I finally broke down and ordered a PowerBook. I chose the free, standard shipping. An exception occured in Shanghai (where, apparently, Mac PowerBooks are made) and the package was offloaded from the aircraft. The shipping is now marked ‘expedited’.
The UPS site says delivery is scheduled for today. The last notation says the following:
Jun 1, 2005
6:20 P.M. SEATTLE, WA, US ARRIVAL SCAN
6:10 P.M. SEATTLE, WA, US DEPARTURE SCAN
5:05 P.M. SEATTLE, WA, US ARRIVAL SCAN
Nothing about the package arriving in Bellingham.
How likely is it that it will arrive today? If it does not arrive today, does ‘expedited’ mean that it will come on Saturday; or that it won’t arrive until Monday?
You’ll probably have your package today. Unlike Fed-Ex UPS does not show “out for delivery” it merely shows the scans at the hubs. Bellingham being close to Seattle would probably have the same hub. If on the outside chance it doesn’t come today, you’d likely have it tommorrow. Expedited is basically treated as “priority overnight” the package will likely arrive in one of those vans instead of their traditional Box truck.
When I bought my Pismo laptop, I was able to track it via computer. As I recall, it was shipped from someplace like Singapore and meandered its way across the Pacific via Fairbanks (or Anchorage). At the time, I was rather amused to be living in a time where something could be shipped to me from 12000 miles away and I could be irritated because it stopped for 16 hours along the way on its three day trip.
It’s amazing that things can be sent and delivered so quickly, but I’m a little irritated. I have things to do today, and I hate being homebound. (Not that I couldn’t do the things tomorrow; but if UPS doesn’t deliver today, then I’ll be stuck here tomorrow as well.)
It depends on whether an attractive woman is running away from pursuers and needs a quick getaway on your rooftop. (seeing too many UPS commercials lately…)
Au contraire … I’ve received tons of UPS shipments and they’re invariably very accurate in their tracking information about when a delivery will be made, not early, not late. It’s not like the USPS where stuff, even if tracked, just goes into a black hole from the time it leaves the shipper to the door of the recipient. The people who are off in their delivery ETAs are the shippers, such as Amazon. But in Amazon’s case, their estimates are generally overly conservative.
A few weeks ago I ordered a backpack for my wife. It was shipped UPS ground and I followed it from Des Moines, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska, Spokane, Moses Lake, Redmond, and Pacific, Washington before it was delivered to my house. UPS also has a distribution center in Mount Vernon, don’t be surprised if your package stops for a few hours there.
Huh? I frequently track UPS packages online and see “OUT FOR DELIVERY” all the time. So far it’s always been right and the package arrives the same day, too.
(After reading all the threads here about people waiting for packages that never came, I’m grateful for living out in the sticks with an enclosed front porch, where all the couriers have instructions to leave any packages. Even when I’m home when a package comes, I don’t bother to answer the door; they just knock, drop, and go.)
Where I live, UPS’s tracking is loads better than Fedex’s. UPS updates within a couple hours of any change in package status (on or off a truck, or into or out of a sorting center). Fedex seems to lag ~2 days behind, until the morning it goes out on the truck for delivery, when it says as much. The problem is that with Fedex’s slow tracking, you can’t very well predict what day a package will arrive, so you can be there to receive it (for whatever reason, it requires a signature or is valuable and you don’t want it left out, ect).
-USPS tracking is the worst, it appears to be only a two-point system. It only says the package is “in transit” until the package is delivered.
They don’t get a signature now unless shipper pays the fee for that. It costs extra.
~
99% of my packages do not need a signature – they’re just manuscripts from clients. But once in a while I get a new or substitute driver who will still stand there and wait until I come to the door – I don’t know why, because he thinks he needs to hand it to me personally anyway? Fortunately I can see the driveway and porch from my office and can also tell by the sound of the outer door whether the driver has knocked and left or is still standing there. Then I can go out and tell him about my standing order to leave packages on the porch.
The only time they want a signature is when I’ve ordered something expensive (computer, office machine) and the shipper has requested one. I usually make sure to be home those days anyway.
That’s weird, I’ve never seen it and I receive packages from UPS almost daily, of course I don’t always track them ::shrug::. Glad you got your package Johnny.
I worked as the one man shipping department of my company and we use UPS for all domestic shipments. I can assure you that UPS uses the “OUT FOR DELIVERY” at least on its online tracking pages. It’s possible that the package was delivered before they could update the tracking info so you wouldn’t see anything new. Glad to hear you got your new PowerBook, Johnny L.A.; enjoy your new toy.