Noooo!!

[Jerry]

Quote:

"Scary stuff...UPS in my rural town just zips by and tosses the package on my porch leaving it for the neighbor kids to steal....no signatures anymore...so use USPS where its kept safe for pick up (no mail delivery in my little town)."
Quote

I've had UPS leave a gun (A Knight muzzle loading rifle) on my front porch, as well as my last kilt I ordered. Fedex, on the other hand leaves nothing. I had to call them to arrange "a delivery time" for a package of networking connectors which cost less than 5 dollars to be delivered. They still do this in spite of my requests to the contrary.

[Mike n NC]

As one that enjoys fine cigars as well as kilts, I get invloved in a critter called a "boxpass" from time to time. Works like this...one cigar lover takes 20-30 different, fine cigars and mails them to another cigar lover. He will take several and replace them with cigars of equal or greater value and pass them on once again. This usually happens from 8-12 times before the box returns to the guy that started it with a completely different selection of cigars. These cigars will vary in value from a couple of hundred to over a thousand dollars for the box so yes it is a shipment of at least equal worth. Now to my point...

USPS Priority Mail is the only way we ship. It is faster than or as fast as UPS and FedEx as a general rule. This is especially important along with the fact that the package remains in a more temperature controled environment since cigars are prone to ruin if not stored properly. It can be tracked and it never gets left out on the porch since it requires a signature. Cost is based on weight and isn't any worse than UPS or FedEx as I have noticed.

Might be something to look into if you are not satisfied with your current service.

Mike

[LordDamax]

I've shipped a LOT in the past being a huge ebay seller at one time.

USPS Priority Mail is fast. From CA to MD and vice versa, no more than 2-3 days usually. PM is affordable IF the item weighs less than a few pounds. PM does NOT have a tracking number, ONLY a delivery confirmation number, which is utterly useless unless you're selling something and the buyer claims it never arrived. The signature confirmation is nice however. If they do have an actual tracking number (can see where the package is, where it was, and when it will be here) I've never seen the option.

UPS is fast if it's being shipped from nearby. I live near Baltimore, MD and if I order anything from PA, southern NY state, NJ, VA, Ohio, DE, etc UPS ground gets me the item overnight. I like that. UPS is slow as death if it's going cross country. Utilikilts shipped me my kilt on the 10th, it'll be here on the 17th. 7 full days is insane nowdays. However, for shipping a heavy item they cannot be beat for price (I havent shopped FedEx for this).

Personally I hate all the shipping services for one reason or another.

UPS has lost and damaged packages, not delivered a laptop I paid an extra $84 to have shipped priority overnight to me, because of 'snowy roads' in my area when it hadnt snowed in a week, and have denied insurance clams I have put in for things I've shipped for various reasons they invented which I had no ability to prove otherwise.

USPS absolutely rapes you on anything over a few pounds. Their tracking system is horrible (I've had packages shipped that the delivery confirmation 'tracking number' shows no info on their site for up to 2 days AFTER the package was delivered), if they lose a package for you kiss it goodbye, there is no tracking or accountability on their part (UPS HAS gone out of their way to find a lost package for me).

So for me, I ship using both, depending on the circumstances.

Here's some example prices for Priority Mail and UPS Ground for 1, 3, 10, and 30 pound packages from MD to CA:
1lb PM $3.85 - UPS $7.81
3lb PM $6.32 - UPS $9.61
10lb PM $19.20 - UPS $13.61
30lb PM $53.55 - UPS $32.01

It's obvious UPS is cheaper once you get into heavy items. But Priority Mail is always faster.

Oh... and to keep this on topic... it'll be here tomorrow! ;)

[jjoseph]

Just an FYI, UPS has recently made some financial / stuctural changes, one of the consequences of which is that shipping EXPRESS from the U.S. to Canada has gotten very sloppy. My company is UPS's largest customer in our metro area so when we told them we were switching to FedEX for international as of this week, they pretty much pissed themselves and are in process of ardent wooing. It's quite the sight to behold. LOL.

Anyways, just a word of caution re. using them across borders until they clean up their act.

[Iolaus]

Woohoo!!!! I just checked my tracking number, and It's "out for delivery"!! Right on time.

[LordDamax]

Anyways, just a word of caution re. using them across borders until they clean up their act.

I learned that a long time ago when I tried to RETURN an item to canada that I bought from a merchant there, and UPS wanted the merchant to pay $85 in brokerage and customs fees on a $120 (CDN) item. They didnt care that I was returning a defective item. I never ship international via UPS any longer.

[usndoc]

Katrina gave us a glancing blow yesterday and this morning I see my UK is "out for delivery" Hopefully by this afternoon it will be here. Of course with my luck UPS will claim some "act of god" and deliver next week. Patiently waiting.