Mike BigCD

Hey I just got done going to the post office with my dvd orders and I have to tell you guys I had a conversation with the mail supervisor regarding the current situation and this explains a lot and you should be aware of certain things.

Mail is now taking generally 2 and sometimes even 3 times as long in some cases for delivery than what you normally expect from the US postal service. My customers are complaining about not recieving thier dvds and what not promptly and frankly if you haven't forgotten this country is at war.

How quick are we to forget what no human could even put into words what took place on the 11th. The reprocussions of those actions will resonate through our society for years to come. We can try to come back to what we consider normal business and normal day to day lives but these events will change the way things are done for a long time and in some cases forever.

The current wave of Anthrax attacks will absolutely effect the way the post office does it's business for a long time. You have to realize that essentially the united states postal service is under attack by biological and potentially chemical based warfare. Yet we still expect the same service from them which if you think about it mail service is amazing that we have taken for granted.

So really in defense of the e commerce stores and towards the customers who complain about poor mail service and or store delays. You have to open your eyes and realize that none of us sellers can do a single thing about this and we are at the absolute mercy of that mail system which is being attacked on a daily basis now. For one thing the usps is not using commercial airplanes any more to deliver mail so if you order something from california and its being shipped from the east coast its not going on a plane anymore it's going on a truck and it's takes a long time to get from the east coast to the west coast.

International packages are being returned to me even for not having a very detailed customs form and complete sender and reciever information on file. These guys are going all out to try to protect everyone from the recent attacks and it's definitely going to slow everything down considerably. Media mail was always slow and always the last item to be picked for sorting and shipping it's even going to be worse now. I am recieving reports of 2-3 weeks now for shipping times in some locations. I would recomend priority mail only when ordering from stores. Frankly I am posting to use priority mail at my store and not use media mail if you ever want your items delivered in a reasonable time at least until this wave of attacks dies down. Postal service is not going to care about sending packages out that are 4th class anymore.

So for safetys sake of postal employees ( who 2 have died already from anthrax) and those people who are encountering these anthrax envelopes don't be selfish and get angry about shipping times. There is nothing under the sun anyone can do about it be happy to watch your dvds after they are released by a few days and and be thankful nobody died somewhere in the system of delivering your mail.

This message brought to you by my conscience because I was tired of people with this selfish attitude on the forums crying about dvds not being delivered on release dates when there literally are people dying for it. Also forgive me if your going to be the grammar police all in my post i usually just write how I think.

- Mike BigCD

Iron Chef

Well said.



There are more important things to worry about in this world, then when a DVD arrives.

tripleeric1

Yeah..it's kinda funny how bent out of shape some people get in this forum. They should really stop and think about the lives they live.

Can I have a hug? (weep..sob....sniff)

explorer2000

I agree. Great post & a good reminder that getting dvds & other items in the mail on or before release dates is great but it is not the end of the world, so to speak, if our packages arrive later then expected.

Actually, I have been expecting big delays in receiving my packages but so far this hasn't happened but if the delays do occur it does it really matter? Not IMHO.

Wolfchild

As a postal employee myself I just wanted to say a couple of things. First of all, I agree with your thoughts...that there may be some delays here and there and yes, with the tragic events we've encountered and ones that are still occuring, people do need to be a little bit understanding - like you said, we are at war.

At the same time, I'm seeing some exaggeration (not by you, just in general) about the mail delays. That one supervisor you talked to is not necessarily an all-knowing authority.

One thing I'm not sure about...the clerks and supervisors where I work told me that the mail began flying again on the 18th...one week after the attacks. I could be wrong on this, and I'll check this out in the next day or two. Airmail was grounded a little bit longer than commercial flights that week, but I'm pretty sure domestic air routing is up and running again. I only see things as a carrier, but believe me there hasn't been any kind of slowdown in the volume of mail and parcels on the routes that I cover. I think that there just wasn't any major announcement when they began flying again...of course I might be totally wrong.

I do know that international stuff is definitely being flown...I've mailed multiple items to Europe lately via Global Priority and Airmail, and they're getting there in 3-5 days. I know that wasn't by boat. Likewise with domestic Priority, 1st class and even Media Mail. I just received a Media Mail package from 1,000 miles away that had shipped two days ago. I ship a lot parcels out and they have all been arriving right on schedule.

There may continue to be some slowdowns here and there. There may be more inspections on anything without a good address or peculiar-looking. Everyone should make sure they have a good, complete, legible address as well as return address.

Who knows what lies ahead. I just wanted to say that everything has still mostly been business as usual. Don't be afraid to send and receive parcels on account of any fear of delays.

Also Cozza

Thanks for clearing this up Mike.

TheBang

Be that as it may, I am seeing horrendous delays here in Hawaii. A priority mail package for an eBay auction I won sent to me on 9/26 did not arrive until 10/9. The Godfather DVD set sent priority by Amazon on 10/5 did not arrive until 10/16. My Star Wars DVD was sent First Class on 10/12 and arrived 10/17, so that was normal. But Snow White, sent Media Mail by Costco on 10/6 still hasn't arrived as of today. A Columbia House DVD Club enrollment package shipped 9/21 still hasn't arrived (usually they take 3.5 weeks to get here). My credit card statement usually arrives on the 25th of each month. September's statement didn't arrive until 10/9, and now I'll probably have to pay late charges unless I can convince my CC company to waive the charges.

I'm not complaining. I fully understand. It's just a little inconvenient, and it really makes me worried, wondering whether things are lost in the mail or just really slow. Delays ARE still happening. They are still affecting me.

Wolfchild

Perhaps there is more of this than I thought. Personally I haven't had much trouble at all. The week right after the attacks there were definitely some delays (for my stuff) but after that it's been fine.

Might be some particular processing facilities, or the way the mail flies to Hawaii. I'm sorry to hear that but hopefully they'll get things moving better for you before long. It's odd though that the mail I've been sending to Europe, no kidding, is getting there in almost record time.

BTW, about the mail not going on commercial flights. My wife reminded me that the USPS had worked out a deal with FedEx for moving mail by air...so that could mean the no commercial flights thing is still true but they are using FedEx aircraft now. I'm not stating this as a fact...just what we've heard. I remember they were working on something like this well before the 9/11 attacks and afterwards maybe it completely switched to FedEx. If anyone has more knowledgeable info then please correct me...like I said I'm just repeating some things I've heard. My job only involves getting mail from the post office out to rural customers so I don't have a lot of knowledge of the processing and handling.

Laser Movies

The mail has been slower than usual here in California. I had two orders from Amazon that shipped priority mail that took about a week. Also my credit card statement arrived later than usual, but at least I was able to get the payment made and credited a few days before the due date. But for some reason orders from Deep Discount have arrived about the same as usual by media mail.

rkndkn

Todd B, I'm glad to read your post. I'm in Hawaii also, and everything is extremely slow. Some Priority Mail packages take 11 days to arrive. First class parcels are taking almost 3 weeks. The odd thing is it's ALWAYS slower coming here than it is going to the mainland.

Todd, one thing you mentioned about not receiving your "Snow White" sent media mail on 10/6 -- media mail has ALWAYS, even before 9/11, taken 4 - 6 WEEKS to reach us in Hawaii. I've written several e-mails to online retailers telling them to put a disclaimer on the media mail shipping time for Hawaii, because we're different from the rest of the States for that form of shipping. Literally, SHIPPING.

I must admit it HAS made me slow down my online purchases and trading. I'm a worrier by nature, so I always fret until I hear my recipient received the parcel. Puts a bit of a damper on things.

When all is said and done, I know we're lucky to have mail at all. But just wanted to commiserate with Todd, and notify others dealing with Hawaii that it will be quite a bit slower now.

Josh-da-man

I live in the midwest, and recent Priority Mail packages have been arriving late. I got two last week -- and going by the postmarks, one took six days to get to me, the other took eight. Usually, it takes anywhere from two to four days, though it's usually three. So Mike BigCD's mail supervisor isn't out of line.

With the recent announcements, I suspect the mail will be running a bit slower for a while.

kahuna

I am in the same boat as the others living in Hawaii. After the WTC attack the mail here basically came to a halt. The postal facilities here was not allowed to fly mail out on commercial arilines. So they had to charter planes to fly the mail out of here about a cost of $200,000 from what I was told.

I have been doing some korean drama tapes sales with people living in all over the US. Before the attack it would take about 3-4 days for Prioirty Mail to get to the east coast. Now it is taking about 10-14 days to get to Virginia and Washingtonn DC. The same with Minnesota which always took only 3-4 days. I sent someone a box of korean drama vhs tapes and it just arrived yesterday. That box took 11 days to arrive.

Shipments to California which usually only take 2 maybe 3 days at the most are now taking 5-7 days to get there and this is just a direct flight across the ocean.

Right before the anthrax mail problems things were getting back to normal. I shipped boxes to Virginia and it tool 4 days and also a few California and those took 2 days. But now we are back to the long delays once again. Not sure were the hold up is but it seems to be on our end.

Stuff from Amazon.com and CdNow is taking 2-3 times longer and I also made a trade with a gold trader who lives in TX. We both agreed to send each other's dvd first class mail. Mine got to them in about 5 days here it is 10 days now and no dvd. I am sure it will get here but this is getting very frustrating waiting for boxes to arrive on both ends of the transaction.

Kahuna UN -

rfduncan

Taking into account all that was said before I still find this response to my inquiry on multiple order both insulting and abusive towards the US Postal Service as Playcentric makes them its patsy/scapegoat:

I recieved my Princess Bride order on 10/23, three weeks after they claimed they put it in the mail. Yeah - whatever.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK AMERICAN POSTAL CARRIERS!

Wolfchild

"Due to the tragedy on Sept 11th the whole postal service was down for almost 2 weeks"

Worse than this being an excuse or scapegoat, it's also simply a lie. Anyone who received mail in the days following 9/11 should be able to see that. It just seems ridiculous to hear something like that...in the week following the attacks my office was swamped with work. The person who wrote that is either a boldfaced liar or a virtual idiot.

I'd boycott an outfit that told me something like that.

Hey you guys in Hawaii.....sorry to hear about the delays but hopefully the mail will start flowing better soon. I'm sure they're doing everything they can...

JesseCuster

FWIW, i received my Dead Ringers CC from DDD in *4 days* via Media Mail. That has to be some kind of record. Kudos to the postal service and it's employees. I and most everyone have complained about them from time to time but they're really doing a great job right now under extremely serious conditions. Let's hope the government gets things rolling quickly to safeguard these fine folks.

huzefa

Are you in Chicago?

Eric F

If I was living in Hawaii I wouldn't mind if my mail arrived a little late.

moocher

To echo the comments above concerning Playcentric, some of the less reputable online retailers such as Playcentric and 0rderbox are already using the anthrax postal situation as an excuse for not shipping items in a timely manner.

Case in point: OB told me that the a DVD I waiting on had shipped 10/16 and had not arrived yet because USPS is "running slower these days". I received my package today and noticed on the invoice that it actually did not ship until 10/24. USPS got it to me in 2 days!!

USPS
0rderbox

dvd2001

Two points:
On Monday of this week, I sent someone an express mail package, that was "guaranteed delivery" by noon on Tuesday. It finally arrived today (Friday), and he was told that this had been a package that had been "inspected". I may request a refund for that $16.25 shipping charge. I am totally sympathetic to the situation we're in, but if they can't deliver the service temporarily, then it shouldn't be offered.

I've also noticed that some items I've been waiting for have been slower than normal arriving here, mostly priority mail. In general, they're about 2 days slower than expected.

I definitely agree that we have to put this in perspective, due to the extraordinary circumstances that we're in. Compared to the big picture right now, these delays are just "trivial annoyances".

TheBang

Well, guess what? Snow White showed up in my mailbox yesterday. I was very (pleasantly) surprised. Only 3 weeks. That's pretty good for Media Mail here. Hopefully it's a sign that things will start getting more normal here.

Shay

I would agree with this. If you pay for express shipping, then it should get there by the promised date and time. If it does not then you should be entitled to a refund of the difference of express and first class. That is IMHO. As far the slow down in the other classes of mail, that is an unforunate circumstance of the current situation.

Zarathustra999

The Postal Service has always seemed slow to me, that's why I always use FedEx if it's something important and needs to be delivered quickly.

Startide

As long as the gamma radiation irradiators and the X-ray scanners to be used by the USPS don't harm anything I ship or receive, a week more delay doesn't bother me.

I wonder if some electronic components might not like being bombarded by gamma radiation (enough to sterilize food) that will be used to detoxify mail at over 100 key USPS locations.

Shay

I would think undeveloped film would be a big issue have being irradiated, but that is a guess on my part.

Henry_Krinkle

Well, I'm from England and I'm still waiting for Snow White ...28 days after it shipped from CDNow!!!

...it normally takes 10 to 12 days. Could this be due to September 11th events??