Adorama's revised free shipping service

divamum · November 13, 2010

They appear to have subcontracted things out to a shipping company called "Streamlite" and it is SLOW. Reading their website, it looks like Streamlite gets things to the local zip code, where it is then handed over and delivered by USPS. According to tracking, my package made it from the Adorama warehouse to my state on the 2nd day, and then sat there doing nothing for 3 days; it has now been sitting in the USPS sorting office in my town since yesterday morning at 9am. And still hasn't been delivered.

I realise it's perhaps a bit cheeky to look the gift horse of free shipping in the mouth, but given that their old free shipping method got things to me *overnight* as a rule (2 days at the most), this is a big disappointment. Yes, I know it says "7-10 days", it's just that's never been the case in the past! I've been spoiled

I ordered last Monday, and item still isn't here; tracking doesn't indicate whether I can now expect it on Monday or not.

Anyway, just posting this as a heads' up for those who use their free shipping - it's not as fast as it used to be!!!!

ThatCanonGuy · November 13, 2010

Yep, my 70-200 took 3 days to arrive... free shipping. This looks like a real bummer, I've always loved Ador+UPS ;~(

yendikeno · November 13, 2010

Same experience here
also got spoiled by timely free shipping. Still waiting to get my last order, which has been in transit for almost a week now. Then again, the shipping was free.

BradfordBenn · November 13, 2010

Now a days shipping is becoming a huge cost for everyone with the joys of "Fuel Surcharges" I think that the upcharge they are doing is actually relatively fair. At my job we ship lots of things via UPS, they park a trailer at our dock. From what I can see their pricing is pretty close to just passing on the difference plus a little accounting.

paddler4 · November 13, 2010

lots of firms seem to be moving to a model where free shipping is by a cheaper, slower method--just an extension of the traditional model where you pay more for overnight, etc.

divamum · November 13, 2010

What I find so curious is that, according to the tracking info, what's taken the time hasn't been the transport. It did the long part of the journey the fastest, and travelled 185 miles or so in under 24hrs. It's been sitting within 20 miles of my house ever since....

Of course it makes business sense for companies to do this - and I was always pleasantly astonished at the speed these free shipping items arrived from Adorama in the past - but it is definitely a bit of a shock to the system now that they're running to posted timings instead of waayyyy ahead of them! It's not really a complaint per se - it would be churlish to grumble about something I'm not paying for - but can't deny that I did like that overnight thing that used to happen... And, of course, since this is the first time I've purchased since they've swapped, it just caught me by surprise.

craig_d · November 13, 2010

I find Adorama's free shipping less annoying than Amazon's. If I choose "free shipping" from Amazon, they seem not to ship it at all for several days, even if everything is in stock and ready to go. Anyway, both Adorama and Amazon offer faster delivery choices at reasonable rates, so complaining about what you get for free seems kind of petty. I've learned not to choose free shipping unless I really don't care if it takes two weeks to arrive.

divamum · November 13, 2010

Again, to reiterate, while I'm disappointed to have to wait much longer than on previous orders, my observation was not intended a complaint as such - it is indeed *free* shipping, and I'm happy to have been spared the expense! I now know to pony up for the next tier of service should I need something in a timely manner, but this *is* a significant change from previous orders with the company over the last two years (and one which I had no way of knowing before ordering on this occasion). I thought others might want to know that it's changed so they can make their own arrangements accordingly

gowiththeflow · November 13, 2010

It's been a long time since I used Amazon's super saver (Prime is AWESOME!!), but I don't remember them taking any longer than usual to ship. Which is usually within 2-24 hours for them.

Adorama's free shipping was never fast for me though, even when I lived in NC. I think it took 4-5 days. Any more than that, I'd probably rather pay for something faster. UPS did take 8 days to ship me a package from WI to OR recently, though.

Art Scott · November 13, 2010

This is simply to PUSH us to pay for faster shipping...that is all it is....and if it says 7-10 days.....
look for it to take 10 days....and it does just sit in a warehouse until time for delivery and even if
you know exactly where the item is...you cannot go pick it up until the day it is to be delivered.....

DonRicklin · November 14, 2010

I had the same issue with B&H and free shipping w/ NAPP membership. For years I would get the package overnight from them, even in a late evening order. Now with this new system ( cheap for them ) it is days later.

A real bummer.

Don

divamum · November 14, 2010

I had already passed on my observation to Helen and she, of course, replied quickly and kindly. Richy, apparently there were loads of problems with the Fedex service you cited, so they are now trying Smartlite and will see how it goes with them as an alternative.

Again, my comment was NOT a "complaint" as such, but that the service has drastically *changed* from former purchases. Of course I'm sad that I'm no longer getting crazy-fast delivery when using free shipping, but I do accept that was waaayyyyy more than one could expect - Helen took the feedback in the spirit it was intended

billythek · November 14, 2010

I ordered from Adorama last spring and used free shipping. It took every bit of the 7-10 days to get here (Texas). Since then I've opted for 2 day shipping on most items I order. Then I got suckered :-) into getting Amazon Prime - very nice indeed. I check Amazon first now, to see if they have what I'm looking for. Usually have very competitive prices, too.

The $79 per year hurts a little, but it has paid for itself already.

HelenOster · November 14, 2010

divamum wrote: »

I had already passed on my observation to Helen and she, of course, replied quickly and kindly. Richy, apparently there were loads of problems with the Fedex service you cited, so they are now trying Smartlite and will see how it goes with them as an alternative.

Again, my comment was NOT a "complaint" as such, but that the service has drastically *changed* from former purchases. Of course I'm sad that I'm no longer getting crazy-fast delivery when using free shipping, but I do accept that was waaayyyyy more than one could expect - Helen took the feedback in the spirit it was intended <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >

Have you thought about taking out NAPP membership?
We offer FREE GROUND shipping to all NAPP members, within the continental USA. You can either contact Jeff Snyder (JSnyder@adorama.com / NAPP@Adorama.com) directly, OR go onto the MEMBER DISCOUNT page of photoshopuser.com with your member info within the NAPP site andclick on our link, which will give you free shipping in your cart.

DonRicklin · November 14, 2010

HelenOster wrote: »

Have you thought about taking out NAPP membership?
We offer FREE GROUND shipping to all NAPP members, within the continental USA. You can either contact Jeff Snyder (JSnyder@adorama.com / NAPP@Adorama.com) directly, OR go onto the MEMBER DISCOUNT page of photoshopuser.com with your member info within the NAPP site andclick on our link, which will give you free shipping in your cart.

I think the issue in this thread, for the most part, is we can get the free shipping. It is the horrendous way the 'Free Shipping' is accomplished. Arriving over a much longer period of time than they did less than a year ago, due to the 'cheaper' for the seller shipping methods being used.

Don

HelenOster · November 14, 2010

DonRicklin wrote: »

I think the issue in this thread, for the most part, is we can get the free shipping. It is the horrendous way the 'Free Shipping' is accomplished. Arriving over a much longer period of time than they did less than a year ago, due to the 'cheaper' for the seller shipping methods being used.

Don

It does state on the Adorama website that free shipping takes 7-10 business days. If it takes any longer than this we of course refund the shipping.

We are now using Streamlight due to the level of complaints we received when we were using FedEx SmartPost. If it turns out not to be an improvement we will have to look at another option.

However, 'free' shipping doesn't actually exist, of course.
Someone haS to pay for it!

divamum · November 14, 2010

And, as always, Helen, thank you for the AMAZING customer service job you do. I'm regretting having started this thread now, since people seem to have somewhat misunderstood (or inflated) what I was saying. I absolutely understand WHY things have changed - and no complaint AT ALL is levied at Adorama, who clearly state the terms on their website - but there is no doubt that the end result is much slower than it used to be. Whether or not Smartlight is an improvement for you and acceptable to customers, only time will tell.

Again, thank you for taking the time to listen to your customers and respond to their feedback. This is one of the things that has made me a devoted Adorama repeat customer (something which isn't likely to change!)

HelenOster · November 14, 2010

divamum wrote: »

..

Again, thank you for taking the time to listen to your customers and respond to their feedback. This is one of the things that has made me a devoted Adorama repeat customer (something which isn't likely to change!)

I absolutely understand, and welcome your feedback. Without it we don't know how or where we need to improve what we're doing.

divamum · November 15, 2010

For the record, arrived today exactly 7 days after ordering. Interestingly, the USPS tracking info still shows it as "The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on November 12, 2010 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date." ... even though it was delivered a couple of hours ago (today, the 15th)! Definitely some track-lag involved in this process...

Anyway, just wanted to put a button on this for anybody who was wondering.

craig_d · November 16, 2010

divamum wrote: »

For the record, arrived today exactly 7 days after ordering. Interestingly, the USPS tracking info still shows it as "The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on November 12, 2010 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date." ... even though it was delivered a couple of hours ago (today, the 15th)! Definitely some track-lag involved in this process...

USPS has the worst online package tracking I've seen. They routinely show items as "electronically notified by shipper" or "passed through sorting facility" thousands of miles away and never update them until after delivery. It makes a mockery of the whole idea of online package tracking.

HelenOster · November 16, 2010

craig_d wrote: »

USPS has the worst online package tracking I've seen. They routinely show items as "electronically notified by shipper" or "passed through sorting facility" thousands of miles away and never update them until after delivery.

And they frequently manage to miss scanning items into their system at the hub - which means packages often appear to still be sitting in our warehouse, when they aren't!

I do have an update - and maybe we need to give Streamlight another chance.......Thursday was of course Veterans Day and USPS weren't working; with a USPS holiday falling immediately prior to a weekend, it did indeed sit in the warehouse and the delay was exacerbated. By our calculations, it would otherwise have been delivered on the Friday.

Adorama's revised free shipping service

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