We recently bought an old MacBook Pro for a super cheap price on eBay. Since it was from a seller located in my same state (West Virginia), and not only that but even quite near me (at Inwood, WV, less than 3 hours from Clarksburg, WV), I rather subconsciously suspected/hoped the shipping route might be efficient and direct.
This was USPS. I don’t know whether any other shippers would have a more direct route, but I doubt it.
Day 1 (September 19): accepted at USPS in Inwood, WV
Day 2 (September 20): taken in the opposite direction, by almost as much distance as it was from me to start with, 2.5 hours to the east to Lancaster PA (USPS Regional Origin Facility), likely passing through Harrisburg, PA on the way, but without being touched in Harrisburg.
Day 2 (September 20): taken back to Harrisburg, PA (USPS Regional Facility).
Day 2 (September 20): transitioned somehow from the Harrisburg, PA (USPS Regional Facility) to the Harrisburg, PA (USPS Facility).
Day 2 (September 20): taken well past me, by almost as much distance as it was from me to start with, to Charleston, WV (USPS Regional Facility), about 2 hours to the southwest of me.
Day 2 (September 20): departed Charleston, WV (USPS Regional Facility).
Day 3 (September 21): In Transit: Moving Through Network (somewhere between Charleston, WV and Clarksburg, WV).
Day 4 (September 22): was originally supposed to be delivered to me this day, but is still “In Transit: Moving Through Network” (somewhere between Charleston, WV and Clarksburg, WV).
Day 5 (September 23): still “In Transit: Moving Through Network” (somewhere between Charleston, WV and Clarksburg, WV).
Latest Update
“Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.”
Yeah, ridiculous. I recently sent a certified letter from central Texas to Colorado Springs and it took about a week and a half. I mailed a package two days after the certified letter and it got there in 3 days. Both via USPS. No clue why the letter took so long and the tracking was horrendous.
But at least we get our mail unlike Dan and others around the world. We have a great infrastructure it just badly needs an overhaul to bring it up to this century.
Right up there with getting a notification that your package is delayed, find and buy something local, then have the package arrive before the original delivery date…!
So, here’s the rest of the story. When it was finally delivered, it was obvious that the postal service had allowed the box to sit in standing water and wick up quite a bit of water into the cardboard box, and apparently (my guess is) the delay in the last leg of the journey was because they set the box aside to dry. Mind you, this box contained a laptop! Amazingly, the laptop managed to avoid water damage. I setup a return, but used it for several hours and determined it was OK and cancelled the return.
I once worked for a company that was headquartered in upstate New York. Corporate liked to fly out of Syracuse, and therefore liked to use USAir. (This was obviously decades ago).
They couldn’t understand why I refused to use their preferred airlines to fly from my office. I worked at a brand new location in Colorado which was from a company they acquired. I would travel to a location Boca Raton, FL- also a location of a company they acquired.
I only used their preferred airline / routing once- it was Denver to Pittsburg, then Pittsburgh to West Palm beach. A miserable 10 hours in an airplane without leaving the continental US. Forever after that, I insisted on a direct United flight from Denver to Miami. Much faster, much less hassle, and many available flight times.
I wonder how many of those weird shipping routes are that someone puts a package on the next truck/airplane heading out instead of picking the best route.
