nikonwaddy

Last Sunday, Feb 9, after waiting on the sale I knew was coming I pulled the trigger on a new Nikkor 24-120 f4G from Adorama as a B-Day gift to myself. I wanted it here by 14 Feb. so I popped for 3 day delivery service. Things went well and tracking told me the lens was moving as planned. It arrived in Dallas Thursday Feb. 13 (I am in Austin)but then stalled with a notation that it was weather delayed and has not been updated since. I am a retired airline worker and am fully aware of weather delays but the thing is all the bad weather has been way east of Texas and here we have been enjoying some really fine weather. This is not a rant, I know feces occurs and will survive but my query is have any of you folks experienced the same thing with UPS. I kinda expected better updates if delays were to happen. Seems to me UPS tech. is a tad behind the times.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I had the same problem with FedEx 3 weeks ago.

Mallardo Loc: NW Louisiana

Same here when sending a print to Mississippi. I'd give it a couple of business days and then start sending e-mails/ phone calls.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

UPS made BIG news at Christmas 2013 after failing to deliver hundreds of thousands of packages on time, they have yet to catch up it seems. I quit shipping UPS in 1999 and have only used FedEx since then. Unfortunately you usually have no choice when buying from a store that has delivery contracts with certain carriers. File a claim and you will get your shipping upgrade refunded, but that still won't get the lens there on time.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My experience with UPS is that 99.9% of the time they get it right. You appear to have the 00.1% problem. Phone Adorama and ask them to check from their end.

Major online retailers like Adorama, LLBean, Amazon, B&H "get it". They will assume responsibility and get you a lens ASAP.

That said, there could be a big enough weather backup in a single UPS hub that it will take 3 or 4 days to sort out. One economist writing for USA Today said that the storms since December have causes a $15 billion loss for the USA if you include all the lost opportunities and their ripple effects.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The rest of that story is that holiday buyers procrastinated more than any other previous year. Online sales in the last few days was higher than anyone, anywhere forecast. Traditional shopping mall sales growth was dismal and below goals.

My local experience includes having a neighbor who drives for UPS on local delivery. He says the growth in the UPS hiring rate is greater than he has seen in his 30 years of working there. He is using his seniority to get overtime as often as he can. During the holiday period he would leave start work at 6:30 and get off at 8.

The internet retail system is growing on the support of UPS, FedEx and Priority Mail. It is creating fantastic opportunities for large and small retailers everywhere, including Montana!

nikonwaddy

Thanks for the comments, they were appreciated. I am thinking the take away lesson here is forget paying for any expedited delivery service, stick with free or low-ball service and just have patience. If there is an urgent need for an item..buy local.

UtahBob Loc: Southern NJ

I have more issues with FedEx than UPS but FedEx is getting better. But the OP shouldn't take the delivery status to heart - it probably never landed in his town.

I've had UPS "delivered" but actually it was returned to vendor being broken. I had to order 4 units as that's how they were boxed. If one were good and three broken that would have been fine with me. Instead $60 later to have a new box overnighted.

I've had FedEx "delivered" but actually it was "road to busy to stop yesterday so I marked as delivered and expected to do it next morning". I had to hunt the driver down the next morning and found him at the drug store and that's what he told me when he gave me the package. Wouldn't of sucked so much if I were not waiting all day for it at a location I would not otherwise have been at ...

There is also the USPS last leg where the original carrier marks as "delivered" but that's to the post office so you have another day to wait. First go around is the learning experience with that one.

In any event, the whole system is pretty amazing given that you can go from point a to b at a cost that is pretty reasonable.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I thought that criticism was unwarranted. If people wait till the last minute to send gifts, they can't "shoot the messenger." The news showed people weeping on TV because their (whoever) would wake up on Christmas morning with no gifts. Really? No gifts? And the giver waited till the last day to send that special gift?

UPS gets my stuff to me in a timely manner. If they receive half a million extra packages in one day, there's no way they can keep up with that.

Photosmoke

I have had better service from UPS than several of those other outfits you mentioned. & I love my 24-120 great lens

nikonwaddy

Thanks Photosmoke...I hope I will like mine...when I get it

One Camera One Lens Loc: Traveling

I agree with Jerry, UPS is very good at getting my stuff down here in old Florida. Now I have to remember that the items have to get through the snow area up north to get down here. So if they're late so what it's on its way, breath a little, after all how many of us are GeoPhotographers that HAVE to have that lens or camera NOW............................

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Possibly the problem is the combined delivery UPS and FedEx have entered into with the USPS, UPS and Fed Ex get it to the local USPS delivery area and hand it off the Postal Service for delivery to the home. In Baltimore, we got no mail Thursday, to be expected, but also no mail on Friday when road were mostly clear nor Saturday - Roads CLEAR. What (was) the motto- neither rain nor...

AlisonT Loc: Louisa, Virginia

I'm still waiting on some frames coming FedEx that were supposed to be here Friday. They seem to be stuck in Texas as well. Today I checked and they are apparently on the move again and are supposed to be here tomorrow.

Also haven't had mail since Wednesday but our 500' driveway is a bit of a mess so it may be just me.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, that is a nuisance. It delays delivery by at least a day, but it's cheaper, so shippers sometimes use it. Unless I'm in a hurry for something, I accept less expensive free shipping.

I usually order from Amazon, and they deliver within two days. When I order from another company, I am surprised how long it takes to get the delivery. I've been spoiled by Amazon.

As for the "Neither rain nor snow..." That comes from Greece, 500 BC.

http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/post-office-motto.html