UPDATED: Shipping Insurance
UPDATED SHIPPING / HANDLING / INS:
Ok. I've been jokingly telling my friends and family about how bad my experiences with local USPS offices are so far and to be honest, I think I am cursed. I am just not having a good time with USPS in general... lol
This is my year two of running GRACIEDITS. In my first year, I was living in a condo where it was located right down the street from one of the big USPS offices. I had ZERO shipping problems. Upon drop-off, packages were scanned in a timely manner, and no transition/status update issue at all.
Then that same year, my boyfriend and I moved to a nearby location from the first place; but had to use a different USPS location. IT was a hit-and-miss. Some days were good and some days were not. I dealt with it most of the time but started to get frustrated with the service.
After a year, we decided to purchase a home. Still in the same county, but I was happy because the new home was by the USPS regional facility and several other little facilities I can go to, and to be honest, it played a huge factor for me when we were house hunting... But, did my problem resolve by going to the regional office? NOPE. No scanning, skip scanning, missing package, misdelivery; no update in tracking; lost in transit, and all types of delays... As you can see here in the screenshot I attached to this post, lately, the packages don't even get scanned in until they reach the destination states. Up until then, it shows as if they are still awaiting the item from me which makes a lot of customers think I did not drop the package yet.
In 98% of cases, packages get dropped off the same day/ or the next morning (if the label was created after 4 pm).
I've tried to bring the packages to my work to drop them off and asked my boyfriend to take them to the military base to see if they would scan them right away... even with all the attempts, the issues aren't avoidable. Countless emails and frustrating messages received (which I totally get it and understand) it really make me upset too when there's an issue.
The reason I am updating this post today is that starting in the month of October, it seems like these issues got worse. I don't know if it is because we are approaching major holidays or maybe they are short on employees or whatever the reason is, but by the amount of emails/messages I am getting, I know it has gotten worse.
A few international packages were marked as delivered but then customers did not receive them. Their local post office cannot tell where it was delivered nor the USPS rep when I call to follow up. Cases and claims opened but it is just taking SOOOOOOOOOOO long...
So I decided to include FREE package insurance on orders over $100 on both domestic/international packages.
*If your order amount does not meet the Free package insurance but still would like to add the insurance to your package, you have the option to choose one with insurance when you check out.
I appreciate you all for reading this post, listening to my vent, and continuing on shopping with me. I try to respond to all emails/messages as timely as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out hello@graciedits.com
Previous post::
Shipping options for domestic packages have been updated with the following:
Standard Flat Rate (USPS first class)
- packages will go out without insurance as USPS does not insure first-class packages unless insurance is added as an extra.
Will try my best to triple-seal the package in all corners to prevent anyone to try opening the package and stealing however, any loss/stolen/damage during USPS transit will not be covered by USPS or the shop.
Standard Flat with Package Insurance
- this has been added due to a few incidents where
1. packages were severely damaged during transit time.
2. packages were lost/stolen.
3. packages were marked delivered but the customer did not receive the package.
With this option, your package is insured, and will be able to file a claim through the third-party package insurer if necessary, the shop will replace the package.
Priority shipping with USPS
- priority packages are automatically insured by USPS.
Ground Shipping with UPS
- for those of you who DO NOT wish to go through USPS.
*Again, please kindly note that once packages leave me and are dropped off at the post office, I have zero control over them.
It is very frustrating for both consumer/business owners when things like package loss/damage happen during transit time. It is very unfortunate but to prevent any loss from both, I included an option for you to add package insurance just for a few extra dollars (the shop will cover the rest of the cost if any.)