Package Delivery Problems

[harllee]

I am ordering more and more items online (don't want to go in stores) but I am having trouble getting things delivered. I ordered 8 items from Amazon 10 days ago (I am not a prime member) and they were all suppose to have been delivered earlier this week but so far I have received only 2 of the 8 items and the delivery date keeps getting pushed back.

I ordered an item off Ebay that was suppose to be delivered last Monday. Monday night at 8 pm I get a notice that the item was delivered by USPS --I thought it was strange since I was sitting near the door and had heard no one. I looked for the item all over and checked with the neighbors and could not find it. The next day the tracking info says the item has been returned to sender. I called the local post office (on hold a long time) and they confirm the item was returned to the sender due to "human error". I am now waiting for the seller to receive the item and resend it the item back to me.

Anybody else having problems with package deliveries and any suggestions for me?

 

[REWahoo]

Anybody else having problems with package deliveries and any suggestions for me?

Check out all the news items regarding the huge volumes delivery carriers are experiencing and how it is negatively impacting delivery times. Misery loves company.

 

[Ronstar]

Anybody else having problems with package deliveries and any suggestions for me?

1. Join Amazon prime. Sure you pay the monthly fee, but it's worth it if you order a lot of things from Amazon. I haven't had any deliver issues from Amazon in the last couple of months.

2. Don't buy anything that might be shipped by USPS.

 

[Aerides]

What exactly are your problems? Is it local/last mile stuff or is it sender/vendor/carrier specific. If it's just amazon being slow to ship, that can't be helped other than Prime, even then, it's not perfect.

The ebay thing sounds like a fluke. If it's really been returned-to-sender it will be at least a month before they receive it. RTS goes on the slowest of slow boats in the best time of the year and it will be weeks of gaps with tracking, if at all. If you wanted it for the holidays, order another.

Other than that, I stay on top of my deliveries and tracking info so I know what to expect. My local carriers all know by name and face with my address. My USPS carrier will research stuff if I need help (never bother with the actual PO).

And since we're on the topic, they all get a holiday thank you gift.



Do all of your carriers know your name/face/address?

 

[FDC319]

Are you using the Ebay/Amazon sites to track or the carrier sites? They will often say very different things. If not enrolled already, I recommend signing up for the Informed Delivery, UPS MyChoice, and Fedex's program to improve SA on incoming packages.

The carriers are swamped right now. A combination of holiday shopping and people who used to only shop in store surging to online shopping. This is the time of year when you see Fedex and UPS driving rentals to augment their fleet. In other places I have lived, you would see a Uhaul truck following a UPS truck with both doing deliveries on a route. I had my new Ipad Air delivered last week by a Fedex employee in a rental V8 Nissan Armada with Fedex magnets on it. I've sold and bought about 90 items on Ebay and internet forums over the last 70 days-a vast majority of them arrive at their location a day early, but a few get held up. I currently have a Surefire X300 light sold to someone in the midwest whose tracking shows in transit, arriving late. It is not the first one. It is a similiar story with Amazon where I have 51 orders in the last 3 months.



Concur with Aerides with defining your exact problem.

 

[aja8888]

Around here, Amazon drivers are using 5 ton size U-Haul trucks (small moving van, clearly U Haul units), rented, I am sure. This is the first time I have seen this. Last December, Amazon drivers were using their own cars to make deliveries. This is crazy.

 

[FDC319]

Around here, Amazon drivers are using 5 ton size U-Haul trucks (small moving van, clearly U Haul units), rented, I am sure. This is the first time I have seen this. Last December, Amazon drivers were using their own cars to make deliveries. This is crazy.

I wouldn't really call it crazy, I would call it their back up surge plan. Have seen similiar from all carriers for the last 10ish years, although the only time I was in an Amazon delivery area was 15-17 and everything was personal vehicles.

 

[harllee]

What exactly are your problems? Is it local/last mile stuff or is it sender/vendor/carrier specific. If it's just amazon being slow to ship, that can't be helped other than Prime, even then, it's not perfect.

The ebay thing sounds like a fluke. If it's really been returned-to-sender it will be at least a month before they receive it. RTS goes on the slowest of slow boats in the best time of the year and it will be weeks of gaps with tracking, if at all. If you wanted it for the holidays, order another.

Other than that, I stay on top of my deliveries and tracking info so I know what to expect. My local carriers all know by name and face with my address. My USPS carrier will research stuff if I need help (never bother with the actual PO).

And since we're on the topic, they all get a holiday thank you gift.



Do all of your carriers know your name/face/address?

I do know my USPS carrier, I asked him about my Ebay shipment that got returned and he did not seem to know anything about it. My USPS carrier does not seem to care about customers. I do not know any of the Fed Ex/UPS drivers--it is a different one every time. I do track all my orders and am signed up for USPS informed delivery, and fed ex tracking.

I think the problem I am having with slow Amazon delivery is that the items are slow to ship. I was promised delivery by a certain date but the items have not even been shipped and the date has come and gone. I have had Amazon Prime in the past but it did not seem to speed up deliveries--Amazon deliveries were still late.

I hate to hear that the Ebay item that was returned will take a month. I guess I will have to find a replacement somewhere but I cannot get a refund because tracking shows that the item was delivered when it was really returned to sender.

 

[harllee]

1. Join Amazon prime. Sure you pay the monthly fee, but it's worth it if you order a lot of things from Amazon. I haven't had any deliver issues from Amazon in the last couple of months.

2. Don't buy anything that might be shipped by USPS.

I have had Amazon Prime in the past but I could not tell that it made deliveries any faster, deliveries were still late. I never have received any Amazon delivery in 2 days. But maybe I should try Amazon Prime again if they really have improved.

How do you avoid USPS? Many items I order that are shipped by Fed Ex end up being delivered to my house by USPS.

 

[RobbieB]

I don't have any problems. Everything comes in quick. Including USPS, that comes in extra quick.

 

[harllee]

I don't have any problems. Everything comes in quick. Including USPS, that comes in extra quick.

Wow Robbie, you are lucky! I guess it is a problem specific to my area. My USPS carrier told me that their overtime hours were cut so deliveries are just piling up at the post office.

 

[RobbieB]

Sometimes they even deliver on Sunday. Which I find amazing -

 

[FDC319]

Sometimes they even deliver on Sunday. Which I find amazing -

That is one thing I miss after moving to a ruralish area---then again i don't miss it that much.

 

[harllee]

Sometimes they even deliver on Sunday. Which I find amazing -

That is amazing. My local post office use has eliminated Saturday hours and is now open during the week only from 10-4.

 

[Ronstar]

I have had Amazon Prime in the past but I could not tell that it made deliveries any faster, deliveries were still late. I never have received any Amazon delivery in 2 days. But maybe I should try Amazon Prime again if they really have improved.



How do you avoid USPS? Many items I order that are shipped by Fed Ex end up being delivered to my house by USPS.

I almost always receive amazon prime orders in 2 days. Sometimes 1 day. And same day a couple of times. It may help that I live within 25 miles of a few Amazon warehouses.

I avoid USPS by ordering almost everything I need from Amazon. I understand that USPS cannot be avoided 100%. It just seems like it takes longer to get deliveries via USPS than it does through Amazon, UPS and FedEx.

 

[Bamaman]

When you see a U.S. Post Office truck delivering packages on Sunday night, you know they're swamped.

UPS and Fed Ex don't have enough delivery vans, and they need 6,000 trucks combined to meet their delivery needs. COVID has screwed up the availability of components to build vans and trucks, and few are on dealer lots to buy or rent.

A few days ago, it came out that UPS was temporarily stopping pickup and delivery of a number of retailer's packages. I assume the freight charges are relatively low on retailers that ship in mass numbers, and they're going to take more profitable business first.

VP Pence was just in Memphis to meet with Fred Smith about the overnight delivery of the COVID vaccines. Pfizer has hired McKesson to handle the logistics of delivering the virus--all overnight to every corner of the U.S. The big problem is that the vaccines will have to be delivered in styrofoam containers packed in dry ice. Right now, there's not enough dry ice in the country to do the job. Fed Ex managers don't know how they're going to do so much work in such a short amount of time. Then, do it again for round 2 of the meds in 30 days. Remember Fed Ex is already swamped delivering Christmas packages and gifts. It's going to take a monumental effort--and a lot of overtime with the U.S. Government paying out the nose to get the vaccines out.

 

[Car-Guy]

I get my stuff delivered VIA UPS, FedEx and USPS... Sometimes UPS is the best, sometimes FedEx does a better job... They seem to swap the top spot every few months... USPS is always a distance last in my book....

 

[retire-early]

What types of items are you buying that you can't get with curbside pickup?

I bought quite a bit on eBay this year, and most sellers take Paypal.
Make absolutely certain that the address you have for Paypal is correct.
I generally buy from experienced sellers with feedback ratings above 99.5%.
I only buy from sellers in USA.
I haven't had a problem with delivery this year except for a book.
The seller used a company I had never heard of.
The book sat in one of their facilities for 3 days before being handed to USPS for the last leg.

For Amazon, look to see if the item is Fulfilled by Amazon or not.
I don't have Prime, and I find that it takes about 7-10 calendar days.

Edit:
UPS, FedEx, USPS are all about equal in my book for things I have ordered.

When I mail things, I use USPS exclusively.
I must have mailed at 50 items this year.
Haven't had a problem.
.

 

[Sunset]

Strangely, we have the opposite problem.
Packages are being delivered 1->3 days early.

At first this seems like a great thing, but if they say some expensive/sensitive/food thing is being delivered on Friday, then I'm going to feel free to not check the porch frequently on Wed.
Heck, we could even go out for the day or overnight on Wed.
By it arriving way too early, it can sit there for porch pirates.

 

[harllee]

What types of items are you buying that you can't get with curbside pickup?

I bought quite a bit on eBay this year, and most sellers take Paypal.
Make absolutely certain that the address you have for Paypal is correct.
I generally buy from experienced sellers with feedback ratings above 99.5%.
I only buy from sellers in USA.
I haven't had a problem with delivery this year except for a book.
The seller used a company I had never heard of.
The book sat in one of their facilities for 3 days before being handed to USPS for the last leg.

For Amazon, look to see if the item is Fulfilled by Amazon or not.
I don't have Prime, and I find that it takes about 7-10 calendar days.

Edit:
UPS, FedEx, USPS are all about equal in my book for things I have ordered.

When I mail things, I use USPS exclusively.
I must have mailed at 50 items this year.
Haven't had a problem.
.

The item I ordered off Ebay was fairly unique and not available locally. I always pay with PayPal and my addresses are correct. The local post office admitted that my Ebay delivery was returned due to "human error." This is not the first time something like this has happened with my local post office. They are know for their incompetence around here. Ebay has told me I cannot get a refund because the Post Office tracking show the item was delivered (but it also shows it was returned to sender--how can that be?)

As for the items I ordered from Amazon I would have normally gotten most of them through Walmart curbside but Walmart curbside is no longer working for me (too many items out of stock and I am getting charged for items not received). In my small town there are not many options for curbside pick up of non food items and I have resisted driving to a larger town for curbside pick up of items but I may have to.

 

[Venturer]

We are prime thru our Daughter's account and have been ordering a lot recently without problems. This week alone we have had 12 different packages delivered,4 by UPS and the rest USPS. I have a UPS and USPS account and get a text & email when they deliver. Mabey it helps to have an Amazon warehouse about 25 miles up the road.

 

[Midpack]

Check out all the news items regarding the huge volumes delivery carriers are experiencing and how it is negatively impacting delivery times. Misery loves company.

+1. The OP seems to have missed this one, I’ve seen several reports for months. Amazon employment has reportedly increased 50% in the past year, and all the services are scrambling. Some merchants are also having trouble keeping up. The surge in online buying has impacted package delivery, not surprising...

 

[Aerides]

I have had Amazon Prime in the past but I could not tell that it made deliveries any faster, deliveries were still late. I never have received any Amazon delivery in 2 days. But maybe I should try Amazon Prime again if they really have improved.

How do you avoid USPS? Many items I order that are shipped by Fed Ex end up being delivered to my house by USPS.

Prime is often more than 2 days, especially since covid, but it is faster than non-prime. If anything, non-prime is slower. Your items will take up to a week to ship if you are going with their standard free shipping. And now in the holiday period, even worse.

Of course, individual experience varies based on proximity to major FC's vs not, and whether your orders are coming from local FC's or are more niche and not as widely stocked throughout their network.

 

[harllee]

Thanks for the suggestions of Amazon Prime, I may give it another try to see if that will help. In the meantime I ordered several things from Walmart.com and they are already scheduled for delivery tomorrow. If I get the Walmart.com delivery tomorrow I will just cancel the Amazon items that have never shipped.

 

[Markola]

Instant delivery gratification - the latest in American hedonic adaption!

We’ve been receiving stuff quickly but a cargo carrier for our snowbird trip next week is delayed. The site said clearly that it would be here by 8 pm last night. 8 p.m. arrive and the site instantly changed to “Sometime between Dec. 5-10.” Gah!