Here we go again. Just when we thought we were getting enough of a screwing from the shippers who advertised one type of shipping and then used another, we now have yet another contender in the ring for slow shipper of the year. DHL Global Mail.
First off it frosts me to see a merchant state they will ship my order by FedEx and have the FedEx logo emblazoned all over their site. Then find out after the order is shipped that it has gone out FedEx SmartPost which in reality should be named StupidPost since it can take ten days for a package to travel a relatively short distance that U.S. Mail alone could handle in a few days. It starts out with FedEx and eventually ends up in the hands of your postal carrier for delivery. You note I said eventually since sometimes it doesn't happen for a long, long time. I've had packages never show up and the services point fingers at each other as to who lost the item. In many cases this is not even "free shipping", so you end up paying for the slowness too.
UPS Mail Innovations is no better. Merchants advertise they will ship by UPS and then use this snail-like service. They have the same modus operandi where the package starts out with UPS and at some point is transferred to the USPS for further handling and then carriage to your home or post box. One of the HUGE glitches in both of these systems is that the package can sit in a postal distribution center for days before it is transferred to the local post office because the paperwork has not been sent electronically to the Post Office to match the package. Or, the electronic paperwork is there and the package has not arrived, so you have no idea where the package actually is, but it is "in transit."
Enter DHL Global Mail, the new kid on the block. Or maybe that should be the new kid on the blockade as merchants find cheaper ways to get our mail to us slower and slower. Frankly, you need to complain and complain loud if you find your order is being shipped this way. Be careful to look at your order and ask how it's being shipped. Tell merchants if they ship this way you won't do business with them.
One example is Amazon's "Super Saver Shipping" which is supposedly "free". A shipment costs $9.49 or about ten percent of the value of the item and that is deducted as "free shipping". However, my FedEx regular shipping would only take 5 days and would cost no more, so why ship via Smart Post and let the customer wait 8 days? Because the merchant let me think I was saving over nine bucks while they were probably paying four or five at best.
Holiday season will be coming, thousands will not receive their gifts on time to give them for the holiday and you can thank the merchants who use these snail trail oozing services for that. And yourself if you don't ask first. The bottom line is to just say no and spend a couple of extra dollars for Priority Mail or some service that gets you what you want when YOU want it! Or get a shipping account and make the merchant charge the shipping to you! That's a novel idea they don't like because they can't pad the shipping costs!
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