Rant on shipping

[newbury]

Like many others I order a lot of stuff online. I used to order a lot of fishing stuff mail order back in the late '50's.
Up until about the last few years if I was told a package had "shipped" then that meant the item was in the shippers control (USPS, FedEx etc.).
Now that seems to have been redefined to "we are thinking of shipping you what you ordered" by many non-Amazon firms.
I'll order something online and a few hours later get an email "YOUR PACKAGE HAS SHIPPED". Then I go to the appropriate web sites and see:

Good news, George. Your order shipped on 05/01/20.

follow the links further and see at UPS

When the shipment arrives at our facility the delivery date will be updated.

.

I had a recent package that took a week from the first email until I got a FedEx message that it arrived at their facility. But the vendor insisted it had "shipped". And this was happening pre-Covid19.

When did "shipped" come to mean "we entered your address"?

Is this just another example of numbers manipulation so vendors can say "all items shipped within X hours" while it sits in their warehouse (or is being ordered from Timbukto)?

 

[Motorboatin]

When the label is printed the email is triggered. You won’t see any tracking information until the package is scanned at the actual shipping facility

Same thing happens with Amazon occasionally

 

[newbury]

When the label is printed the email is triggered. You won’t see any tracking information until the package is scanned at the actual shipping facility

Same thing happens with Amazon occasionally

Then they should send me a big message "WE PRINTED YOUR LABEL", not "Good news, George. Your order shipped on 05/01/20"

 

[TnAndy]

One of my Amazon orders coming UPS from KY showed it being in local center for a WEEK. Finally, Amazon said "it's lost" and refunded the amount. Day or two later, I entered the tracking number and it said "Los Angeles, CA". Watched it come back to Memphis, Nashville, and finally local center, where it went out for delivery the next day and I got it. Well traveled raincoat

 

[Big Barn]

How about when you get tracking notifications that tell you nothing.

“Your package is on its way to the final destination” is what it tells me each time.

. 3 weeks and counting. USPS to Canada Post.

 

[Motorboatin]

I doubt the USPS and the Canadian postal service share the same tracking software

 

[Big Barn]

That was actually the USPS software giving me the less than useless updates.

I am assuming it is Canada now as the “updates” have ceased.

 

[Doofy]

Don't feel to bad. I ordered 2 face masks a month ago and didn't realize they were coming from the Ukraine. Kick me, hurry up and wait.

 

[Jstpssng]

How about when you get tracking notifications that tell you nothing.

添our package is on its way to the final destination is what it tells me each time.

. 3 weeks and counting. USPS to Canada Post.

I'm getting almost the same notice; "Your package is in transit and on it's way to the next destination." I sent a soil sample via Priority Mail two weeks ago tomorrow, to a lab about 70 miles away. If it ever gets there, it will take two weeks for them to process it; putting me into the middle of May. By then it will be useless, as it's planting time and I"ll be doing my best guess to what I need to add including lime, manure, and fertilizer.

Contrast that to UPS; if an order is shipped I can watch it travel from place to place. Generally it will arrive at least a day earlier than estimated.
USPS used to have the same tracking system but not anymore.

 

[Big Barn]

I'm getting almost the same notice; "Your package is in transit and on it's way to the next destination." I sent a soil sample via Priority Mail two weeks ago tomorrow, to a lab about 70 miles away. If it ever gets there, it will take two weeks for them to process it; putting me into the middle of May. By then it will be useless, as it's planting time and I"ll be doing my best guess to what I need to add including lime, manure, and fertilizer.

Contrast that to UPS; if an order is shipped I can watch it travel from place to place. Generally it will arrive at least a day earlier than estimated.
USPS used to have the same tracking system but not anymore.

Actually I misquoted. YOUR notice is the same as what I receive.

 

[dstig1]

Canada post: Your package is in transit, eh? All in good time. Where's da fire, Mr. Speedypants?

:laughing:

 

[Big Barn]

Canada post: Your package is in transit, eh? All in good time. Where's da fire, Mr. Speedypants?

:laughing:

Which reminds me. I mailed a Skip the Dishes certificate for that lunch I supposedly owe you

Here is the tracking number. wa8t4evr-skr

 

[dstig1]

:laughing::laughing:

 

[caver]

I've found in the past year or so USPS tracking is a novelty. It gets dropped off half way across the US and the next update maybe a week later is "out for delivery"

 

[radios1]

I had a $300 "k" size oxygen cylinder on order from UPS, an order from Ebay, it disappeared from the box it was in!. the seller made good on it though, and it finally arrived, but it still bugs me how it disappeared from it's cardboard box!. I ordered zener diodes from Ebay, they were from China, over 3 months later, they still haven't arrived, and the seller keeps on trying to make me wait longer!!.. I kept on telling him I want a refund!!..

 

[Big Barn]

I had a $300 "k" size oxygen cylinder on order from UPS, an order from Ebay, it disappeared from the box it was in!. the seller made good on it though, and it finally arrived, but it still bugs me how it disappeared from it's cardboard box!. I ordered zener diodes from Ebay, they were from China, over 3 months later, they still haven't arrived, and the seller keeps on trying to make me wait longer!!.. I kept on telling him I want a refund!!..

If you have already communicated with the vendor you can now open a dispute with eBay. I can almost guarantee you will have it resolved in a few days.

 

[Diggin It]

When did "shipped" come to mean "we entered your address"?

When companies started using computerized shipping and order fulfillment systems. Your item may not even be at their facility at all. It may be in another warehouse somewhere else in the country. When you get good tracking, check the origination city to see if it's where the company is or not.


The AMZ free ship thing was once explained to me this way:

Empty truck trailer is parked at the dock Monday (for example). There may be several based on destination regions. Packages are loaded as orders come in and the truck(s) sit until filled. When fully loaded, the truck moves out. If you place your order that same Monday (for example), but there aren't enough orders going to your region to fill the truck until Friday (for example), your order sits on that truck all week. It has technically been 'shipped', but hasn't started moving. If you place your order Friday and it happens to be one of the last that goes on the truck before the doors close, it could ship and travel the same day.

I once had an order arrive within 36 hours of placing it.

A lot of companies are now using third party fulfillment services that use similar systems.

 

[Jstpssng]

What has gotten me rethinking mail orders is that they will offer free shipping if you spend "X" dollars, but then you receive several packages over the course of several days. I won't ask UPS to come down my road in winter so have them sent to a local drop-off point. Yet I then need to travel to get there, and every package costs me $2.00 to pick up. There goes my free shipping...

 

[TractorGuy]

I buy a lot of stuff off eBay. Lately I have been getting sellers claim the order was shipped then come back days later saying it was out of stock. They charge my Paypal as soon as I place the order. Some of them have the nerve to claim I canceled the order. During the whole process they will have my money for 8 to 10 days and I won't have what I ordered. Then I have to start shopping for the item again.

 

[Diggin It]

^^ The seller never had it at all. They 'dropship'. They list an item they don't have. You buy it. They then place the order with another site, probably AMZ. That order gets cancelled for some reason and you're out in the cold.