Shipping USPS, how long does it take?

A few days ago I ordered a couple of herp books through Amazon. com. The company that was selling them is BookCloseOuts.com. Amazon states in his page that the books should arrive in 4-14 days (before you click on the pay option). The company now says that the order may arrive as late as 4 weeks from the day they were shipped! Are they going to walk it over to my place?

Here is the e-mail exchange:

Thank you for your note.
Our records indicate that your order was shipped from our warehouse on
05/05/2004.
The method of shipping you chose was by Standard US Postal Service Media
mail.
Unfortunately there is no tracking with this method.
Normally this method can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks for delivery.
Thank you for shopping with BookCloseOuts.com.
Sorry for any inconvenience.


Sincerely,
Rosemary C
Customer Service Representative
BookCloseouts Customer Services
rosemary@bookcloseouts.com
www.bookcloseouts.com

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-----Original Message-----
From: Alvaro Garcia [mailto:agarcia@itctel.com]
Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 09:03 PM
To: Amazon.com Payments
Subject: Re: Your Amazon Marketplace Purchase

To whom it may concern,

Below is the message I received from BookCloseOuts as well as the
confirmation from Amazon. I hope the message from BookCloseOuts is a
misunderstanding as that was not what I agreed with Amazon. My purchase of
the books was on the understanding they were going to be shipped yesterday
as stated in the Amazon site right before clicking to place the order, as
well as in the confirmation e-mail. I ship myself USPS ground packages of
different sizes ground and have never heard that it can take 4 weeks for
delivery.

I would appreciate your insight on this matter.

Anyone know if this is accurate? What means of transportation do they use in Standard US Postal Service Media? Even if they drove accross the US it shouldn't take 4 weeks! Any thoughts?

Thanks.

I don't have much information for you, but I know that "Media" is what used to be referred to as "Book Rate" - changed, I presume, to keep up with the times. Book Rate was a slow-as-molasses but dirt cheap method of shipping, intended for boxes of heavy books. The shipper must certify that only appropriate things are in the box to get the discounted rate. Appropriate things used to only be books (hence the old name), but the new "Media" tag allows books, film, printed music, sound recordings and computer-readable media.

If you know where it is being shipped from, you may be able to use links from http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendm.../mediamail.htm to at least find out if you overpaid.

Thanks for your reply Jackie. In reality I'm not that concerned if I overpaid (I believe it was only $6 for shipping). What really puzzles me is the fact that it can take as long as 4 weeks! Not only that, but Amazon clearly guarantees the books should be delivered in 14 days maximum (if not I need to let them know) while the company clearly states that Amazon is wrong. Something doesn't add up.

Regards.

Media rate is very slow, but I doubt it will take four weeks to get the books. Most likely the company states up to four weeks just to cover their behinds a bit and dodge some of the customer inquiries that arise when a package is delayed in the mail. Just like many places selling a variety of goods state to allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Unless the company is just intentionally putting off shipping, it's not going to take that long.
Basically the way I figure it works is something shipped media rate never leaves the ground, it's trucked to it's destination. If for some reason a truck is filled up, then it's the media packages that get bumped first to the next available truck. All this considered though, it shouldn't take longer than two weeks to get them I would think.

I just received some stuff that I ordered and was shipped media mail from half way across the country. It took a little over a week for me to receive it and I don't think it was shipped immediatly. Hope this helps.

Thanks Clay and Jeff, that's what I figured. Anyways, I'm going to wait and see. It's not that there is an urgency to receive them but 4 weeks seemed as an excess. The company said they ship them on the 5th. We will see...

Regards.

I just wanted to say the books arrived today. Nine days after they were shipped and within the 14 d indicated by Amazon.com.

Regards.