Sunday, December 4, 2011

Hey, Nice Package!

Since my pregnant body was just too lazy weary to handle Black Friday shopping (and we were at my sister's having Second Thanksgiving that day anyway,) I totally took advantage of Sit-On-Your-Ass-At-the-Computer Cyber Monday!

Now I'm sitting here eagerly awaiting my bounty... and wondering where the f... heck... it is!
I ordered a bunch of stuff on Amazon. There was an awesome deal on select Plan Toys, where I could get $10 off a $30 purchase... so I made several separate transactions, to get the most bang for my buck. Strangely, they still split up my shipments into multiple boxes per order (even though they're all supposedly coming from an Amazon warehouse rather than a third-party seller...) Some boxes were FedExed... and are in my city... but the estimated delivery date is still three days away (12/7.) Some were sent via UPS (why? Why? Same brand, same warehouse... Just... why?) and are roughly 30-minutes North of where I live... also not due to arrive for three more days. And a few others (also UPS) are in Kentucky, and not due to arrive until Friday the 9th. I did order a few other items, like a Trunki for Z (yes, purple of course!) so I can see why they might have shipped from a different location or method. But I don't see why the estimated delivery date is so far away, when I could pick them up my own self from their facilities and have them tomorrow morning!

Body Shop had an awesome 3/$30 deal (plus a chunk back through, which will go into the college fund as well.) So I ordered some fancy expensive $20 items. Mostly for myself. Which I might get to use, like, once before giving birth and not getting to do more than glance longingly at a hot shower for a while...
Anyway, given to UPS on 11/29, driven off by UPS 11/30... Last seen in Illinois on Thursday, 12/1, at 6:03AM. Granted, the 3rd through the 4th has been a weekend, so maybe the driver is sitting around twiddling his thumbs at a hotel somewhere... but where was it all day Friday 12/2? Why has no one scanned it in anywhere? And how do they expect this mysterious disappearing package to arrive by Tuesday, 12/6?

Secret present ordered on behalf of one sister for another (if I ordered it, I could earn my girls some cash back to go into their college accounts through my rebate from!) Ordered 11/28/11. Mailed 12/1/11. Arrived in Seattle 12/3/11... and is expected to arrive 12/7/11. So it will take the Post Office FOUR DAYS to deliver it. I live a roughly 30-minute drive from Seattle. So apparently they are walking it over. Uphill. In the snow.

Yes, I know I'm being impatient. It's the holidays, and it's only been 7 days since I ordered all this. But still. I am part of the NOW! generation. I am used to instant gratification. Thanks to TiVo I can skip commercials. Thanks to Comcast and Netflix On Demand, I can watch most anything I want when I want to. I can get a Happy Meal within 15 minutes from getting in my car. And I live in an area where pretty much any store I'd care to shop at is within a 30-minute drive. So I'm a little spoiled when it comes to not having to wait for what I want... "Don't care how, I want it noooooooooow!"

6pm PST Monday, 12/5/11 - Update (aka: PackageWatch 2011!):
Still no update on my Body Shop shipment. Hasn't been scanned in anywhere at UPS since last Thursday, 12/1.
And I just found out the order for my sister was actually split! The item I ordered for a gift is back-ordered! The item I ordered to tack on since I was getting the free shipping is what's in the mail... and still no updates since 12/3. So still in Seattle as far as I can tell. Not that I'm in a hurry for it or anything. Since what I really wanted isn't even COMING!

I hadn't included these before, since for custom-made items, I am far more understanding over longer turnaround times. But when I looked at the status of my personalized books for Little Z from Champion Me Books it said 'Printed.' Fantastic! I wasn't expecting then to see them shipped yet, since it was Sunday night and all. But now it's end-of-business Monday, and still not shipped! Or boxed, even, for all I know!
[There was a Plum District deal, so I only paid $33 for two personalized books (including shipping!) that would have been $27 each normally. Plus shipping. Ordered on 11/27. But when I ordered it said I would get them before Christmas, so I'll try and be patient. Hey, they got them ordered and printed (with custom coloring and facial features on the 'Little Z' character on the pages) within 8 days, which is pretty good, in my book. Pun intended.]

I'm too disheartened to even look at the status of my Amazon orders.

On the other hand, I placed an order with Bake It Pretty this morning, since they're offering 60% off all cupcake toppers and picks. I ordered enough that even getting punched in the gut with $8 flat-rate shipping, I still saved roughly 30%. Just got an email. It shipped already. That's right. It shipped the same day I ordered it! And the $8 is for 4-5 day shipping. I might actually see it this week! Yowza!

Update 12/5/11, 10pm PST:
Okay. I finally decided to look up my Amazon orders...
So far USPS is ahead amongst them all. The ones shipped via USPS were checked into my city this afternoon. So I'll probably see those tomorrow! Waitaminnit... Yesterday they were all UPS and FedEx. Today they're all UPS and USPS! So it must be the FedEx ones arriving via USPS now. Huh.
The UPS ones that are 30-minutes North of me... are still 30-minutes North. Nothing changed today. The ones that were in Kentucky last night... only just now left Kentucky! [Literally. Like, 10 minutes ago was their departure scan time.] Sheesh, people.

Update 12/6/11:
Surprise bounty! I got the Champion Me Books delivered! Their status was still listed as 'printed,' so clearly they don't update past that point!
I also got my Body Shop order! Squeee! AND my Bake It Pretty order, which was only JUST shipped yesterday (12/5!) FanTAStic!
Got my secret present on behalf of one sister for the other. Or, I should say, the extra bit I tacked on since I was getting free shipping. It's kind of useless without the original gift, since they kind of go together. Gah. It's like getting the batteries for your new toy, but no toy! Or a jar of popcorn kernels, but no popper!

It also looks like Amazon ended up combining a bunch of my orders, since I got most of my stuff all at once! All the stuff estimated to arrive tomorrow (12/7.) The Trunki was pretty big, so it only came with my Plan Toys Numbers set, but another box had most of the rest: The Trunki Saddlebag, Plan Toys Beehive, Shape Sorter, and the Hammer Balls (possibly for my niece. Maybe save it for the baby.) The set of Activity Blocks also arrived, which I'm very excited about. They are fun colors, make sounds, and have various textures. I got them for the baby, but I think I'll try them out on Z a little. Have her feel them in the bag and use adjectives to describe them before bringing them out. Other than that, she's really too old for them at this point.
My Plan Toys Alphabet and Play Park (for my niece) are still MIA. As are the Moon Dough pack for my nephews (it was on sale for only $10!) and the Kinderville Ice Pop Molds I've been dying to try. They left Illinois at 7am. So probably not until Friday.


  1. lol, why the long wait for Amazon I can't answer - usually if you do the 2 day shipping or have a Prime account, it is there guaranteed either overnight or the two days. I've never had issue.

    As far as UPS, I know that if a package moves, it's scanned. So it might have been missed being scanned, which is a big boo-boo there (I have friends who are Supervisors at different terminals) but doesn't necessarily mean it didn't move. They're so slammed right now with what they call "peak season" - I'm positive they'll be there on their estimate due date without issue. I actually had a package arrive 2 days earlier than UPS was expecting last week. So *finger crossed* you don't have to wait too much longer Mama - I feel ya though, when I buy something online I want it NOW! lol

  2. I have the added pressure of having a baby in 2 weeks (from today!) So I need to get all this stuff wrapped, sorted into piles by where it will go: his family's Christmas Eve get-together, our family Christmas morning (possibly in the hospital, if my c-section date gets pushed back to the 22nd!) or my family's Christmas late-morning. All within the next 14 days. Plus I should probably clean the living room enough so we can cram a tree in there somewhere...

  3. 2 weeks?! Ahh, it's so close now!!
    Good luck to ya mama :)
    Were they updated in their system today??
    If not, seriously send me a message on FB with the tracking #'s and I get get the inside source scoop.

  4. I had this problem with my most recent order. I kept checking the status.. Once it said it was in my city but not scheduled for delivery for a few days. Needless to say I got it the next day. Maybe their just slacking on the tracking updates. Its is the season for tons of packages too :)

  5. How exciting for you to be getting some packages. Hope they arrive quickly : )

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