USPS Priority Mail - Fast?

[aposaean]

Based on your experiences how fast does priority mail arrive? I'm hoping to get something fast (or at least before Christmas) and I know there's a holiday rush going on now.

[ggsale27]

My wife and I buy a lot of stuff from US sellers. We almost always insist on USPS Priority mail. You can expect a US Priority item to take 15 to 20 days under normal circumstances. Now for the really bad news. Lately Canada post has been changing the tracking numbers once these items enter Canada and your US seller has to open a trace in order to find out what the new number is. These items also become Express packages once they enter Canada. If your item goes through Montreal, then for some reason it slows right down. We are waiting right now for a priority package , that for some reason was down graded to regular parcel in Montreal . Not only can we not track it any more, but it has a 30 day estimated delivery time on it. Most of the people we deal with are willing to go the extra mile and get things moving again for us, but this seller ( new to us ) seems to not care too much, and of course, CP Customer Service ( ? ) is more than useless in this situation. If you are using Priority or Express within Canada, then you will have no problems unless you wait till the last moment possible to send or order your package.

[drwho534]

Had a U.S. seller ship an item Dec.8th 'First Class International' from California to Niagara ON (no shipping but does provide a 'scan' number as proof on U.S.P.S. tracking page that at least it has been accepted and sent), the package arrived Dec.19th. Arrived with no problem. Not the quickest method but not bad considering the time of year.

[wenrath]

ggsale:  USPS Priority Mail....15-20 days under normal circumstances

Really?  And how long does First Class take to get to you? Is everything slower to Kelowna?

I thought Priority was supposed to be faster than First Class. My experience with many First Class parcels is similar to drwho's. They have always arrived within 2 weeks, typically 11-12 calendar days.

Now, as it happens, I did receive a Priority parcel today that took 17 days!  I attributed that to the Christmas season.  If they are always that slow, then there is no reason to pay extra for Priority. 

Perhaps posters from other parts of Canada can tell us their experiences with Priority.

[wenrath]

My Priority package had the same tracking number in both countries. It became an XpressPost parcel in Canada.

Complete tracking info shows up on both the USPS and Canada Post websites, but the wording differs.

Both agree that it was mailed in Arizona on Dec. 3 and was processed through Los Angeles and directed toward Canada on the 7th.

They also agree that it was processed through both Customs and the Montreal sorting facilty on the 18th and then delivered to me in Ottawa on the 20th.

They leave room for different interpretations about what happened for 11 days between LA on the 7th and Montreal on the 18th.

Canada Post shows

     International item arrived in Canada and will be reviewed by Customs

on the 18th - implying that it had just arrived that day and therefore spent 11 days in transit! (Or, I would guess, sitting at LA airport waiting its turn for a flight.)

USPS shows

     Customs Clearance

on the 18th, which could be interpreted to mean it had arrived earlier but had to wait for Customs.

[kalelmyhero]

FROM EAGLE, IDAHO TO VERNON, BC:

I am in a similar boat.  I purchased something from ebay that the seller shipped with USPS on April 17 as Priority mail.  I had been tracking it through the USPS website. My item went from Idaho (which shares a border with my province in Canada), all the way down to San Fransico before sending it back up the coast and then to Vancouver.  Then everything seemed to stop in Canada when it said that it passed Customs.  That's when I did some searching and learned that I can track it now through Canada Post.

But that's what I don't get.  This PRIORITY USPS shipped item, now says on my Canada Post tracking that expected delivery is 6-30 business days.  Are you kidding me?  Up to 30 business days for a priority item?  I keep checking, but there has been NO activity since the April 22 customs clearance.  That was 4 days ago, and by what their website says, it's still sitting in Vancouver as an "International item released from Customs for processing by Canada Post". 

Process it already. 

The last time I had an item sent from the eastern side in NY, also by priority USPS, I received it in 9 days.  Although there is a discrepancy in what they said.  I was home the whole day when they apparently tried to deliver it.  It states twice "Attempted Delivery" and "Addressee being notified", but that was clearly not the case.  Then they state that "Addressee advised to pick up the item".  That whole time I was at home and there was no knock on my front door and no phone calls.  I remember being surprised when I left later that afternoon and saw the postal slip in the mailbox, and then went right to the Canada Post parcel pick up at Shoppers Drug Mart and picked it up that evening (about at 6pm).  I just thought whoever "attempted" to deliver it thought it would be much more convenient for them to have me come and pick it up instead.  But at least I got it within 9 days (over the Easter Weekend, too). 

But my current order is taking much longer than that.  It's been the same 9 days, and yet Canada Post says it's still in Vancouver.  I don't understand how they can call this "Priority".  This is false advertising and false business practices.  I don't understand how they aren't being held accountable for what they are doing.  If they say that something is supposed to be received withing 5 business days, than it should be within 5 business days.  Not 10 and not 30!!!  Isn't there something that can be done?  How is it that Canada Post can now tell me that I have to wait up to 30 business days for something that was supposed to be Priority mail?  😞

[dutchman48]

why should CP be in a rush to deliver something they make nothing on. Priority is only until it leaves the country issue in. Which Christmas do you want it by?

CP is exceptionally slow with a lot of mail these days.

[Anonymous]

USPS is taking advantage of anyone who order Priority to make lots of $$$ and they don't include an on-time guarantee delivery like Canada Post do with XpressPost (worldwide) and Expedited Mail (only in Canada).

If USPS is offering it with an on-time guarantee delivery, believe me they will see lots of claims for refunds and they would go into deeper red than ever!

Why any sellers demand that we have to accept their preferance of this mail service is beyond me as it is waste of $$$ when in fact the cheaper mail service would be sufficinet.   Too often the cheaper mail service arrived faster than the Priority. 

It is because that the sellers cannot trust us anymore as they often claimed that they had so many buyers in Canada and International claiming to never received them.  I received an average of 20 packages/parcels every week at cheaper mail service with no real tracking and they arrived fine and faster!. (Knock on wood 3 times!!!)