Which Shipping Options from Smoking Pipes?

[crazyhog]

Hi,
I'm thinking of ordering a couple of pipes from SP. It's a relatively expensive order, for me, at about $250. They are offering free shipping with UPS Surepost. The closect options are USPS Ground Advantage and USPS Priority. Both for only a couple of dollars. I just saw 2nd day air UPS for $8. Any suggestions/experiences? Thanks from a PAD sufferer.

 

[Briarcutter]

I'd go with the free shipping. They'll still replace if they get lost.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Go with UPS whenever you can, the USPS is absolutely dreadful now. They’ll take your order on a week and half ride around the country before letting it sit in a distribution center for another week.

 

[jackattack]

It's hit or miss with usps. I've had orders from SP take 3 days and then the next order take 2 weeks.

 

[RPK]

Usually about 3 days to here in NJ with their free USPS shipping…

 

[didimauw]

Usually about 3 days to here in NJ with their free USPS shipping…

Same for Wisconsin!

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi,
I'm thinking of ordering a couple of pipes from SP. It's a relatively expensive order, for me, at about $250. They are offering free shipping with UPS Surepost. The closect options are USPS Ground Advantage and USPS Priority. Both for only a couple of dollars. I just saw 2nd day air UPS for $8. Any suggestions/experiences? Thanks from a PAD sufferer.

Both USPS and UPS are dysfunctional, for different reasons, but dysfunctional nonetheless. I usually opt for the free shipping, since I'm in no hurry, which takes about a week to make it to the West Coast.

If time is a factor, and cost is not, I'd go with the USPS Priority Mail. Never had an issue in all of the years I've used it.

 

[The Benedictine]

I always go with the free option

 

[Auxsender]

Go with UPS whenever you can, the USPS is absolutely dreadful now. They’ll take your order on a week and half ride around the country before letting it sit in a distribution center for another week.

This has not been my experience.
Maybe this happened to me 2 times in the past 6 years across probably 100 shipments. I’d guess it happens 2% of the time in my experience.

 

[Sig]

Go with UPS whenever you can, the USPS is absolutely dreadful now. They’ll take your order on a week and half ride around the country before letting it sit in a distribution center for another week.

This hasn't been our experience at all. Fed Ex is great, but UPS literally could NOT be worse.
I'm sure this may be a regional thing, but we have had multiple horrible drivers over the last 6-7 years.
We live pretty rural, so we get a lot of deliveries. Our driveway is over 120 yards long, and we cannot see the end of it. But, for YEARS UPS has left packages at the end of the driveway. Some packages are heavy, so we must drive down to get them. We have had SEVERAL packages stolen because where the packages are, you cannot see our house. It's like free stuff.
Fed Ex, USPS, Amazon and even DHL have never, not once left a package at the road. Our Fed Ex guy has been our guy for 8 years, he's not surprised, he says he hears about UPS being horrible all the time.
I absolutely know why this is happening, but I'm not going to mention it here. Let's just say that our UPS driver before our current one was well over 400 pounds and couldn't bend or carry anything. I'm all for good eating and free will, but who hired this guy? We actually felt sorry for him. He could barely breath after walking 15 feet. Super nice guy, but I believe this wasn't the job for him. He lasted about 1 year.
We are not complainers, but my wife has called UPS more than all other companies combined. Every time they ASSURE her that the packages will be brought down the driveway....but they are a couple times, then back to the roadside. One of the few times I've seen cops near our house was last year when a NYSP Tropper stopped by our house. She had pictures of a guy she wanted to know if we recognized. The guy was following the UPS truck, and stealing packages left out by people's mailboxes. He hit 6 houses near us, all from UPS.
Sorry for the rant.
This is why we go out of our way to order from places that DONT use UPS.
I should add that we have a nice big turn around at our house for big trucks. The Fed Ex guy backs down the long, winding driveway like a pro. He also sits in our yard a plays with our dogs. One time we were BBQing, he sat for 15 minutes and ate some brisket, coleslaw, and fried corn.

 

[sardonicus87]

UPS Sure Post, to over simplify it, is basically just like regular UPS but instead of taking it to you, they drop it at your local USPS post office and they make the final delivery. I'm sure there's more to it than that, different hub network maybe, but from the end-consumer side of things, that's what it is, and it's been fine.

Most everything with shipping, if you see a super cheap USPS option, which I forget what it's called, but that is one that depending on where you live, could take forever. The reason that option is cheap is because with that option, they reduce shipping costs by not sending a truck unless the truck is full, so from one distribution center, until the truck that is going to your distribution center is full, it's going to just sit there.

When you order enough to get free shipping, generally the free option isn't that aforementioned USPS one that can take forever, so you're fine taking the free option. The free option might take 1 day longer than the "regular" option.

For what it's worth, no matter where you order from, do not ever take FedEx Ground shipping, this is the absolute worst, package always bungled up and destroyed, late, etc. FedEx ground is a bunch of independent contractors that lease FedEx trucks and they give no fucks.

Also, where I live, UPS has been great, the only one we have issues with here is FedEx.

 

[crazyhog]

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. I just placed my order with SP by UPS 2nd day air guaranteed 6/3 to NY. Fingers crossed. Ordered a Savinelli and a Rattay plus filters and wind caps also. Happy Fathers Day to myself.

Tampers & Tools: Tobacco Pipe Wind Cap
Item No: 001-545-0125


Filters & Adaptors: Vauen 6mm Filters - (30 Pack)
Item No: 001-873-0001


Savinelli: Onda Sandblasted (111 KS) (6mm)
Item No: 002-033-82293


Rattray's: Emblem Brown (157) (9mm)
Item No: 002-599-8091

 

[Hutch Piper]

Never had any issues with usps from smokingpipes.