aspikes

I preorder Star Wars set with the free shipping (37.79 w/stl) When I got home from work on Tuesday it was on my front porch. They sent it via UPS ground. I know people who PAID a lot for overnight shipping and they got their on the same day. I was so happy they sent it UPS ground vs usps media mail. Media mail sucks to no end. Its always takes a good week and half with media mail. I am inclined to use Amazon stl for preorder now that I know they use UPS.

calhoun07

I also got an order from them that sent out Tuesday (NOT for SW, believe it or not, other DVDs actually streeted that day that were of interest as well!). I find them to be typically pretty fast with the free shipping.

eau

They shipped my Star Wars tuesday morning via Airborne Home and it's in my hands today. I used free shipping and it's only 2 days after release day, not too shady.

brooke789

everything i have ever ordered from amazon has come ups. and i have never used anything but the free shipping. are some people getting things from then via media mail?

if i order books from amazon they are usually at home the 2nd day from my order (their books ship from about an hour from here). but ordering kitchen and housewares stuff (which is what most of my shopping on amazon is) it ships from kentucky. my orders will usually ship 3 or 4 days after i order it (depending on weekends and holidays) and i'll usually get it within a week. i can't complain about the free shipping at all. because there is no where that beats amazon's prices (on a lot of stuff).

Josh H

There shipping varies. Sometimes it's UPS, sometimes it's regular mail, sometimes it's media mail, etc.

I prefer regular mail, faster for me. I ordered two CDs Wed and they were delivered Sat.

I didn't get them until today though, as I have to have everthing I order from their sent to my workplace, b/c if they use UPS the new driver on my route won't drop any packages (or leave them at my apartment office) and I'm never home during their delivery hours.

Son-volt

I almost always have great luck with Amazon's free shipping. I buy all my box sets from them, because with STL almost nobody beats their prices. The last three I've ordered were Angel S3, Alias S3 and the Star Wars Trilogy, and all arrived the day after release, which was Tuesday. And I live in Eau Claire, WI, which I can't imagine is possibly close to anywhere they ship from (Kentucky I think).

quandary

"Sometimes it's UPS, sometimes it's regular mail, sometimes it's media mail, etc."

While we're on this subject, is there any way to specify that you DON'T want Amazon to ship via a particular carrier? I have enormous difficulty receiving UPS packages, for example, and would really prefer that they just ship everything to me via USPS.

eau

Unfortunately, you can't specify a particular carrier. The only way to force shipment by USPS is to specify a PO Box as the shipping address.

Josh H

Nope, no option to select carrier. Which is why I only order when I have a vividence or other GC to use as I too have problems with UPS all the time.

Just Lurking

Just for everyone knows. UPS real soon begin offering a new service for large shippers that will allow shipping to PO Boxes.

When a shipper enters a PO Box, UPS Worldship software will look up street address for a particular PO Box/Zip Code and generate a new label that has two barcodes. One that says UPS deliver to post office address and USPS deliver to PO Box address, we currently have send postacrds/telephone consignees for street addresses. They believe it will cut cost for current parcels addresses to PO Boxes and generate new revenue for parcels we do not currently get.

Laser Movies

I wish you could choose the carrier for shipments at Amazon since I prefer USPS. But fortunately most of my orders seem to go out by that method anyway. I always receive USPS shipments faster and the packages seem to arrive in better condition.

GuyverX

Amazon either ships the the stuff by UPS or USPS. If it's UPS, I'll usually get it the 2nd day. If it's USPS, it's anybody's guess...but their media mail takes a week to get to me even if they ship in the same state. So basically you just pray that they ship via UPS no matter where you live.

Walter Neff

I ordered two books with free shipping from Amazon on Tuesday of this week, I got the "your books have been shipped" e-mail yesterday, and they arrived today via USPS.

I have no complaints about that turnaround. Doesn't seem like a "racket" to me.

cupon

This has been my experience as well.

UPS also has a better tracking system that's constantly updated. USPS' tracking system is useless and pathetic.

davidvp

This is a stupid thing to accuse them of. And downright incorrect in all respects. So you have to click one extra button @ Checkout; so what? Who cares? The FREE option is still available. (Give people something FREE, and all they can do is gripe. Ridiculous.) **rollin' 'em**

Amazon's free S&H is not only a great deal; but also lightning fast! In fact, they now ship almost every FREE S&H order via UPS, instead of the just slightly slower USPS. Free orders arrive in 1 to 2 days ... 3 tops.

I can't figure why *anyone* would actually PAY for S&H, when the Free option is just as quick (normally). Paying is just like tossing the $$ right down the john.

Amazon is a fabulous e-store...always has been.

eau

I have to agree that the free shipping is a great deal. Some items can an additional $$ if shipping was not free.

Josh H

Varies by where you live and your situtation. For me USPS is much faster than UPS. Most things they ship UPS take over a week for me to get, plus it's inconvenient as I have to have it sent to my office and wait a day or two for it to find it's way to my mailbox as I'm NEVER home during UPS's delivery hours and the new driver on my route will never leave it on my patio or take it to my department office for whatever reason.

If they use USPS I usually get stuff in 3-5 days.

But still, it's free, so I can't complain. I just hate ordering stuff online anymore and only do so when I have coupon or something. It's usually the same or cheaper for me to just buy it locally 9 times out of 10 anymore and not have to deal with shipping hassles.

Rex Fenestrarum

They don't - that's MY problem. A couple of years ago "ships in 24 hours" meant just that. Nowadays, "ships in 24 hours" can mean that, or it can mean "ships in 2 weeks". The past 3 or 4 orders I've done with Amazon took a minimum of 4 days to ship - Keen Eddie took almost 2 weeks, even though it said "ships in 24 hours" during the entire time between me placing an order and it shipping.

If Amazon shipped stuff in a timely manner via a slow carrier, I'd have no problem with that. As it is, Amazon ships stuff late via a mediocre carrier, which is why I have a problem with all this. And that's why the lion's share of my DVD orders this year have gone to DDD. Media Mail *is* slower than UPS, but at least DDD can get something out the door in a timely manner.

If you want a DVD and you want it in a decent amont of time, you have to either pay Amazon out the yingamayang for shipping or just use any of a dozen other places that end up being cheaper after shipping gets included.

davidvp

I've found (overall) that DDD's "Media Mail" Free S&H is much slower than any of Amazon's Shipping methods. The Triple-D orders can take 10 to 13 days to go one-half of one state's distance -- which is virtually impossible if shipped in a timely fashion. You could walk it here sooner.

Obviously, they must just "sit" on some orders for a week; then ship them. Or: after shipment, the USPS "sits" on them for 10 days. It's got to be one or the other -- because there's *no* possible way a piece of mail can take more than 10 days to go 350 miles (*if* it's actually moving each & every one of those days).

By contrast, many Media orders I've had can arrive in 2 days. Weird indeed. But, still worth it to save gobs & gobs of annual greenbacks on S&H charges (IMO).

I hate paying for Shipping these days .... for anything .... because the FREE variants are such good offers; and usually *just* as fast.

* My 2/100th of 1 dollar. *

Walter Neff

Weird...I have exactly the opposite experience. My free-shipping Amazon orders typically leave Amazon's warehouse within a couple days of my order, while DDD seems to sit on my orders for many days before shipping. I typically get Amazon orders within a week of ordering, while DDD orders seem to take two weeks or longer between ordering and arrival.

Maybe it's because I mostly order books from Amazon, and (of course) DVDs from DDD? I don't know if that'd make a difference.

Josh H

My experience varies. The CDs I ordered a week ago were in stock and I had them 3 days later.

The books I ordered a month or two ago were in stock, but I didn't get them for 3 weeks as they just sat for over two weeks before shipping.

brooke789

my orders through amazon never go out extremely quickly, but am i the only one who isn't bothered by this. they have great deals and free shipping. so i order something save quite a few dollars on the price, save a few dollars on shipping, and it ships from thie warehouse 3 or 4 days later. All sounds worthwhile to me.

tasha99

I had two recent amazon orders--one I paid for shipping since I wanted it fast, the other I got free shipping. Both shipped within 24 hours, so I'm thinking free shipping is a bargain.

spankasmurf

placed an amazon order on 10/08 (pre-order DVD released on 10/12 and two books). used the free shipping. expected to ship on 10/18 and arrive 10/20-28. actually shipped on 10/11. arrived on my doorstep today 10/13. seems like a pretty good bargain to me.

bluesparrow

This happened to me just recently exactly like you described it. I ordered the Star Wars Trilogy box and a novel, both "ships in 24 hours," chose free shipping and it took both items over 7 days to leave their warehouse(seperate shipments).

I figured it was maybe that the Star Wars trilogy was backed up because of an extreme volume of sales, so I didn't think much of it.

But yesterday I placed an order for two dvds, both new releases, "ships within 24 hours," chose the free shipping option, and it said it was scheduled to ship(not ARRIVE, but SHIP) 8 days from now, in seperate shipping. This was unacceptable so I checked what it was with the next level up of shipping($4) and it said it would ship within 24 hours. One package. It'd arrive before the other was even shipped.

So I said "#&%$ it" and went to DDD, which is slower, but even with it's slowness it'd arrive before the Amazon order would even ship.

So I come down on the side of SCAM. It didn't use to be, this is a recent development, I'd never had this problem until October.

Neither would I. In fact, before this change things would ship when they said they would on the item page, and arrive incredibly quickly, two days or so. This new development makes me less likely to order dvds from them in the future, the only reason I did was because of the faster free shipping. Now that that's gone, I don't expect to use them for anything other than books, of which their selection is still unbeatable.

I have nothing against a corporation changing their policies to make money, but in that spirit I see no reason to be loyal to them if they're going to jerk us around like this. If it doesn't ship in 24 hours for EVERYONE, then don't lie and say it does.