WARNING! DVD Empire Priority mail is NOT really Priority Mail!
 

DVD Empire lists their various shipping methods as standard (media mail), USPS Priority, and of course UPS ground, 2'nd day, and overnight.

BE WARNED! If you order using USPS Priority Mail, and you are only ordering one DVD, it will only go First Class, NOT Priority! It all depends on the weight as to the shipping method they will use. Now, they didn't use to operate that way. If you ordered Priority Mail, it was shipped Priority Mail, regardless of the weight. I suppose the are pinching pennys now.

At any rate, I ordered a DVD on 7/24, upgraded to 'Priority' Mail, it shipped on 7/25 using First Class, and I still have not recieved it....eight days later!

They can't do that. You should send them an email pointing this out- maybe they're unaware of what the shipping dept is doing.

I think you should ask to have the shipping charges refunded if you ever receive the DVD. It is dishonest of them to substitute a cheaper method of delivery when you specified and paid for priority mail.

Oh, I called them and asked them about this. She told me that if a package weighs less than a certain amount, then it is shipped First Class. (ie....one DVD goes first class, two or more go Priority). I have been through this with them in the past, because when i received my package, I could see it wasn't sent Priority. I was given the same explanation then...of course it didn't take the package so long to arrive then.

I asked my postal clerk if a First Class package should take this long to arrive, and she said not ususally. So I'm thinking that possibly it went media mail by mistake.

Typically, first class packages will move as fast as priority so I suspect your package was misrouted or lost. Anyone who sells on half or ebay will tell you that the cost of mailing a single dvd first class is within pennies of media mail. It depends on weight but usually first class is cheaper.

Well well.....my DVD still has not arrived, so I called DVD Empire (again) on Monday, and he said it was probably lost. So they sent another copy yesterday.

Here is what i think happened....since the original order never showed a tracking number, I believe it never left their warehouse. In other words, it got lost in the shuffle, not in the mail.

At any rate, I think my online shopping days are over. This is the second consecutive bad experience I have had with delivery (the last one was with DDD). Best Buy....here I come.

That's not true!

The one you should blame is USPS for being careless, I've been in this kinda situation before but I recieved my dvds from DVDEmpire.

Priority mail is really just first class mail that weighs more than 13 ounces (in which case it has to go "priority" mail).
I don't see anything wrong with using first class as it's fast. Want proof? Here's a sample of my shipments in July:

Mail Class Number Average Minimum Maximum
Other 260 2.8 days 1 days 6 days
Priority Mail 36 3.0 days 2 days 5 days
Package Services 1 3.0 days 3 days 3 days

Other = first class
Package Service = media mail

As you can see, first class mail averaged 2.8 days vs 3 days for "priority"

Yup, thats right.

First class is "priority mail" until it reaches 13 ounces. Then its called Priority Mail.

"First-Class Mail is used for personal and business correspondence. Any mailable item may be sent as First-Class Mail. It includes postcards, letters, large envelopes, and small packages. The maximum weight is 13 ounces. Pieces over 13 ounces can be sent as Priority Mail." ----www.usps.com

I guess its all principle.

Is there a limit to what media mail can weigh?

70 lbs I think.

I didn't know about the weight thing with Pririty Mail. That's good to know!

From my own personal experience, one to two disc sets are usually under the weight limit for priority mail and fall in to the first class mail category (from $1.20 to 1.85). Over that, it automatically becomes priority, but ship times are not affected.

Is their "Standard shipping" option Media Mail or First Class Mail?

Standard or the free shipping option for three or more eligible titles is by media mail.

OK, thanks. Guess I'll have to stick with Priority Mail shipping since I'm not a big fan of Media Mail.