Holiday shipping or is it something else...

ezmike posted:

Let me start by saying this is not a complaint, it's just a real life event. Minor but interesting.

...

i use a 16 gauge shotgun brush to clean the flues of my live steam locomotive.  since these are well oversize for the size of the tubes to provide a good abrasion, they only last about 3-4 cleanings before they lose most of their bristles.  so seeing them on Amazon at about 20% less than the price i pay over the counter at a gun store and to get free shipping, i ordered 15 pieces.

in about 6 days i received a box with four brushes.

three days later a box arrived with nine more.

finally, in two more days a package with the last two pieces showed up on my doorstep.

crazy stuff...gary

IMO it's still hard to beat the good old USPS.

Happy Holidays!!!!  With all the online shopping this year USPS and UPS and cranking out the OT. I just got a box an hour earlier today at 6:30 am delivered to my door. and yesterday afternoon (Sunday) there were UPS trucks all over the place

BTW I already have 4 ot the scale Menard's flat cars. A great value ENJOY

Steve

Thankfully, I have only received a few boxes that were sent via Smartpost/Surepost. IMHO, they took an awfully long time to arrive. I would never use these services by choice.
Here is a web page discussing the service.

Doc Davis posted:

IMO it's still hard to beat the good old USPS.

Don't get me wrong, considering the tens of millions of pieces the USPS, UPS and FedEx handle every year they are doing a great job. It's just that sometimes based on designated distribution centers a package will very definitely take the long way to you.

Mike

FedEx Smartpost has to be the slowest shipping service in the US.  I ordered some cat toys from a retailer in California on December 1st.  FedEx took possession on December 2nd.  The package made it across the country to the Charlotte FedEx facility on 12/7.  It took close to 72 hours for the package to go from the Charlotte FedEx facility to the Concord, NC FedEx Smartpost facility....a distance of about 10 miles.  I live about an hour from Concord.  It took another 2 days for the package to get to my local post office. 

I am currently waiting on 3 packages which were all shipped via FedEx Smartpost and have spent a couple of days sitting in Charlotte waiting to go 10 miles up the road to Concord.

I know it is the busy Christmas season, but throughout the year, FedEx Smartpost is slower than any other (well, maybe DHL) shipping service I have experience with.  I sure hope the retailer is getting a real low shipping rate because the retailer (and customer) are getting real low shipping service.

Any more, I am just thankful it reaches my door.  I keep putting a USPS "tracking number" in to be checked and I  just get "they can't find it" thing. Supposed to come today so we shall see.

DHL seems pretty quick, I get packages from outisde of Rome to upstate NY in two days. Smartpost, well it should be called Slowpokepost.

Just received an email alert from UPS... indicating a package originally scheduled for delivery tomorrow is now due to arrive TODAY!!!  Great... I probably won't be home until later, but my wife will be there for the package's arrival!!!    Never fails.   

BTW, I also got another email alert that my Visa took a hit yesterday from Charlie Ro, so I suspect the good folks in Malden, MA received their big Lionel "mother lode" shipment of products this weekend.  That place must be going CRAZY today with boxes being packed and shipped out the door as soon as truckloads of stuff arrived from Lionel.  Dizzying to think about it!!!  

And that's just a small smidgeon in the "big picture" of everyone's package deliveries going on in the next few days for Christmas! 

David