Rant on shipping

[Sigarms]

But, as someone upthread noted, not all of us live where that's convenient. Downside to rural life is that shopping, restaurants, etc. are not generally part of the landscape. I for one don't have the time nor desire to drive several hours to a city where I may or may not know my way around to find a store that may or may not have what I'm looking for when I can get it on line.
If it takes a week or more to get here, that's fine.

With all due respect, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

When you move to the country and next to a pig or chicken farm, you have no right to complain about the smell. When you live in BFE and your hours upon hours away from anything per drive time, YOU put yourself there, no one else.

That said, if you're fine with getting what you order online and when it get it shipped to you, I'm guessing you aren't ranting on shipping?

 

[two_bit_score]

Don't get me wrong.


Thing people forget is to run a business costs money, particularly with inventory and knowing your product. Now a days, people sell online and I'm guessing don't even stock the product but ship it from another location that the seller has no control over. Person selling from their home has almost no overhead other than I guess what they pay to be a seller (I honestly have no clue how that works, talking through my butt). People are now getting ticked that they actually have to pay tax on crap when it ships from out of your state.

If I really want something, I take the time and pick it up in person.

Picking up in person is my preferred way to get what I want. If it’s something I have never used I like to see it before I buy it.

Restocking though, it’s not necessary to see it first, I already know the product. And sometimes it’s just easier to get certain items online rather than trying to find it at the local store. Example - a pair of cheap gloves I picked up one pair at Northern Tool to try out. Turns out I like them more than I thought. But, they seem to be an online only item now with Northern. HD has them - online only.

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[two_bit_score]

This is a little tangential but I think it’s interesting and throwing this out for a bit of discussion.

Restaurant service, at least according to some, has suffered recently. Short staff, overwhelmed, resulting in slow or poor service. Lot more delivery service. Some restaurants going to take out or delivery only.

Do you see in the near future a concept catching on where you order meals online, pay online and make a reservation at the restaurant to eat there at a specific time? You just show up, party of 5 at 8pm, table is ready meal is almost ready, have drinks, meal is served, you tip the server afterward but everything else is done online?

Seems like to me anyway, it would be a good concept. Big time saver. Cuts out all the waiting for service, waiting for food, waiting for the check, waiting for the return, etc.

Some restaurants are using a point of sale terminal now that the waiter brings to the table and your CC is run, receipt printed at the same time. But if you could do it up front, would you?

 

[Sigarms]

Restocking though, it’s not necessary to see it first, I already know the product. And sometimes it’s just easier to get certain items online rather than trying to find it at the local store. Example - a pair of cheap gloves I picked up one pair at Northern Tool to try out. Turns out I like them more than I thought. But, they seem to be an online only item now with Northern. HD has them - online only.

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I complete agree with you.

Heck, I buy stuff online as well.

I've been buying stuff online enough that the only time I get irriated is when I spend extra money on getting it to me faster and it doesn't show up when promised. Generally speaking, if you get a notice the same day that you order has a lable printed for it to be shipped out, thats a sign it's probably going to be a while LOL

 

[fried1765]

But, as someone upthread noted, not all of us live where that's convenient. Downside to rural life is that shopping, restaurants, etc. are not generally part of the landscape. I for one don't have the time nor desire to drive several hours to a city where I may or may not know my way around to find a store that may or may not have what I'm looking for when I can get it on line.
If it takes a week or more to get here, that's fine.

I am not a big Amazon fan, but I just ordered a 1-1/8" drill bit from them.
I had it shipped to the nearest "Amazon hub".
It is 20+ miles away, and I will pick it up when in that area.
Arrived there in only 2 days.
Don't know if this shipping time will be the norm, but I wanted to try the system out.
Over $25, shipping is free.

 

[Citydude]

This is a little tangential but I think it’s interesting and throwing this out for a bit of discussion.

Restaurant service, at least according to some, has suffered recently. Short staff, overwhelmed, resulting in slow or poor service. Lot more delivery service. Some restaurants going to take out or delivery only.

Do you see in the near future a concept catching on where you order meals online, pay online and make a reservation at the restaurant to eat there at a specific time? You just show up, party of 5 at 8pm, table is ready meal is almost ready, have drinks, meal is served, you tip the server afterward but everything else is done online?

Seems like to me anyway, it would be a good concept. Big time saver. Cuts out all the waiting for service, waiting for food, waiting for the check, waiting for the return, etc.

Some restaurants are using a point of sale terminal now that the waiter brings to the table and your CC is run, receipt printed at the same time. But if you could do it up front, would you?

We like to go out and relax. If we wanted no waiting for anything, Burger King has that figured out.

 

[Doofy]

I complete agree with you.

Heck, I buy stuff online as well.

I've been buying stuff online enough that the only time I get irriated is when I spend extra money on getting it to me faster and it doesn't show up when promised. Generally speaking, if you get a notice the same day that you order has a lable printed for it to be shipped out, thats a sign it's probably going to be a while LOL

I'm thinking the "printing the label now" is just another con to get your money faster.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm thinking the "printing the label now" is just another con to get your money faster.

I honestly don't think so.

I believe, and I could be wrong, that you get the "lable printing" notification to let you know that a shipping lable has been printed and the item is ready to be picked up. Part of the issue I think is when people see that lable notification, they think the product has already shipped. Depending on where the item is being picked up at, I'm guessing it could actually be a day or two before the item actually leaves the location.

I'm also guessing that with todays online industry, you could place an order from one location, and you may be getting the product shipped from another location, and the seller may not be able to control what the shipper does / prints.

In the old days when you ordered online, you assumed you were dealing with both the seller and shipper, now it could be anyones guess. Palce a order to "Mike's" from and your dealing with Tim from Jersey, who is shipping the product from yet another company in California.

 

[ultrarunner]

Priority 2 Day mail.mailed Monday from Olympia arrived Oakland Saturday...

 

[fried1765]

Priority 2 Day mail.mailed Monday from Olympia arrived Oakland Saturday...

Priority mail shipped from MA on Dec.14th arrived Atlanta Dec.24th .... 10 days!

 

[kenmbz]

We had a blanket ordered for Christmas, Amazon shipped DEC 19th, says left Amazon, never checked into USPS.
It's gone, but not forgotten. Refund issued.
In the last 4 years we have lost a few packages and fought with PO to get insurance (not easy) etc.
Not just this year.

 

[Jstpssng]

Don't get me wrong. If you pay extra for shipping and you have a tracking number, you should expect to see it sooner or later. I think if you spend $100 for next day air, you should see it the next day. In those cases, you have every right to be upset.

Going on 500 posts per this topic, key question is how many people didn't actually get what they ordered sooner or later? For myself, I can't really ever remember not getting anything I ordered online other than a driver getting my driveway mixed up with my neighbors (my neigbor called and told me he got it).

Fact is, people want great service, they want it at the best price (including shipping and taxes), and they want it as fast as possible.

We've got the post office running on Sunday's for Amazon apparently, we have all these sub route delivery drivers who may have no clue how to actually make a delivery (I had a young kid driving a van get stuck on my lawn because he couldn't back out of the driveway which left me scratching my head as I saw him get stuck).

Thing people forget is to run a business costs money, particularly with inventory and knowing your product. Now a days, people sell online and I'm guessing don't even stock the product but ship it from another location that the seller has no control over. Person selling from their home has almost no overhead other than I guess what they pay to be a seller (I honestly have no clue how that works, talking through my butt). People are now getting ticked that they actually have to pay tax on crap when it ships from out of your state.

If I really want something, I take the time and pick it up in person.

This comment makes a lot more sense than your first. There's a happy medium between getting it overnight for free vs waiting 6 weeks, as you or somebody else mentioned. I agree that you should pay extra for overnight. I also refuse to pay for services such as "Prime", which means that I get moved to the back of the bus when things get shipped... or I shop elsewhere.
I do believe that some of the actions by the USPS over the last few years are attempts to cut off their nose to spite their face; facing competition from other shipping agents, they make their service worse.

RE: "free shipping"... nothing is free.

 

[Doofy]

I honestly don't think so.

I believe, and I could be wrong, that you get the "lable printing" notification to let you know that a shipping lable has been printed and the item is ready to be picked up. Part of the issue I think is when people see that lable notification, they think the product has already shipped. Depending on where the item is being picked up at, I'm guessing it could actually be a day or two before the item actually leaves the location.

I'm also guessing that with todays online industry, you could place an order from one location, and you may be getting the product shipped from another location, and the seller may not be able to control what the shipper does / prints.

In the old days when you ordered online, you assumed you were dealing with both the seller and shipper, now it could be anyones guess. Palce a order to "Mike's" from and your dealing with Tim from Jersey, who is shipping the product from yet another company in California.

Very logical and you are probably 100% correct. I try not to get my panties in a bunch over shipping. I really can't complain. Lately, if Amazon has it in their Seattle warehouse, we have been getting some shipments in one day. Very surprising since we are 166 miles from the Anchorage shipping Hub.

 

[Jstpssng]

I honestly don't think so.

I believe, and I could be wrong, that you get the "lable printing" notification to let you know that a shipping lable has been printed and the item is ready to be picked up. Part of the issue I think is when people see that lable notification, they think the product has already shipped. Depending on where the item is being picked up at, I'm guessing it could actually be a day or two before the item actually leaves the location.

I'm also guessing that with todays online industry, you could place an order from one location, and you may be getting the product shipped from another location, and the seller may not be able to control what the shipper does / prints.

In the old days when you ordered online, you assumed you were dealing with both the seller and shipper, now it could be anyones guess. Palce a order to "Mike's" from and your dealing with Tim from Jersey, who is shipping the product from yet another company in California.

Three hours after I place an order I receive a notice "Your item has shipped." Yet sometimes it's a week or more before the shipping agent actually receives it. I'm not sure if it's as Doofy says, or that people are trying to conform with expectations of "next day out".

OTOH, about 5 years ago I realized that the next day was deer season and I needed a vest for my dog. I found one I liked about 150 miles away and placed the order at around 6:00 AM before leaving for work.
By 6:30 I received the standard "your order has shipped" and said "Yeah, right!" The very next day that vest showed up in my mailbox, priority mail. :thumbsup:

 

[fried1765]

Very logical and you are probably 100% correct. I try not to get my panties in a bunch over shipping. I really can't complain. Lately, if Amazon has it in their Seattle warehouse, we have been getting some shipments in one day. Very surprising since we are 166 miles from the Anchorage shipping Hub.

Amazon apparently keeps their dogs well fed!

 

[reb]

It used to be internet purchases in WA were not sales taxed unless the business had a location in the state. You were supposed to track and report all purchases on your own from out of state sellers (few did). That all changed in 2018, we now pay sales tax on basically all internet purchases.

This state does not charge tax on used items bought locally. However, I pay tax on all items bought over the internet.

 

[Doofy]

Three hours after I place an order I receive a notice "Your item has shipped." Yet sometimes it's a week or more before the shipping agent actually receives it. I'm not sure if it's as Doofy says, or that people are trying to conform with expectations of "next day out".

OTOH, about 5 years ago I realized that the next day was deer season and I needed a vest for my dog. I found one I liked about 150 miles away and placed the order at around 6:00 AM before leaving for work.
By 6:30 I received the standard "your order has shipped" and said "Yeah, right!" The very next day that vest showed up in my mailbox, priority mail. :thumbsup:

It must not have shipped from Podunksville, Az. Priority Mail from there has been taking 30 days on average. The last one showed up with tire tracks on it.

 

[Sigarms]

Three hours after I place an order I receive a notice "Your item has shipped."

If I get that kind of notice without a tracking number, I assume they are lying to me no matter how quick (or not) they respond that the item has shipped.

 

[Doofy]

I'm not sure what trajectory the Amazon star will take in the future but they have certainly added new twists to shopping. I think we have only been members for about ten years and have only had a few problems which were all promptly rectified.
1. Fan for woodstove: didn't realize it was coming from UK. Never showed up but tracked the order to a neighboring post office and saw an empty envelope with my name and someone else's address. They refunded money.

2. Received a Breville convection oven for Christmas: Oven had been used and had old cooking grease spatter all over it. They sent a new one.

3. Bread Machine: Arrived Broken. Replaced.

4. Shop Vacuum: Ordered one, received two. They told me to keep it so I gave it to the Fed-Ex guy that delivered it.

5. Piddly stuff that arrived damaged or wrong: Replaced or Refunded.

That may seem like a lot of problems but we have had thousands of deliveries from Amazon and probably spent $10K-$25K per year there for a few years.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm not sure what trajectory the Amazon star will take in the future but they have certainly added new twists to shopping. I think we have only been members for about ten years and have only had a few problems which were all promptly rectified.
1. Fan for woodstove: didn't realize it was coming from UK. Never showed up but tracked the order to a neighboring post office and saw an empty envelope with my name and someone else's address. They refunded money.

2. Received a Breville convection oven for Christmas: Oven had been used and had old cooking grease spatter all over it. They sent a new one.

3. Bread Machine: Arrived Broken. Replaced.

4. Shop Vacuum: Ordered one, received two. They told me to keep it so I gave it to the Fed-Ex guy that delivered it.

5. Piddly stuff that arrived damaged or wrong: Replaced or Refunded.

That may seem like a lot of problems but we have had thousands of deliveries from Amazon and probably spent $10K-$25K per year there for a few years.

Have to laugh, feel like the very first time I ever walked into a Walmart in 1999. It's 2020 and I've never in my life ordered anything from Amazon. That said, my wife is a prime member and understands the in and outs, I just don't understand how you can be so cheap and and expect the delivery for free. Genearlly most of the stuff I order online is gun related stuff, and the companies I've dealt with have treated me more than great IMO so see no need to look elsewhere.

I will say this, when we order 200lbs of dog foot and other stuff for the animals, I'm really digging the curbside pick up that started when COVID hit. The guy who brought my product out said they will be sticking with it even when all this crap subsides as they find it easier on their end as well.