Is Amazon's free shipping speed really random for anyone else?

V878

V878

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I preordered Batman:AA on the PC and got an email on Sunday night that it shipped. I thought that was pretty neat since it was a couple days before the official release. Anyways I check the USPS tracking number today and it still says " There is no record of this item.". I know the USPS tracking system is an absolute joke but they do tend to have some sort of update at least once a day and it at least acknowledges my tracking number. Makes me wonder if it's still just sitting at Amazon's warehouse waiting to be picked up.

Now I would say FSSS is just slow in general but on Monday I ordered a toner for my printer. Shipped out today with UPS (wasn't aware they still use UPS on free shipping orders) and tracking says I'll have it tomorrow. :cool:

Anyways not really complaining that Amazon sucks (don't mind waiting to play the game) but it's just funny how fast some of these orders ship and arrive and how slow some of these other ones are.
 
not related to FSSS, but if you are able to sign up for a free trial of Prime, i would suggest it. my sister has prime and offered to let me use it. i placed my order monday night/tuesday morning at 2 am, and it arrived wednesday afternoon. (this is using free 2-day shipping option)
 
Well, it's random because there isn't some sort of deadline by when it has to be delivered (like, say, 2-day). It's whatever you happen to get.

Sometimes it's really, really good. I was floored when I placed an order on a Saturday, chose FSSS, and got my book on Monday. But the rest of the order took several more days.
 
I don't usually bother to track stuff from Amazon since it usually gets here really fast (when they're shipping from their warehouse in Washington it can be next day!), but then I ordered a copy of Lost Odyssey and a headset when I bought my 360 and they didn't even ship it for like 9 days.

I wouldn't put ANY weight on the USPS tracking system. I love the USPS (UPS and Fedex [which I detest] won't deliver a letter for 44c anywhere in the country), but more often than not they don't even update their tracking info until after my package was delivered.
 
Try punching in the tracking number on FedEx's site.

Amazon seems to switch it up between USPS and FedEx SmartPost (which sucks and is significantly slower than USPS, so don't go bashing USPS :cool:) when shipping via FSSS.
 
[quote name='dualedge2']Try punching in the tracking number on FedEx's site.

Amazon seems to switch it up between USPS and FedEx SmartPost (which sucks and is significantly slower than USPS, so don't go bashing USPS :cool:) when shipping via FSSS.[/QUOTE]

Wow didn't know about that. Just put it in the Fedex site and sure enough it shows up (nothing beyond the "Initiated" step though). Did they recently start using SmartPost to save on costs?
 
I think so. I always (really, always) receive orders very slowly when ordering from my Amazon account. But when my girlfriend orders, everything comes quickly. And we have the same address.
 
I usually get my orders within a couple days, but my last pre-order took a week and a half to get here. They also seem to be shipping from more places, as I've recently gotten something from Arizona and Delaware.
 
[quote name='jchoi']I usually get my orders within a couple days, but my last pre-order took a week and a half to get here. They also seem to be shipping from more places, as I've recently gotten something from Arizona and Delaware.[/QUOTE]

I think alot of the shipping time for Amazon free shipping depends on which warehouse the item is coming from. I've noticed that items from states closer to me (Arizona, for example) usually arrive within one to two days while items coming from across the country can take a week or more.

I'm not really going to complain, because the shipping is FREE!
 
[quote name='Spacepest']I think alot of the shipping time for Amazon free shipping depends on which warehouse the item is coming from. I've noticed that items from states closer to me (Arizona, for example) usually arrive within one to two days while items coming from across the country can take a week or more.

[/QUOTE]

That's right. There's a warehouse within 50 miles from me and if it ships from there its usually delivered within 24hrs. But if it ships from the other side of the US it's going to average 5 days because that's normal for the USPS. Add in that for peak shipping periods (like Nov/Dec) that the free shipping stuff gets low priority in the warehouse and you might lose another day there, and an extra day or two in shipping and you could easily hit 7 or 8 days.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']I think alot of the shipping time for Amazon free shipping depends on which warehouse the item is coming from. I've noticed that items from states closer to me (Arizona, for example) usually arrive within one to two days while items coming from across the country can take a week or more.

I'm not really going to complain, because the shipping is FREE![/QUOTE]

Yeah that makes the most sense. My Batman order shipped from Phoenix (if the tracking info on Amazon is to be believed) so with SmartPost, taking 10 days to get from there to Chicago isn't all that hard to believe. It's scheduled for delivery on the 23rd and currently in some Milwaukee suburb so at least I know it's made progress :).
 
LOL so this package was due on the 23rd was only 90 minutes away from my place. Check it today and moved to a city 6 hours away and is now due on the 26th. Shipped on the 13th.

Fortunately I'm in no hurry to get the game so I can sit back and laugh and what an absolute failure FedEx SmartPost is.
 
Media mail is the slowest form of USPS shipping there is, which is why it seems to take forever to do the job compared to first class. Media mail is also shipped in batches when there's enough media mail packages to go from zip code ABCDE to FGHIJ, which is why you see it sitting around not going anywhere for multiple days.

FedEx SmartPost is FedEx shipping the package via ground shipping, also in a "we'll move it along when we have enough packages" method like USPS Media Mail, though they hand it off to the USPS to deliver it. They don't always hand it over to the USPS local office for the recipient on the day it shows up, because they're holding onto them until they have enough to hand off to the USPS. Since it has to change carriers, that adds into the time it takes to ship.

I've not seen a FedEx Smart Post package from Amazon when I had FSSS, though that's been almost a year and a half ago, so they may have changed to start using FedEx SmartPost. I'm surprised it's not UPS Mail Innovations (same thing, though via UPS), with all the business that Amazon gives them.

I have seen FedEx SmartPost and UPS Mail Innovations shipments from NewEgg.com, Buy.com and DeepDiscount.com, as well as some other smaller vendors. And yes, they do take forever to show up.
 
Well finally got it today. Box was a bit damaged but whatever, game still installed fine. Certainly was an interesting experience with SmartPost...to say the least. Who knew it can take 2 weeks to get a package from Phoenix to Chicago in 2009.
 
I ordered two Beatles cd's that shipped out last Tuesday, the 15th, from Amazon, and did not receive them until the 23rd. I had the 3-5 day shipping option, and it was through FedEx SmartPost. Since it didn't arrive in 3-5 days, I sent an email complaining and got the shipping cost refunded.

Am I an asshole?
 
sometimes i've gotten it super fast -- i've ordered and received shipping confirmation on the same day before. sometimes it's just as expected - 3-5 business days before ship. but, it's never been really slow. i'm very satisfied with the speed, especially since it's free.
 
[quote name='blaked569']not related to FSSS, but if you are able to sign up for a free trial of Prime, i would suggest it. my sister has prime and offered to let me use it. i placed my order monday night/tuesday morning at 2 am, and it arrived wednesday afternoon. (this is using free 2-day shipping option)[/QUOTE]

My first order was even better than that. I ordered a Green Lantern Comic on Wednesday 12 pm and it was in my hands Thursday 2pm. I love Prime. It's honestly the best thing Amazon has ever done.
 
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