Shipping delay frustration

I think there are some here, and elsewhere for that matter, that avoid purchasing items on Ebay, but you've got to admit they usuallly have a wide selection of just about anything. To be competitve price wise, many if not most sellers ship via the USPS here in the U.S. as their shipping cost, especially on small items is most times the lowest. I purchased a small item (turn signal flasher) on 11/29 and have yet, as of today 12/17 to receive delivery of this item. Because many sellers list with free shipping, shipping cost (which is never actually free) is built into the price of the item sold, and therfore, as I mentioned they use what the postal service now calls ground advantage, which is their lowest cost method of shipping. First class mail is very limited as to what can be shipped that way. The seller's location is 15 hours drive time from mine, and yet it's been nearly three weeks and still hasn't been delivered. I contacted the seller twice and he's been cooperative, sympathetic, and did, supposedly, check on the shipment and has made the comment, twice, that the USPS sucks. Well I agree but I'm still waiting on the part. I do also realize that it is now nearing X-mas and the busiest shipping time of the year, still... I purchase many parts on Ebay for both myself and my grandson who is doing repair work, and buying and flippping a wide variety of powersports machines. I am running into extensive shipping delays more and more often on items shipped via USPS ground advantage. If you order items from Amazon, or elsewhere that use UPS, FedEx, or Speedy, their delivery times are days and not weeks, so this shows that shipping times can be resonably short, or at least much better than the P.O. I think it's shameful the below poor service that our USPS provides, and yet who do you complain to? When I've went, in the past, to my local post office to check on extensively delayed shipments, they've always been friendly, and helpful to a degree, but also have an it's not my fault attitude, and it probably isn't, but it's frustrating that a institution of our Government is doing such a lousy job. Am wondering how others feel about the P.O.'s shipping service. I would guess that there may be at least one, if not more, postal emplyees on this forum that will respond here and try to defend the job that they're doing. This happened when I chimed in on a thread on a different forum that was discussing this very subject. Anyway, this has been an overly long-winded complaint about too-long shipping times. I'll shut up now....

Before I buy, I check AND VERIFY (by ebay messenger) shipping time. The system usually shows you the estimated delivery time, and it's SUPPOSED to be accurate, based on the seller's shipping input. You can let the seller know they'll get a bad/negative review if you don't get the part reasonably close to the date shown on the listing.

quawk said:

this has been an overly long-winded complaint about too-long shipping times.

Click to expand...

Consider trying a search next time.
Your complaint is common knowledge that 99.9% of the members here have addressed and/or are experienced in dealing with.
Fleabay is notorious for lousy shipping practices and the USPS is on its way to being privatized.
You get what you pay for. If want prompt on time delivery you have to pay for it.