Fedex "Smartpost", Wish me luck.

[carlsbad]

Yes, I'm patient too. This is for someone else and I've already given him the bad news, watching more for entertainment now.

Left Bloomington this morning.....destination unknown.

 

[Milo 2.0]

I like to pay for 2nd day air, usually on a Wed afternoon when I decide to buy, really works out as UPS doesn't deliver Saturdays w/o another exorbitant fee tacked on. It's Monday.
Getting a free 2nd day air shipping coupon form Optics Planet fun too, once it ships it's 2 days like promised, the 5 days in limbo for them trying to get your order in a box the fun part.
This smart post crap is what keeps the costs of shipping down, annoying as it is.

 

[ratbuster]

Here is a an assesment of FedEx SmartPost...in a nutshell it describes SmartPost as a slower but reliable service. The article claims the delivery times have been getting a bit better as the program evolves.

https://www.efulfillmentservice.com/2017/04/is-fedex-smartpost-too-slow/

 

[divingin]

A UPS package from a CA address to a CA address,travels to Nashville TN,then back to CA.
ALL UPS parcels travel through the main terminal in Nashville,TN as it's been their procedure for 30+ years.

Here's a package from Oregon to the SF Bay Area:

LOCATION DATE LOCAL TIME ACTIVITY
OAKLAND, CA, US 12/20/2017 1:19 P.M. Delivered
12/20/2017 10:23 A.M. Out For Delivery
12/20/2017 3:43 A.M. Destination Scan
12/20/2017 12:11 A.M. Arrival Scan
SoSF, CA US 12/19/2017 11:33 P.M. Departure Scan
12/19/2017 8:03 P.M. Arrival Scan
San Pablo, CA, US 12/19/2017 7:17 P.M. Departure Scan
12/19/2017 2:47 P.M. Arrival Scan
Roseburg, OR, US 12/19/2017 3:34 A.M. Departure Scan
12/19/2017 1:36 A.M. Arrival Scan
Tualatin, OR, US 12/18/2017 10:16 P.M. Departure Scan
12/18/2017 5:52 P.M. Origin Scan
12/18/2017 1:38 P.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS


So fairly direct; no Nashville involved. Odd that it went from San Pablo (east Bay Area) to South SF (west Bay Area) and back to Oakland (east Bay Area), but it worked, and only took a day.

 

[nicholst55]

I've just about stopped ordering from Brownells due to their shipping prices anyway. Midway used to charge outrageous shipping prices; it would seem they passed the torch to Brownells.

 

[dwcon]

I had a small padded envelope it took USPS `11 days

 

[onelastshot]

Tens days ago I ordered a gun part from the next state over. Today an empty box arrived from USPS and a letter inside explaining that the box got damaged enroute and the contents were lost. I was given a phone number and an address to contact USPS if I wanted to file a claim. The USPS is without question a pathetic excuse for mail. The unfortunate reality is that in most circumstances you can't request which delivery company to use.

 

[Urv]

I am 11/2 hours from Brownells its been 5 days I am old don't know if i'll get in time

 

[carlsbad]

Well, after 11 hours it went 21 miles from Bloomington CA to Chino CA. According to Google Maps Chino is 77 miles from my home--1 mile further than Bloomington.

It's comical.

 

[Kimber.204]

I've just about stopped ordering from Brownells due to their shipping prices anyway. Midway used to charge outrageous shipping prices; it would seem they passed the torch to Brownells.

I ordered several go/no go head space gauges from Brownells on March 5th and chose the 4-7 business day shipping, because I figured that they would get them out that afternoon and it would only take till Friday (March 9th) to get it to me. Well on the 9th I got a shipping notification and it said that I wouldn't get my items till the 15th. I called Brownells and they said they had a lot of orders and it took a long time to fill them, sorry but tough luck. And it was too late to change the shipping method so that I could get it faster. To make maters worse my shipping notification was only them letting UPS know that the package would be leaving at some point in the future. It just left their facility yesterday and now is slated to get to my door on Monday the 19th. It just sat in the warehouse for 2 days waiting to get a label slapped on it so that UPS could take it.

Now I've got a couple frustrated customers calling everyday for updates....THANKS BROWNELLS (extreme sarcasm intended).

How is it that Amazon can get something to me in two days or less from anywhere in the country, usually for Free and sometimes on Sunday, and Brownells couldn't put a few pieces of tool steel in a bag for more than a week?

I guess I wouldn't be so frustrated if they had let me know when I placed the order that it would be delayed, but I got nothing. I'll avoid them if possible in the future for poor customer service.

Rant over.

Regards,
Ross

 

[spife7980]

I've just about stopped ordering from Brownells due to their shipping prices anyway. Midway used to charge outrageous shipping prices; it would seem they passed the torch to Brownells.

I havent paid for shipping from brownells for a couple years now, theres basically always a 10% off and free shipping promotion going on. And it always shows up 5 days later.


Everywhere can have rough spots, amazon is no different if thats the standard we are comparing it to. Even prime doesnt always arrive in two days.

 

[cinch29433]

In rural America you learn to despise UPS and Fedex. Shippers will call and tell you that UPS said your address don't exist. Then after telling them to google map the address and it drops a pin on your roof, they still won't accept it. Priority mail is your friend. It includes tracking, insurance and 2 day delivery. Why Brownells monkeys around with loser (smartpost?) shipping that is more or an equivalent price compared to Priority mail is a mystery. I once played that game with a revolver bolt spring that coulda went with a .42 cent stamp. I also used a $50 brownells promo code that after entering updated my cart and changed my shipping to a pot bellied pig wandering aimlessly from the midwest until it finally left my package with our local postmaster 16 days later. I was so tempted to call and have the stuff sent 2nd day and return the original order when it finally came but I didn't.

The other thing that kills me is when ya put your complete address on the online form and it comes back and says it is incorrect as they don't deliver via the post office. Uh, in that case don't take it to the post office...

 

[muleman69]

I ordered 7 items from Brownells 9 days ago, they are delayed somewhere in Smart post hell.

Have had the same experience (horrible slow) tracked one package to ca. that was hung up there for five days. I remember getting stuff mail order in the sixties just as fast (ten days to two weeks)

 

[carlsbad]

Tracking got kindo vague toward the end. Showed up today. Shipped on the 7th, delivered on the 15th. Box looked perfect, amazing considering how many different trucks it had been on and how many times it had been handled. --Jerry

 

[muleman69]

Tracking got kindo vague toward the end. Showed up today. Shipped on the 7th, delivered on the 15th. Box looked perfect, amazing considering how many different trucks it had been on and how many times it had been handled. --Jerry

Glad you finally received your order(If your package could only talk) . I like Brownells and like to support them but if I can find it on Amazon thats were I will shop(2-3 days max).

 

[carlsbad]

I was pretty sure it would get here eventually. I thought I'd avoided smartpost hell because I was too far from IA--one of the few benefits of living in CA. But now that I've been afflicted, I think I'll call Brownells--not so much to complain but to tell them I like them and I'm concerned they are losing business with smartpost.

--Jerry

 

[CT10ring]

I ordered 7 items from Brownells 9 days ago, they are delayed somewhere in Smart post hell.

ditto. If you select "free shipping" from Brownells, be prepared to wait awhile...

 

[yotehater]

I quit using Midway because of that. The day of supposed delivery was usually the day my post office received it. I would then usually get it two days later.

I hate to hear Brownell's going that route.

 

[DiffEQ]

A SMARTPOST package leaves the vendor by FedEx or UPS & is transferred to the USPService for final delivery.

A UPS package from a CA address to a CA address,travels to Nashville TN,then back to CA.
ALL UPS parcels travel through the main terminal in Nashville,TN as it's been their procedure for 30+ years.

Sung to the tune of a George Straight song, "all my boxes stuck in Nashville...."

Had some gear on order from Cabelas. Not sure where it shipped from, but it showed as being at the local UPS sort facility for > 4 days.
Ran into something similar a few years earlier where the package was stuck at the local distribution hub, which I could walk to.
The woman who spoke with me said yes its here, along with ten other full trailers, and I don't have the resources to empty and deliver them quickly.
IIRC it was another two weeks, but a part came in from Optics Planet in the same time frame, so all worked out.

 

[Catfur]

I like the way Midway is making decent options available depending on when you want something and how much you're willing to pay. Smartpost, in my humble opinion, is stupid.

I'm not exactly on record as the USPS's greatest fan, but they are within H-bomb range of doing a quasi-decent job when handed a package for final delivery.

Smartpost usually gets there on a schedule vaguely resembling when it ought to (as opposed to the 7 weeks it took my replacement debit card to make it from Sioux Falls to Spearfish, SD).