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Apple Tells UPS To Hold Your iPhone 3GS Until "Future Delivery Date"
Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
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snitch
06/17/09

In reply to Apple Tells UPS To Hold Your iPhone 3GS Until "Future Delivery Date"
Come on People this is not Apple calling UPS and telling them to hold the package. Whenever you ship anything through UPS you have a option to tell them when to deliver it.
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snitch was starred snitch was unstarred

Choire
06/17/09

@snitch: You are incorrect actually, as UPS just told me on the phone.
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Choire was starred Choire was unstarred

Preyfar
06/17/09

In reply to Apple Tells UPS To Hold Your iPhone 3GS Until "Future Delivery Date"
This actually really upsets me - I paid for overnight shipping, and you know what? Every single person I know who has ordered standard shipping is getting their phone the same day. The 19th.

Apple? They refused to refund my shipping money.

I paid overnight shipping on a phone that's "delayed" and a phone that people who paid regular shipping are getting at the same time. I feel REALLY gipped because of this.
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Preyfar was starred Preyfar was unstarred

Choire
06/17/09

@Preyfar: Me too. I want my $16 back, from STEVE JOBS' POCKET if necessary. I'm calling UPS now.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
06/17/09

@Preyfar: That's interesting because I've never had to actually call Apple about refunds on missed shipping dates. They have always credited my account automatically.

You sure you weren't just a douche to the person on the phone so they refused to help you?
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Homerjay is utterly alone.
06/17/09

In reply to Apple Tells UPS To Hold Your iPhone 3GS Until "Future Delivery Date"
Everybody that ordered one should just go line up outside their UPS terminal until the day they can pick it up.

Just for good measure.
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Faxmonkey
06/17/09

In reply to Apple Tells UPS To Hold Your iPhone 3GS Until "Future Delivery Date"
Since the "receiver" requested the hold on delivery, I wonder if the "receiver" can just call UPS up and cancel it. The person on the other end of the phone probably has no idea what the real situation is.
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John Herrman
06/17/09

@Faxmonkey: Heh, probably worth a try.
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Qu33f_Machine
01/28/09

In reply to Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
Here is a crazy idea... actually compete with FedEx and UPS so that you do make money. If you can't do it, then hell, maybe the government shouldn't play this game?

You know the USPS is screwing things up when a package weighing 5 pounds costs one price, but if you take the same exact package and just write 'media mail' on it it costs a dramatically different (and cheaper) price.

I love the USPS because it is cheap, but that is also CLEARLY why they can't make profit.
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RosettaHizeck
01/29/09

@Qu33f_Machine: Things to consider: USPS is not a business it's a goverment service. They are not supposed to make a profit like Fed EX or UPS (Who send their letter mail through USPS). If it was you would have to spend $5.00 to send a letter from California to Florida. It's not funded by taxpayers but by the postage fee paid. The USPS delivers more pieces of mail in one day then UPS and FEDEX deliver in one year. A one cent increase in postage costs the average person only $1.00 to $2.00 a year at the most. If you put "Media Mail" on your package then you've authorized the Post Office to open and inspect the package to insure it is. If it's not valid Media Mail it will be returned.
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Dustin Luck
01/29/09

@RosettaHizeck: "USPS is not a business it's a goverment service. They are not supposed to make a profit like Fed EX or UPS"

True, but the Postal Service is not a charity either. It is supposed to be self-sustaining. The USPS website states "We are a self-supporting agency, using the revenue from the sale of postage and products to pay expenses."

Perhaps Qu33f_Machine misspoke by saying they need to "make money." I guess their true goal should be to break even, but right now the point is that they're losing money and something needs to happen to stop that. I'm all for a little healthy competition.

Also, the (il)legality of misusing "Media Mail" aside, what rational is there to charge a different rate for what amounts to the same package (and in theory) the same amount of handling based on the contents?
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Dustin Luck
01/28/09

In reply to Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
OK, let's get back to viewing the story through the lens of Netflix.

First off, stopping Tuesday delivery would suck because that's when new releases show up in my mailbox. I've got it down to a science where I ensure I have empty slots on Monday for the week's new releases and they show up Tuesday. Now I won't get them 'til Wednesday?! How can I handle that I ask you?

Secondly, I thought this was interesting in light of a story yesterday on Hacking Netflix that Netflix is going to start testing Saturday shipping.
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Dustin Luck was starred Dustin Luck was unstarred

92BuickLeSabre
01/28/09

@Dustin L.: Man I wish they would. I mean, that's when I need the friggin movie after all.
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Barion
01/29/09

@Dustin L.: My Netflix shipping center is Santa Ana, CA, which is one of those doing Saturday ships now. I was very pleased to get that notice that a movie I had mailed back on Friday arrived Saturday morning, then several hours later I got the notice that another disc was on the way, due Monday. I always wondered why Netflix was closed on Saturday...not the best way to ingratiate yourself to your customers.
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Dustin Luck
01/29/09

@Barion:

My shipping center is Santa Ana as well. I've gotten used to not sending movies back on Fridays, so I never noticed any Saturday processing. I probably won't start either, since as I said above, I want them to get my movies on Monday so they ship new releases out to me.
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Dustin Luck was starred Dustin Luck was unstarred

92BuickLeSabre
01/28/09

In reply to Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
No decaf after twelve.

No mail on Tuesdays.

Fewer big box stores.

No credit market.

Magazines shutting down.

The potential loss of the American newspaper industry.

The potential loss of the American auto industry.

No government in Iceland.

Shit is gettin' weird.
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Thats Dr Bear to You
01/28/09

@92BuickLeSabre: The law firm I work for has STRONG coffee available damn near 24/7, those lawyers need their fix.

As to the other stuff....yeah I'm building a bomb shelter.
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92BuickLeSabre
01/28/09

@Thats Dr Bear to You: None of my own 6-8 cups of coffee a day are decaf either, and I don't actually go to Starbucks (unless I'm stuck at a hotel or other institution and the only coffee around is a Starbucks in the lobby.)

But it's still a little weird.
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Hello Mister Walrus
01/28/09

In reply to Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
But this is a valid issue. People are mailing less and less mail, and lots of the Post Office's costs are fixed (like the cost of driving trucks around). Eventually something will have to change. This isn't even because of the recession.
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BeautifulAgony
01/28/09

In reply to Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
I love when people complain about dwindling service, yet are outraged at the prospect of increased costs. Stamps increase in cost, and people freak out. I can't get to the opposite coast in 3 days for under a buck. I'm glad my letter can.
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DustyButt™
01/28/09

In reply to Post Office Might Deliver Mail (and Gadgets and Netflix) One Less Day a Week
They could save a lot of work by not delivering a whole bunch of junk mail. I laugh a little inside when I get junk mail for deals on vinyl siding... I live in a condo.
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ripfire
01/28/09

@DustyButt: Actually, they earn money from junk mails. In fact, you could support them even more by mailing back those prepaid return envelopes stuffed with shredded junk mail.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
01/05/09

In reply to Brown Can Thrash Your Packages With A 30-Yard Delivery Toss, That's What
I wonder if he shouted, "Incoming!" before hurling that package?
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infmom
01/05/09

In reply to Brown Can Thrash Your Packages With A 30-Yard Delivery Toss, That's What
Wow, he must have worked at Fry's Electronics. That's how we got the merchandise back to the aisle it was supposed to be in, from the aisle we found it on.
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infmom was starred infmom was unstarred

Logan5
01/05/09

In reply to Brown Can Thrash Your Packages With A 30-Yard Delivery Toss, That's What
If this is what the delivery process is like imagine what packages go through in transit.

Which unfortunately places a burden on the sender to withstand this sort of mistreatment and extend that by several order of magnitude.
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Curves
01/05/09

@Logan5: You know, I see a good article for Giz in what you said. Lets get an intern, package him with a laptop and send him cross country so he can blog first hand. He can take a camera and we can watch the abuse live.

(There is just NOTHING like the breaking in a new intern.)
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Curves was starred Curves was unstarred

d_r_e
01/05/09

In reply to Brown Can Thrash Your Packages With A 30-Yard Delivery Toss, That's What
I can't fucking stand UPS. Twice, they've come to my door and left a note ... and not bothered to knock or ring the doorbell when I was home. And I caught them both shortly after they took off, asking why in the hell didn't they knock? Both answered "I'm late on my route". After my last package was delivered from them, which was almost 2 weeks late, I said no more.

Fuck UPS, and their union. Bastards.
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Seiven
01/05/09

In reply to Brown Can Thrash Your Packages With A 30-Yard Delivery Toss, That's What
unless it was labeled..."T-Shirt...please deliver at all costs" fire him.

maybe packages need to be labeled with the distance they can be thrown from.

( )2 feet ok
( )5 feet ok
( )10 feet ok
( )deliverable by college dropout quarterbacks ok
( )dropping from UPS airplane ok
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Darascon
01/05/09

@Seiven: You have that already:
Standard 5-7 day
express 2-3 day
priority overnite
same day
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Seiven
01/05/09

@Darascon: lol I like it
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