First Class Shipping

[CloudBurst]

Hi
Just thought I'd share what I just heard on the local news.
USPS First Class shipping is going to take 3-6 days as opposed to the usual 1-3 days?? Seem they're cutting back as well. So, plan on adding a few more days to the shipments. Sound like second class was just created....LOL

Stormy

 

[Running Wolf]

Well that sucks a dead whale! I know things get busy this time of year, a lot busier since all the internet companies started up in the 90's.... but double the time?

Wondering how po'd the people who love "running lean" (looking at the business management degree people) are loving that concept now .

Pisser is that the average Joe is gonna look unfavorably at the company sending the stuff instead of at the delivery service .

 

[AG51]

I heard they were going to stop the 'overnite' deliveries too. It's proposed anyway. They're cutting out many of the hubs where it's being processed and sorted for overnite

 

[CloudBurst]

That's what I was afraid of, customers thinking it's us being slow to ship! That's why I put this out, the 1-3 day current time isn't real accurate either. So, I wonder what 3-6 days really means?? LOL Maybe they're pushing for a huge advantage to Priority to make money. Either way, it's not good news! I didn't get the impression it had anything to do with the Holidays either.

 

[Brewlady]

Right now, the FDA is working on legislation that will classify electronic cigarettes like all other tobacco products. This includes allowing only face-to-face sales, no internet sales. No flavored nicotine liquid, only tobacco or menthol flavor. This is a serious threat.

PLEASE, if you haven't already done so, join CASAA. It's free to join.

Please join us for the bi-weekly CASAA Member Meeting tonight at 7:30 EST. If you cannot access the AnyMeeting program for some reason, email your 10-digit phone number to board@casaa.org and you will still be able to participate (audio only). We will call your phone when the meeting starts.

http://anymeeting.com/casaa

All others click the location link and then click "Join Meeting" button under "Upcoming Webinars" enter your name and email and you will be able to access the meeting.

Hope to see you there!

 

[AG51]

Any way any one chooses to ship is fine with me. I try to order ahead of running out because anything can happen and NO, it's NOT the fault of the company who's shipping it either. I never have nor will hold a grudge against any vendor here as far as shipping goes. So no worries from my end. I appreciate any one who supplies me with all this vaping goodness ! I think it just might be them covering their butts just in case packages do start arriving late for some folks is why they're publishing it.(the 3-6 day) Maybe ? I don't know, but I do appreciate you posting this. Have a great day !

 

[horton]

From what I've read about USPS, they have several problems currently. First is the roughly 5 billion dollar operating deficit for fiscal year 2011. They also have a quickly approaching deadline to fund the healthcare fund for their employees around mid Dec. to the tune (again) of roughly 5 billion. I am guessing there will be quite a few complaints if they also cut out Sat. delivery.
You certainly can't blame the vendor (especially Stormy) when you get the ship notice the same day you order. But, I do know many vendors tend to drag their feet with shipping and that will just add to the misery.
I have always preferred Priority mail and I'll take the upgrade if the vendor doesn't have it marked up too much. It beats UPS and FedEx in price and time. I've had packages get to CA from FL in two days many times. The ad campaign USPS has been running about Flat Rate I believe is confusing people about Priority shipping. Many times it's better to just figure the weight of the package and use good old Priority rather than Flat Rate Priority. Most of my orders are less than 2 pounds and if you use the calculator on the USPS site, you can see that the rates are less than Flat Rate, depending on how far the package is going.
Sorry for the rambling post, but just wanted to add my 2 cents....LOL

 

[CloudBurst]

Nothin' sits around here! LOL I've been known to chase the mail carrier with a last minute order! Ha

 

[Nic-holio]

Unfortunately for us, USPS delivery around here is unreliable. Sometimes Priority Mail stuff shows up in the expected timeframe, but just as many times, and more so lately, I have had priority mail packages sit at "the next town over" for 2-3 business days after the tracking has shown it left the Raleigh sort facility. The local mail carrier lady told us the last time this happened that they are horrible over there (in Rocky Mount) - they get stuff from Raleigh and sit on it for days unsorted. And of course when the local mail carrier delivers it they are the one that has to deal with the customer. She said they have complained about it to their managers but nothing is being done about it.

We used to live in a different town closer to Raleigh (Clayton) and we were pretty happy with Priority Mail - heck, probably half or more of the parts etc. I bought to do a custom modded PC mod came Priority Mail and we never had a problem. Here? Well, if it's something I really have to have, I will look for somebody who sells it that offers UPS or Fedex service and buy it from them before I buy it from someone who only offers USPS service.

Another problem is the undercurrent of riff raff in this town. If you leave anything sitting in your mailbox very long, well, you may never see it. And this is supposedly a "nice" neighborhood. (We've learned over the last couple years that "nice" is a relative term, especially if you "ain't from round heer".).

None of the carriers are perfect but we've had a lot less trouble with UPS and Fedex.

 

[Nic-holio]

In fairness I feel like I should follow up with some counterbalance to my previous post --

It isn't the vendor's fault that the USPS facility all our mail comes through right before it gets to our local post office is slack a good part of the time lately. I do have to say that the local mail carriers have been pretty good about bringing larger Priority Mail *packages* to the door and ringing the doorbell. (just not the smaller ones). And of course, when we know we have something important coming in the mail, we do tend to keep an eye out for the mail carrier.

I'll have to get used to using USPS more often, it looks like a lot of e-cig vendors only use USPS. It might be worth thinking about picking up one of the others (UPS or Fedex) as an option, especially with the talk going on about USPS closing down half of their regional processing centers. Congress is supposedly working on a way to make the USPS profitable without closing all those centers down (and laying off all those workers). Or so they say on the news.

We did place an order this morning with SVC, and WOW did you process it quickly! We got an email with the USPS tracking number well before lunchtime.

Thanks Stormy - keeping my e-ears to the ground for happy news for the arry tanks.