USPS shipment going the wrong way.

edwinbaz · Nov 1, 2015

I recently placed an order on Pipes & Cigars, and I've never had a problem with any shipment from them. The orders usually go from Lehigh Valley, PA to Philadelphia, and then it's off to PR, arriving through Cataño or San Juan and then reaching my local Postal Office in Caguas. Well, this last order is expected tomorrow, so by now it should have appeared as arriving in Cataño. Nope. I just checked the tracking and it went from Lehigh Valley, PA to CHICAGO, IL!! Hahaha. Hey, USPS, you're heading in the opposite direction!

Has anyone else had a package delivered where it has taken a different, long, weird route?

ericusrex · Nov 1, 2015

Are there any storms currently along the normal route?

edwinbaz · Nov 1, 2015

I hadn't considered that, ericusrex. Good point.

Just did a quick check and nothing unusual. We had some rain today because of a trough that's passing through the area, but I don't think that would be the reason. I have another package coming from PA that arrived this morning at the USPS Destination Facility I mentioned in Cataño and is on time to be delivered tomorrow. So I don't know, but I suspect it's not the weather.

fmgee · Nov 1, 2015

I once had a package here in Canada go from Guleph to Toronto and then Vancouver, then back to Toronto and back to Guelph, back to Toronto and back to Vancovuer, back to Toronto and back to Vancouver... and finally to me.
Sometimes weird things happen.

davet · Nov 1, 2015

I've had some that showed them going the wrong way as I had them in my hand already delivered.

elbert · Nov 1, 2015

It's called the "Hub and Spoke" distribution model, so stuff like this happens all the time. I used to sort packages on to the semi's at UPS, you see some weird combinations--like it goes due East before it can go west again.

huntertrw · Nov 1, 2015

"Has anyone else had a package delivered where it has taken a different, long, weird route? "
Yes. Mike Myers of Walker Pipe Repair shipped two repaired pipes to me (located in the Midwest) from his office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to USPS Tracking they went to northern New Hampshire before being correctly re-routed!

pipesinperu · Nov 1, 2015

I'm currently located in Peru. My orders from Smoking Pipes (via USPS) usually go from South Carolina to Miami to Lima, but my most recent order (in October) went from SC to Miami to Chicago, sat there for a few weeks, and then eventually made it to Lima. Either they're messing up a lot, or Chicago is part of a new route for packages heading south. It's annoying, for sure, but you should get it eventually!

tarheel1 · Nov 1, 2015

Chicago is a major location for customs. A lot of time they have to go through there either inbound or outbound.

edwinbaz · Nov 1, 2015

dublinesque, how long do the shipments usually take to arrive to Lima?

tarheel1, that could be the explanation for dublinesque's case, but Puerto Rico is part of the "Customs Territory of the United States", so it would be strange if the reason for the reroute is customs related. You don't need to declare customs to ship something to PR, and anything shipped to and from the island is considered domestic by USPS.

papipeguy · Nov 1, 2015

I live 4 miles form P&C. They ship UPS then pass to USPS for final delivery. 4 miles takes 5 days.

tarheel1 · Nov 1, 2015

That's true but USPS is retarded at times.

edwinbaz · Nov 2, 2015

papipeguy, that's incredible. 5 days is what it usually takes for a P&C package to arrive at my house. Next time you see a UPS truck drive by your house, run to the middle of the street and stop it. Maybe you'll shorten the delivery time by one or two days. Haha.

tarheel1, oftentimes, yeah.

mrbigglesworth · Nov 2, 2015

I live 4 miles form P&C. They ship UPS then pass to USPS for final delivery. 4 miles takes 5 days.

Here's an idea! Drive 4 miles to the store and buy what you want! Don't they have a lounge? If I lived that close I'd be there all the time!

drezz01 · Nov 2, 2015

I have particularly bad luck with a particular port of entry in regards to being hit with customs. One of my preferred online retailers (because of their origin, not their own doing of course) typically was being routed through that port so I switched retailers and have been having better luck -- until my last order which for, who knows what reason, ended up routing through that port. I'm expecting to pay customs when it arrives.

tarheel1 · Nov 2, 2015

I live an hour for m Smokingpipes.com and 1.5 from jrcigars.com usually takes 3 to 5 days for priority mail from these to get to me.

pipesinperu · Nov 2, 2015

@edwinbaz: Usually takes about 5-7 business days for the package to make it from South Carolina to Lima. It then takes the ever-efficient Peruvian postal service anywhere from a week to a month to clear it through customs and deliver it to my doorstep, but that's another story, haha.

edwinbaz · Nov 6, 2015

Well, the package arrived. All beat up, but it's here. It was estimated to be delivered on Nov. 2 and it only came 4 days late. What was unusual about this case is that it was shipped on Oct. 29th and it took this long. To contrast and show what I mean when I say that P&C orders get to me fast, the Pipe Tobacco of the Month Club shipped this Tuesday and it arrived today. Heck, it arrived before the previous order, because it was available for pickup since 8am, and the "wandering the midwest" package was delivered at 1pm. The box looked like someone kicked it hard. Thankfully, the cigars inside weren't damaged.

davet · Nov 6, 2015

I'm in Canada and received one from SPC ordered on the 27th and it arrived two days ago,another ordered on the 29th and still waiting. I received orders from Great Britain in less than a week, go figure.

papipeguy · Nov 6, 2015

Lee, the P&C retail stores have next to nothing for pipes and the people who work there know absolutely nothing about pipes and tobacco. I know that sounds incredible but there you have it.

USPS shipment going the wrong way.

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