Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: zirkelwin on August 28, 2011, 08:45 pm
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Last week I placed an order in hopes of having it this weekend. I meant to upgrade to Express Mail, but miscalculated and ended up having to get Priority Mail instead. I assumed it would be faster than first class since it costs quite a bit more. All of my orders in the past have taken 2-3 days to arrive after being marked in transit, so I fully expected it to come either Friday or Saturday, but it didn't.
I did a quick Google search and found a bunch of consumer complaints about the Priority Mail service. A couple of media outlets even did small experiments to compare delivery times, and they too found that Priority Mail takes just as long if not longer than First Class.
I'm not writing this to complain, I should have done my research first. I guess this is more of a heads up that upgrading to Priority shipping probably isn't a good idea (Express Mail should still be fine, the USPS guarantees it's delivery time).
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Guaranteed only means they will give you a refund on the Express Postage you paid. I did an express package the other week and it was guaranteed to be delivered on a Friday and not delivered until Saturday. And I got it in a full hour before the deadline for the next day delivery guarantee. Needless to say I'm just gonna cut my losses and not apply for a refund as it requires ID and such.
In my experience Priority mail is generally 1 - 3 days faster than 1st Class depending on distance and other factors. All mail, no matter what method you use, is subject to random delays. Method of drop-off, inclimate weather between sender and the destination, just plain lazy or shitty postal workers, and / or other things can all cause delays in the mailing process.
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Just to follow up, this package ended up coming 7 days after it was postmarked. Everything was in great shape with no signs of tampering.
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FWIW, the post office says First Class is 3 days coast to coast and 2 days within 600 miles. $5 might buy you 2 days instead of 3 over a really long distance, otherwise it's just a cash cow for the post office. I send & receive a lot of mail in my job - the 3 days coast to coast for First Class is pretty reliable.
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FWIW, the post office says First Class is 3 days coast to coast and 2 days within 600 miles. $5 might buy you 2 days instead of 3 over a really long distance, otherwise it's just a cash cow for the post office. I send & receive a lot of mail in my job - the 3 days coast to coast for First Class is pretty reliable.
After my experiences over the past week, I have to agree with F104 completely. My experience now tells me that First Class is as fast or faster especially if sent from one major metro area to another. Extreme rural locations might be an exception. I think that the packages are routed differently when mailed with different methods, but I have had Priority packages take a full 7 business days and First class mailed on a Monday afternoon be delivered on Wednesday morning. Coupled with the fact that Priority Mail has no delivery guarantee times seems like a marketing ploy / cash cow (except you can get your boxes or envelopes for free.)