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10-28-2015, 01:19 PM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,298
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Amazon and shipping
We have Amazon Prime with two day free shipping. Last Thursday I ordered a cheap pool brush - $11.21 with free shipping. Didn't get it by Saturday and I really had a use for it so I called Amazon whining about it. Their response was to extend my Prime membership by a month, about a $8.33 value, so now the brush cost $2.88. Today it arrived, delivered by a gent in a truck. Here's it's shipping history:
10:59 AM
Your package was left at the front door or on the front porch.
La Quinta, CA, US Carrier: UPS, Tracking #: 1Z88Y70A1284761903
7:44 AM
Out for delivery
Palm Springs, CA, US
7:15 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility
Palm Springs, CA, US
5:39 AM
Package has left the carrier facility
Ontario, CA, US
Tuesday, Oct 27
9:57 PM
Package arrived at a carrier facility
Ontario, CA, US
3:47 PM
Package has left the carrier facility
Anchorage, AK, US
5:53 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility
Anchorage, AK, US
2:39 AM
Package has left the carrier facility
Rockford, IL, US
12:17 AM
Package received by carrier
Rockford, IL, US
Monday, Oct 26
10:52 PM
Package arrived at a carrier facility
Rockford, IL, US
8:26 PM
Package has left the carrier facility
Hodgkins, IN, US
7:58 PM
Package arrived at a carrier facility
Hodgkins, IN, US
3:57 PM
Package has left the carrier facility
Louisville, KY, US
1:48 PM
Package received by carrier
Louisville, KY, US
2:28 AM
Package received by carrier
Chattanooga, TN, US
Sunday, Oct 25
11:25 PM
Package has left seller facility and is in transit to carrier
Chattanooga, TN, US
Now much of the time the package was flying in a big metal bird, not on the road, but Googlemaps says that is an 8,224 mile trip the pool brush took. Amazon put the brush in a new cardboard box, padded it with inflatable plastic pads, taped it up, stuck on shipping labels; it got handled by maybe ten people.... I am amazed. That is a remarkable amount of travel (Anchorage Alaska? for a pool brush? really?) and packaging and handling for what I paid. What a world this is.
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10-28-2015, 01:33 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,172
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Would be interesting to ask UPS what happened......root causes and what they will do to make sure it doesn't happen again.
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10-28-2015, 01:33 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
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Even more amazing is the fact that you can buy stuff from China for a buck or so shipped. I've bought watch batteries, LED lights and toys, a brake light, etc. It costs around $0.50 to ship an empty envelope here in the US, and they can actually put valuable goods inside the envelope and ship it internationally for not much more.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
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10-28-2015, 02:26 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
Even more amazing is the fact that you can buy stuff from China for a buck or so shipped. I've bought watch batteries, LED lights and toys, a brake light, etc. It costs around $0.50 to ship an empty envelope here in the US, and they can actually put valuable goods inside the envelope and ship it internationally for not much more.
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This amazes me, too. I ordered an electronic part from China on eBay for $1, with free shipping. I got a notice that I had to pick it up at the post office as it had been shipped registered mail! I actually had to sign for it. 
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10-28-2015, 02:34 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
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Yes, this cracks me up. As some of you know, I went back to part-time w*rk for the USPS after my layoff (I was a little bored and the federal retirement and full medical benefits for a 20-25 hour work week was hard to pass on), and we see these all the time. In fact, most of these look so cheap and small that we mistakenly try to scan them as delivered into a PO box, and then our scanner tells us to enter the signature. Huh? Then we have to back out of the delivery on the scanner, rescan them as "attempted" and leave a note in the box -- often for stuff that probably isn't worth much more than ten bucks.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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10-28-2015, 04:12 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,765
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
Even more amazing is the fact that you can buy stuff from China for a buck or so shipped. I've bought watch batteries, LED lights and toys, a brake light, etc. It costs around $0.50 to ship an empty envelope here in the US, and they can actually put valuable goods inside the envelope and ship it internationally for not much more.
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DW buys the occasional doohickey from someone in China, usually on eBay. Super cheap shipping, and 9 out of 10 times they include a little extra prize along with it. Even more amazing, often the wrapping is cloth, sometimes a rather pretty piece.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
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10-28-2015, 04:46 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,902
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Low cost labor in China can move items inexpensively but China does not pay the USPS anything extra for handling the package within the US in an expensive manner, such as registered.
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10-28-2015, 04:50 PM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,902
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Decades ago, and perhaps even now, I recall a tiny Carribean country was allowing US mailers to mail letters from it to USA addresses for 1 cent. At their airport that country would hand millions of letters to the USPS, which then the USPS was obligated to deliver within the USA.
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10-30-2015, 10:27 AM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,321
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We're doomed!
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10-30-2015, 10:39 AM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,608
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare
Decades ago, and perhaps even now, I recall a tiny Carribean country was allowing US mailers to mail letters from it to USA addresses for 1 cent. At their airport that country would hand millions of letters to the USPS, which then the USPS was obligated to deliver within the USA.
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Very interesting, I've wondered how things from China can be shipped so dirt cheap. This may be why.
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10-30-2015, 11:01 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,223
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Never had anything arrive late with Amazon, but have seen a lot of absurd over-packing, triple box, and some "Long Way" shipping. One of those was a 5 # item, not fragile in any respect, overpacked in a huge box, and the shipping label said " actual wt. 30.2 pounds , WTF ?. Cant remember if that was f-x ground or "Brown" .
Lowes has done some wacky things too. Bought a shop vac online with them, $105 item, free shipping. it ended up getting sent fed ex air 2nd day air, from baltimore to california. ? ( same item was out of stock at all the west coast stores). How can these guys keep doing this ? Spend maybe $50 shipping a low margin $100 item. Must not happen too often.
On the small inexpensive electronics direct from china on e-bay. Some smart folks have figured out cutting the middleman is good business.
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10-30-2015, 11:26 AM
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#12
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 587
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Amazon and shipping
That package was sent 3 day select (12). 1Z is UPS, the next 6 is the shipper's account number, then service level. 02 is 2 day. Either Amazon messed up or they did it intentionally to save on the cost of freight because that route may normally take 2 days.
It is a funny path to travel. Louisville is an air hub and it was flown to the largest ground hub outside Chicago, then trucked to Rockford, another air hub, where it was put on a plane again. The network expands towards Christmas. I'm guessing Canada is a pitstop to off load or p/u additional freight going west.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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10-30-2015, 11:34 AM
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#13
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 587
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A code representing the service level of the package:
001 = UPS Next Day Air/UPS Express
002 = UPS 2nd Day Air/UPS Expedited
003 = UPS Ground
007 = UPS Worldwide Expedited/UPS Expedited
011 = UPS Worldwide Standard/UPS Standard
012 = UPS 3 Day Select
013 = UPS Next Day Air Saver/UPS Express Saver (to US)
014 = UPS Next Day Air Early AM/UPS Express Early AM
021 = UPS Economy
054 = UPS Worldwide Express Plus
059 = UPS 2nd Day AM
064 = UPS Express NA1
065 = UPS Express Saver
066 = Worldwide Express Freight
082 = UPS Today Standard
083 = UPS Today Dedicated Courier
084 = UPS Today Intercity
085 = UPS Today Express
086 = UPS Today Express Saver
From ups.com
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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10-30-2015, 11:39 AM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,223
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And the OP's pool brush ? Mfg in china, shipped by ocean container to Oakland CA, then to Amazon or it's partner warehouse in Chattanooga Tn, via truck thru Las Vegas Nv,and Ft. Worth TX. Maybe I missed a few stops along the way.
I look at ants scurrying around, feeding on something taking the spoils back to the nest. Hard to see the difference LOL.
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10-30-2015, 11:39 AM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinlizzy
A code representing the service level of the package:
001 = UPS Next Day Air/UPS Express
002 = UPS 2nd Day Air/UPS Expedited
003 = UPS Ground
007 = UPS Worldwide Expedited/UPS Expedited
011 = UPS Worldwide Standard/UPS Standard
012 = UPS 3 Day Select
013 = UPS Next Day Air Saver/UPS Express Saver (to US)
014 = UPS Next Day Air Early AM/UPS Express Early AM
021 = UPS Economy
054 = UPS Worldwide Express Plus
059 = UPS 2nd Day AM
064 = UPS Express NA1
065 = UPS Express Saver
066 = Worldwide Express Freight
082 = UPS Today Standard
083 = UPS Today Dedicated Courier
084 = UPS Today Intercity
085 = UPS Today Express
086 = UPS Today Express Saver
From ups.com
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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Thanks for posting this.
My UPS driver retires today. Maybe I'll quiz him on these codes when he brings me my Amazon package this afternoon. 
__________________
Numbers is hard
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10-30-2015, 12:18 PM
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#16
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 587
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
Thanks for posting this.
My UPS driver retires today. Maybe I'll quiz him on these codes when he brings me my Amazon package this afternoon. |
How nice for him! He's probably ecstatic that he gets to enjoy Christmas this year!
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10-30-2015, 12:32 PM
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#17
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinlizzy
How nice for him! He's probably ecstatic that he gets to enjoy Christmas this year!
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Yep. He's been looking forward to it for a couple of years and resisted repeated requests to delay until year end. I saw him on Wed and the grin on his face almost filled the front window of his delivery van.
I think he's really looking forward to turning left whenever he wants to!
__________________
Numbers is hard
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10-30-2015, 01:03 PM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: GTA
Posts: 1,728
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinlizzy
I'm guessing Canada is a pitstop to off load or p/u additional freight going west.
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That would be Ontario, California... not the cold, rainy place my bum is sitting right now...
__________________
Family Motto: "Every penny's a prisoner"
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10-30-2015, 02:02 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,765
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakewood90712
And the OP's pool brush ? Mfg in china, shipped by ocean container to Oakland CA, then to Amazon or it's partner warehouse in Chattanooga Tn, via truck thru Las Vegas Nv,and Ft. Worth TX. Maybe I missed a few stops along the way.
I look at ants scurrying around, feeding on something taking the spoils back to the nest. Hard to see the difference LOL.
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Ants are one of the most successful species in nature. It may look aimless, but there's definitely a process and a purpose to everything. Maybe with the delivery services, too.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
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