The shipping debacle, and what we're doing about it

We know many of you have not yet received your packages this season. We're very sorry for that. We know what this disappointment feels like at the end of a tough year, and we want to be proactive and transparent about the current situation at USPS and our warehouse, along with our plan to try to fix what is still a pretty big mess.

Unfortunately we don't have all that many resources to work with. We're a tiny business - just two of us - on a mission to make cool products that make people smile. So when we see those smiles go away and the frustration start to build, the same thing happens on our end. We have been preparing all year for this holiday season, in order to quickly turn around orders and provide the personalized customer support we feel you deserve. So when the final step in the process of delivering gloves gets totally disrupted, we could not be more dismayed. We really apologize for any disruption to your plans to have these delivered in time for the holidays.

At the moment, we're getting flooded with package inquiries (for good reason), and we're struggling to keep up. So we've built a primer below to give background about these USPS shipping delays, provided answers to the main FAQs we've been getting, and then at the bottom explained what we're doing about it. 

About the USPS shipping delays

Turnaround times at our warehouse: We can confirm that our warehouse shipped nearly all orders within the last couple months in 0-2 business days. In very rare cases we had a delay due to an outlier issue (e.g. sold out sizes, address verification issues, manual order changes) that required additional processing where we likely needed to follow up with you via email. Those turnaround times during a peak holiday season are truly impressive (even more so while covid is raging), and we're thrilled at how well our warehouse has been able to execute. Hats off to them. They've been a great partner.

Working with them this season has given us some insight into the inner workings of the shipping process, and why in spite of how quickly they're able to turn around orders, so many of you are still without your packages weeks later. Here's a mini FAQs of what we've learned that should help answer some of the more common delivery-related questions we've been getting:

Why is my package showing a "Pre-Shipment" status for so long? Does this mean you still haven't shipped it? In any other time in the past, as soon as our warehouse has transferred packages to the postal facility, USPS then scans the packages into the system (usually within 24 hours) and the journey to your door begins. This year however, USPS faced an unprecedented surge of packages and was overwhelmed. So while they'd taken possession of our packages, they did not scan them into the system as they had in the past. Hence the dreaded days-long or even weeks-long "pre-shipment" notification so many of you are seeing in your tracking history, where a shipping label is created but the package doesn't appear to have actually been shipped. We certainly understand that this makes it appear as if we're sitting on your order instead of shipping it. But we can assure you that's not the case. 

Why is my package showing "In-Transit" for so long? Is it lost? In a lot of cases after the package has been scanned into the system, you may see tracking info showing that your package is "in-transit" for multiple days (weeks, even) and not actually moving. People understandably start wondering whether their package has been lost. We haven't had a single confirmed lost package so far this season, so it's nearly certain that your package is still at a postal facility awaiting processing, and the delay is caused by a lack of processing capacity there rather than it being lost. 

Why is my package showing it's traveled 1000 miles out of the way? Are you sure that's the correct tracking number? Or is it going to the wrong address? The postal service will move packages around to other facilities that have more capacity, and sometimes it can result in quicker delivery times if they move them to a location far away that has more capacity.

Can you send replacement gloves? We wish, since that's a pretty straightforward solution to this problem. Unfortunately we're out of stock of most gloves, with most of our remaining inventory currently sitting in the postal system.   

Why don't you offer UPS or Fedex?  For the last 5 years, USPS had consistently been our most reliable shipping partner, up until mid-December. By the time we realized there was a problem this year, it was too late to find another solution. We will now reasess that decision for next year.

A couple news articles that offer more color about the delays: here and here

What we can do to help

  • If your order was placed by 12/18 and delivered this week (12/26-12/31), and now it's too late to be useful: You're entitled to a full refund and we'll pay the return shipping charges as well. Please reach out with your order number and we'll send a prepaid shipping label and return instructions to make that return process as free and easy as possible for you.
  • If your order was placed by 12/18 and is currently showing it's either in "pre-shipment" or in transit in the postal system, and it will be arriving too late to be useful: Please first wait for the package to arrive. Then reach out to us with your order number, and we'll follow the same free return/full refund process as above. 
  • If your order was placed by 12/18 and either delivered this week (12/26-12/31) or remains undelivered, but you'd actually prefer to keep the gloves when they arrive: We're offering a $10 refund for each affected order. Just reach out to let us know you'd like one and include your order number and we'll make it happen.  
  • Any order that was placed by 12/31 and is still not delivered by January 31: We'll be automatically refunding these orders. No questions asked, and nothing to do on your part. If the package does eventually arrive, the gloves are yours to keep. 
  • Shipping Charges: In any case, if you plan to keep the gloves but paid for shipping and feel you deserve a refund for the shipping charge, just reach out to us with your order number and we'll gladly refund the shipping charge.
  • If you don't think any of these options are reasonable, please reach out and let us know so we can work with you to come up with a solution.
  • Ways to reach out to us (please include your order #): 

    • Reply to your order confirmation or delivery email
    • Use the form on our Contact Us page
    • Email us directly (the address is shown on the postcard that comes with your gloves)

    We definitely understand your frustration at these delays, and we're hard at work doing what we can to both make things right for you and also survive until next winter. It's sad to know that Freezy Freakies didn't make it to your home in time for the holidays. We apologize again for the delays, and want to thank you for your patience and sticking with us here. 

    Have a healthy, happy, safe new year.

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