WARNING: Tower is using Fedex Smartpost now

[hpiguy]

To be fair, all my package folks here work their asses off and are now excellent. FedEx used to suck, buy they built a hub closer to me and now they're just as good as any. My mailman is leaving though, so that means USPS is in question again.

 

[Rekreant]

I order a similar amount myself and it's rare when I can find things on Amazon at considerably lower costs than eBay including shipping. eBay gives free or reduced shipping costs, depending on the seller, whereas Amazon charges higher shipping prices especially when you order under a certain amount or order items not covered under their free shipping which seems to happen way too often for my liking. Plus, their 2 day Prime guarantee really isn't in certain circumstances. I know 3 days was more the norm during my 30 day Prime trial membership. That's when I learned their guarantee comes with stipulations.

I might join Prime if eBay starts to fail me or when shipping price increases make it worthwhile. But as of now, been there, done that, had the free membership.

The biggest reason other than 2 day shipping that I use Amazon is for easy returns / refunds. There are just as many sellers on both platforms trying to scam you out of your hard earned money, but ebay has never reimbursed me and amazon has never NOT reimbursed me. Really its all tit for tat, I like multibillion dollar corporation A and you like multibillion dollar corporation B. They each take a cut. When I want to be anti-corporate I use craigslist, surprisingly Ive never been burnt there(knock on wood).

 

[Rekreant]

So its end of day after my package was SUPPOSED to be delivered, all of a sudden USPS updates that it has the package in hand. In fact it says they had it ON FRIDAY. This SmartPost is the most retarded shit Ive ever used.

 

[WHITE-TRASH]

I realize we've all been spoiled by Amazon, but I can remember the days when you placed a money order into an envelope and mailed it off in the hopes that if you were lucky you'd have your stuff in six to eight weeks.

No shit. :lol: Now it's all "Wut??? I have to wait 7 days for a package to be shipped 2000 miles for $7? That's BULLSHIT!" :lmao:

 

[Rekreant]

No shit. :lol: Now it's all "Wut??? I have to wait 7 days for a package to be shipped 2000 miles for $7? That's BULLSHIT!" :lmao:

First world problems lol. Still, WHERE IS MY PACKAGE?!?!?!

 

[The Violator]

From what I have been told is The UPS and fed ex "solutions" or smart post drag ass because they essentially sit somewhere until the cheap truck is full then the load moves and it sits until the cheap truck is full. I have filed charge backs because after a couple weeks of no package I gave up. Ended up getting my stuff for free. Sent them an email telling them about the dick they can eat for saving $.25 in shipping. Offered to send it back only if they sent me prepaid fed ex overnight label.. They passed.

 

[Jim85IROC]

The biggest reason other than 2 day shipping that I use Amazon is for easy returns / refunds.

I agree. I bought tires for my wife's car through Prime last year, and one of them ended up having a hole in it. I plugged the hole so she could drive until the replacement tire got here, and then I sent the bad tire back, with the plug in it. :lmao:

That said, like everything else on Amazon, their return policy is getting worse by the day. Frequently they want to charge me for the return shipping label, and you've got to call to get the free label. :roll:

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The biggest reason other than 2 day shipping that I use Amazon is for easy returns / refunds. There are just as many sellers on both platforms trying to scam you out of your hard earned money, but ebay has never reimbursed me and amazon has never NOT reimbursed me. Really its all tit for tat, I like multibillion dollar corporation A and you like multibillion dollar corporation B. They each take a cut. When I want to be anti-corporate I use craigslist, surprisingly Ive never been burnt there(knock on wood).

PayPal has always made it right for me.

Exactly - different strokes for different folks.

 

[skinnyj]

I've never used SmartPost solutions, as we generally don't do consumer level sales. However, if I have to ship something across the county that is 1lb or under, it is USPS every time. The rate is literally half of what UPS or FedEx would charge and gets there in three days (Priority Mail) as opposed to 4-5 for UPS and FedEx. If someone is in the business where their packages are consistently light, that is the way to go.

It is likely UPS and FedEx get the SmartPost package to their local hub inside their designated transit times. My guess is that the lag comes when it changes custody to the post office, as they are responsible for the final delivery.

 

[DukeMinnix]

I order a similar amount myself and it's rare when I can find things on Amazon at considerably lower costs than eBay including shipping. eBay gives free or reduced shipping costs, depending on the seller, whereas Amazon charges higher shipping prices especially when you order under a certain amount or order items not covered under their free shipping which seems to happen way too often for my liking. Plus, their 2 day Prime guarantee really isn't in certain circumstances. I know 3 days was more the norm during my 30 day Prime trial membership. That's when I learned their guarantee comes with stipulations.

I might join Prime if eBay starts to fail me or when shipping price increases make it worthwhile. But as of now, been there, done that, had the free membership.

I get my stupid expensive yuppy dog food off amazon, the cost savings on two bags a month for Cane Corso and Pit pays for the prime membership on month 3, along with the ease of having it scheduled and not having to think about it. That being said, Chewy now exists and I've been watching my food slowly come down in price, within 3 dollars a bag now, so I'll likely cancel prime and use chewy when it comes time to renew.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I get my stupid expensive yuppy dog food off amazon, the cost savings on two bags a month for Cane Corso and Pit pays for the prime membership on month 3, along with the ease of having it scheduled and not having to think about it. That being said, Chewy now exists and I've been watching my food slowly come down in price, within 3 dollars a bag now, so I'll likely cancel prime and use chewy when it comes time to renew.

That's crazy - 1. Because your dog food is that expensive and 2. because you save that much money. If I saved that much money I'd switch to Amazon! I do buy from Amazon when their Gold Box deals make items much cheaper than everywhere else.

 

[Jim85IROC]

Oddly enough, the thing that I use Amazon for the most other than buying CDs is to buy various supplies that I can't get locally. Vacuum bags, humidifier filters, and Cholula hot sauce. Nobody sells Cholula locally, so I buy it 1/2 gallon at a time on Amazon.

 

[hpiguy]

No shit. :lol: Now it's all "Wut??? I have to wait 7 days for a package to be shipped 2000 miles for $7? That's BULLSHIT!" :lmao:

Yep, and at times I'm just as guilty as the next guy is too. "thumbsup"

That's crazy - 1. Because your dog food is that expensive and 2. because you save that much money. If I saved that much money I'd switch to Amazon! I do buy from Amazon when their Gold Box deals make items much cheaper than everywhere else.

It's no different than us humans man. It's cheap to eat terrible shit that will kill you faster, but pretty expensive to eat even fairly healthy. "thumbsup"

 

[skinnyj]

It's no different than us humans man. It's cheap to eat terrible shit that will kill you faster, but pretty expensive to eat even fairly healthy. "thumbsup"

Don't you love the irony of that...

 

[Natedog]

Being all the way in Vermont, I generally try to avoid buying from anywhere on the left coast whenever possible. It's not uncommon for it to take 10+ days now that some of these 2nd rate shipping options are utilized.

Unless the price is too good to pass up, or it's something special, I tend to buy from east coast vendors, either via Ebay or directly from the seller's website. There are a couple out of New Jersey that get stuff to me very quickly, and a couple out of the Boston/Nashua NH area that can get the stuff to me the next day.

Vice versa for me, but there are a couple Ebay sellers who regularly get parts to me in 3 days and sometimes faster with their regular free or cheap shipping. I remember these sellers and use them for lots of stuff, shipping speed is important to me. Yep, I know two NH sellers who are speedy, love em!

Several of these sellers routinely get things faster to me than some of the lazy California/west coast sellers! :lmao:"thumbsup"


No excuse for slow shipping and/or non-existent tracking these days.

 

[Bananaclip]

My last scx10.2 kit came from RPP. I took advantage (so I thought) of their free shipping. Never again... I waited 2 weeks and FedEx was RPP's free shipping carrier.... Bad

 

[Rekreant]

I agree. I bought tires for my wife's car through Prime last year, and one of them ended up having a hole in it. I plugged the hole so she could drive until the replacement tire got here, and then I sent the bad tire back, with the plug in it. :lmao:

That said, like everything else on Amazon, their return policy is getting worse by the day. Frequently they want to charge me for the return shipping label, and you've got to call to get the free label. :roll:

Fun fact, when that is the case just go ahead and put item defective/doesnt work. Doesnt really matter if thats the case, thats the way to get the free label. ALSO Chat support on Amazon is rivaled by NONE. Every time Ive chatted to complain about an item being even 1 day late they either give me a free month of prime or 5-10$ gift card balance.

 

[Rekreant]

Yeah you have to search for the best deals, and sometimes even use the honey browser thinger to get better deals. So after bitching at USPS about the package, I called Tower to bitch. Im in a bitchy mood today lol. So the rep confirmed that just a week ago they switched over to everything under horizon hobby who uses, you guessed it, fedex smartpost for all their stuff. That was exactly why I never used horizon hobby. I have half a mind to charge it back once I get the order in, but my stupid sense of integrity stops me. This is definitely the last order through them, RPP might charge stupid prices for their shipping, but at least it arrives in 3 days.

 

[2mtech]

sometimes even use the honey browser thinger to get better deals.

Umm...the honey browser?

Take a Midol :lmao:

 

[durok]

Umm...the honey browser?

Take a Midol :lmao:

https://help.joinhoney.com/article/39-what-is-honey-and-how-do-i-get-it

It's a shopping browser extension... "thumbsup"