Product shortages in your area ?

[JT90505]

Paper products at costco, no shortages until they announced quantity limits. At which point TP and paper towels were cleaned out (two weeks ago).

The other item that has been out of stock periodically is plastic bags for produce. Three or four times over the last couple of months.

[Walt34]

We've been noticing consistent shortages of all paper products - kleenex, paper towels, TP, to the extent that "standing orders" from DW are to buy a large package of either TP or paper towels whenever I see one.

Over on the R/C forums, a consistent topic of complaint/discussion is the shortages of pretty much everything, leading me to conclude that the advice to buy your holidays gifts (and turkeys) early is not misplaced.

And two days ago I read an article about Home Depot now chartering ships and thus increasing their shipping costs by 2x to 3x, and indicating that now even the kitchen sink is on backorder.

[Chuckanut]

The local Kroger affiliate has the TP aisle about 2/3 empty last week, but there was no obvious rush. Meat prices are up considerably, several dollars a pound for grass fed beef, etc. Housing prices have stopped their blazing rise, but anything under One Million in my area still goes fast if it's in descent shape, maybe within a week or two now rather than a few days as it was a few months ago.

Interestingly, several of my neighbors who still have to work for a living are complaining that raises are still in the area of 1-2% if they get one. Given what I have heard about labor shortages I would have thought raises would be higher. Most of these people seem to work for smaller companies in what I will call semi-skilled jobs that require training and experience but not a college degree or high-tech certification. Note: plumbers, electricians and other people who can build and fix things excepted. They may be doing better than a lot of college graduates.

This recent inflation is hitting the poor and low-income people hardest. What else is new?

[Chuckanut]

Costco, Walmart and others are now doing just that - arranging shipping for their orders. What happens when they hit a port that has ships backed up to Honolulu, I don't know. Divert to Oxnard or Coos Bay? Perhaps off load in Mexico and trucked over the border? The Northwest passage seems to be opening up, maybe they can be offloaded in Nunavut and the goods dog sledded to Edmonton? Or packed in sealed containers and shoved into a pipeline?

[easysurfer]

If I was to use up all my stock of TP, probably have about a 3 month supply.

This product shortages thing of late is starting to make me nervous .

[USGrant1962]

Poker chips, believe it or not. At my league last night the rotating host mentioned he wanted to buy a set. I told him I did the research before Covid and would give him some tips. I looked this morning and there are supply problems everywhere, on all but the most generic chips. And they say they don't expect them to be solved by Christmas.

We've been waiting for a part for our bathroom renovation for a year (matching sidesplash for our vanity backsplash) and they have been blaming that on the container shortage for months. I think they stopped giving us delivery date estimates.

And yes, Safeway has random empty shelves scattered through the store.

[Amethyst]

I may have mentioned that back in May, we ordered, and paid for, new cane seats for our set of 4 1970's Breuer chairs. We were informed there would be a 14-week delay because the seats come from Italy.

Well, 14 weeks was a while ago. Now the seller hopes to get the shipment before the end of 2021. They were a bit curt with me when I asked. Maybe a shortage in tempers is developing, too.

[Aerides]

I am waiting on a new sofa from CB2. I ordered it early in January, and it had a 20-24 week timeframe. Since July, every 2 weeks I get another 2 week bump. I just want an actual date...

Similarly, I cancelled a new bed because they kept saying "ok 2 more months" for an item that was sold as in stock.

Beef prices have definitely gone up, and some stores seem to have weird outages. The other week, there were exactly zero hose spray nozzles in my Home Depot. Orchid baskets too.. because the cedar is probably being prioritized to other things.

[Car-Guy]

I know the auto industry has been hit hard by supply chain issues but it sounds like it's getting worse. A couple of the performance car forums I belong to are really screaming about the delays.... Some guys ordered their trucks 6 to 8 months ago and they are still waiting for delivery... They quit taking new orders for 2021's earlier this summer and now I hear they stopped taking any new orders for 2022's. I'm not sure if that's unique to this specific model or across the product line.

[RobbieB]

None here. Got some more plywood today at the depot. Expensive, but in stock.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst I may have mentioned that back in May, we ordered, and paid for, new cane seats for our set of 4 1970's Breuer chairs. We were informed there would be a 14-week delay because the seats come from Italy. Well, 14 weeks was a while ago. Now the seller hopes to get the shipment before the end of 2021. They were a bit curt with me when I asked. Maybe a shortage in tempers is developing, too.

This has to be in violation of some law, somewhere places can't keep your money indefinitely and not produce your product. They have some nerve being curt with you after holding your money since May with no firm delivery date.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides I am waiting on a new sofa from CB2. I ordered it early in January, and it had a 20-24 week timeframe. Since July, every 2 weeks I get another 2 week bump. I just want an actual date... Similarly, I cancelled a new bed because they kept saying "ok 2 more months" for an item that was sold as in stock. Beef prices have definitely gone up, and some stores seem to have weird outages. The other week, there were exactly zero hose spray nozzles in my Home Depot. Orchid baskets too.. because the cedar is probably being prioritized to other things.

Did you pay for the sofa? I'd be pretty annoyed at this point.

[W2R]

Here are some shortages we have experienced:

For several weeks we had a hard time getting decent New Orleans Cajun Italian lunches to take out. Every place we tried was out of either pasta, or marinara, or both! Can you even imagine an Italian restaurant being out of both pasta and marinara? Even worse, how about an Italian restaurant that didn't have any employees that knew how to make both pasta and marinara. We did get our Italian food this week so hopefully the problem is solved.

On July 16th I had pre-ordered a video game console that was supposed to be delivered on October 15th. Nope! October 15th came and went, and it hadn't even been shipped, much less delivered. Same was true for many/most others who had ordered it. I gave up and decided I could enjoy life more, with less stress, if I just spent all that money on something else, so I cancelled it. At this point I don't care if everyone else gets it (which they won't); I'm tired of these stupid teases.

[FlaGator]

Bike parts.

Local shop told me many sizes/types of tires and some Shimano parts are not currently available. Also the factory overhaul of a mountain bike shock is 4-5 weeks (passed on that).

So far groceries and household consumables are fine in the FL Panhandle, but noticed local car dealer lots aren't as full with inventory as I'm used to.

[tb001]

Lots of delays and shortages. Foam/cushion material for furnishings seems to be a big one. We were told June of 2022 for a new set of patio furniture. We also ordered some umbrella stands in June and they just arrived last week. Seller said there was a shortage of resin.

Our pool company is telling us they can’t get parts, but I think the issue is they’re just overwhelmed with business. We’ve been waiting for one part since July. I finally got frustrated and started googling and it arrived in two days from Amazon at a significant discount to their charges.

We’re waiting on a generator, ordered in June. Pushed out several times and now hearing end of November. Same thing on a fireplace insert.

We've started our Xmas shopping for the kids, mainly because several of the toys I thought they would like were already limited in supply online.

All that said, I haven’t noticed any bare shelves. Some places have limitations on quantities and prices are up a lot, but they seem to be getting stock.

[Sunset]

We ordered a new fridge a month ago, delivery was scheduled 2 months out. Will see next month if we get it.

Really GLAD the old fridge is working.
Imagine folks whose fridge actually stops working

[jazz4cash]

Long lines for gas at Sam’s Club gas stations this past week. Price jumped up to $3.11 this week from $2.89 last week. I have to admit I waited in a long line to fill up a second time even though I still had 1/2 a tank. I don’t see long lines at regular stations but the prices have jumped there also and probably increase traffic at Sam’s and other discounters.

[Amethyst]

I don't even bother with Sam's gas any more. Lines are just too long and the discount isn't that great anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash Long lines for gas at Sam’s Club gas stations this past week. Price jumped up to $3.11 this week from $2.89 last week. I have to admit I waited in a long line to fill up a second time even though I still had 1/2 a tank. I don’t see long lines at regular stations but the prices have jumped there also and probably increase traffic at Sam’s and other discounters.

[Winemaker]

Wine bottles. I used to buy a dozen of the cheapo bottles for my daughter's sweet wine (yuck!) for $7. There now $27, if you can get them. Thank goodness we reuse 90% of our bottles.

Commercial wineries cannot reuse bottles.

[Another Reader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Here are some shortages we have experienced: For several weeks we had a hard time getting decent New Orleans Cajun Italian lunches to take out. Every place we tried was out of either pasta, or marinara, or both! Can you even imagine an Italian restaurant being out of both pasta and marinara? Even worse, how about an Italian restaurant that didn't have any employees that knew how to make both pasta and marinara. We did get our Italian food this week so hopefully the problem is solved. On July 16th I had pre-ordered a video game console that was supposed to be delivered on October 15th. Nope! October 15th came and went, and it hadn't even been shipped, much less delivered. Same was true for many/most others who had ordered it. I gave up and decided I could enjoy life more, with less stress, if I just spent all that money on something else, so I cancelled it. At this point I don't care if everyone else gets it (which they won't); I'm tired of these stupid teases.

Welp. Things are returning to normal in the W2R world! Yay!