Delayed Shipping Is Worrisome

[dalnewt]

Lately I've been getting shipping confirmations followed by notices of shipping delays for various books. The one time I called a csr, she indicated that the B&N warehouse hadn't received the book. But, my most recent book purchases were not pre-orders or one-day release books. This obvious failure of B&N to receive or stock books has inspired some  worry in me about the continued dynamics/viability of the company. 

[bklvr896]

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dalnewt wrote:

Lately I've been getting shipping confirmations followed by notices of shipping delays for various books. The one time I called a csr, she indicated that the B&N warehouse hadn't received the book. But, my most recent book purchases were not pre-orders or one-day release books. This obvious failure of B&N to receive or stock books has inspired some  worry in me about the continued dynamics/viability of the company. 

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You know, there could be a lot of reasons the book hasn't or isn't in the warehouse.  Maybe the publisher is having a problem with producing the books, or is behind.  There have been weather problems all over the country, maybe B&N's shipment is stuck or delayed somewhere due to weather.  Your jumping to a conclusion and worrying about something based on a few books being delayed, for which there could be a myriad of reasons.

For the record, I've ordered 12 books in the last two weeks, not one of them has been delayed by B&N due to stocking issues.  The only delay was the receipt of one package sent to me, which was delayed due to weather, which was clearly stated on the shipper's website, the package was stuck in Denver. 

Oh yeah, and it's the holiday season, retailers run out of stock frequently at this time of year.

[Lizah]

I noticed they are using some new shipping co, Argix, and Argix uses USPS. Not overly impressed with the fact it takes them forever to update the progress of shipments. That may be part of the problem. I ordered a book over the weekend and now the status says "Carton Not Found." WTH, what does that mean??? When Barnes used UPS, I never had any issues. I am going to keep monitoring and see if that status changes but Barnes may be hearing from me today. I hope they go back to UPS soon.

[Peppermill]

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mslizah wrote:

I noticed they are using some new shipping co, Argix, and Argix uses USPS. Not overly impressed with the fact it takes them forever to update the progress of shipments. That may be part of the problem. I ordered a book over the weekend and now the status says "Carton Not Found." WTH, what does that mean??? When Barnes used UPS, I never had any issues. I am going to keep monitoring and see if that status changes but Barnes may be hearing from me today. I hope they go back to UPS soon.

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I notice other retailers have been moving to USPS as well.  Haven't heard any information on "why" -- increased prices from UPS?  Booksellers perceive improved service from USPS than in the past?  Political pressure from somewhere?  Other?

I will say that I placed a fair sized order last Wednesday evening, just before Thanksgiving, and I received all of it yesterday (one week with a holiday) via USPS, with no expedited shipping.  But then, it is my understanding that the post office system does put on extra resources during the December holiday period.

[bklvr896]

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mslizah wrote:

I noticed they are using some new shipping co, Argix, and Argix uses USPS. Not overly impressed with the fact it takes them forever to update the progress of shipments. That may be part of the problem. I ordered a book over the weekend and now the status says "Carton Not Found." WTH, what does that mean??? When Barnes used UPS, I never had any issues. I am going to keep monitoring and see if that status changes but Barnes may be hearing from me today. I hope they go back to UPS soon.

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When you try to look up your tracking with Argix my experience has been it always says something like not found.  However, if I remember correctly, there was an option at that point on the Argix site to track at USPS.  You might see if that is there or take the tracking number directly to the USPS site, see if that works any better.  FWIW, they sent me something via Argix a few weeks ago, I got it in a reasonable amount of time, just had to track on the USPS site instead of the Argix site.

[babzilla41]

I've also noticed that the B&N member's expedited shipping isn't as fast as it used to be.  Actually it seems like the whole process isn't as fast - makes me second guess my decision to renew my membership. 

b

[dalnewt]

I experienced a further problem with the above referenced delayed book order. I received an e-mail from B&N telling me that I had to authorize my purchase of one of the books because of delayed shipping, but when I went to do so there was no where to check, and tracking indicated that the book had been released for shipping and was located in a processing facility in my home state. Confused and afraid that the order for that particular book would be cancelled unless I authorized continuing the order for the book by checking something. I sent an e-mail to B&N. The next day the book was delivered, and B&N sent me a rather cryptic e-mail telling me that my order was on its way. Note, that follow-up e-mail by B& N never explained why I received the cancellation warning e-mail. 

[Regulator]

Yes, I just recently placed an order for 6 books from Barnes and Noble.  Almost immediatley after placing my order I received 6 emails (1 for each book) saying that my shipment has been delayed, with no further information.  It is now 7 days later, and they still have not shipped my books (I'm calling tomorrow to inquire). 

All 6 of these books were from the same publisher, so my guess is that Barnes and Noble simply does not stock a large sum of their books.  Instead they wait for me to place the order, then they turn around and place the order directly through the publisher.  This is just a guess, but it seems to be happening to many people. 

It only upsets me because they promise fast 1-3 day express shipping, but then seem to have no intention on delvering with this promise because my book is not stocked in the first place by design.  Does this upset anyone else??

[sexyman]

I agree, USPS is better becausez I just got my package shipped out today

[Shopaholic]

I am a long-time B&N shopper who places bn.com orders regularly, and I have noticed that over the past six months or so, it is taking orders much longer to leave the warehouse and much longer to arrive at their destination, if they ever get there at all!  I placed one order right before Thanksgiving and part of it never came at all.  Another item took four weeks to arrive (said it was in stock and would ship in 24 hours), and every single order I have placed since October has been delayed 1-5 days for no apparent reason.

What's happening to B&N?  They used to have the fastest shipping and the best customer service, but both of these areas have been declining rapidly, at least in my opinion.  I miss the old B&N, where customer service reps were knowledgeble and responded to emails and three day shipping actually existed.  Sigh...