Let's talk about shipping
 

I for one usually do all of my ordering online for my quilting. I don't need to tell you that it can get to be quite expensive, so I try to shop for bargains and use coupons, watch for sales.

The the big day arrives when your long awaited or desperately needed order is finally delivered.

Really..... I just received a much awaited order today. Pretty expensive, needed it for the quilt I'm working on, plus I ordered enough to give me some for some other quilts I'll be making. Didn't go too bad at first, I was able to get it on sale, with lowered shipping, so I took advantage of it and ordered an extra one. The order was shipped out pretty much on the expected timeline, so no worries there, but then..... the shipper they used, had it marked on the truck for delivery for 5 days. Their excuse for not delivering it was weather.... ummmmm, the storm was three days past, but maybe they were behind for a day or two. But, come on - out for delivery on the truck for 5 days. um no!

So, I finally got it today. Unbelievable. The fabric, on bolts, was basically shrink wrapped in retail store shopping bag, like plastic, not even mailing envelope thickness, and then the 4 bolts were just taped together in the middle with moving tape (the clear - think scotch tape only wider). All of the plastic wrappings (all 4) were split open on one side, pretty much half the length of the bolts, along with other slits in the plastic covering. The tape holding them together was so loose, I surprised all 4 were still in the bundle, so they were flopping every which way. And the dirt on the fabric was a mixture of grease, and dirt from the truck, I'm thinking floor, as it was so dirty. Not to mention, the fabric on the bolts used to be snow white!!!!!

I called the retailer and got a full refund, and was told to trash the order. Which it is, trash that is, as it is totally non-useable, It would never be white again. And, it isn't just on the outer layers. Since the ends of the bolts were exposed as well, it is all through the fabric, every single layer. It also feels like it was wet at some point,

It was nice that I got a full refund, but they wouldn't replace it. Said I would need to reorder it myself. Honestly, I don't dare, with the way it arrived. I'm not naming names because the way I look at it, it is both the retailers fault for they way they packed it for shipping, and the shippers fault for part of the damage. (I'm thinking that if it hadn't been flipped around the truck for 5 days out for delivery, it might not have been quite as dirty/damaged) -- note when it is marked out for delivery that means it is on the truck and is expected to get delivered that day.

I am now faced with a set back on working on the quilt, yet again. Not to mention, that I also stepped in kitty throwup in my stocking feet, on the way to make the phone call to ask for my order to be replaced, which they refunded instead, -- at least that worked out in my favor without a hassle.

Anywho, I have reordered with a different retailer, scrubbed out my sock and put it in the wash, hugged the kitty who is feeling much better now that tummy is empty of hairball, and I'm drinking a soothing cup of hot tea, while I put the email saying I'm getting a refund in a side folder so I don't accidently delete it until my refund shows up.

So, tell me your shipping stories, over a cuppa and we will sigh together! :hug:

That sounds awful!!! I can't believe that's how they actually shipped it. Crazy. My youngest works for UPS and it's amazing how shoddily things are packaged for shipping. He's part of their hazmat spill response team. He's seen it all.

Here's my story. My dryer died. My son took it apart and determined that the drum needed to be replaced. I ordered it online. First, FedEx delivered it to the wrong house. They ALWAYS deliver to the wrong house, it drives us nuts. Our neighbor told us it was at his house, and he'd taken pictures of it for us before anyone touched it. That was foreshadowing! We got there and the box had basically disintegrated. The drum inside was broken and unusable. But when my son started taking a closer look at it, he realized that the damage was more than what FedEx had done. Someone had returned a broken drum to the company I'd purchased from, and they'd simply put it back on their shelf. When I ordered it, that's what they sent to me. I was mad. I called them, they told me they'd ship me a new one at no additional cost, and I could just throw the first one out. That was when I got furious. I told them who was going to pay the disposal bill? A dryer drum isn't something I can just put inside my garbage can!! We were going to have to drive to the waste transfer station and pay to dispose of it! It's not MY garbage, why should I have to pay?? Ooooooo I was so mad. They did agree to credit my card $15, which actually ended up being a little over what we paid. But the whole thing was absolutely infuriating and I told them I'd never do business with them again. I wish I could say the same about FedEx, but unfortunately when we order stuff we rarely get to choose the carrier.

I have been warned in previous posts not to use the very common nationwide fabric chain name in any posts.

Let's just say I had ordered a roll of batting that I wanted, it was on sale but I was unable to pick it up from or have it shipped to the store. I waited for weeks -- that was one of the years Texas flooded badly and there were delays. When I contacted the chain I was told they had no information on the status of my order -- other than yes I had ordered it, and that I would need to cancel the order and they could re-order at the sale price. And then they tried to hit me with a 15% restocking fee.

This was a roll of batting, it wasn't something small that could have been easily over looked. It wasn't "delivery denied by customer" it was "delivery never came".

Anyway... no more mail order from that chain and I only pay cash and don't use coupons if I absolutely positively have to buy thread or something quickly.

In the good news, it helps me with my fabric moratorium anti-shopping tactics that the closest store annoys me.

I don't buy a lot online, sometimes from Ebay. The last order, I bought on a Monday (it was a holiday though) and they didn't ship til Friday! I don't see any reason for that. When I sell something, I ship it the next day at the latest, sometimes the same day.
A very inexpensive poly mailer around the fabric would have protected it. No excuse for them to ship it "naked" like that, especially white fabric. Yikes.

I got a wrong package delivered to my house. I called the carrier who left it. Nope, the carrier said he had delivered to the right house. Well I had the package and I was the wrong house on the wrong street. Nope, the carrier said he had delivered to the right house. I called back three times, finally got someone who said. Well we will send someone to pick it up some time but the carrier has already gone home for the day. What! Well, I didn't want to leave the rather big package on my porch nor did I want to take it into my house as it wasn't mine and I did not know when they would be reappearing to pick it up. So, I did some sleuth work. Do you know how hard it is to track somebody down now that nobody has a listed number these days. Anyway, I googled the dude's name, found out he was a manager at a local business, so I called the business and asked if I could talk to him. I quizzed him and asked if he was expecting a package as I had one I believed was his. I then asked him who it was from. It matched the business on the package. He came to pick it up I did check his ID and gave him his package. I then called the carrier back and said that the package had been delivered. OK, I am nuts! Anyway, I should have demanded a couple of hours of pay!

I ordered a package that was shipped via the postal system. When my online account said the package was "handed directly to customer" and we had not received it, I did a little sleuthing with the help of my local post office. As I had a tracking number (from an international postal system), my local postmistress was able to internally determine it was hand delivered to a customer that day listed, but to a completely different town.... now, my country road is a very unusual name, and my first/last names are also very unusual... I want to know how a postal carrier can deliver a parcel to the wrong person, on the wrong street, in the wrong city????

What the heck????

Luckily, the retailer immediately credited my account, without question..

It is funny how much pressure it puts on one to receive a package that you did not order. I recently received one that seemed to have several torn- up labels on it with the top one being my name and address, although it looked different than the usual label. It turned out to be two very small items used for jewelry making which I don't do. I couldn't actually return in the usual manner because it didn't show up on my orders. I kept it for a few weeks, just in case and now have added it to my donation box. I would have been happy to give to the person who ordered it but there was no information. I fussed around about this quite a bit. Haha

Sad it was. One would think the retailers would package stuff to actually survive the shipping.

It's funny, but when I send one of my adult kids a package, I wrap it up so good that they have actually asked if I have used the entire roll of packing tape! Nope, nothing is getting into this bugger or out of it and it is going to arrive in one piece! :p

this thread reminds me of something that happened back in the 80's. We received a package with a crib quilt/baby bunting type thing in it. No idea where it came from. Return address was a Pack'N'Ship place in NY, in an area where I did not know anyone. I held on to it for a while, thinking someone would contact me about it, wanting to buy something similar or whatever. Never heard anything, finally got rid of it, I think I sold it at a yard sale.

We ordered some paper goods from Office Depot back in November, 2021. It said it was coming UPS (which we never have problems with in our area). Well, come to find out UPS farmed it out to a company called TForce Logistics. The tracking kept giving a day it would be delivered to us but each day there was no package. Now it was in the hand of TForce & just about 50 miles from where I live. Sometimes the tracking would say "ran out of time" & then give another date for delivery. No telling how many hours I spent calling Office Depot & TForce to find out what was going on but with no answers. They wouldn't even let me talk to a supervisor. Said he would call me back....never got a call back. After about a month & a half we finally got an email from Office Depot saying that out product was returned to them by the carrier & they were refunding our money. I'm just thankful that OD refunded my money. I'll never do online business with Office Depot again & I told them so & also told TForce what a horrible carrier they were. I know all this was left on deaf ears but I felt better letting them know that I was not a happy customer.

Don't know what it is about having a Indiana address, but it seems like every time I order anything from Missouri or Ohio, the package has to travel all of the mid-west before I get it.

We live in the country...just a couple miles out of town actually, along a main road that is well traveled. We've had a substitute mail driver leave a box on the ground near the mailbox. Our mailbox is on the OTHER side of the road from us, and we have a long country driveway that we have to travel to get the mail each day. By the time my husband saw the box sitting there anyone could have stopped and taken it. How stupid was that? And anytime we get a package from FedEx it's so dirty from dust that we have to wipe it off before bringing in the house. Really, this is what we pay postage for?

A lot of the time, packages are delivered by the post office who makes that final delivery. Sure, the packages start out with UPS or some other carrier, who then transferers them to the post office for that final step. I received one of those packages recently and the box was only being held together by a bit of packing tape, one end of the box being totally disconnected from the rest. Surprisingly, the product I ordered was still intact. Impossible for me to know which carrier did the damage. However, I shudder when I think about the Post Office being no more as I don't think those private carriers are set up at the moment pick up mail from my house nor to make deliveries to my house. The post office I hear sometimes operates at a loss making those final delivery steps from other carriers who can't be bothered with it.

I had a similar thing happen and few years ago. A big box appeared on my porch from Sears Parts and Appliances. Puzzled, I brought it in and opened it. It was a part for a dryer, but not MY dryer. I checked my credit cards. No charges from Sears (or anywhere else) for it. I did the same. Kept it around for a while thinking someone would come looking for it. Nope. Never happened. I finally gave it to Goodwill. I still have no idea what that was about.

There is no pressure on some who decides to just steal your package when it's delivered to them. We had a substitute driver for fedex it delivered a package with my quilt kit in it. the entire package was $249 worth of stuff from quilt in a day.. The driver showed up on my doorstep the next morning after the so called delivery. He said did you get this package and I said no And he just looked at his clipboard and turned around and left with no explanation. They told me to go back to quilt in A-day and get a refund well of course quilt in the day didn't have The quilt kit anymore and wouldn't be getting it till sometime this year. ..maybe. It was on a really good sale I still remain disappointed that someone got this package around Christmas time and decided to keep it.

This topic couldn't be more timely.
I shipped a white FW last week. I had UPS pack and ship it as I felt they would do a better job than me. Wrong!
It arrived with a damaged case (they are very hard to find as you know) and attachments thrown around inside the case.
There was NO packing inside the case.
The buyer was understandably very upset, probably as much as me.
I had to file a claim. Since I've never dealt with UPS I can't be sure how it will end up but the manager seems very accomodating.
I detest USPS. That's where I do most of my shipping. I have to bomb-proof all goods or else they ruin them. Don't ask me what they do but I've seen boxes practically destroyed, either on my end or someone else. I sent a package to Arizona that they delivered soaking wet. They denied my claim even though I had photos they requested because I didn't bring the packing in for their inspection. So my customer is supposed to pay to ship a wet package back? It was insured but that means nothing.
I'm sick about the FW case. It was in great shape before I sent it. Luckily I have a lot of photos for proof.

Just last week a FedEx driver came to my door with a large package that he said needed to be signed for. I wasn't expecting anything, so I asked him if he was sure about the address. He was on the wrong street. If he hadn't needed a signature, he would have just left the package on my porch.

My story could have had a very expensive ending--for someone. A few years ago, DH ordered a new computer for work--well over $2000. It was stated on the contract, that someone would have to show ID and sign for the item when it was delivered. We live in a small town but who knows of any place where there is no crime and the weather is always dry. If I had not noticed a vehicle pulling out of our driveway, and opened the front door to see who it was, we might not have ever seen that package. "Photo ID and signature" was in bold type on the packing slip too. The customer service at the computer company was very annoyed when we informed them.

I was told when shipping something to anyone to package it securely and then repackage the package.

And then there's the popular company that takes your order and doesn't fill it promptly. I ordered from Missouri Star on February 10th and received it this week- about March 5th. Every time I checked tracking, it said 'Unfulfilled'. I'm glad I had other things to work on while I waited.

berrynice, have you tried soaking in OxiClean to see what you can salvage?

A lot of problems have occurred because of Covid but MSQC has never had good shipping and I don't know why. I only order from them when I'm not in a hurry. They should address that.

I was at a local mall one day. As I was heading into the mall I watched a UPS driver throw boxes marked "fragile glass", in big bold letters, off the truck onto a flatbed trolley. You could hear glass breaking. He didn't care.

My husband uses self catheters. One day a shipment had arrived. The driver left it on our porch as usual. The box had been soaked at some point. The inside box had been soaked as well as the catheters. I called the company. They asked for photos so they could put in a claim to UPS & sent out a new order.

I have gotten many packages ripped open, wet or damaged in some way. Many are so dirty they have to be wiped off before bringing them inside or opening them. We also don't have home delivery of mail. We have to go to our local post office & pick our mail up. So UPS, FedEx often drops packages off at the post office. So why are we being charged for home deliver?? Good question. One package weighed over 40 pounds & our postal lady wasn't happy they dropped it off at the post office.

I tape heavy when I mail a package. I even tape the label to keep it from getting wet & info smudged.

Get this.....years ago a friend in Sweden sent me a ceramic plate. She put it in a heavy paper shopping bag with handles. Stapled & taped it shut. Put a label on it. The plate was only wrapped in tissue paper. Somehow it managed to make it all the way to PA unbroken.

I bubble wrap anything that may get broken, stuff the box full of paper or bubble wrap & heavily tape the box when I mail a package. I even tape the label to keep it from getting wet & info smudged.

My last order I received from a well known fabric store took so long, if I had been in a hurry for the item I would have been upset. I thought I might think twice before ordering again…then #1 daughter text me. She loved the daily deal layer cake. Ok here we go again bc I have been waiting almost 2 years for her to choose fabrics. (#2 daughter likes EVERYTHING, kinda like their mamma🤣) so bc she wants large quilt we both ordered Daily deal even though postage on each, it was cheaper to order this way. Hers came in Friday after almost two weeks. My order was just ‘fulfilled’ Thursday, the day before, so it will be another week or two for mine to arrive bc last time an order set in Southaven Mississippi for 5 days! So I’m expecting it will be close to a month to come from two states away. Oh and my order that I spoke about at first, while waiting for it, I ordered from another site way further away and got it in in 4 days from my ordering. They shipped right out and no delays with shippers.

I order from MSQC for most of my online quilt shopping. Sometimes I get the order in just a few days sometimes it takes several weeks. QIAD is about the same. Accuquilt can take a month or more or three days, I never know. I ordered from an online independent quilt shop and it took two months. They shipped it the cheapest way even though I paid regular priority mail. Amazon has a distribution center not far from me so I get most Amazon orders the next day. Walmart is usually three days. Sam's Club is three days too. Target is about two weeks. I've never needed an emergency order of fabric or quilting supplies.

I've startind to order online because of Covid restrictions and have had mixed results. Everything has been in perfect condition. However, you don't get to "feel" the fabric and the colors you see on your screen can be way off. I've become more picky about ordering precuts online as sometimes I get the feeling that some of the precut fabrics were just thrown in the stack because they did not sell well. I've had good luck mostly and I love not being limited to the fabric in a fabric store.

No, it was unsalvageable. It was really bad. I wept silent tears as I tossed it all.

2 quilts for my nieces. Delivered to the wrong house AND SIGNED FOR. But obviously not by my cousin\their mother. She had to go knock on door to get it returned. I was breathing FIRE.

points this was not a failure of the shipper - but the person. Should not have signed for not their package.

I'll share a good shipping catastrophe. In the 80s, I teamed up with my sister-in-law to special order stained glass by the crate. We selected the exact pieces we wanted even though that is more expensive. Each sheet is about 4 feet by 4 feet, and each crate weighed about 1,000 pounds. I ordered 2 crates, a nail-bitingly large purchase for me at that time. When they arrived, they had fallen over on their side. The driver had cut their stability straps! They left them on their side in the yard and agreed to replace the order, which they did. 2 more crates arrived unharmed. When I examined the first shipment, Some pieces were in several large pieces, while some were in half-still quite usable. I now had 4 crates of glass for the price of 2. I haven't needed to purchased glass in 30 years.

I can vouch for 2 online fabric stores that ship quickly and carry good quality fabrics. Crafttown Fabrics and Whittles. I usually have my order in less than a week.

I placed an order for a set of plastic machine quilting templets from a sewing machine store in texas. I am not sure how this chain store works, but they sent me two sets. .One set from texas and one from washington state. Now I was only charged once. I called the business in washington (a quilt store) and informed them of the double mailing. These were $125.00 a set. The lady argued with me when I told her about the error and that they needed to be returned to her store. It took another phone call and four days for her to send me a email link to a prepaid label to return them. I would never keep anything not mine. But honestly, I was so upset from talking to the quilt store, I was ready to through up my hands and give up.

I do order online once in awhile, but not too often. Several years ago, when we ordered our tractor/lawn mower, we were supposed to get a free trailer. It did not come, so we called the company. They showed they had shipped it, but offered to re-ship. They promptly did, and we received it. About 6 weeks later, we got a pickup notification that our trailer was at the PO ready for pickup. But....they shipped it to the address of our cabin! We do not get mail delivery at the cabin. We used to only have fire numbers, but they switched over to "street addresses" mostly for fire purposes. There is now a group of mail boxes at the turn off from the main highway for the few year-rounders. How they got the cabin address, I have absolutely no idea. We now have two trailers. They told us to keep it!

I am fortunate that the majority of my packages get here undamaged. I do most of my shopping online any more because I don't go out very often. 98% of my quilting supplies are bought online and even the majority of my groceries are ordered online. I have my preferred shippers but that is not how things usually go. Right now I am waiting for a package from Australia to the USA. Once it arrived in the USA (day before yesterday) it has to go through customs and then into the USPS for delivery. It can take longer to get from the Port of LA to me than it takes to cross the ocean! This is a delivery I am always concerned about because of the distance it is traveling. It usually takes about 3 weeks or a little longer. So I am expecting it to arrive sometime next week. Keeping my fingers crossed. Other supplies I have ordered from this company have arrived with out incident and I am hopeful and take a deep breath that this too will get here safely.

My fastest shipper is Quilted Twins. Florida to Michigan in just a few days.

They had super fast shipping several years ago when they used USPS. They recently renewed with Fed Ex and since I don't want to be tempted, I just don't even look at their emails or website. I would pay more for shipping to know that I can track and receive my package in a timely manner.

shipping
 

I order fabric/supplies online fairly often as the nearest town of any size is 45 min away. I moved to TX 4 years ago, and have received several packages to my current address from a major retailer. When I ordered from them recently, the package didn't come after several weeks, I contacted their C.S., who told me that for some unknown reason, my package had been delivered to my old address in another state!

shipping
 

I order fabric/supplies online fairly often as the nearest town of any size is 45 min away. I moved to TX 4 years ago, and have received several packages to my current address from a major retailer. When I ordered from them recently, the package didn't come after several weeks, I contacted their C.S., who told me that for some unknown reason, my package had been delivered to my old address in another state!
EDIT - they did send a replacement without charge, and it arrived within a week. No telling what the other people did with that package

I've been selling on eBay for 20+ years and I'm shocked at how much shipping has increased and how many more issues we have now with packages getting where they need to go. It's insanely frustrating.

I moved three years ago. I'm still getting mail for the previous owners of the house, the renters that were here for 2 years and someone else. I write "return to sender" on the envelopes and the post office brings them back a couple days later. Sigh.

I'll share a some good shipping stories here. My sister has stage IV and her chemo is shipped to her house monthly, If she doesn't take it in a timely manner, it's useless. UPS lost it once in KY. No one cared and it took weeks to get a another shipment from Pfizer. (The med costs about $1700 a month. Then it happened again and no one cared. I can't imagine if this were someone's insulin (which my niece used to get shipped and it has been lost before). Medical insurance companies are not going to send a quick refill. I've been lucky mostly. I was waiting for my longarm delivery and the tracking info was not up to date. Had a friend over on very snowy Sunday. She went to leave and (thank God) saw the boxes lying on the ground, snow covered, behind her car. Fex ex left them there.