Shipping Time

[Smitty37]

It seems to me that shipping time is the subject of more cheers and jeers than all other aspects combined, yet for many of us shipping time is almost entirely up to the post office (or other carrier). My own case:

I can schedule carrier pickup at my home

The pickup will usually occur between 12 and 2 pm so orders arriving as late as noon might make it out the same day. I have had items picked up one day and delivered the next.

Once the item is picked up - delivery is entirely in the hands of the post office and I have no control or influence the rest of the way to you.

Mail leave our post office going to the sort facility twice daily. Around 12 - 1pm and about 5pm. Home pickups usually leave our PO at 5 the same day picked up - not always though.

If I take packages to the post office and get there before the mid-day truck leaves I can have about a 4 hour impact on shipping time---but that's it.

Depending on where they live, how large their business is and how large the post office serving them is some vendors can have more options but there is no post offices within reasonable driving distance from my house where I can get any better service.

Given the size of the city UPS and FedEx pickup service is generally no better than the post office.

My point is that the vendor's only control is over how quickly they can get the order in the hands of the carrier. Except for orders received from mid-day Saturday through mid-day Sunday for most of us using USPS that will be less than 1 working day. The rest of that "great" shipping service we have no control over.

 

[Justturnin]

Agreed.

 

[ed4copies]

AMEN, Smitty!!

While we certainly enjoy hearing how happy customers are, the only thing we control is getting it to the post office. We do this several times a day. But, when the package is delayed in shipping or (God forbid) on a UPS plane that crashes, we won't know about it and we can't DO anything about it, except help you get it replaced.

To get the attention of the USPS, you have to be spending OVER 300,000 DOLLARS a YEAR in POSTAGE. I can only think of one player in the pen market who could have this kind of clout and they seldom are talked about glowingly!!

FWIW,

Ed

 

[PSNCO]

I've ordered from both of you and 3 other smaller venders. All make it in 2-3 days after I submit an order. I order from PSI and it takes 7 or so days. I get better deals on common odds and ends that I need and know it will be in my mailbox in 2-3 days.

I like the fact that the smaller stores use a flat rate priority mail box. If a box is sent by UPS or FEDEX, I have to drive 10 miles to their central office as they won't leave a package if no one is home.

 

[sbwertz]

What about all those poor slobs whose packages were on the UPS plane that crashed! It will take weeks to get that mess straightened out. I had a computer en route when that plane went down and I was sweating it because I had guaranteed delivery to the client by a given date. I was reallly relieved when I found it was coming FED-EX instead of UPS, because it was coming from the southeast. It got here yesterday OK.

 

[beck3906]

What about all those poor slobs whose packages were on the UPS plane that crashed! It will take weeks to get that mess straightened out. I had a computer en route when that plane went down and I was sweating it because I had guaranteed delivery to the client by a given date. I was reallly relieved when I found it was coming FED-EX instead of UPS, because it was coming from the southeast. It got here yesterday OK.

Sorry, two people died and the concern is more about a delivery getting made. Could have been written differently.

 

[Smitty37]

What about all those poor slobs whose packages were on the UPS plane that crashed! It will take weeks to get that mess straightened out. I had a computer en route when that plane went down and I was sweating it because I had guaranteed delivery to the client by a given date. I was reallly relieved when I found it was coming FED-EX instead of UPS, because it was coming from the southeast. It got here yesterday OK.

Sorry, two people died and the concern is more about a delivery getting made. Could have been written differently.

We are discussing delivery in this thread....it goes without saying that we're sorry people died - we'd have been sorry about that whether it was a UPS plane or not - but it will still take a monsoon season to get the delivery mess straightend out.

 

[BKelley]

I read so many jeers about PSI, but my dealings with them has been extraordinary, for instance, I live in an Atlanta GA suburb I telephone my order in and have it three days later. I never use the computer to order, but telephone my order this might make some difference. Like Rick, I place the lives of the Pilot and Co-pilot and their families over and above the minuscule loss of a package.

Ben

 

[Smitty37]

I read so many jeers about PSI, but my dealings with them has been extraordinary, for instance, I live in an Atlanta GA suburb I telephone my order in and have it three days later. I never use the computer to order, but telephone my order this might make some difference. Like Rick, I place the lives of the Pilot and Co-pilot and their families over and above the minuscule loss of a package.

Ben

Worldwide there are about 1.78 deaths per second. 56 million plus per year. Probably about 2 million of those are accidental deaths. All of them are tragic to someone, but few of them impact very many lives beyond their family, friends and immediate community. And life goes on.

To most people who's lives are affected by that plane crash it is the loss of the cargo, not the loss of life that will affect them. Being concerned about that cargo loss is not being indifferent to the loss of life, but there is nothing any of us can do about that loss of life. It has happened and nothing can fix that.

The loss of cargo is another story, shippers who had packages on that plane will be expected to fix the loss and make their customers whole, and that impact can be far-reaching.

 

[LagniappeRob]

My shipping "issue" with PSI was twice that I paid extra for the "rush processing" and neither time did they bother to get it out timely.

Any Ground Rush Processing orders and UPS Air orders will ship out the same business day if ordered before 12:30pm EST. Otherwise, they'll ship out the next business day.

Both were entered in time for same day by their rules, and yet took days to "process" and ship. When I called about the 2nd one, not only was I not apologized to, but was lied to about when it was shipped. With tracking you can now see when the package was accepted. Up to that point, it's on the vendor not the shipper. IIRC, the shipping notice and tracking # wasn't even created until after the call.

I don't pay the extra anymore since it's not reliable, and if I need it quickly, I buy from others. Actually if it's available from others like EB, I buy from there over PSI because I'd rather support them as they better support us.

 

[Bocere1]

When I first got into this hobby and found this site, I looked into everything on the site, all the forums, including the "Cheers and Jeers".

I order a lot online and reviews are very important to me; although it's the trend of the reviews, not always the particulars that I'm interested in.
Smitty's right a lot of the jeers seem to involve shipping. No doubt Smitty listens to his customers' reviews as any good business would and responds and that's why a supplier review forum is a good part of this site.
I know and agree with what Leroy is talking about concerning the control over the shipping schedules OF ANOTHER COMPANY.

When looking where to stick blame it's always best to pin the prize on the right shirt. I always tip my waitress even if the steak is burned, she didn't cook it.
For consumers who receive more packages than they ship getting inside info of the type Smitty posted should be helpful in setting their level of expectation. My expectations are set when I order. I don't order "Standard Ground" and stand out by the mailbox the next day grinning with anticipation. But if I order "Next Day" and pay the fee and the order is in before their stated cutoff time then yep I am waiting by the mailbox the next day. However; I know there's a lot between me and that shipping department and on occasion things happen, so it's the trend I'm looking for.
I like all the new communication and transparency when I order, the more the better. If I need something tomorrow I will see if that's possible, pay for it and expect it. If not, whatever I select and pay for I expect. If I order 3-5 business days and the shipper always, per reviews or my experience, takes 5 days just to mail it and I still decide to buy from them, then that will be my expectation. If I don't like it I will buy elsewhere.
An email track of 2 recent purchases on 8/2


PSI
Order 8/2 (Friday) @ 225pm
Order Confirm Email 8/2 @ 225pm
Standard Ground Shipping order >300.00 shipping 8.50
Shipping Confirm Email 8/6 @ 1057am
Delivery 8/8 @ 1025am via Priority 2 day USPS
EXPECTATIONS MET, GOOD JOB
CraftSupplies
Order 8/2 (Friday) @ 1pm
Order Confirm Email 8/2 3pm
Standard Ground Shipping order >150.00 SHIPPING FREE!!
Shipping Confirm 8/2 805pm
Delivery 8/5 @ 1055 via Priority 2 day USPS
EXPECTATIONS EXCEEDED, MY INSTANT GRATIFICATION NEEDS ARE MET

I have to say,the larger a company is, the more automated its services are, the greater my expectation are of its services. Maybe PSI, et al, suffers from the lack of a singular identifiable person to those of us here and since they seem impersonal maybe they just present a big broad target. (or maybe I just don't know who represents them here)


You'll never read a bad review (jeer) given by me to a vendor on this site. I like ordering from the type of vendors on this site, good old fashioned mom and pop type of business. If the service is bad I'll just stop buying; anyway, bad business will out, this industry is fairly small, if people stop buying from a vendor that vendor will go out of business, no jeers necessary.
Good thread Smitty. Sorry this got so long, my backspace button is broken.