Off Topic Tuesday

So I ordered some stuff from Amazon.com. And my order ‘qualified’ for their Super-Duper-Super-Saver-Shipping. That means FREE. And as I didn’t need this stuff in a hurry, I figured ‘”Why Not?”. Ordered on January 5th I think.

On the 8th I got the email that it shipped. Not so bad, 3 days to throw stuff in a box, put a label on and drop it off before coffee.

So I decided to track the package. And well, all I can say is wow. It’s not so much that they were slow to fulfill the order or that they ship it via a guy riding an undersized donkey (It is FREE…) but, they actually seem to have developed a system to slow down the delivery process.

“When you absolutly, positively don’t want it there anytime soon.”

As the graphic above shows, it shipped from Kansas on the 8th, traveled to Ohio by the 10th (OK, back of the truck, only shipped when they had room - I understand it is super-duper-super-saver-shipping AKA - I paid nuthin’.). Hey! it got to Washington on the 10th, (that’s getting pretty close to Oregon! ) Then…Back to Ohio…Then back to Washington…What the h&^$*@?

So, super-duper-saver-shipping isn’t just no priority, it’s actually a negative priority, an alternative universe priority where slow is fast and distance is an illusion. A universe where they ship it towards you, and away form you. Then towards you…and away from you. Is my package costing more to drive back and forth than to just deliver in the first place?

And what about the contents? One item is a electronic device. Was it thrown back and forth to trucks 4 times as much? Because if that box shows up looking like an elephant sat on it, it’s going right back to Amazon. But I hope they don’t take returns via super-duper-saver-shipping or DHL will have to ship the package to China, then to Washington, then to Kansas, then back to China…you get the idea.

Weird.