Difficult to Understand

foxtrapper · Post by **foxtrapper** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:45 am

Not sure why you'd be upset of it finally did arrive via USPS, but so be it.

I've had fun watching UPS ship items of mine back and forth between Chicago and Atlanta for weeks on end. Or casually send it to the other side of the country for no particular reason. Even items with guaranteed overnight delivery take weeks of detours, with never a reimbersement of the fees charged, or even an appology for the delay.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:41 am

foxtrapper wrote:Not sure why you'd be upset of it finally did arrive via USPS, but so be it.

I've had fun watching UPS ship items of mine back and forth between Chicago and Atlanta for weeks on end. Or casually send it to the other side of the country for no particular reason. Even items with guaranteed overnight delivery take weeks of detours, with never a reimbersement of the fees charged, or even an appology for the delay.

It finally arrived yesterday, late in the evening. I had given up hope when the door bell rang at about 6:45pm. They came in a small bubble wrap envelope like a piece of mail that would typically make the same journey in about 3 days.

Now I can drill nice clean counter sink holes similar to those that reible always gets - I hope.

The End of this UPS Saga

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 11:22 am

wiredone wrote:Here's a good one for you. I ordered a bandsaw blade from AMAZON .....................

Well, I wasn't going to mention Amazon, but...
ordered from them a wile back mostly due to a "Free Shipping" sale. I checked and checked and Hawaii, the web site said, in no uncertain terms, WAS included. I verified this at least twice (which means about thirt web site hits to find tyhe stuff).
So, order complete, shipping CONFIRMED, total CONFirmed, order confirmed, yada yada yada confirmed. Saved ALL copies, invoices, confirmations, etc., and before final submission re-checked free shipping: NO doubt. TO Hawaii. Yes. Check.

So, week ot so later, got package, noticed shipping charge on label was a few dollars more than the total cost of the goods. Figured no sweat because I had confirmed Free Shipping. Checked the Amazon charge on my credit card, and low-and-be-holed, it was in there!
I called Amazon, they said oh no, not free to Hawaii. Looked up order, it said Free, they said No, that's a mistake. Howabout your changing shipping from standard to "Next Day"? No answer.
What about them adding $50 shipping to my already closed order? No answer.

In law they call that theft or fraud or worse.

I have never even thought to order from them again.

videobear · Post by **videobear** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:32 pm

keakap wrote:...I called Amazon, they said oh no, not free to Hawaii. Looked up order, it said Free, they said No, that's a mistake. Howabout your changing shipping from standard to "Next Day"? No answer.
What about them adding $50 shipping to my already closed order? No answer.

In law they call that theft or fraud or worse...

You could have disputed that with the help of your credit card company.

wiredone · Post by **wiredone** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:56 am

videobear wrote:You could have disputed that with the help of your credit card company.

Absolutely.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:48 am

videobear wrote:You could have disputed that with the help of your credit card company.

Especially if you had saved all the copies of the receipts that show free shipping. Your credit card company would have jumped on them with both feet.

As you said to advertise free shipping and then to charge it constitutes fraud and since this was across state lines my guess is the feds would like to know about it.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:53 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:Especially if you had saved all the copies of the receipts that show free shipping. Your credit card company would have jumped on them with both feet.

As you said to advertise free shipping and then to charge it constitutes fraud and since this was across state lines my guess is the feds would like to know about it.

Yup, the Feds might like to get involved but that is just what I would like to avoid. The Feds are in my life too much without giving them an invite.

IMO, we all too often turn to the Government to fight battles for us. Doing so just gives them another reason.

db5 · Post by **db5** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:18 pm

dusty wrote:I recently ordered two counter sink bits from Lee Valley.

Two days later, I was able to find tracking information. Today I decided to follow up.

UPS Tracking shows that the order left Syracuse, NY on 9/1/2012 and finally arrived in Hodgkins, IL on 9/5/2012. That must be about 600 miles in 5 days. Brownie must be walking.

At this rate, I might get these before Christmas.

UNBELIEVEABLE

Well, it if Absolutely, Positively has to get there overnight, don't use FedEX. Ordered product ($5.95 shipping for something that weighed less than 16 oz. Miles as the crow (or FedEx) flies is just over 900. Tracking showed that it went to FedEx the day it was ordered (9-2). Went to Atlanta which took 4 days, then on to Dallas and 3 more days, then USPS for 2 more days in transit and delivered 10 days after shipping.

I shipped via USPS a box weighing more than 3 lbs at little over $6 over 1,100 miles and it arrived in 3 days.

As much as I criticize the post office their rates can be Cheaper and the service is Faster, Better.

There is a business rule that everyone wants it Cheaper, Faster and Better but you can't have all three, so pick the two that are the most important.

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:00 pm

A little more info on FedEx: There are multiple levels of service for both FedEx Express and FedEx Ground. For instance, there are three different FedEx Express overnight services (First, Priority, and Standard), two different 2-day services (AM and Standard), and Express Saver (generally 3 days). Most of those FedEx Express services have a moneyback guarantee, where FedEx will refund (to the shipper, not the recipient) the shipping charge if the package is late (except for some "rural" zip codes). But, that only applies if FedEx controls the entire delivery. (And you pay higher shipping charges because of the guaranteed delivery times.)

If the company is using the "partnership" service between FedEx and USPS, there are no guaranteed delivery times, as I understand it.

I suggest that you ask the company which specific FedEx service they're going to use to ship your package, so that they can get a refund if it doesn't arrive at the guaranteed time (and then refund you). If the company is not willing to specify which FedEx service they're going to use, then I'm pretty sure they're using the "partnership" deal with USPS.

DB5: I would expect that even the slowest FedEx Express service (3-day) would cost significantly more than $5.95 to ship a 1-pound package 900 miles. You can go to the FedEx web site and get rate quotations to check that.

Gary

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:42 pm

At the risk of getting my head chopped off, I can not comprehend anyone complaining or fearing a government service they spent most of their life protecting. Dusty, you made a career in the U. S Air Force. Do you dislike the U. S. Navy, the U. S. Marines, the U. S. Army, the U. S. Post Office, the U. S. Department of Defense, the U. S. Department of Justice, etc, et al? I do not understand all the complaining about a service developed many years ago by the people and for the people. Private enterprises as yet can NOT compete in either efficiency or cost as the Post Office. As others have stated, it's cheaper and quicker. Unless, of course, you may wish to go back to when there was no Post Office. There was a state mail service, the Pony Express in some areas, Wells Fargo in other areas, taking days and weeks to get letters and parcels to family and friends. Businesses relied on this patchwork of services. At the founding of the country government, a national post office was established. Perfect? Just as perfect as the military branches or any other government service for us. If you wish to complain about government services, please take it to some site that is dedicated for that purpose. This is a Shopsmith site. OK?:D