11 replies to this topic

[tsukiji]

Hi,

I'm not an Amazon Prime member. I really appreciate their free shipping service; it's one of the key reasons I buy from Amazon.

But I'm just curious if shipping times are artificially slowed down for free shipping. I think not because depending on carrier, I get things pretty quick. For example, if the items I order are stocked in Reno, then I've received things the next day.

I'm just curious because I ordered something recently. It was fulfilled from Phoenix. USPS shows that it left Phoenix and arrived in Hayward in 14 hours. It left Hayward (supposedly) 2 hours later. But it took 4-5 days to reach Folsom from Hayward?

Is this typical of USPS? Is there a reasonable explanation for why it would take 4 days to arrive from Hayward?

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

I don't know, but my husband ordered something over the weekend, didn't pay for express mail, and was notified that it would be delivered today. I generally have excellent service from Amazon.

If you know the item took four to five days (and are those business days?) to get from Hayward to Folsom, it sounds like the fault of USPS, not Amazon.

[Harold]

I don't know, but my husband ordered something over the weekend, didn't pay for express mail, and was notified that it would be delivered today. I generally have excellent service from Amazon.

If you know the item took four to five days (and are those business days?) to get from Hayward to Folsom, it sounds like the fault of USPS, not Amazon.

Yes, not Amazon's fault, but the story may be even stranger. For some items, I have found the USPS is using UPS. Someone drops a package off at the USPS, they then transfer it to UPS, UPS ships it to the UPS sorting facility, who then returns it to the USPS who then put it in your mailbox. I don't know how this is saving the government money, but I know if USPS handled it by themselves or if UPS handled it by themselves, it would arrive quicker, but when they pass it back and forth, it seems to always have substantial delays.

[tsukiji]

I understand -- I'm not blaming Amazon (unless they are working with shipping services to build in artificial shipping delays -- I don't believe this to be the case based on shipping times from other warehouse locations).

But, I don't understand why it takes 14 hours to travel 700+ miles from Phoenix to Hayward and then 4 days to travel 100-ish miles from Hayward to Folsom.

[rpo]

It is the fault of the shipping service (aka USPS standard mail vs priority...etc). The free shipping for non-prime subscribers is the slowest shipping speed offered by USPS, UPS, Fedex, or one of the other dozen carriers they use. Due to that, all other packages shipped via faster services will be a priority over yours. If there is not enough room on the truck, the priority packages get loaded first, which likely left yours stuck.

[eVader]

tsukiji, do you have an .edu email address from any elementary to university school? If so, you can get Prime for free (shipping but not the free movies of Prime).

[camay2327]

My wife, son and I purchase quite a lot of things through Amazon.

The shipping is not really free because we do pay a yearly fee to start with.

It is still a lot cheaper than not having prime and paying for every shipment
especially if you do purchase a lot of stuff from them.

We get a lot of things through UPS and like was said earlier sometimes it goes to
USPS and actually gets delivered through the mail. I think that does slow things down
a bit but I am not normally in such a hurry that I can't wait for a day or two.

[rpo]

Just to give you an estimate of what I see frequently with Amazon Prime, I just ordered an item an hour ago. It just shipped from Tennessee via Fedex, and the estimated delivery is TOMORROW MORNING by 10:30 AM. Awesome. That is delivery from across the country in less than 20 hours.

[camay2327]

Just to give you an estimate of what I see frequently with Amazon Prime, I just ordered an item an hour ago. It just shipped from Tennessee via Fedex, and the estimated delivery is TOMORROW MORNING by 10:30 AM. Awesome. That is delivery from across the country in less than 20 hours.

rpo, Amazon is just GREAT...

It looks like they will be opening a HUGE warehouse near Patterson, CA.
It might make shipping even faster. Is that possible.

[tsukiji]

It is the fault of the shipping service (aka USPS standard mail vs priority...etc). The free shipping for non-prime subscribers is the slowest shipping speed offered by USPS, UPS, Fedex, or one of the other dozen carriers they use. Due to that, all other packages shipped via faster services will be a priority over yours. If there is not enough room on the truck, the priority packages get loaded first, which likely left yours stuck.

I guess that makes sense although the tracking information still doesn't sound right -- Tracking reflects that it departed Hayward on Day X and arrived in Sacramento on Day X+4. I can see sitting in Hayward for 4 days. Or sitting in Sac for 4 days. But where is it between Hayward and Sac for 4 days (sitting at some non-USPS carrier off the record)?

I'm not really complaining -- it's free shipping in a reasonable amount of time (1 week delivery). Still, it's just weird.

tsukiji, do you have an .edu email address from any elementary to university school? If so, you can get Prime for free (shipping but not the free movies of Prime).

Wow, that's a great offer -- I didn't know about this. I do have an .edu email address. But the offer is explicitly for students it seems. As I'm not taking any classes, I guess I don't qualify.

But that's a great tip for anyone taking classes!

rpo, Amazon is just GREAT...

It looks like they will be opening a HUGE warehouse near Patterson, CA.
It might make shipping even faster. Is that possible.

Is this a good thing? Will this happen? What about that whole debacle about CA sales tax and Amazon last year?

[rpo]

Is this a good thing? Will this happen? What about that whole debacle about CA sales tax and Amazon last year?

Well, it will require that Amazon start to collect sales tax in California. That is bad for those of us avoiding paying sales tax into the state and community where we live. But it is great that Amazon will likely employ 10,000 people here. It is phenomenal for the City of Patterson as their largest employer just announced it is shutting down.

[camay2327]

I think I heard that they won't actually start collecting sales tax until
next year. But, it may take that long to go it up and running...