Done with FedEx

[Bob Reeves]

Shipped a package to South Bend Indiana containing two Saito 4 stroke engines via FedEx ground, it arrived in South Bend on a Thursday All is good at this point but then they lost it, said it was sitting in a trailer waiting to be unloaded. Long story short it was a week and a half before it made it on to a truck to be delivered in South Bend. Package was a couple pounds in a small box, they charged me $38.48 GROUND. Checked into protesting the charge, blurb on the FedEx site says all late delivery credits have been suspended due to Covid, what BS.

We have had a FedEx accoung for over 20 years and this is the first time I have had a problem, maybe Covid is the culprit but in this case it was the incompetence of the FedEx people in South Bend. Regardless the cost was stupid and the response to my requests were less than desirable... I'm done.

Have no idea how I am going to ship from here on out, have some stuff to list on this site but have no idea how or what to charge for shipping.

[john e. holliday]

The culprit is the politicians and the people that elected them.  It includes all the delivery people.  Nothing like waiting  months for a package because the management is afraid to say something to an employ.  Now people won't work because you get more pay on unemployment.   minimum wage has screwed every thing up.  The people that did the minimum wage need to have the money come out of their pocket.  I worked for years until I got a better paying job.  Two things held me back, one Army classified me 4F because of a bad ear and could afford college at that time,  Had to take care of family when Dad passed away before I was 21.  Now the managers of the FedEx should be talking to their employees.
I have things to add but I grew up in a different time.

[EddyR]

 Some people on here still think you can ship for $2-4 dollars. I have shipped a few motors in very small boxes and the cheapest I got was $9.90.  I just took down a add for some handles line reels and some plugs. I had it all boxed but still open and they told me $15. It was not worth it to sell. For several years I was shipping bike frames and I stopped unless I got prepaid for the shipping.
Ed

[Dave Hull]

Hmmm.  A friend recently sent an engine to me for some work. Long-Guyland to Lost Angles via USPS. About $6. Five days. No shenanigans.

After some work, I sent it back, USPS. About $6. Only a few days. No drama.

Seems like most stuff goes just fine. When something doesn't, it feels like the whole system is defective. Actually, it's not....

[Dick Byron]

Ty that's funny.

[Dan McEntee]

   I've told most of my horror stories about my experiences with USPS. Have you ever noticed a UPS truck backing up to a USPS post office?  Since the advent of Amazon in order to keep Mr. Bezos happy, they seem to be working in tandem to screw things up! I haven't used FedEx to ship recently because it's not very convenient.  On reading about problems on here and other sources, it does seem to be regional depending on what part of the country you are in. It is the blatant thievery and lack of caring about the customer that pisses me off most. And I think the heart of the problem is the drivers and delivery people.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Dennis Leonhardi]

   I've told most of my horror stories about my experiences with USPS. Have you ever noticed a UPS truck backing up to a USPS post office?  Since the advent of Amazon in order to keep Mr. Bezos happy, they seem to be working in tandem to screw things up! I haven't used FedEx to ship recently because it's not very convenient.  On reading about problems on here and other sources, it does seem to be regional depending on what part of the country you are in. It is the blatant thievery and lack of caring about the customer that pisses me off most. And I think the heart of the problem is the drivers and delivery people.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

Bingo Dan!  Here in Southern Minnesota our experience with FedEx has been excellent.  Drivers practically run with deliveries.  Post Office service here has also been excellent.

In the Raleigh, North Carolina area for 3 years, FedEx wouldn't even return calls.  Really ugly service.

It's just reality ...

Dennis

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

Bob,

Sorry your package was delayed.  That can be frustrating.

However, my experience has been closer to Dave Hull's.  The $38 figure seems off.  I just ran a couple of rate quotes from Tulsa to South Bend.  One was for two engines, two pounds, about $9.  The other was for 11 ounces, like an LA 46 with no muffler, $4.50.

You might like pirateship.com, which has had great rates for USPS and even great customer service, beyond what we get from USPS itself.  And thanks to my search based on your shipment parameters, I'm seeing that they've negotiated an excellent deal with UPS, a carrier long at arm's length from the small shipper.

Peter   

[Mike Griffin]

For what it is worth....

My wife and I are on Nutri System.  They deliver frozen dinners in very large heavy duty Styrofoam chests.  The food  is packed in dry ice.  They ship this two day air.  They will ship on a Monday and we get it on a Wednesday because it is perishable.  We have had two deliveries that took a week to arrive and and of course the food was thawed and no good.  This is $600.00 a pop for both of us.  The FED X driver told me they had a warehouse full of rotting food that was not delivered.  This happened twice.  I called NutriSystem and they of course credited our account.  The FED X driver also told me this was not just isolated to New Orleans, it was all over the country.  FED X has some major problems nationwide.  If you are getting shipments from them on schedule, thank your lucky stars because we sure as Hell are not.  I am in Bob's corner on this.

Mike

[Dick Pacini]

Years back, my wife had a hope chest that was handmade by her father as a gift to his grand-niece, who lived out west.
We drove to a city about 70 miles away to buy a shipping box big enough to hold the chest. We also bought bags of shipping foam pellets and shipping tape.  It took several hours to get the hope chest padded and packed up securely.  I filled out the paperwork for FedEx shipping and insured it for several hundred dollars.
We put it in my truck and drove 35 miles to the FedEx terminal and arrived around 4:30.  The agent was busy and had a few ahead of us.  Finally, we got up to the desk.  The clerk got out her trusty beaded chain and started measuring the box.  She announced that it was too large to go by truck and would have to go by air.  That meant that the paperwork would have to be done over for air freight.  She was getting ready to close up and I finally got the forms filled out.  It was very expensive and I neglected to add the insurance, since it would be there the next day.  I did specify signature required.  The woman muscled the box on a dolly and wheeled it out back.  As we were leaving, I asked how it was getting to the airport and she said by truck.
The next day, we got a call from the niece who said she got home and found this big box on her porch.  It had a large hole right thru the middle of the box, the chest and out the back.  Obviously, a fork lift had punched it out.  No note, nothing from FedEx about the damage.    I called Fedex to complain and they had no explanation.  I was told that since I didn't buy extra insurance, they would only pay up to $100.  They also said I couldn't make a claim since I was the shipper.  The receiver had to make the claim. We went round and round on this.  They said if I could send a receipt for the cost of the chest then they would pay up to $100.  I explained that there was no receipt because the chest wasn't purchased, it was hand built by a now deceased grandfather.  They insisted that I furnish a receipt.  It got ugly and it took months to get the $100 which was finally sent to the niece.  Fortunately, she found a cabinet maker who agreed to repair it for $100.

[Will Hinton]

As far as USPS shipping via UPS, that was going on clear back in 2002.  I was shipping guitars via UPS and had ton of nasties happening so I switched to USPS to avoid that.  Then my local USPS gal informed one day that my shipment would go out right away becuase the UPS truck was already there!!!

[Wayne Collier]

At least 10 or 15 years ago I was routinely insisting on USPS delivery because in that neighborhood they didn’t just throw stuff on the porch and run. If we weren’t home the postal delivery person would leave a note for us to pick the item up at the post office. This worked well for me at the time. As it turns out, one of the companies I was doing business with was shipping fedex to my local post office and USPS would handle it from there. Best of both words. What I don’t understand is companies that refuse to ship to my PO Box. Especially since the stuff that goes to my physical address often goes through the post office anyway.

[Fredvon4]

very happy with Pirate Ship
recently costed USPS to ship Brodak P40 on line. Large 55' x 14' x 3'' and 5lbs USPS $61.40 on USPS WEB SITE

Pirate recommended UPS $32.40 as cheaper, so I Printed label and dropped off at our rural all in one, copies, fax, and shipping store in town

[Mike Griffin]

Well here you go...

https://www.thederrick.com/ap/business/hundreds-of-fedex-packages-are-found-in-alabama-woods/article_b5b91fc3-d4e5-562f-be16-f6c3fdb6fb63.html

[john e. holliday]

Well I'm waiting on a package that was supposedly sent via USPS.   Said delivery will be from 7 to twenty days.   Put up the tracking number and found package is still in China.  Guess that is money down the drain as I can't found contact number to see how package got to China.

[Dan McEntee]

Well I'm waiting on a package that was supposedly sent via USPS.   Said delivery will be from 7 to twenty days.   Put up the tracking number and found package is still in China.  Guess that is money down the drain as I can't found contact number to see how package got to China.

  Hang in there Doc! If you see it as scanned and it shows up, at least you know it's somewhere! I have had stuff get to the local main post office that is just 3 miles from my house and then take off across the country!. I sent a package to Australia this summer. It went to Chicago and sat there for weeks. then went to Florida and sat for a while, and then bounced around there for a month, before it got on a plane and went to LA out in California. Spent a week in transit to Australia and then two more week traveling cross country there! Keep bugging the post office, at least you can vent your frustration at them!

  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee
   

[Steve_Pollock]

Does this say it all?

[Bob Beckett]

Next time, try the U.S. Post Office. I recently sent a registered letter to an address one mile from the Post Office. It took fifteen days to arrive.

[Avaiojet]

A FedEx driver is being questioned because 400 packages were found in the woods.

This is today's news.

[Dave Harmon]

Well here you go...

https://www.thederrick.com/ap/business/hundreds-of-fedex-packages-are-found-in-alabama-woods/article_b5b91fc3-d4e5-562f-be16-f6c3fdb6fb63.html

Here's an update.
https://local12.com/news/nation-world/man-arrested-after-hundreds-of-fedex-packages-found-in-ravine

[Dave Harmon]

Crappy customer service from all carriers does happen.

But.....Monday 12/13/2021 I ordered a battery from RC JAPAN.
I received it at 10am this morning...Wednesday 12/15/2021.
That's 2 day service.
Usually I get 5 day service from them.
Guess what....it came FedEx.

I have had very good service from USPS as well.

As far as UPS......fugetaboutit!!
I won't let them in the driveway!

RCJ does not have much control line stuff but they do have OS engine parts and some electric motors etc...
The purpose of this post was about FedEx....not what products RCJ handles....however, they say they have access to all Japanese mfgrs even if not on the website. Use the contact link to inquire if interested.

[Dan McEntee]

I ordered my son a new R/C car body from Horizon Hobby, Inc.   It was shipped by FedEx.  Yesterday I got a notice the package was delivered.  I did NOT get a package at my house.   I checked the tracking and it said delivered.   A little bit after this a neighbor came over with a package and asked me if it was mine.  I looked and sure enough it was the R/C car body order.

Let me tell you that my house AND my neighbor's house is clearly marked.

There just is no acceptable excuse for such negligent service.   

I left e review on BBB website.  FedEx review rating is like 1.3 out of 5.

 
         I don't think this is too much to ask!! I know this is the busy season and such, but common man!! All you gotta do is match the number on the house match the number on the package/letter!  I think my mail carrier is finally getting the idea, but he has delivered my mail to several other addresses that are not remotely close to the same. One day a few months ago, he successfully managed to deliver EVRYONE"S mail to the wrong address on my street!! And that was in good weather also!!  It's also a crying shame the way the packages I get here are always so beat up, torn and abused.
  Type at you later  and
    HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
    Dan McEntee

[Dave Harmon]

I ordered my son a new R/C car body from Horizon Hobby, Inc.   It was shipped by FedEx.  Yesterday I got a notice the package was delivered.  I did NOT get a package at my house.   I checked the tracking and it said delivered.   A little bit after this a neighbor came over with a package and asked me if it was mine.  I looked and sure enough it was the R/C car body order.

Let me tell you that my house AND my neighbor's house is clearly marked.

There just is no acceptable excuse for such negligent service.   

I left e review on BBB website.  FedEx review rating is like 1.3 out of 5.

This happened to me once a couple of years ago.
I don't give up easily so in running down why the package was delivered to the wrong address I discovered that all these delivery outfits hire contractors to deliver packages.
These people use PERSONAL GPS units to find the addresses because the contractor is not familiar with the area.
They have some policy to deliver to the GPS address instead of clearly marked street addresses.

Just 3 months ago a guy knocked on my door and said that he and his crew was going to cut down the 10 trees in my yard that the power company said were in their right-of-way.
These guys were not taking no for an answer from me so the foreman showed me his PERSONAL GPS unit that said they were at the right address.
I called the power company immediately and they got hold of the foreman and then they went down the street and cut down someone ELSE'S trees......jeeeze
True stories.....

I set up email and text notifications of progress and delivery just so if a delivery goes to the wrong address I'll know about it immediately instead of 2 days later.

[Dan McEntee]

Not long ago the USPS delivered a package to the wrong address.   I complained to the post master and learned that the USPS scanning device has a GPS that records the location of where the package was scanned for delivery.  The pulled the data and found out where it was delivered and went there and got it back.   That was a big order of OS engine parts from RC Japan.

   I had never heard about the GPS thing before, but to me, that is still no excuse. 9,999 time out a 10,000 the address number for a house is right above the mail box, on the mail box, painted at the curb or in some way signified at the location. All it takes is a second to look for that and compare to the label on the package. To me, it just boils down to just giving a damn about the customer, and most times they just don't give a damn!!
 Type at you later  and
  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
  Dan McEntee

[john e. holliday]

Ah, good ole USPS.  I have been using the tracking on an item that was paid for that was suposed be from the states.   It started out in a department in China.   After a month it made it to Chicago and was supposed to be here on Dec 14.  Next notice was that it is in Houston Texas waiting to be delivered.  No new up dates and no one to contact.

[john e. holliday]

Well the wife started making calls to the USPS with the tracking number after I got notice the package was left on door step in Houston Texas.  I hope that person is honest enough to have the package sent to me after seeing what it is.  Supposedly the invoice will have correct address, but I'm not holding my breath.   

By the way Barclay who has my credit card shows a company that doesn't exist.  No help from them either.

[Dallas Hanna]

Looks like postage out of USA is out of the question at present.  Ebay seller Shtterman doesn't post international as he has been scammed too much.   He sent my Enya 45X piston/liner to a friend in Phoenix AZ.  The quote to send it from Phoenix to Australia was US $195 !!  Needless to say that it is sitting there until he comes back home for a visit mid year. 🥴

[Dave Harmon]

Looks like postage out of USA is out of the question at present.  Ebay seller Shtterman doesn't post international as he has been scammed too much.   He sent my Enya 45X piston/liner to a friend in Phoenix AZ.  The quote to send it from Phoenix to Australia was US $195 !!  Needless to say that it is sitting there until he comes back home for a visit mid year. 🥴

Something wrong there.
Just last Wednesday I received a battery from Japan that weighs more than a P/L.
The FedEx charge was USD$23.73.
Two day delivery to the Tulsa area.

BTW.....sometime back I bought a Heathkit power supply from shtterman.
He said it had been checked and was 100% operational so I bought it.
Of course it didn't work when I got it......but I easily fixed it.
I left him positive feedback mentioning that it did not work but I fixed it.
The jerk gave me negative feedback.....hahahah
If that guy gave you the shipping quote.....don't believe him....get your own quote.

[Dallas Hanna]

Something wrong there.
Just last Wednesday I received a battery from Japan that weighs more than a P/L.
The FedEx charge was USD$23.73.
Two day delivery to the Tulsa area.

BTW.....sometime back I bought a Heathkit power supply from shtterman.
He said it had been checked and was 100% operational so I bought it.
Of course it didn't work when I got it......but I easily fixed it.
I left him positive feedback mentioning that it did not work but I fixed it.
The jerk gave me negative feedback.....hahahah
If that guy gave you the shipping quote.....don't believe him....get your own quote.

No problem with his postage to the address in USA.  It was only about 6 bucks from memory.  The friend in AZ was the one who went to the post office for the quote. Best case scenario will be the friends brother is a Qantas pilot who could bring it back earlier if and when he gets a flight into LA.

[Craig Beswick]

Something wrong there.
Just last Wednesday I received a battery from Japan that weighs more than a P/L.
The FedEx charge was USD$23.73.
Two day delivery to the Tulsa area.

BTW.....sometime back I bought a Heathkit power supply from shtterman.
He said it had been checked and was 100% operational so I bought it.
Of course it didn't work when I got it......but I easily fixed it.
I left him positive feedback mentioning that it did not work but I fixed it.
The jerk gave me negative feedback.....hahahah
If that guy gave you the shipping quote.....don't believe him....get your own quote.

No Dave nothing wrong there at all!!

About 3-4 months ago USPS put a stop on, almost all, international priority mail out of the US.

If you pay the Global Express rate they will carry it, if not you are out of luck.

Mail, packages, are still coming into the US as normal just not going out.

I too had a delivery from Enya, 3 weeks ago. Japan to Australia. Needle valves and Ventuis. Cost about US$7 for delivery and took 4 days!!!!

I just checked USPS package calculator. $132 for a package to Australia. Global Express Guaranteed.

Craig

[Brett Buck]

My Fedex story (in progress)

I ordered a TV from LG, straight off the website. Nothing extraordinary, supposed to be delivered on the 15th. In the system the next day, but then a weather delay (reasonably) to Friday. I see it making its way down I-40, no problem. Gets to nearby Hayward late Thursday night, still good. Then it shows "in transit" to the delivery hub in Newark, about 3 miles down Highway 17/880/The Nimitz freeway. Shows "expected date" of Friday until about 5 in the afternoon, then it switches to Saturday. All day saturday, still shows delivery on Saturday, still "in transit" to Newark, until about 5 pm on Saturday. Then it changes to "pending, no delivery date". And there it still shows as of about 5 minutes ago.

   OK, no problem, Newark is just a short trip across to the other side of the bay, I'll go get it myself. Absolutely not, no way to do that (even though I have done it before). Can you just take to Santa Clara, I can pick it up there. No, impossible. LG calls them, they offer no options, I call LG 5-6 times, they don't know what to do, either. Every 12 hours, it gets "scanned", exactly spaced at 1:12 AM and PM. I interpret that to mean someone is entering the code on a schedule - they don't have it any more, or it is damaged and they are waiting us out.

    Plan for tomorrow - call LG, either get a delivery date of TODAY, Dec 22, or I call the credit union and do a charge-back (item not delivered), now it is LGs problem ,not mine. Go to Best Buy in Mountain View, they show 4 of them in stock to pick up in an hour.

  BTW, be aware that FedEx and FedEx ground (my current tormenter) are two different things. I have shipped things in and had things shipped to me regular FedEx and it usually works out fine. FedEx ground, not a chance, I would guess I am betting less than 50%.

      Brett

[Dave Harmon]

Mail, packages, are still coming into the US as normal just not going out.

I too had a delivery from Enya, 3 weeks ago. Japan to Australia. Needle valves and Ventuis. Cost about US$7 for delivery and took 4 days!!!!

I just checked USPS package calculator. $132 for a package to Australia. Global Express Guaranteed.

Craig

Dammit Man!!

I gotta go near the FedEx place tomorrow so I'll go in there with a B-40 engine in it's box and have them gimme a quote to Australia lets say Adelaide.
I may have to ship one of these engines down there anyway so I might as well get greased up for it....I'll post back.
BTW....I don't know of anyone who would use USPS to ship anything internationally.

[Dan McEntee]

Dammit Man!!

I gotta go near the FedEx place tomorrow so I'll go in there with a B-40 engine in it's box and have them gimme a quote to Australia lets say Adelaide.
I may have to ship one of these engines down there anyway so I might as well get greased up for it....I'll post back.
BTW....I don't know of anyone who would use USPS to ship anything internationally.

    At the suggestion of Dennis Leonhardi in another thread about shipping stuff, I tried Pirateship.com when I was selling of some Cox stuff, and it works very well. They offer shipping labels for USPS and now for UPS. I just got an email from them announcing that USPS will be adjusting their rates downward after the first of the year, and UPS may be following suit. I think it might be better to wait until the holiday craziness subsides before shipping anything. I had shipped several items to a guy in Australia in late summer and it was quite expensive for a box large enough for a Cox Fokker Triplane, but it took nearly two months for it to get to him. A month later he wanted something else that I could have shipped in a very small box or padded envelope and Pirateship advised that the USPS wasn't shipping anything by first class mail, only the most expensive Priority option and the 6 ounce package would have cost almost 60 bucks to ship!  I ordered some P&L sets from Brian Gardner early this fall and they got here from Australia in a little over as week. I ordered one more set on December 2nd and it's not here yet, although it finally got stateside on Tuesday.  The notices I got from Australia Post suggest that disrupted flights on the airlines are playing havoc with international shipping. I think that is the problem with shipping anywhere at this time, even across the boarder into Canada. I think I'm gonna hold off on buying anything that needs shipping for a long while. Everyone has gotten so used to ordering stuff from Amazon and having it get here yesterday that it is what we expect from everyone now, but that just ain't the case.
  Regardless, have a MERRY CHRISTMNAS EVERYONE!
    Dan McEntee

[Dave Harmon]

    At the suggestion of Dennis Leonhardi in another thread about shipping stuff, I tried Pirateship.com when I was selling of some Cox stuff, and it works very well. They offer shipping labels for USPS and now for UPS. I just got an email from them announcing that USPS will be adjusting their rates downward after the first of the year, and UPS may be following suit. I think it might be better to wait until the holiday craziness subsides before shipping anything. I ordered some P&L sets from Brian Gardner early this fall and they got here from Australia in a little over as week. I ordered one more set on December 2nd and it's not here yet, although it finally got stateside on Tuesday.  Everyone has gotten so used to ordering stuff from Amazon and having it get here yesterday that it is what we expect from everyone now, but that just ain't the case.
  Regardless, have a MERRY CHRISTMNAS EVERYONE!
    Dan McEntee

Dan.....Thanks for dragging me back into reality.
I'll see how it goes early next year.

[Brett Buck]

OK, for fairness - they delivered my TV this morning, no issues. Aside from the 11 phone calls (6 to LG and 5 to Fedex) and it being a week late.

    Brett

p.s. due to back evil, I have my new TV, but can't get it out of the box or install it!  It's just sitting there, mocking me.

[944_Jim]

author=Brett Buck
dwue to back evil, I have my new TV, but can't get it out of the box

I get it...fused L3-L4. Took a while to learn how to live with a semi-locked back. Lay the box down on the big side. Slide the TV out and stand it upright. Getting it to the wall will require help. Been there, done that. But the back no longer restricts feeling my feet! I used the couch to hold a corner of the box while I pulled the TV out. I hung the brackets square on the wall (my part) and had my "yutes" ("My Cousin Vinny") hang it on the brackets. At least you can "floor" test it.

[john e. holliday]

USPS keeps telling wife they can not do any thing about the misdirected package.  So I hope the individual that got it enjoys it.

[Dan McEntee]

  Well, my latest adventure with shipping stuff is a last minute gift I ordered through Target. I was doubtful, but the web site said delivery was to be Thursday, the 23rd and the order was places on Saturday, the 18th. It was shipped on Sunday or Monday with delivery still called for Thursday. It was scanned as departing Phoenix at 2:30am Tuesday morning, and that was the last time it was scanned I guess. I was expecting it today but so far no updates in it, and they thave a brand spanking Fed-Ex Ground terminal about 8 miles from my house! It's 1PM here CST so we'll see if it arrives.

   I ordered another P&L set from Brian Gardner at the beginning of the month and he shipped right away on 3rd I think, since he was leaving the country to go on holiday on the 20th. Normally stuff comes in from Australia from him, usually a week or so. This time it has sat at the airport waiting to be picked up by the airlines say that there have been many flight delays and cancelations delaying things. The package finally hit out shores in San Francisco on Tuesday. They usually go through Los Angeles so I don't know if this is unusual or not. It's still sitting in Frisco waiting on customs I guess.

   But the world is still turning!

  MERRY CHGRISTMAS!
   Dan McEntee

[Brett Buck]

due to back evil, I have my new TV, but can't get it out of the box

I get it...fused L3-L4. Took a while to learn how to live with a semi-locked back. Lay the box down on the big side. Slide the TV out and stand it upright. Getting it to the wall will require help. Been there, done that. But the back no longer restricts feeling my feet! I used the couch to hold a corner of the box while I pulled the TV out. I hung the brackets square on the wall (my part) and had my "yutes" ("My Cousin Vinny") hang it on the brackets. At least you can "floor" test it.

        I got enough Excedrin in me to be able to handle it. Dazzling improvement, I can now watch Stunthanger Youtube videos in glorious 4K!.

    Until very recently, there were no back problems that were repeatable enough to do anything about. Now, I definitely have a recurring problem that might lend itself to a fix, better sometimes, worse some times, and very occasionally gone away completely. It is livable most of the time, but it has certainly not done my general fitness any good.

       Brett

   

[Dan McEntee]

   Well here is an update on my recent shipping adventures. The last P&L set I ordered from Brian Gardner that was shipped on 12/3 finally made it to my house yesterday on 12/30. You track his shipments through Australia Post, and they said at the beginning to expect delays to the disruption of flights leaving the country It sat in Sidney until 12/21 and arrived in San Francisco the same day. I think international date line location helped there!  His shipments to me have always come through Los Angeles before. It left Frisco and landed here locally on 12/28 and was delivered yesterday. This used to take about a week, and an order I had coming from him in October only took a week, so the issues are global. It's not Brian's fault so if you have something coming from him, you have to be patient. Brian has been out of the country on holiday since the 20th and is due back after the first of the year I think.
    My son Sean was home for Christmas and forgot some things. I boxed them up, weighed it, got a shipping label through Pirateship.com for 1-3 day Priority and gave it to the Post Office as soon as they opened up on Wednesday morning. It should have been delivered today. I checked tracking and it shows that it was still at the main facility here as of 4am this morning! Just for giggles and grins I'm going to ask Pirateship.com who do I get the refund of half the charges from!!
   HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
    Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee