The Grinch visited today

[dibbles]

I was expecting the last thing I ordered for Christmas to be delivered today. Delivery notification from USPS shows it was delivered this afternoon, I wasn't home. Checked the mail box and it was EMPTY. Nothing in there. Nada. Not a Christmas card, bill, junk or a package. Seriously, who does that? I hope the thief enjoys the oven mitt. I'm sure it wasn't what they wanted. But my daughter would have loved it.

Yay for Amazon. They are willing to replace it if it doesn't miraculously show up tomorrow. And ship it one day shipping - free. I have hope that it might be here Christmas Eve. I'd like her to have it here, rather than having to mail it to her when she goes back to CA.

 

[CaraBou]

I hope you are surprised tomorrow. I've seen where the PO says something was delivered a day before it actually came. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[shunt2011]

I too hope your package appears. Lately I've had two packages that said delivered and came the next day. I think they are premature on their delivery status.

 

[Susie]

Where I used to live, I often had UPS, and FedEx would take the package to the post office for delivery by USPS. As soon as they handed the package over to the USPS, my computer said delivered. We lived WAY out in the middle of nowhere, though, and the drivers hated coming back there for one package.

 

[navigator9]

I never have a problem with UPS, but FedEx, frequently. I'm currently waiting for a package from them that was supposed to be delivered on Friday by the end of the day. Didn't happen. Checked the tracking site the following morning, and it now said that there was no delivery date scheduled at this time. Tried calling. Of course, you can't get a human, so no luck. Yesterday, it showed that the package had moved from a FedEx facility in my state to a neighboring state!!! Now it's saying that I can expect delivery by the end of the day today...by USPS! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but not holding my breath. I wish luck to all of us waiting for packages at this time of year.

 

[DeeAnna]

Navigator ... if your location was Colorado and not New England, I'd be wondering if you were one of my recent customers. She paid for UPS 2-day shipping for delivery this past Friday, and the package supposedly keeps going out of her local UPS terminal for delivery to her, coming back into the terminal, getting rescanned, going back out for delivery, and so on. It's really spooky. This is the 4th day of "going out for delivery."

She's understandably PO'ed big time and as of this morning has demanded a full refund. (Reading that email was a great way to start my day.)

I already applied for and got a refund from UPS for the shipping cost and passed that refund on to her -- that's only fair. I'm willing to issue a refund for the merchandise, but only after a couple of weeks pass to give UPS some time to resolve their snafu.

She won't be happy to hear that, but I think it's only fair to ask for a bit of patience on this. I don't want to issue an immediate refund, learn that the package has magically showed up at her door in a few days, and then I have to chase her to get paid again if she keeps the merchandise.

 

[dibbles]

Thanks guys. I'll see what happens today, but not too hopeful. We live in a somewhat secluded area. We haven't been able to get in touch with our 2 closest neighbors to see if they received mail yesterday. It is what it is, and this won't ruin our Christmas. It could have been devastating for someone else though, and that is what bothers me most. That someone feels entitled to just take from others, not knowing or caring about the impact.

DeeAnna and Navigator, I hope your issues have a positive outcome too.

 

[snappyllama]

Navigator ... if your location was Colorado and not New England, I'd be wondering if you were one of my recent customers. She paid for UPS 2-day shipping for delivery this past Friday, and the package supposedly keeps going out of her local UPS terminal for delivery to her, coming back into the terminal, getting rescanned, going back out for delivery, and so on. It's really spooky. This is the 4th day of "going out for delivery."

She's understandably PO'ed big time and as of this morning has demanded a full refund. (Reading that email was a great way to start my day.)

I already applied for and got a refund from UPS for the shipping cost and passed that refund on to her -- that's only fair. I'm willing to issue a refund for the merchandise, but only after a couple of weeks pass to give UPS some time to resolve their snafu.

She won't be happy to hear that, but I think it's only fair to ask for a bit of patience on this. I don't want to issue an immediate refund, learn that the package has magically showed up at her door in a few days, and then I have to chase her to get paid again if she keeps the merchandise.

That happens a lot with me. Something will get to Commerce City, CO (the main hub for most shipping companies in the Denver area) and then do a weird: out for delivery, back in Commerce City, out for delivery jig then get transferred to USPS regardless of shipping on UPS or FedEx. Last week, I had two oversized items that said "delivery refused" even though I work from home and never saw anyone stop by. I think they just left them on the truck, because they didn't feel like carrying 40+ pound box.

At least USPS is now delivering packages to my door. Previously, they would leave them in white garbage bags by my mail box, on top of snow drifts where the plows would bury them or knock them down a very steep bank into thorny evergreen bushes.

 

[DeeAnna]

I have to say that I'm seeing more unusual UPS delays and snafus in the past month or so, compared with past years. UPS 2 day service is actually taking 3 days and UPS 3 day service is taking however long it takes. Not to mention the "lost packages" we've been talking about.

Speaking as a retailer who makes a large % of my income from holiday shoppers, this uncertainty about delivery is not making my customers happy. It only takes a few unhappy customers complaining about lost or delayed shipments to wear me down to an anxious nubbin.

I placed an online order in late November that reached the regional UPS terminal here in northeast Iowa. It should have gone out for delivery the next day, but instead it got re-routed to Pennsylvania and was actually delivered to some place there. It eventually got returned to Iowa and delivered to me -- about 2 weeks later. I'm still scratching my head about that.

UPS and USPS are really the only viable shipping providers in my little rural town, so I hope UPS figures out its problems.

ETA -- here is a snippet from the Wall Street Journal about this issue:

"...Consumers spent an estimated $4.45 billion online on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, with Black Friday sales rising 14% from a year ago ... Most of the problems surfacing so far involve UPS, which does more residential deliveries than FedEx and has been trying to contain costs. It is unclear how much difficulty FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service are having handling the loads. All combined, the three carriers have been expecting to ship more than 1.5 billion packages over the holidays, an increase of more than 10%...."

www.wsj.com/articles/ups-struggles-to-keep-up-with-surge-in-web-orders-1449796191

 

[Saponista]

I'm part of a few craft groups on Facebook and there are huge numbers of etsy sellers tearing their hair out right now over deliveries not arriving in time or getting lost.

 

[KristaY]

Dibbles, I really hope your package shows up and isn't one of the mean spirited people I've seen on the news stealing gifts from front doors. Talk about anti-Christmas spirit.

Interesting stuff, DeeAnna. I wonder if all that shifting and re-routing is partly responsible for all the damage. I've rarely had problems with damaged items but in the past 2 months I've gotten 4 packages SEVERELY damaged. Enough that I had to contact the companies to replace items. The companies have been terrific sending out the replacements right away but I wonder how much this is costing UPS in the long run? Hopefully enough they'll change protocol and stop all the running about between states and towns. If we all yell loud enough, maybe they'll start listening.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm glad I didn't give into my Colorado customer's demand for an instant refund. The "2 day shipment" FINALLY got delivered today ... six calendar days after I shipped it. If she returns the order, I'll for sure give her a full refund, but I sure hope she keeps the merchandise. I really want to put a close to this whole episode. I'm worn out. :?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

So not only do 'porch Pirates' steal the goods, you have headaches getting them to deliver in the first place? No wonder it's causing headaches

 

[dibbles]

It turns out our mail was delivered to our neighbors by mistake and left by their front door. They didn't notice for 2 days, but brought it over this morning. So, nice to know that there isn't a mail thief prowling our streets. I was able to stop my Amazon replacement, and all is good.

My two children and two children-in-law will be here tomorrow. That's all I really need for a merry Christmas. I wish you all happiness and blessings during this holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate.

 

[snappyllama]

That's great news!

Happy Christmas.

 

[paillo]

Our rural USPS mail carrier is required to stop at 5p sharp, so we got no mail at all today, I'm sure she was running way behind. Don't know if she has to have a GPS tracker on her, but maybe.

I had a UPS shipment on the truck for delivery today, and it showed up about 6:30p when usually deliveries are before 1p, our regular driver looking exhausted and disheveled but determined to deliver all his packages no matter how late into the night it took him. He still had a lot of stuff to deliver. I love UPS. FedEx has never let me down either. They also probably are required to carry GPS trackers so HQ can track their locations and deliveries and discipline if not met (I sincerely hope there are rewards too, for going the extra mile, as they always do with me). The USPS government bureaucracy is another story altogether, unbelievable ineptitude and incompetence all around, though I don't hold it against our beloved courier.

Also, the friendly personal relationships I've developed over the years with our couriers don't hurt. I feel for them today and tomorrow, got to be a tough job over the holidays. Thanks from me? Soap, of course

 

[Susie]

I am typing this at 8:20 pm, on Dec. 23rd. Our mailman's truck is parked outside of my house, and he is walking the neighborhood delivering packages and mail (our mailboxes are on the houses). He places all of our packages inside of our carport, out of sight of the street. There is a reason we gave him a gift card for Christmas.

 

[dibbles]

I also left a box of soap and goodies in our mailbox for our carrier yesterday. I really can't think of another instance of a misplaced delivery. They are handling an unbelievable amount of packages this time of year. Likewise UPS and FedEx. It's amazing, really, that more stuff isn't lost. Of course, I'm still baffled by how telephones and TVs work.

 

[Deedles]

I have more trouble with the USPS than anyone else. Especially if something is shipped via media mail, like yarn. It will get to the main hub in N. Houston, which should make the delivery to our house ina couple of days. But more times than not it will be sent elsewhere, usually out of state, then back to the hub. If I'm lucky, I'll get it within the next week which is about 2 weeks after the initial delivery date.

I love my UPS guy! Unfortunately all this seasons deliveries have been made by temps so I haven't seen him. If it ever gets cold maybe he'll enjoy the hand warmers I knitted him!

 

[DeeAnna]

I almost always enjoy good service from all carriers that I work with -- UPS, USPS, Canada Post, and FedEx. Occasionally I encounter poor service from them all. It's a minor miracle that any of them do as well as they do. Unfortunately when they do goof up, Murphy's Law seems to dictate that the trouble often happens with my most troublesome customers.

I think our expectations of all package carriers have risen in recent years, especially with detailed online tracking becoming the norm.

Some of my customers try to track their shipments in the hour or two right after I purchase my shipping labels, but before the carrier actually receives and scans the labels. They call me all worried because there's no tracking information! I guess they don't read the other information in my email messages too closely about allowing enough time for us to deliver to the carrier.

Another example of overly high expectations is the lady I mentioned in an earlier post who demanded an immediate refund of her entire order even though it had only been several days since her order had been shipped. I used to let these demands goad me into action, but I've learned it is almost always is a bad move to do anything but give the process a bit more time.