Just had an extremely passionate customer insist that we use a different shipping method than those that we offer. Domestically our shipping options are USPS Priority and Express. There are no exceptions. There are many reasons for this. For one we ship from multiple locations and not all of our locations are capable of all of other shipping options. So if you order product C be shipped via UPS and it comes from location A that only does Fedex then what are we suppose to do? Also sometimes are are short staffed because of other automation projects. In these instances we keep an emergency supply of products with us just to help us serve our customers better. Depending on where we are there may not be a UPS or Fedex shipping location, but chances are you can find a post office.
I hear lots of people complain about the post office, in fact I was one of those people not too long ago. Yet I have become truly amazed by their timeliness and believe most of the complaints are just because they are a government entity. We can ship via USPS priority mail in 2 to 3 days anywhere in the US for the same price that you pay for 5 to 7 days delivery via UPS or FedEx. Express mail is fairly timely, overnight to most locations. There is a plan in place to offer UPS Next Day Air but there are still a few logistical issues to overcome at one of our locations. We will not offer this service until we can assure our customers that next day is truly next day every time.
There is also an 11:00AM cutoff for shipping. When you order a product from us, we don't simply smack it in a box and throw it on the truck. If a product has any type of electronic components then it must be tested before it ships to assure quality. We are also not just sitting around waiting for an order to come in. The products that we manufacture are being built, surplus supplies are being sorted through and tested, custom controls are being built and much more. Express mail orders are always moved to the front of the line. So we take the worst case Express mail backlog we have and back figure to our cutoff. Even with a 11AM cutoff we have just squeezed our packages in before the shipping deadline. Again, we will not move the cutoff forward if we are not sure that urgent packages will go out the same day.
If you are reading this at 2:00PM and you urgently need something then I know it's not what you want to hear, but hopefully it helps clarify our position.
Tim
