RSpinney Loc: Maine

I have ordered a number of things that have gotten shipped by UPS . . . only to have UPS hand it over to the USPS for further shipping and delivery. So, who is really better? Typically, those orders have been delivered a day or two ahead of the original estimate.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

UPS does this because it’s cheaper. The USPS is already required to deliver; UPS isn’t. A lot of folks don’t want to hear it: but rural delivery is “subsidized”. It’s a form of socialism— and it’s appropriate that such a system exists.

jdub82 Loc: Northern California

In my area, Amazon is using OnTrac less and less, and mostly uses USPS for their Prime deliveries. Unfortunately, our local post office does a lousy job of deliveries. When they deliver something to the door for Amazon, which they frequently do, they harshly drop the package on the porch. I have had a camera, lenses and other items that have literally been dropped on the porch, and they never ring the bell. Fortunately the items have been packaged well enough to protect them. I much prefer UPS or FedEx to the U.S. Postal Service or OnTrac. I have never had an issue with B&H deliveries, and most recently they are using FedEx. I do believe where a person lives makes a big difference as to how good any of the major delivery services perform.

Cheese

Good point. Next time you are stopped for speeding, take comfort in knowing there were countless times you were not speeding.

sv3noKin51E

Flyguy, Several sources at the shops have mentioned 'free expedited shipping' was switched to fedex-green because of customer dissatisfaction. Wish I had $5 every time I've heard that but sometimes it's true. Contractual price-breaks, volume discount for shipments vs expenses/losses are always part of the equation customers never see, and seldom is anything really free. We've never had a complaint about Adorama or competitors. We've returned lenses and a body that was immediately/courteously replaced, but no real issues. With few exceptions we don't usually risk going with 'free' shipping unless the dollar amount is under a certain number. We've always given the stores our direct feedback including shipping problems, and never forget to express our appreciation. No one except old dodgers remember what it was like in pre-internet times, before citizens were consistently spoiled with instant gratification (online ordering). These stores never forgot and still have mail order departments.

With either shop you can specify any shipper or speed you need but that's not free-expedited. If you're east of the MS, you might receive the package within 2 business days from the time fed-green picks it up from whichever warehouse has it. West of the Mississippi, always takes longer. However, if you ask nicely and are a regular, happy customer, at their discretion the store might offer you reduced shipping charges if you want a different shipping option; you won't know if you don't ask. We never blinked in the days when overnight was cheap at $20 dollars. 3-day business shipping isn't much and we figure we're going to absorb the charge, knowing our stuff will actually arrive on-time and intact. Shipping is rarely truly free, but business math is complex; prices breaks and expenses are adjusted to pay for customer perks, but it can work to your advantage in a certain order value. Amazon's yearly membership moves to $120 a year for 'free' 2-day shipping (or less) with the video streaming and other extras that that membership a paltry $10, better than the other video only streaming service. Adorama's VIP club at $49 per year is worth considering.

You probably know fed-green has never been Federal Express. Federal Express used to say "when it absolutely has to be there overnight" and they still do overnight and 2nd day the right way. Fed-green won't talk about Federal Express, won't touch Federal Express packages, yet your can hand a pre-paid fed-green shipment to Federal Express who will put it on a semi to head east, not to be confused with, 'Head East'. In areas 50 miles from a hub or drop off point, being able to drop the package off is cheaper/faster than scheduling a $20 pickup. Like a relative no one cares to claim, when it's bad, it's horrid. With all US shipping services, discretionary driver package delivery means that unattended, non-signature deliveries are the single source of stolen packages. Whomever delivers your camera, it's worth the signature fee to prove -you- received your order.

If you haven't seen driver footage on YouTube, the delivery services have apparently, finally began to get the message, that no one cares to pay for ill treatment of their packages. We waited most of the day for a delivery which we'd received a notification when it was placed on the truck, out for delivery at 5:30 AM. The delivery status changed online later that day and since no truck drove down our private drive, we contacted the hub. The manager contacted the driver (that was possible back in those days) who insisted that our package had been left in front of the door; not true. We told the manager our suspicions then called the police. The police weren't too busy and it turned out this wasn't a case for CSI. The driver was kind stupid enough to leave our shipping carton w/label and invoice in his apartment building dumpster. A plain-clothes officer spoke with this clown at his door while a uniformed officer rounded the corner of the building with evidence in hand; trash collection wasn't for another 6 hours, so case closed. The only time we ever received an apology from that company. PR seems a conflict and puzzle for these guys, their planes breakdown, delivery trucks slide into and float down rivers, packages are scattered all over the interstate when the trucks jackknife, and it's all in front of cameras, yet the majority of shipments are delivered. When a hub in our region lost power for a day and a half, it was an international snafu. The service never told delivery customers the truth, which would've been understood since everyone has lost power or a computer at some point. 'Catastrophic weather event/natural disaster/national emergency, none of which had occurred and everyone instantly knew. A shipper's inside contact learned and shortly thereafter it was leaked, which made the delivery service silly for no transparency; they never fessed up. This is from a corporation that knows exactly where your stuff is at every point in transit, even if or as it's sinking in the muck in Timbuktu.

If you buy your gear once a year or every week, stay on good terms with your salesperson. We sometimes order online but if ab items haven't been listed yet, you can get a great deal. If your order isn't right, call and tell them nicely; they'll be glad to help. Don't play the blame game, cursing a store in a blog has been done to death, isn't professional or constructive and won't help. Most pros always use overnight or 2nd day shipping, but free shipping may be fine for you if you stay on top of it. The last time we gave 'free' a spin was on a Thursday and the order arrived the following Thursday, not totally unexpected west of the MS. If you order early Monday, your order should easily arrive by Friday; remember, you didn't pay for free. Good luck with all of your orders, shipments, and happy shooting. sv.

bittermelon

Still trying to figure out what Adorama has to do with anything in this whole thread.

MrGNY Loc: New York

When did you order the product? If it was a Friday they close early for the sabbath. So it probably didn’t ship til Monday even though the shipping label was printed. You have left out some key details. BandH is normally on top of there game.

sv3noKin51E

LoneRange, if only it were true, that rural areas have subsidized mail service at all other citizen's expense, much less Jeff Bezos and Amazon, but don't believe all the media news outlets. If not for UPS and/or FedEx, we'd have no deliveries. Amazon delivers almost everything in our area via UPS, as fed-green has proven unreliable at times. When there's no mail carrier service, post office or postal employees, it's tough to think we get any subsidies.

Ours is a very rural area, no USPS persons within 10 miles, really. During the last round cutbacks several years ago, all that USPS left in our area was an option to rent a letter-sized, 1st class mail lock-boxs for invoices, bills, banking, government mail, etc, in an old building a couple of miles away; at least we aren't bothered with 'junkmail' since it won't fit. Parcels can't won't fit and with no counter service and no contract, UPS and Fedex are the defacto last mile service. There are many areas in the US that don't have enough of a population to support a postal worker. A contractor comes through most days at dawn to stuff the row of lock-boxes; there's a single blue deposit box but there's not much in the way of outgoing mail; it gets trucked to the regional hub a couple of times a week, so we've heard. The next actual post office is in the next county where the state capital is located; all common urban services are available 24/7 and that's where we travel once a month. We have the benefit that there's been no crime in living memory; seems that criminals are much more comfortable preying on city residents who usually aren't as well armed.

If not for Senators during the cutbacks, 400 areas including ours wouldn't have the limited inbound mail service we still enjoy. Not sure how far in rural area you've traveled, but internationally there are places where there has never been any postal service; they have cellphones instead. There are areas in the southwestern/northern states where people drive 20 miles to reach their mailboxes. Last mile delivery from UPS or FedEx via surepost/smartpost schemes works only in urban areas where USPS agrees by contract to provide last-mile delivery, so no carrier means no last mile delivery. UPS and FedEx love us as we require them to collect our signature. Without a signature requirement, none of these services have to deliver a box into your waiting hands, ring your bell or knock if they don't feel they have time or feel friendly. The truth is that life goes on just as easily when USPS isn't available; one gets used to it and life goes on. We're pleased our stuff has not been smashed up or lost by USPS for over five years, since moving to the country. A relative still make a reasonable living working for USPS in another part of the country, so it's good to know that at least cities are still subsidized by USPS. sv

SuperFly48 Loc: NE ILLINOIS

My OP title "Adorama"....meant to be snarky and sarcastic! The facts, after reading everyone's input so far, THE last time I got a shipment on time from B & H, when I got my D850 in mid January; on time meaning the date when I tracked the shipment was the same date I got my order. I do not recall the carrier; I know it used to be UPS. Since then every order from B & H has not been delivered as indicated on the initial date with the Fedex tracking number, usually one day later. This time it was a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8; signature required. Signature obviously required for my D850. I ordered the lens before 10 am on Tuesday; the B & H order confirmation gave me a delivery date of Thursday. I arranged my whole rest of the week according to that delivery date! Changing the delivery date had a domino effect I could not undo. (I do not reside in the boonies; I see UPS and Fedex all the time, every day. I get my mail most of the time before noon.) If you are going to advertise "2 day free expedited shipping" to my area (an hour from downtown Chicago), and I check that box when I complete my order, then I expect you to honor that. If not, then I think it's false advertising or something like that? B & H has a business relationship with Fedex; if the left hand does not know what the (BLEEP) the right hand is doing, there IS a PROBLEM! I have never ordered anything from Adorama...YET! I am considering my options. It is MY hobby, therefore I do not expect other family members here to change their schedules to accommodate me. A side note, I have ordered items like a couple of SD cards from B & H; it puzzles me why B & H does not use USPS for those shipments.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I supervise a department that received over 100,000 pieces of mail during a two week period. And they did this making ten stops.

Each year we send out more than a million pieces of mail. These are all first class—not bulk rate.

I guarantee you that our cost for a first class piece of mail is the same as a first class piece of mail delivered any where else. The labor cost per piece of mail is much lower for our volume. It’s basic math.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I buy from all of Adorama, B&H, Amazon, and eBay. These days Amazon often uses their own delivery service w/ Prime and gets things to me in two days. I generally prefer the USPS as they don't hold stuff, they get it to you as fast as it can move through their system and not be held because you paid for a cheaper service. I find UPS often mis-delivers because they don't use the Plus-Four of my zip code and drop things off at the same number on another street. FedEx and DSL seem to be OK with no really good or bad issues. Yes, I try to be home to receive packages.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Oh, yes. B&H does have that quirk, they'll close for week long Jewish holy days. If you are not aware it can be confusing and frustrating.

courtland43 Loc: Central Florida

All three of the big shippers consistently do very well for me here in the suburbs of Central FL. Having worked for two of these services at some point in my life I will offer this advice. If you have a problem then make a complaint. Be respectful, concise and give complete details. If possible send a copy not only to CS but to the local delivery facility - the place where they load the delivery trucks - especially if the package is just a 'no show.' The point being that if there is a consistent problem there's probably someone who isn't doing their job as they should or a process that needs fixing.
If I don't want my package 'dropped' on my doorstep then I pick it up (preferred) or pay for signature service. Never had a shipment damaged by being dropped off. Nothing's for free and you get what you pay and....

Just my two cents.
Keep the change,
Court

Bigbeartom44

My experience with UPS was bad and good. When I lived in Big Bear, CA at 8,000 ft in the mountains it was very poor especially around Christmas time. We have heavy snow during that time and the delivery people are way over worked and 8:00 pm deliveries weren't unusual. Even non deliveries happened. They had to put chains on their trucks and drive up the mountain which took at least one hour assuming no accidents.
Now I live in Camarillo, CA and deliveries are at 1:00 to 2:00 pm left on the front porch and haven't missed once.
It all depends on where you live and the driver.

HelenOster Loc: New York

That's got me singing and dancing this morning!!! Thanks so much for the feedback, which I'll be sure to share with the rest of the Cs Team.