but I'd estimate it's about 5db worse than normal ;-)
In general UPS and FedEx do a bit better at holiday time as they have the ability to bring in seasonal help (that USPS can't do). So at this time of year I generally choose them over USPS if I really need to get something somewhere. But otherwise I prefer to support USPS. Of course, YMMV depending very much on your precise location.
In general UPS and FedEx do a bit better at holiday time as they have the ability to bring in seasonal help (that USPS can't do). So at this time of year I generally choose them over USPS if I really need to get something somewhere. But otherwise I prefer to support USPS. Of course, YMMV depending very much on your precise location.
You never know the current state of delivery, particularly these days with people's attitudes all over the place.
Consider, or even keep in mind that a given delivery person, being human, can be the determining factor of safe delivery or not.
The guy could be going through a tough time, marriage problems, break-up with girlfriend, a death in his family....even an argument with someone, and be in a bad mood.
He vents his anger/temper and tosses your package like a football.
I've always packed things for shipping like their going to be thrown on a hard pavement, or crushed by too many boxes in the truck.
It's the only way.
This is an expected result when supply is inelastic and demand expands rapidly but price is not adjusted upward to balance supply and demand. My recent experience suggests a good number of businesses seem to be fudging on the shipping tracking, issuing a tracking number days before pickup actually occurs and pretending the item is in transit when it's still in their warehouse. It's a good thing that the COVID vaccines are being express shipped in dedicated carriers.
USPS issues a tracking number when the shipping label is purchased. That does not mean the item is shipped.
The label can be purchased on a web site, not just when you are at the post office. Only when the tracking
says that the item is in possession of USPS has it been shipped. In fact the tracking number must be issued
before the item can be shipped, which could be minutes, hours, or days prior, depending on when the item
is picked up, or taken to the post office.
The label can be purchased on a web site, not just when you are at the post office. Only when the tracking
says that the item is in possession of USPS has it been shipped. In fact the tracking number must be issued
before the item can be shipped, which could be minutes, hours, or days prior, depending on when the item
is picked up, or taken to the post office.
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My small package was sent with priority USPS .
Left Chicago ang going to DOWNINGTOWN, PA 19335(somewhere between NY city and Washington Dc ) but it went to Honolulu Hawaii (4000 miles the opposite way ), enjoyed Hawaii for a few weeks and then decided to go to Pennsylvania.
Total trip time : around 37 days
Left Chicago ang going to DOWNINGTOWN, PA 19335(somewhere between NY city and Washington Dc ) but it went to Honolulu Hawaii (4000 miles the opposite way ), enjoyed Hawaii for a few weeks and then decided to go to Pennsylvania.
Total trip time : around 37 days
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I just ordered a cordless phone for my sister - for Christmas gift.
Best Buy's website said if I ordered in 2 hours, I could have it shipped free, delivered tommorrow.
How nice.
I could charge it up before Christmas, put my number in memory, and my sister could use it right away
BUT.........
After I placed the online order, it didn't give me that shipping option, only a "get it by Wed, Dec. 23rd.
UGH!
What's up with that stuff?
Best Buy's website said if I ordered in 2 hours, I could have it shipped free, delivered tommorrow.
How nice.
I could charge it up before Christmas, put my number in memory, and my sister could use it right away
BUT.........
After I placed the online order, it didn't give me that shipping option, only a "get it by Wed, Dec. 23rd.
UGH!
What's up with that stuff?
USPS is ruining many people's X-mas this year. I mailed a package out to another state in the first week of this month and it just set in the warehouse in town for 2 weeks. Tracking shows it still hasn't left town. I asked USPS what's going on and the response was, "This covid made many workers sick and it's close to X-mas so we are slower".
The lost tape deck I complained about in a post a couple of days ago showed up Tuesday at 5:30PM, it apparently had been shipped to Norwood Ma, and from there to eBay in California and back again. Or it sat in the back of a UPS truck for close to 2 wks. I won't ever know. UPS still doesn't know where it is..
For reasons of confidentiality I have removed all of the identifiable information. I suppose if this continues for a few more days I will need to tell them.
For reasons of confidentiality I have removed all of the identifiable information. I suppose if this continues for a few more days I will need to tell them.
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My second real computing job was multi carrier shipping systems around 1999. UPS and Fedex might provide you with a shipping system but you were not able to integrate it with other systems such as your order system. We provided systems that could transfer shipping data back and fourth between order systems. Some of it was screen scraping from mainframe terminals and some was direct SQL calls.
Some larger shippers may have an agreement with UPS where they will load a trailer with boxes and then close the shipment once the trailer is full. You get a tracking number at shipping time and the package might not leave the site for a day or so.
Another interesting thing I have seen is Fedex will bring and pack a container meant to load directly on a plane. Some presorting may be involved for sure. Just fun to see a shipping enclosure with one curved side to go in the plane.
Some larger shippers may have an agreement with UPS where they will load a trailer with boxes and then close the shipment once the trailer is full. You get a tracking number at shipping time and the package might not leave the site for a day or so.
Another interesting thing I have seen is Fedex will bring and pack a container meant to load directly on a plane. Some presorting may be involved for sure. Just fun to see a shipping enclosure with one curved side to go in the plane.