4 ms·

I get that with normal tracking lately too, like Amazon reporting something is delivered the day before it actually shows up. Have we misaligned some metric whe

I get that with normal tracking lately too, like Amazon reporting something is delivered the day before it actually shows up. Have we misaligned some metric where now shippers want to announce stuff early so they can claim speed?

duxup 1y ago
Also, lots of emails. For some deliveries I get an email from the carrier, the company I bought the thing through, and someone who handles the actual thing on the other side of the retailer. App notifications. Like guies I get it ... Amusingly, for some obscure software, I write those emails ;)
pwg 1y ago
> like Amazon reporting something is delivered the day before it actually shows up I feel like this one happens because the driver needs to meet quota today, so they scan the package delivered today, then when they are in the area tomorrow they actually deliver the package. Unfortunately, this makes "delivered today" not a reliable indicator of "I actually received the package today".
stetrain 1y ago
That is an incentive for some shippers for sure, and it gets pushed down onto the (often overworked) delivery drivers. They have metrics on how many things they should deliver or attempt delivery each day and are sometimes judged harshly on those metrics. I have multiple times seen an "Out for Delivery" package switch to "Delivered" or "Delivery Attempted" at 10pm, presumably when the driver ended their shift and didn't want to be penalized for the undelivered packages. They usually showed up the following day.
- crazygringo 1y ago
  > I have multiple times seen an "Out for Delivery" package switch to "Delivered" or "Delivery Attempted" at 10pm Exactly this, it's infuriating. And you can usually tell because a) it's marked as delivered at a time rounded to a perfect hour, like 2:00 pm or 9:00 pm (not 8:34 pm), and b) there's no delivery photo, when there always is otherwise. But yeah, it's the driver not being able to make all deliveries (probably not their fault), but needing to fake the metrics. Usually they drop it off the next day or two days later, but other times it just gets lost, and it's harder to get a refund from the seller because it says delivered. So e.g. eBay will side with the seller in a dispute.
zippergz 1y ago
I've definitely gotten the sense that the flip side of that is happening - in many cases, items get marked as "shipped" when the label is printed, but often shippers don't hand the package off to the carrier until days later. I can't prove it but sometimes it very much feels like sellers, especially on platforms like etsy and ebay, make sure to print the label immediately and mark the item as shipped so they can claim fast shipping, but then are in no hurry whatsoever to actually get the package in transit. Maybe this is not nefarious and is just a side effect of the way the systems work together, but as a customer it's pretty annoying. For me it's less about how long it takes to get the item and more about feeling mislead on whether it is actually on its way or not.
- nobody9999 1y ago
  >I've definitely gotten the sense that the flip side of that is happening - in many cases, items get marked as "shipped" when the label is printed, but often shippers don't hand the package off to the carrier until days later. AIUI, Amazon's policy is that credit cards don't get charged until the order ships. As such, some shadier folks will create the label long before the item is actually shipped. However, since the label has been created, the order is now marked as "shipped" and the credit card is charged even though nothing has been packed, let alone actually shipped.
- Symbiote 1y ago
  Delivery companies in Europe have an initial status of something like "notification of package received", which should be followed by "package received from sender". I assume they do this to avoid complaints of slow delivery when the sender takes a whole to post the item.
- crazygringo 1y ago
  That definitely happens, I don't think it's intentionally nefarious though. They tend to package and label orders as they come in, that's the only thing you can do to be efficient -- you can't let them build up. But then they only drop off (or get pickup) 2x/week, e.g. Tues and Fri. Which might be fine if that's what their shipping times indicate. But then the buyer gets confused because they assume it was mailed immediately, which it wasn't. But there's no way for a seller to print shipping labels from eBay in advance without eBay marking it as "shipped". It gets even more confusing because with bulk pickups or dropoffs, they often don't even get scanned when the carrier receives them. They won't show as actually in the carrier's hands until they reach the first major hub, which can easily be a day or even two later.

duxup 1y ago

Also, lots of emails. For some deliveries I get an email from the carrier, the company I bought the thing through, and someone who handles the actual thing on the other side of the retailer. App notifications. Like guies I get it ... Amusingly, for some obscure software, I write those emails ;)

pwg 1y ago

> like Amazon reporting something is delivered the day before it actually shows up I feel like this one happens because the driver needs to meet quota today, so they scan the package delivered today, then when they are in the area tomorrow they actually deliver the package. Unfortunately, this makes "delivered today" not a reliable indicator of "I actually received the package today".

stetrain 1y ago

That is an incentive for some shippers for sure, and it gets pushed down onto the (often overworked) delivery drivers. They have metrics on how many things they should deliver or attempt delivery each day and are sometimes judged harshly on those metrics. I have multiple times seen an "Out for Delivery" package switch to "Delivered" or "Delivery Attempted" at 10pm, presumably when the driver ended their shift and didn't want to be penalized for the undelivered packages. They usually showed up the following day.

crazygringo 1y ago
> I have multiple times seen an "Out for Delivery" package switch to "Delivered" or "Delivery Attempted" at 10pm Exactly this, it's infuriating. And you can usually tell because a) it's marked as delivered at a time rounded to a perfect hour, like 2:00 pm or 9:00 pm (not 8:34 pm), and b) there's no delivery photo, when there always is otherwise. But yeah, it's the driver not being able to make all deliveries (probably not their fault), but needing to fake the metrics. Usually they drop it off the next day or two days later, but other times it just gets lost, and it's harder to get a refund from the seller because it says delivered. So e.g. eBay will side with the seller in a dispute.

zippergz 1y ago

I've definitely gotten the sense that the flip side of that is happening - in many cases, items get marked as "shipped" when the label is printed, but often shippers don't hand the package off to the carrier until days later. I can't prove it but sometimes it very much feels like sellers, especially on platforms like etsy and ebay, make sure to print the label immediately and mark the item as shipped so they can claim fast shipping, but then are in no hurry whatsoever to actually get the package in transit. Maybe this is not nefarious and is just a side effect of the way the systems work together, but as a customer it's pretty annoying. For me it's less about how long it takes to get the item and more about feeling mislead on whether it is actually on its way or not.

nobody9999 1y ago
>I've definitely gotten the sense that the flip side of that is happening - in many cases, items get marked as "shipped" when the label is printed, but often shippers don't hand the package off to the carrier until days later. AIUI, Amazon's policy is that credit cards don't get charged until the order ships. As such, some shadier folks will create the label long before the item is actually shipped. However, since the label has been created, the order is now marked as "shipped" and the credit card is charged even though nothing has been packed, let alone actually shipped.
Symbiote 1y ago
Delivery companies in Europe have an initial status of something like "notification of package received", which should be followed by "package received from sender". I assume they do this to avoid complaints of slow delivery when the sender takes a whole to post the item.
crazygringo 1y ago
That definitely happens, I don't think it's intentionally nefarious though. They tend to package and label orders as they come in, that's the only thing you can do to be efficient -- you can't let them build up. But then they only drop off (or get pickup) 2x/week, e.g. Tues and Fri. Which might be fine if that's what their shipping times indicate. But then the buyer gets confused because they assume it was mailed immediately, which it wasn't. But there's no way for a seller to print shipping labels from eBay in advance without eBay marking it as "shipped". It gets even more confusing because with bulk pickups or dropoffs, they often don't even get scanned when the carrier receives them. They won't show as actually in the carrier's hands until they reach the first major hub, which can easily be a day or even two later.