UPS/USPS shipping issue

[IFjane]

Can someone 'splain this to me, please? I recently ordered an item from LLBean. They are offering free shipping so I chose that. I have been tracking the item and it seems UPS has a partnership with USPS in that UPS will get the item close to the address and then hand it off to the P.O. for delivery. It seems my item arrived 9/3 at a P.O. hub (not the hub for my P.O., however) and has been "stuck" there ever since. This is what the tracking info on the LLBean site says:

Tracking Details

Date Scan Activity

09/10/2010 02:12 PM NOTICE LEFT CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

09/04/2010 11:22 AM NOTICE LEFT CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

09/03/2010 06:45 AM TENDERED TO LOCAL POST OFFICE - ALLOW ONE ADDITIONAL DAY FOR DELIVERY CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

09/03/2010 06:09 AM DESTINATION SCAN CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

09/03/2010 05:01 AM DESTINATION SCAN CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

09/03/2010 05:00 AM ARRIVAL SCAN CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

09/03/2010 12:34 AM DEPARTURE SCAN LAUREL MD

09/02/2010 01:03 PM LOCATION SCAN LAUREL MD

09/02/2010 07:32 AM ARRIVAL SCAN LAUREL MD

09/01/2010 05:25 PM DEPARTURE SCAN FREEPORT ME

09/01/2010 05:06 PM AGENT PICKUP; IN TRANSIT TO UPS FACILITY FREEPORT ME

09/01/2010 05:06 PM ORIGIN SCAN FREEPORT ME

09/01/2010 05:53 PM BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

According to the Customer Service reps at LLBean, the "notice left" means I should have gotten a notice that the item was at the post office for pickup. I have not received any notices from them. None. Zip. Funny thing is that Charlottesville is NOT my local post office; it is 45 miles away. Why would/should I drive 90 miles RT to pick up something that should have been shipped to my house? So...after three phone calls they are sending me another one and they promise this time that UPS will deliver it right to my door.

What I do not understand is that the item has my home address on it. Why would it stop in the wrong post office and not move to my local one? No one seems to have an answer for that.

You get what you pay for, ladies....so pay for shipping from LLBean!

[ny biker]

It might be an error with the shipping label. I had a similar problem recently with a package from overstock.com and it turned out that they put the wrong label on the package. They delivered it to a woman in Florida who was kind enough to find my address on the packing slip and send the item to me (in Virginia).

[kermit]

I always have problems with anything shipped by the post office. I would get a tracking number that has "no record" for 5 days and the package would just show up. Here's hoping you get the second one!

[uforgot]

The ups/usps thing is certainly annoying. Once ups puts it in usps hands, it sits there for days. If anyone ships something that way, I order from someone else, even if it's a little more expensive. I've received updates just like yours and suddenly, it then moves on. Give it a little more time. This type of delivery generally takes a couple weeks from my experience.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it isn't exactly a partnership, ups just found a loophole with the usps and is taking advantage of it, and the usps isn't exactly happy about it. That could have something to do with why my packages sit in Kansas City for a week, EVERY time it's shipped like this.

[ny biker]

UPS and FedEx are two of the Postal Service's largest customers. For some addresses, it's more cost-efficient for them to pay the USPS to deliver a package than to do it themselves. They're content with the arrangement.

All 3 companies prioritize deliveries and choose to deliver packages that were shipped by higher priority, more expensive methods while others sit undelivered. When I bought my phone a few months ago, FedEx put it on the truck but didn't deliver it because it wasn't scheduled until the next day. The phone bounced around on the hot truck for no reason and then was returned to the warehouse, where I picked it up that evening.

[Irulan]

Interesting. I have a commercial account with UPS, ship 100's of packages and year ( and receive tons) too and I have never heard of this. I still deal with the hot guy in brown shorts every day.

Maybe have LLBean issue a recall on the package and start all over?