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Comment by vdnkh | Hacker News Reader

As an aside, I've been screwed several times by Prime's "guaranteed two-day" shipping. I had package which was very late December last year. When I went to the USPS tracking page to check the location, it turns out Amazon had requested the 8 day shipping option. After several angry calls I finally had the item cancelled and a new one on the way with Saturday shipping (the lower-tier rep said that it wasn't possible, so I elevated to the manager). Lo and behold, about a month later my original item showed up and I had to return it immediately. This was my worst experience, but not my first with late shipping. I've never had so much as a prime extension offered for my trouble.

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The problem might be Amazon here in this specific case, but I'd hazard a guess that this is just a subset of the massive drop-off in service that Amazon is experiencing due to a major transition to using USPS instead of UPS.

Here in NYC Amazon delivery has gone from being amazing and magical to nearly worthless seemingly overnight with this change. UPS (and Fedex) didn't seem to have any trouble delivering even to challenging buildings without doormen, giving accurate tracking etc. Now every time I see USPS as the option I cringe knowing the package won't be delivered, there won't be a door tag left, and at some random arbitrary time the status will change to "attempted delivery" even if someone was sitting on the front porch waiting for it the entire time.

It's getting really bad, we'll see how long it takes Amazon to figure it out.

Twice in the last few months I've had a package change status to "delivered" -- while I was home, and suspiciously just a few minutes before 5pm. One of them was never delivered. The other one showed up 2 or 3 days later...

I'm losing faith in those 2-day guarantees, and the number of items available for Prime has been slowly dwindling. That, and their minimum spend for certain items went from $25 to $35. Starting to wonder whether renewing my Prime membership is actually a good idea.

My solution to this problem (and yes I've noticed the same) is to generally pay the price to change to one-day shipping which never (so far at least) goes USPS. Of course we are in one of the areas with Prime Now service, and I am willing to consider that this may be to make me think "Do I pay a driver a $5 tip if the item(s) are available or pay $5/item for one day delivery".

NYC's USPS is notoriously unreliable, especially for those of us without the luxury of doormen. Despite living in a nice neighborhood with a vestibule that would certainly house a package just fine - and then include that the postman has keys to get to just outside my apt door - USPS packages are routinely lost, yet "delivered".

Amazon at least mitigates this loss risk by unquestionably resending the package without additional charge. This exercise has grown tiresome.

> Amazon at least mitigates this loss risk by unquestionably resending the package without additional charge. This exercise has grown tiresome.

It's interesting that Amazon finds this to be cheaper than shipping it properly to begin with. Although it makes sense if packages sent through USPS are low-value and not just small.

They can get refunded from usps insurance, I believe.

In apartments in other U.S. cities I've had the opposite experience. USPS has been reliable, because the USPS mailbox array for the past two buildings I've lived in has included both the usual small boxes for everyone's mail, plus a few large boxes used to deliver packages. USPS sticks my package in one of the empty boxes, and slips the key into my mailbox. No problem at all for unattended delivery, at least for small- and mid-sized packages (obviously they can't deliver a TV there). But UPS and FedEx don't have any system like that installed, so they either leave you a "sorry we missed you" note, or just leave the package sitting somewhere unsecured.

USPS always delivers my packages. When I see USPS I know I'm going to get the item on time (along with 600 outdated emails regarding the tracking, but I digress). I'm in 11201. (This does not apply with packages shipped internationally. They will claim to deliver it, ignore your redelivery requests and signature releases, and then whine at you incessantly when you go to the post office to get the package. But you do get the package at the post office, so that's nice.)

UPS also does a great job. I don't know how they break into my building, but they do. Once in a while the normal delivery person takes the day off, and you get the door tag. Fill out the form online and the package appears tomorrow. Not perfect but reasonable.

FedEx is awful. FedEx means I'm not going to get the package unless I happen to be at home and they happen to actually ring my doorbell.

DHL is also awful (the delivery mechanism of choice from amazon.co.jp to the US). I order a $10 magazine and they won't just leave the package at the door. In fact, they call me to see if I'm at home, say things like "oh, you didn't answer before, I'm not on the way there anymore so I can't deliver it" and other such bullshit.

Finally there are the taskrabbit-like shipping services, A-1, Lasership, etc. If you see one of those you aren't going to get your package. Just re-order it and hope you don't lose the lottery again. They can't even successfully deliver to commercial addresses with dedicated courier receiving and fully-staffed mail rooms.

For items you can't afford to lose it might be worth checking if there's an Amazon Locker near your home or office. They're very easy and you don't have to deal with USPS.

I live in a dense part of NYC with no shortage of retail. If I am going to go to a separate building and deal with getting and carrying back the package I am just going to go to the store that sells the thing I want and buy it. The whole allure of Amazon is that I don't have to.

In Los Angeles the UPS vs USPS experience is exactly the opposite, although UPS has been improving (several years since I have received a destroyed package).

Interesting! Getting a package from USPS in Australia is much better than getting one from UPS.

USPS -> Australia Post means that I can get the parcel sent directly to my parcel locker [1] and get an SMS when the parcel arrives. I don't need to be present.

UPS -> ??? means I'm guessing whether it'll be a local courier who has the contract or whether it'll be one of the many Toll [2] subsidiaries. No couriers are accepted into parcel lockers (unless you get a Toll parcel dropped off at a news agent).

Those acronyms mean different things in the US. USPS = United States Postal Service, the official one. UPS = United Parcel Service, a different company

I think the parent meant USPS shipments always gets delivered by Australia Post (that's how USPS usually does deliveries in other countries: they use that country's official service), whereas UPS gets their packages delivered by an assortment of local carriers.

Yep, sorry if I was unclear. FedEx has local offices around Australia, USPS is handled by Australia Post, UPS is handled by whoever has the contract at the moment.

Entirely depends on how good your local post office are. Here in the UK, delivering to my parents out in the country Royal Mail is great. Delivering to my flat in the city, I'd rather have UPS.

You have to ask for the prime extension. I've ordered probably 100 items and the few times an item was late I just chatted with an amazon rep and a month of prime was added.

I can confirm this works. I only do it when I really needed the item on time and got screwed. I believe each account is limited to X requests, currently about 10 according to some folks on Slickdeals.

For us they seem to delay the shipping the item yet still claim two day shipping. For example ordering around midday (Pacific timezone) on a Thursday often results in the item not shipping until later on Monday, which then arrives Wednesday but more often Thursday morning. Every step on the way can be contrived as "two day", but it really took a week and that is the number we care about. We likely won't be renewing Prime.

Amusingly there are also those orders of things you don't care about getting immediately. Those seem to come fast, often less than 24 hours from ordering. Amazon doesn't know which items fall in which category (their media $1 credit is not worth it). Nor do they seem to notice breaking their own promises and proactively doing something about.

To counter this anecdote with my own, I often get "2 day" shipping items delivered the day before they were supposed to arrive. Likewise, there's been multiple times where I've walked out the front door on the way to work at ~8AM and my package is already sitting there. Maybe it has something to do with location?

Same here, both now (in Chicago) and previously (in Boston). I think there are Amazon warehouses nearby...

The items are all fulfilled by Amazon so they know at the time of order what to promise, and also that it is Prime "2 day" shipping. As mentioned sometimes items come really quick, but it seems the ones you want the most are the ones delayed the most. (Of course those are also what you are paying most attention to.)

My memory of prior years is that the vast majority of items arrived within time, and that it has been getting worse over the last year or so.

Another interesting case is when you select the slowest shipping option and it shows up in 24-48 hours anyway. Happens all the time.

Next day shipping for Amazon UK is pretty reliable, but I have to say I'm relived every time delivery is by someone other than "Amazon Logistics". Last time they delivered a parcel (value ~£100) I got an email saying it had been left in "my preferred safe space" (which I have never set) and had to go looking for it. Turn out they had left in my bin, at 9pm the night before the bins were due to be emptied.

I paid for Prime and had my account cancelled for "too many returns," something that doesn't exist in any of their terms of service. Late and lost packages all the time, that goes without saying. Fuck Amazon.

Amazon still pretty much never uses USPS to me in Wisconsin, unless you count SmartPost and the like if I select no hassle shipping.

I celebrate when Amazon misses its Prime 2-day shipping guarantees. That means I can complain and they promptly give me extra free months of Prime as compensation. Not sure why you don't get the same. They always offer it in my experience.

I always order stuff with at least a couple of extra days before I need the item so if you can't do that I could see why missing the 2 day target is bad.

Why did you have to return it? Surely it is up to Amazon to collect it.

Jeff Bezos isn't going to come to your house and find the duplicate item, you have to send it back to Amazon (they'll give you a label and you already have the packaging it came in).

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