Original post · Thu, December 17, 2020 · ND Owner
🚚 Shipping 🚚
Shipping
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
I just want to give people a little insight on things, because sometimes I think people just assume packages magically appear at their doors. Remember, it is a week before Christmas in the middle of the biggest pandemic we have had in 100 years. To top it all off, we have a postmaster that is actively trying to sabotage the USPS for political and monetary gain. Hundreds of sorting machines were removed and destroyed at USPS facilities all over the nation before the election. I am not going to get into the political motivations of it, but the facts of the matter are undisputed. The entire US postal system has been effectively brought to its knees. We are seeing backlogs and tracking issues that we have never before experienced. To say it is bad is putting it mildly. Take a look at the below post.
You can see it on many subs right now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Flipping/comments/kdcj5n/is_anyone_choosing_to_shut_down_until_after_the/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Etsy/comments/kc3bfy/public_service_announcement_usps_now_has_a_big/
If you choose USPS at checkout right now, it's going to take forever to get to you. Tracking probably won't update. It might look like it is lost, but then magically show up. It's not going to be a smooth process. The USPS site explicitly says it at the top of the page, and we have "Experiencing some delays" next to the option at checkout. If you select USPS right now, you are going to have a bad time. Just expect that.
In addition, ALL the other carriers are at capacity, too. FedEx, UPS, and DHL are at capacity. They are even putting quotas in place limiting how much vendors can ship per day.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fedex-ups-limit-package-pickups-070726565.html
This means that many vendors have a cap on the amount of packages they can ship out per day right now, effectively killing their businesses. Furthermore, all the carriers have removed their delivery guarantees. This means none of the carriers will guarantee a delivery date at the moment. They say it will get there when it gets there. Luckily we have a contract with FedEx that mandate quick delivery times, and prevents them from capping us, so we are running probably better than almost every other company out there if you choose FedEx 2 Day at checkout. The fact that we can be as quick as we are in the current situation is actually pretty mind-blowing if you know how things are going in the background at the moment. However, any other shipping method is going to have issues right now. That's just how it is. We can't control that. There's nothing I can personally do about it. We all just have to be patient with things. It's a week before Christmas in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that is in a second wave. Please put things into perspective right now. I don't have a helicopter that I can personally fly your $25 package to you in. My customer support team can only help so much, and they are just as frustrated as you are about how things are at the moment. Please do not take it out on them. They are normal people just like you. They are also waiting on packages they ordered online. Shipping delays are affecting all of us right now. I am doing my best to keep things running efficiently as I can, and protect the health and safety of my team during this shitty year. We have prevented any outbreaks of the virus at our facility, and have been very diligent with our pandemic response. My entire support team have been working from home for most of the year, and we had to shift our systems and processes to allow that to happen. This is how we have been able to maintain the speed we have. My team should be commended for the effort they have put in to ensure this pandemic doesn't affect the orders you make from us. However, once the package leave our hands, it is out of our control. This is not something limited to just us, either. I implore you to be kind and patient with any vendor you are ordering from right now. We are all dealing with the craziness going on, and many don't have the volume we do or the contracts we do to operate at a level even close to normal. Cut them some slack for the time being.
Moral of the story is that these are unprecedented times. If you are ordering from us, and in the US, pick FedEx 2 Day at checkout. Don't pick any other option. That's your savior right now. If you choose any other option, you are going to regret it. Leverage the volume and contract we have, because 99% of the other companies out there can't even get the service we have right now at any cost. We planned ahead and got lucky. You can benefit from that, but only if you select FedEx 2 Day at checkout. It's crazy how fast our FedEx 2 Day is getting to people. Use it! If you are international, please be patient. Normal domestic is backed up enough. Throw customs into the equation, and things are going to take longer for a bit. There's nothing I can do about that. I wish I could, but there is nothing I or anyone can do but be patient and wait for the capacity issues to alleviate after Christmas. Please be kind to my support team and remember that we are all in this together. We will get through this time, but only if we are kind and patient with each other.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!