# My Current UPS Saga



## Buffalo21

I just off the phone with UPS (Unionized Parcel Smashers), I paid extra for a delivery on Friday and then to the package delivery has been rescheduled to Monday. Then this morning I get 2 emails within about 2 hours of each other, one saying the package has been rescheduled for delivery on Tuesday and the other one saying its out for delivery.

So I called the 800 number for UPS, a voice mail round-about, that has absolutely no way to actually talking to a human being. I go through this round-about for about 5 minutes, each successive reroute, has that lingering question, am I moving closer to or further away with each connection.

I called a friend who works for UPS, he gave me the same 800 number, but gave me a routine to follow, that finally lead to a recording, that I was inline for the next available rep, in the order that my call was received. I put the phone on speaker phone and listened to roughly 12 minutes of mind-numbing noodling jazz music, then a voice, not quite true English, but somewhat close. I give him the info about the conflicting messages, he seems totally baffled/dumbfounded, so I go on hold, about 5 minutes later, I get the quasi-certain answer, that it appears, its on the truck and will be delivered today, possibly. And that’s where my inquiry end, more confused than when I originally called.

So I’m wondering what worse, calling UPS, the IRS, the DMV, your credit card company or your doctor’s office. They have worked diligently over the years, to perfect the automated call answering/voice mail systems, to the stage where it gotten to the point where, in this age of information, they have perfected the art of making the information your looking for unobtainable.

I just got off the phone with the supplier, he said they are disabling the shipping options, as UPS will no longer guaranty delivery dates, regardless of what you paid for. He said you pay for speedy shipment, but you will get whatever you get, and they will not reimburse any money back, blaming all delays on the pandemic. So if your ordering anything, be wary of promised delivery dates, at least ask if they have had issues, then you decide if it worth the extra money, for “speedy” delivery.


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## Shopsweeper

I have seen some odd stuff the last two weeks in shipping UPS and others.  I think the pandemic + riots might be disrupting service in a lot of urban areas.  I live out of the city limits near a small town so I sometimes forget what life is like in more populous parts of the world.  I have 2 UPS packages that show "on the truck" today.  One from Califiornia what has meandered around for a week or more.  One from IL that left the vendor yesterday.   Both 3 day service and both arriving today (I hope).


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## brasssmanget

It's all BS if you ask me. Just another organization that found a way to utilize the pandemic and/or demonstrations as a way to not be responsible for anything. It is the true way of American enterprise these days - greedy corporate profits above all else. I do not blame the drivers or front line people......


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## DavidR8

I feel your pain...
I ordered a TIG welder on May 11. Shipped on May 13. Company is located in NJ. I'm on the West Coast of Canada.
It had a schedule delivery date of May 23.
At 6 am, May 21 it arrived in my city where it sat till it was finally delivered on June 6.
From May 23rd till the day it was delivered, UPS told the shipper that "it was out for delivery" that day.
The shipper finally got the number of the local depot. He called every day, I called twice.
The second time I called I was told they were over run with packages and that they were delivering small ones first.

Fortunately I had evidence that was not true as a larger item I ordered arrived at the depot the day after my welder and it was delivered on the 26th.

On the day it was actually delivered they called me at 0645 and said "we found your package and are putting it on a truck for delivery today".
So all of the stories about it being on the truck were clearly a stall tactic.

I recommend getting the number of your local depot and hounding them.


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## ChrisAttebery

UPS is having problems. I've had 2-3 deliveries that said they were out for delivery only to get a notice later in the day that the package is still at a distribution center. I have a pair of tires that were supposed to be here Friday that now are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. All I can say is try to be patient. They're working as fast as they possibly can right now and mistakes do happen.


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## ChrisAttebery

BTW: My son sold his Xbox on the bay. We shipped it out 2 weeks ago. UPS said it was delivered 3 days later. Purchaser said he didn't receive it. We filed a claim. It turns out the purchaser moved 2 states away and never updated their shipping address with PP or eBay. Guess who got stuck with the extra shipping charges. It wasn't the purchaser.


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## DavidR8

Addendum to my post:
One thing that I told my local depot was that I was sympathetic to their situation but to be told that an item is out for delivery when it's clearly not is not helping their situation.

The ironic part of my situation is that before I bought my welder, I asked the vendor (Primeweld) if they shipped via FedEx. They said they stopped after FedEx lost a number of packages.
Because we never expected to see the original welder, the vendor sent another welder via FedEx. It is supposed to arrive this Thursday.


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## Tom1948

Seems to be a common problem with ups. Happened to me just a week ago. Paid extra for 3 day select , did not happen. Terrible service. Fedex in my area is a much better bet. They do Saturday deliveries  AND I have even seen their trucks on Sunday. If I have a choice I pick Fedex. USPS has been pretty good lately as well. In some cases have had really good service.


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## Tom1948

UPS service sucked long before the pandemic. Had trouble with their commercial service a couple of years ago when I got my lathe and mill.


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## Buffalo21

After 6 phone calls, about 3 hrs of my time and great restraint (no four letter arias), I was told it would be handled within an hour. One hour and fifteen minutes later a UPS truck pulled up in the driveway and the part was handed to me, with a well rehearsed and a not very believable, pathetic, I’m sorry for the inconvenience speech. The part was in my hand, boy I’m glad I spent that $50 for the expedited delivery, only 3 days late and no recourse for the extra fees. You live and you learn.


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## rzw0wr

I like the message they email me. 
Tried to deliver. Could not contact anyone.

BS... I had been setting in my garage that looks out to front of my house all day. Just about every day.
This happens on friday when they don't want to drive to my town for one delivery.


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## Shopsweeper

My packages arrived today (2 I was expecting and 1 I was not).  One was late, one early, one on time.  The tracking for the late one has some redundant entries in the detailed tracking view - like they had trouble actually leaving the origin city.

UPS has been fine my rural area, I am sorry you all have trouble with them.  DHL is the difficult carrier in my neck of the woods.  Lots of parts from GB come in that way and its always dramatic to go the last 40 miles form the airport to my shop.  FedEx does fine by me but my normal delivery person will give me no end of grief for heavy packages - I have been trained to come help her with a hand truck so I don't hear about it.


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## ChrisAttebery

In other news I ordered a 2hp 3 phase motor and VFD from Automation Direct on Friday with free 2 day shipping. Today I got shipping notifications stating that the products had been shipped FedEx overnight and they will be here tomorrow by noon. How cool is that? They've definitely earned my business.


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## DavidR8

And my replacement welder delivery date was just updated from Thursday to Wednesday. 
Will it actually get here Wednesday? Who knows. But if it does....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Buffalo21

DavidR8 said:


> And my replacement welder delivery date was just updated from Thursday to Wednesday.
> Will it actually get here Wednesday? Who knows. But if it does....
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



did they actually say what Wednesday!!!


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## DavidR8

Buffalo21 said:


> did they actually say what Wednesday!!!



Holy smokes!
Now it says tomorrow!!!
(I seriously doubt that will happen, only because of needing to coordinate ferry schedules.)







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Buffalo21

Is that direct ferry from New Jersey to BC??


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## DavidR8

Certainly direct from Vancouver to Victoria


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## Winegrower

Delivery using UPS and USPS and whoever delivers Amazon stuff have all been outstanding around here.  In fact the UPS delivery driver is always interested in what’s going on in the shop, saying that’s what he’s looking forward to in retirement.   I think the delivery services for me have really helped me enjoy the apocalypse more.  Sorry for your struggles, but most of us have pretty high expectations now and don’t really expect disease, riots or business downturns to impact our life.   I live in a bubble, I guess.


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## darkzero

I had an Amazon order shipped UPS that Amazon said to be expected to be delivered today. Last week UPS said delivery rescheduled & delayed due to Civil Demonstration. Over the weekend UPS rescheduled delivery for Tomorrow. Well the package arrived today. 

Not that it mattered to me, wasn't in a rush to get it. Just mentioning cause I too have been seeing odd delays these past months. Some of which I sometimes feel are just excuses.


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## erikmannie

I have been a UPS driver for over 25 years now. My building doesn’t have enough drivers, enough trucks and probably no place to put the new trucks and drivers even if we got them.

Our level of volume has been like Christmas (starting mid-March), but we can’t run helpers because UPS won’t put two people together in the truck for the whole day. All of this is actually because of coronavirus. We do use as many helpers as would sign up that use their personal vehicle.

The reason that the package shows it is out for delivery is because it gets processed in the morning and does not fit on the truck. It sits in the building, and they hope that they have the staff to deliver it, but, like I said, we are completely overrun with volume.

11 hours is a short day for me. My paid days are usually more like 12 or 13 hours. The key term to remember here is “completely overrun with volume“.

Monday through Friday, all I do is wake up, get ready, go to work, and then come home and get ready for the next day, resting. I haven’t been able to do a single errand on a weekday due to the long hours. As far as I can tell, this is 100% attributable to COVID-19.


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## darkzero

erikmannie said:


> Our level of volume has been like Christmas (starting mid-March), but we can’t run helpers because UPS won’t put two people together in the truck for the whole day. All of this is actually because of coronavirus. We do use as many helpers as would sign up that use their personal vehicle.



I've heard this too from a FedEx driver on another forum as well as my USPS mail lady. USPS in my area actually makes 2 rounds now, they deliver packages on their route first, then come back to deliver mail. People are ordering online like crazy due to everything going on. Heard something that Amazon even advised to avoid ordering if possible to help them keep up with demands.


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## erikmannie

darkzero said:


> I've heard this too from a FedEx driver on another forum as well as my USPS mail lady. USPS in my area actually makes 2 rounds now, they deliver packages on their route first, then come back to deliver mail. People are ordering online like crazy due to everything going on. Heard something that Amazon even advised to avoid ordering if possible to help them keep up with demands.



This will probably go on as long as people feel safer ordering their items online rather than going out and risking exposure to the virus.


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## DavidR8

erikmannie said:


> I have been a UPS driver for over 25 years now. My building doesn’t have enough drivers, enough trucks and probably no place to put the new trucks and drivers even if we got them.
> 
> Our level of volume has been like Christmas (starting mid-March), but we can’t run helpers because UPS won’t put two people together in the truck for the whole day. All of this is actually because of coronavirus. We do use as many helpers as would sign up that use their personal vehicle.
> 
> The reason that the package shows it is out for delivery is because it gets processed in the morning and does not fit on the truck. It sits in the building, and they hope that they have the staff to deliver it, but, like I said, we are completely overrun with volume.
> 
> 11 hours is a short day for me. My paid days are usually more like 12 or 13 hours. The key term to remember here is “completely overrun with volume“.
> 
> Monday through Friday, all I do is wake up, get ready, go to work, and then come home and get ready for the next day, resting. I haven’t been able to do a single errand on a weekday due to the long hours. As far as I can tell, this is 100% attributable to COVID-19.



Your efforts are very much appreciated Erik. 

I think something was haywire at my local depot as the status of my packages only ever said “Package is delayed in transit. Delivery will be rescheduled.” 

I was totally fine with it being delayed as I can imagine that all the delivery companies are completely overwhelmed. I was just frustrated that I kept being verbally told it was being delivered when on the morning of delivery they admitted that previously they didn’t know where it was. 

I was also told that the updates were automatic which seemed reasonable as they occurred at 8:55 am every day. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## markba633csi

AliExpress is affected too-  fortunately nothing I need right away
Hanging in there


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## erikmannie

DavidR8 said:


> Your efforts are very much appreciated Erik.
> 
> I think something was haywire at my local depot as the status of my packages only ever said “Package is delayed in transit. Delivery will be rescheduled.”
> 
> I was totally fine with it being delayed as I can imagine that all the delivery companies are completely overwhelmed. I was just frustrated that I kept being verbally told it was being delivered when on the morning of delivery they admitted that previously they didn’t know where it was.
> 
> I was also told that the updates were automatic which seemed reasonable as they occurred at 8:55 am every day.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



That is because of the trailers. In normal times (not Christmas, not pandemic), the trailers are nearly 100% on time, and we always run every single trailer before the routes leave.

During Christmas and with this current pandemic situation, our facilities and staffing are overwhelmed with the excessive volume continuously coming in to the system. This results in “late trailers”.

The fact that we can’t run helpers (due to possible cross infection) really hoses the operation now. Helpers have always the magic bullet for being able to process the huge amount of volume.

Christmas has always been a CRAZY time at UPS, and now it’s like that every day, but without the helpers.

I wonder how this next Christmas will go LOL.


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## mickri

If you paid with a credit card you probably have recourse through your credit card company that you didn't get what you paid for.  You will need documentation backing up your claim.  Although I have never had a shipping cost dispute, in every instance where I had a problem not receiving stuff or the wrong stuff my credit card immediately took the item off my account and sucked the money back from the other party's credit card account.  That gets everybody's attention real fast.
Why does a credit card company react so fast.  Because they are literally making a loan on your behalf when you purchase something with your credit card.  You pay your bill monthly but the credit card company is out the money within a day or two and has to wait for you to pay your bill before they get the money they advanced back.  So it is to their advantage to reverse the charge while things get sorted out.

Debit cards don't work this way.  Banks have no incentive to help you with a dispute because the bank sent your money.  Not theirs.


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## Buffalo21

Credit card company, said there are extraordinary circumstances at this time and place, a lot of hemming and hawing, they are doing the best they can, we are giving them a lot of leeway and basically told me to suck it up and move on.


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## Tozguy

Erik, thanks for the situation from your point of view. It confirms what we already had imagined.
We have waited on Canada Post deliveries for days with no news. The parcels got here eventually. We realize that all systems are overwhelmed and appreciate that you folks doing your level best to keep things moving. Covid-19 has much impact everywhere. It looks like I have the easy part which is just to be patient. A big thank you goes out to you folks.


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## hwelecrepair

Good insight from Erik.  I personally also think it has to do with the area.  My dad lives in SoCal and swears by FedEx, but here in Indiana our UPS is spot on.  

I always pay extra for shipping via UPS, then FedEx.  USPS (before the rona) typically took 3 days for me to get a small flatrate boxto travel 106 miles from Central Indiana to NE Indiana.  

Jon


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## BGHansen

Not limited to UPS, it's pretty much all services since, as Erik mentioned, Covid has upset the infrastructure of everything.  Who would have thought a new strain of the common cold virus would cause people to empty shelves of toilet paper.  People were complaining about Proctor & Gamble because Clorox wipes were disappearing from store shelves.  WHY DON'T THEY JUST MAKE MORE?!?  It's not that easy.

As we are all aware, manufacturing something requires tooling for the most part.  I was the development engineer back in the day for the 1995 Pontiac Sunfire instrument panel.  We were given a production target of somewhere around 120,000 units a year.  That boiled down to around 500 units a day tops.  The mold for the instrument panel was around $700,000.  Typical large injection molds were run at a cycle time of around 1 minute per part at that time.  That means one tool/cavity could produce 60 parts per hour or 480 parts in an 8-hour shift.  However, the injection molding machine that that die ran in didn't just run that part.  The molding machine was around $3,000,000, so it was scheduled to run other parts too.  Not so easy to say, "oh, let's start making 1000 parts per day" when you have a volume forecast of half that.  Not so easy to make another $700,000 die that takes around 8 months to cut and tune for a quick fluctuation in the market.

I think the same thing has happened to the shipping industry (and others).  They're just getting overwhelmed with volume and with a number of "stay at home" orders in effect.  Just not enough hard-working people to get everything done.

Below is my shipping notification for a 3-day large flat rate box for a 5C collet chuck for a Tormach 4th axis.  I did a buy it now on the auction on Friday, May 15.  Seller shipped it on Monday, May 18.  Made it to Indianapolis in 2 days, only 240 miles from our house.  Tracking said it departed Indy just 2 minutes after arriving in Indy on May 20.  Then on May 24 there was an update that it was in transit.  Next update was just about 2 weeks later that it arrived in Lansing, MI about 20 miles away.  Was on our porch the next day.  The box was pristine, no label damage, so figured it was just the shear volume and lack of folks being at work.

I wasn't upset (although was anxious that it was lost forever) as in the grand scheme of things I had PLENTY of other stuff to do without the 5C collet chuck.  I really feel for folks with kids in school as around here there are rumors of staggered schedules to limit the number of kids in the building.  A lot of families are dual-income, gonna be tough for them to manage stay-at-home kids 2 or 3 days a week.

Bruce


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## mickri

I never pay for expedited shipping.  IMHO it is just a waste of money.  Especially for heavy items.  I have had good luck with USPS and UPS in my area with ontime deliveries.  FedEx always seems to take an extra couple of days and recently the boxes have been absolutely trashed to the point where you could see that FedEx had taped the boxes back together.  Some of that was the fault of company I bought from because of poor packaging.


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## projectnut

darkzero said:


> I've heard this too from a FedEx driver on another forum as well as my USPS mail lady. *USPS in my area actually makes 2 rounds now, they deliver packages on their route first, then come back to deliver mail.* People are ordering online like crazy due to everything going on. Heard something that Amazon even advised to avoid ordering if possible to help them keep up with demands.



We actually have 2 different mail trucks on our route.  The regular delivery person handles anything that will fit in the mail box and the second truck delivers larger packages exclusively.

As for the delayed delivery from UPS and FedEx it isn't something new in our area.  It's been going on for at least 5 years.  Most shippers designate the least expensive method. In most case meaning ground transport.  This method usually takes 4 to 7 days for anything  originating in the US.  I have tracked packages from Chicago (120 miles away) to see them arrive at the local distribution center within a day.  They sit there anywhere from 3 to 6 days before being put on a truck for delivery.

I'm sure if I paid the price for same day or next day delivery they would have been delivered in that time frame.  However it wouldn't be economically viable for the shipping companies  Why would anyone pay the upcharge for same or next day shipping if they could get the same service at a considerably lower price.

The only exception I'm aware of is McMaster.  If I order before 9:00 AM it comes the same day.  If I order before 2:30 PM it comes the next day.  Anytime after 2:30 PM is a 2 day shipping.  No exceptions, no upcharge from McMaster.  The shipping charges are the shipping charges period.


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## ChrisAttebery

erikmannie said:


> I have been a UPS driver for over 25 years now...




Thanks for putting up with all of this. My wife and I try to put out a basket of goodies for the box man when we can. I usually get 2-3 deliveries a week but we're probably getting 2-3x that now.


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## RJSakowski

Some of the problems go back to the vendors.  Vendors will make a shipping label, complete with tracking number and send an e-mail saying the product has shipped.  Checking the tracking number with the common carrier, they will verify that shipping information has been entered into the system but it is sometimes days before they actually receive the package.  Vendors are allowed to charge for the purchase once the product has shipped so it is in their best interest to "ship" as quickly as possible.


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## RJSakowski

With this COVID pandemic, I have not been in a bricks and mortar store since mid March.  At 75 years and with medical conditions, the risk is more than I am comfortable with.  We have an Amazon Prime account and it is easy enough to shop online.  With free shipping, the costs for the online purchase is less the the cost of driving in to town. This has been a convenient strategy for me but it has certainly increased the burden on the common carriers.  Thr tw day delivery of Amazon Prime sometimes stretches into three or four days but the deliveries do arrive and I for one am grateful.


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## Boswell

RJSakowski said:


> Amazon Prime sometimes stretches into three or four days but the deliveries do arrive and I for one am grateful.


+1


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## middle.road

Patience & understanding is required. The world and our normal infrastructure is not what it was 3+ months ago.
As @erikmannie mentions above - he is being run ragged as if it were the holidays. A big 'Hell Yeah' to @erikmannie and his fellow workers!
Air cargo is upended because passenger flights actually carry a lot of it and flights are down drastically, and OTR trucking is overwhelmed.
We haven't had any FedEX deliveries here in the last few months but I have to tell you, our UPS drivers and USPS carriers look tired & worn out.
Our deliveries have been fine here in EastTN, south of Knoxville.
I even ordered a basement window off of Amazon that came via USPS within (4) days.
(Now I just have to get around to installing the d*mn thing...)
Some of our other deliveries have been delayed perhaps one or two days - no big deal.
At the beginning of this mess I shipped a spare 3M respirator to my Son in TX - Priority USPS - because he was still having to work setting up laptops for folks to work from home, and he got it in two days. 
We *can not* realistically expect the system to function as smoothly as it did before this mess.


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## dirty tools

I ordered some parts the company is 30 mile away
it took 6 days. Twice they said it was out for delivery and would arrive by the end of the day (8:30 pm)
 I called and raised hell it arrived today around noon


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## brasssmanget

dirty tools said:


> I ordered some parts the company is 30 mile away
> it took 6 days. Twice they said it was out for delivery and would arrive by the end of the day (8:30 pm)
> I called and raised hell it arrived today around noon


 Yup....same thing here with orders from Optics Planet. Twice I vented and raged over excessive delays, and twice the items showed up within 2 days. The they had the gall to send a survey of how happy I was with the experience!


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## Tozguy

Some coffee we had ordered was 4 days overdue but it arrived 1 hour after we did absolutely nothing.


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## ChrisAttebery

I got a reply from UPS stating that the package had been found and re-delivered to Houston, TX. My son got a message from the buyer and they said that the address that they originally provided was correct. So now our package was delivered to the wrong address 2 states away. 

I tried calling UPS but of course their call system is completely automated now. Good luck talking to a human being about your issue. 



ChrisAttebery said:


> UPS is having problems. I've had 2-3 deliveries that said they were out for delivery only to get a notice later in the day that the package is still at a distribution center. I have a pair of tires that were supposed to be here Friday that now are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. All I can say is try to be patient. They're working as fast as they possibly can right now and mistakes do happen.


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## RJSakowski

To add another slant, yesterday, I sheared the nylon starter pawl (who knew the the plastic wasn't up to 95ºF ambient temperatures).  At 1:14PM, I placed an order with Amazon for five replacement pawls.  They said "next day delivery".  "Yeah, right", I thought, "I'll be lucky to get them by next Tuesday".  Well, 24 hours and 8 minutes later, our mailman deposited them in our mailbox. +1 for Amazon and USPS!


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## Buffalo21

RJSakowski said:


> To add another slant, yesterday, I sheared the nylon starter pawl (who knew the the plastic wasn't up to 95ºF ambient temperatures).  At 1:14PM, I placed an order with Amazon for five replacement pawls.  They said "next day delivery".  "Yeah, right", I thought, "I'll be lucky to get them by next Tuesday".  Well, 24 hours and 8 minutes later, our mailman deposited them in our mailbox. +1 for Amazon and USPS!




I ordered a machine part from Chicago on Tuesday morning, went with standard delivery, it arrived at my house/shop outside of Syracuse NY on Thursday.


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## hman

My own take, both from all these stories and from my own experience, is that the Wuhan virus, the increased level of online ordering, and very occasionally the "civil unrest," have not so much caused deliveries to be universally slowed down, as they have of throwing a large random factor into the equation.  Luckily, none of the items I've ordered have been time critical.  But I can appreciate how disruptive this must be to folks whose livelihood  depends on reliable delivery.  

Do we all remember how big an innovation JIT (Just In Time) logistics became not that many years ago?


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## middle.road

So last couple of months it's been taking about a week to get stuff from Prime.
Well last Friday I ordered two rubber bumper stops for my 2000 Silverado. They were delivered on Sunday!
(BTW the GM tailgate design of that era really, truly *stinks*....)


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## NCjeeper

My UPS and USPS delivery people are pretty good. The Fed Ex drivers are not. Just 2 weeks ago I watched the driver run over my house numbers sign at the corner of the driveway. I confronted him about it. At first he denied it. After I told him I saw him do it he finally fessed up. He will probably just throw the packages in the yard as he drives by now. Heck I would come out of retirement and take a part time job with one of them if they paid decent but they don't for new employees.


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## Splat

Oh yeah, Fedex misdelivered a few packages of mine and even claimed to have returned to the recipient's house to confirm correct delivery. Not!  The UPS guys are definitely more professional and usually deliver correctly.


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## Buffalo21

I have a package due today, I checked the package tracing, its out for delivery, so anytime now and 9 pm, it can arrive. It use to be 5 pm, then went to 6 pm, then went to 7 pm and now its 9 pm. Pretty soon, they will deliver, while In sleeping.

I also do not understand the package delivery routing system, I have a package due today, so far they have driven by my shop/house 5 times, one would think, that with all of the computerized systems, they would have a program, that would figure out the quickest and most efficient route possible. But alas, I’m just a poor industrial boiler service tech, not a clairvoyant.


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## projectnut

hman said:


> My own take, both from all these stories and from my own experience, is that the Wuhan virus, the increased level of online ordering, and very occasionally the "civil unrest," have not so much caused deliveries to be universally slowed down, as they have of throwing a large random factor into the equation.  Luckily, none of the items I've ordered have been time critical.  But I can appreciate how disruptive this must be to folks whose livelihood  depends on reliable delivery.
> 
> *Do we all remember how big an innovation JIT (Just In Time) logistics became not that many years ago?*



It was the greatest of ideas, sorta.  It was supposed to lower inventory cost, minimize space needed for storage, insure all product in the pipeline was fresh, and allow more consistent production scheduling among other things.  It does have it's good points, but there is also a dark side.

When everything along the supply chain like raw materials, transportation, power supply, and labor are where it needs to be all is well.  However if one or more of the components is missing or interrupted it becomes a *NOT QUITE IN TIME* supply chain.

Early on in the transition from huge inventory to JIT our company experienced some serious supply chain interruptions that immediately translated to production downtime, excessive labor costs, and product loss due to the finished product itself being time sensitive.  We had delays due to weather interrupting transportation schedules of raw product, and packaging materials.  Break downs of suppliers equipment resulting in insufficient packaging materials in a timely manner, and excessive labor costs because we had to schedule additional production shifts at 1 1/2 time and double time pay rates.

Once the major supply chain interruptions were addressed the company decided to go back to a little more traditional model.  The original model called for warehousing up to 90 days supply of all raw and packaging materials.  The JIT model called for 5 to 7 days supplies.  The modified original model called for a 30 day supply.  The 5 to 7 day inventory was not enough to insure a smooth production schedule should any of the supply chain components be interrupted.  A 30 day supply has smoothed out the bumps considerably.


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## tonydi

I have also had similar problems with UPS.  Email saying being delivered tomorrow, then the next day out for delivery, then nothing until I check late in the evening and it shows "In transit".  Rinse, repeat the next day.  This happens more often than not with UPS shipments.  Oddly, FedEx has been perfect but my daughter has the complete opposite situation, with flaky FedEx and perfect UPS and we're in the same city, served from the same warehouse. 

Erik's explanation does make sense and I'm fine with that.

But two issues......one, if you scan it at the warehouse and it doesn't make it onto the truck, scan it again so people aren't upset that it never shows up. And two, while I understand  Covid has turned everything upside down, these issues were happening to me regularly well back into 2019.


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## Kroll

USPS is just about the same,both are good till something comes up missing.Once your luck runs out then your all along,except for your trusty computer to communicate with someone who know's where.All I know is someone has a Aloris AXA tool post and couple holders which pick up at their loss and found( they loss it and they found it) which is in Missouri I think.


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## hman

Durn!  All these stories of merchandise being delivered to random people by all three of the delivery services ... and not once have I gotten something I didn't order.


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## NortonDommi

I have bought out of Russia, India, China, USA, Australia and England. Most holdups have been the local post office as all overseas parcels go through them.
Russia is awesome, live tracking in real time with hourly updates!  India, well just hope and prey.  China generally excellent. I have had one order go missing in 10 years and an E-mail inquiry saw new goods shipped express within a coupe of hours and I had the goods 2 days later.  Australia really good, usually 3 to 5 working days although there was one occasion a diff head from Adelaide to the North Shore took 16 hours! That must be some sort of record! BTW that was UPS.  USA 50/50 toss up, either super fast to NZ or a month or two of hassles. England straight forward - you will receive your order in three weeks.  So far this has been the case.
Locally?  I live on the North side of the harbor and it has taken 2 months for an urgent 1-hour delivery to go from one side of the bridge to the other and then float around the local depot for a month, other times that 1-hour urgent has been 20 minutes!

I don't think there is much consistency in the West - anywhere.


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## Chris John

I am going for Silverado turbo what would be the best is this the right one if not can someone point me to the right path...


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