Shipping a Bass? What carrier? USPS?

[dmas81]

Who are you using to ship your basses? I purchased a bass on here last week, and the owner shipped it USPS from Illinois (to Indiana) starting Thursday of last week……..here it is a week later and……STILL NO BASS!

The expected delivery date was on Tuesday and the USPS tracking website is updating very little. I was already nervous because I broke my own cardinal rule and sent money PayPal through F&F. Getting really nervous about this, So I’m sure I’m going to have to call them.

I literally shipped a bass the week before from Indiana to Ohio UPS and it delivered the next day.

If the owner would have told me he was shipping USPS, I would have paid him an extra $30 or whatever to ship it some other carrier.

Who are you all using? If it’s USPS, I recommend using someone else moving forward.

 

[Drucifer]

UPS and FedEx have better tracking systems than USPS. The last time I looked, the restrictions on package size make it tough to send basses via USPS unless you don't have a hard-shell case and you can remove the neck, so I use UPS and FedEx, whichever happens to be cheaper, I have accounts for both.

You already know this, but it's not smart to use Friends and Family (unless, of course, they really are friends and family) because you have zero recourse if anything goes wrong.

Everything still may be okay, there are often delays. I hope you get your bass and everything works out great.

 

[dmas81]

UPS and FedEx have better tracking systems than USPS. The last time I looked, the restrictions on package size make it tough to send basses via USPS unless you don't have a hard-shell case and you can remove the neck, so I use UPS and FedEx, whichever happens to be cheaper, I have accounts for both.

You already know this, but it's not smart to use Friends and Family (unless, of course, they really are friends and family) because you have zero recourse if anything goes wrong.

Everything still may be okay, there are often delays. I hope you get your bass and everything works out great.

Yeah man you are correct. I shouldn’t have done F&F. I did it solely off of the seller’s high rating here on TB. By all accounts the tracking number is legit and he did ship the bass…..it’s just really frustrating not getting it for over a week coming from one state over.

 

[jdthebassman]

When I ship I always use fedex, usps is the worst inefficient tracking and general service.

 

[beaglesandbass]

Did the seller ask for FF or did you offer

 

[oldandbold]

The USPS has fallen apart. I've had packages shipped using them, all were later than expected. One from Warmoth was two weeks late, reported lost, then two weeks later shows up. Even the quality of our regular mail has gone to hell.
We now have part-time delivery, they come every other day. They blame it on personnel shortages, and by that, they mean systemic, not just local.
I also believe that "beauty" of a contract they have with Amazon has them stretched way beyond their ability to deliver regular mail. In spite of what they say Amazon gets priority.
I say your bass will show up. When would make a good betting pool.

 

[Lesfunk]

I use FedEx with the most success.
Was recently forced to us USPS to send an instrument to Puerto Rico as it was the only affordable option. FedEx wanted around $350.00 (lowest price)
USPS was $110 priority 3day.
My fingers are crossed

 

[Alkali Ike]

In the past I've been one of the biggest advocates for USPS here. But they do seem to be falling apart. There was a news story recently about workers refusing to come back post-pandemic and retiring early. They're very short-staffed. I suspect there are days they don't deliver mail here at all, though that is rare.

USPS has had problems with meeting their on-time delivery targets. Recently I've noticed that Priority packages have a predicted delivery date that's about one day longer than it would have been in the past. My theory is they're extending the predicted delivery date to help them with their on-time delivery targets.

Lots of speculation that USPS shipping rates will be increasing significantly and soon, getting them closer to UPS and FedEx.

All that said, I've continued to use them for small parcels and I can't complain about the service. Yet.

 

[Jhengsman]

It took awhile to manifest system wide but you could see it falling apart every November/December of the 2010s if you were inside the system. It almost 10 years ago the USPS ended the hiring of career employees. They figuratively killed the goose that laid the golden eggs of the federal benefit package for potential postal workers. As it is now a potential worker in most districts are looking at a 2 year wait before they get the full pay and benefits of the senior workers. A second factor is that unlike real federal employees the quasi federal postal worker does not get an area based wage adjustment so higher cost of living areas, which happen to be major transportation hubs, find it harder to recruit than say the local Amazon warehouse worker doing a similar job with a locally adjusted pay rate.

So when COVID hit under the Family First Coronavirus Response Act many postal worker parents stayed home for child care. Even without counting for isolations and quarantines of remaining staff the service fell further behind during 2020.. So for a year, outside of one district which followed the no overtime goal of the PMG those in hard hit areas have been working 12 hours on and off for 6 days a week but still falling behind due to Christmas levels of parcels year round and the inability to keep staff to meet the commitments.

Depending upon the zone and district many see letter mail only every other day as priority goes first to Amazon products and then to other pieces bearing a tracking barcode.

 

[dmas81]

Did the seller ask for FF or did you offer

He asked. I’m really regretting but his ranking is high here on TB and he has a long history on here.

Did the seller ask for FF or did you offer