I ordered a gift on 12/13. It ships from Chico, CA - about 90 miles from me.

On 12/14, it arrives in Sacramento at 2:43am, about 25 miles from my house. Great.

I should get it 12/15 or 12/16, right?

On 12/18, magically it's in Gary freakin' Indiana! Over 2000 miles away? WTH?

I'm at a loss for words. What happens in the main processing facility in west Sacramento that decides to ship my package to Gary freakin' Indiana instead of 20 miles away to the Roseville processing center?

I had ordered something from Bolder, Colorado. It went to Denver, CO. And then to San Diego, CA. Then to Chicago; to Indianapolis; finally to my hometown, and then I received it.

It’s the USPS; it’s what they do.

I had an online vendor not disclose they were drop shipping from China instead of East Coast. The package made it from China to San Fran to Houston USPS processing (~10 miles from my house) in 4 days. Very reasonable.

Then, the USPS roller coaster began and each step below is 1 to 2 days. Houston --> dyslexic version of my zip code which is about 90 miles away --> Houston --> correct zip code post office --> Houston --> correct zip code post office --> Houston --> Chicago --> China.

On the other hand, I got a small box via USPS in two days when shipped from Abilene to Houston. That is about 400 miles.

So, you never know.

Lately, for me it is USPS and UPS that are reliable. Fed Ex Ground is slow as hell.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Fed Ex Ground is slow as hell.

In my area, Ground is slow because the facility doesn't have the manpower to unload trucks. So the tractor trailers arrive, unhitch, and take off. It can take 2-4 days for the trailer to be unloaded.

I have been having issues with ALL three in addition to the vendor. Here is a snippet of what the vendor sent:

Thank you for your reply. It is our honor to serve you.

We are deeply sorry for keeping you waiting.

Here is the good news for you:

We have changed the Carrier for you and the package has been shipped to you.
Please check the logistics of the package on the Fedex logistics website.

Please wait for a few more days patiently.

Any inconvenience wishes for your understanding.

If you need any other help, please feel free to contact us.

Best wishes.

I am guessing Chinese English. BTW still waiting.

The last two USPS stops before it goes out for delivery on my route are the Regional Destination Facility, then the local carrier annex.

I don't know how they manage it, but, occasionally, it will arrive at the regional facility, then the carrier annex, then get sent back to the regional facility, then the carrier annex again.

Then there was the FedEx Ground package, a few months back, that got w/in about twenty miles of me, then got routed back in the opposite direction several hundred miles away. That has only happened with them the one time, so far.

I've so far not had UPS pull a similar stunt--knock on wood.

DHL has several times somehow managed to get packages all the way from Hong Kong, to my door, in two days.

USPS, in my personal experience, mis-routes more packages, more often, than all others combined.

This morning I checked the USPS 'Informed Delivery' (haha), it stated I had two packages 'out for delivery'. At 1210 my mailman updated the tracking to say 'delivered in/at customer's mailbox'. I hop into my truck and zoom down the driveway. Get there to find, not two, but one package in my mailbox. I check around to see if it fell out, but no trace.

Go home and check again. Yep, two packages delivered. Check mail, no, just one. Tracking is worthless, since it is marked 'delivered'. File a missing mail report online. 30 minutes later, the Postmaster is on the phone apologizing and promising to check with the carrier in the morning.

My bet is he/she stuck it in the wrong box, but we shall see.

I order stuff from an outfit in Finland (Varusteleka) that ships via DHL. My orders have arrived in 7 days. Pretty good, compared to domestic shippers.

I still have one saying it was processed through Atlanta on the 16th.

USPS are incompetent at best.

USPS is a joke and getting worse every day. Wife ordered a package and it showed that it arrived in the local hub (15 miles away) and after 4 days she called to depot. They said that it was part of a bulk shipment the supplier sent out and it never actually shipped. She called the vendor and explained what USPS told her. They said no problem, re-shipped the item and it arrived in 2 days. 2 days later the original package arrived. Wife called the vendor back and they told her to keep both packages with no charge for the replacement.

I ordered some parts from Giraud. They got them out quickly via priority mail. Destination was central Nebraska. 1st stop was Kansas City - so far so good. With a mere 5 day layover there the package went to Atlanata and after three days there it took a detour to Birmingham, Ala. Another 3 day rest there and finally in Omaha, NE. Apparently there for another 2 days with no update on shipping to me. Good thing it was priority 3 day mail. BTW - a third degree piece of mail arrived from Florida in 2 days..This has happened to me at lest three times in the past 6 months....Stunning service for the price!

If I see that I have a package that has wound up in the Twin Cities, I can figure on at least two days before it makes it out of there. The "Cities" are about 5 hours from where I live in SoDak, but they have to bounce it around between two or three hubs in the Twin Cities area before it finally gets out of there.

The other day I had a package delivered by Amazon. I had checked the shipping status and found that it had been delivered, along with a picture of it in the snow by the mailbox. My mailbox is a ways off and barely visible from my house and I have the only house on that mile. Apparently the driver was too lazy to drive up the driveway. Somebody could have driven by, saw the package and made off with it and no one would have been the wiser.

It would appear that as long as they can show it was delivered, they could care less what happens to it after that.

I have pretty good luck with USPS here. I've order stuff from various places around the lower 48 and had it arrive in 2 days. UPS does pretty well too, quite reliable. FedEx, on the other hand, sucks. FedEx Ground, specifically. I get a shipment of dog food every three weeks. Comes from Arizona. Typically it takes a day and a half to get from Arizona to the FedEx hub in east Portland. From there it's a crap shoot. The last one was relatively fast, it only took them three days to get it the ~35 miles from the hub to my place. Other times it's taken as much as 2 weeks to do the same 35 miles.

Any more, when I'm shopping online I look for vendors that use UPS or USPS rather than FedEx, even if it costs a little more.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I order stuff from an outfit in Finland (Varusteleka) that ships via DHL. My orders have arrived in 7 days. Pretty good, compared to domestic shippers.

I have had a few sent from Europe via DHL. They do a good job. Japan Post is also good.

It's amazing how I have a two day package that has been sitting in the main Atlanta hub for 5 days now with a package delayed indicator.

Fucking unions should be illegal.

I feel your pain. I’ve had stuff from Singapore arrive quicker than things shipped to me from my own damned state!

I agree with JHE888 100%, in my recent experience shipping A LOT of things internationally and domestically DHL is the absolute best. Not only are they typically blazing fast but they allow you to track your package real time without ANY HOOPS to jump through or having to log in and set up an account with the shipping company.

DHL is awesome. I love being able to easily track the delivery truck and see how many stops are ahead of mine. The ease of using their website and the benefits it offers is unrivaled.

I sent a priority mail envelope from PA to Bozeman, MT and it sat in the Philadelphia distribution center for several weeks before eventually making it to Bozeman. The USPS has become a joke especially now that they're committed to providing substandard service.

UPDATE:

After four days of R&R in Gary, it's on its way!

"Your item departed our USPS facility in INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX on December 22, 2021 at 3:04 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination."

If I had to guess, it's going back to Chico, CA for the seller to reship. Just a guess.

You shouldn't even bother using the USPS any more.
UPS is only a few dollars more anyway. I'll pay an extra $4 any day of the week to avoid dealing with the headache that is the USPS.

I've ordered from MidwayUSA (an hour drive from here) and it's taken weeks for the Priority Mail package to arrive. Priority... heh