As some of the commenters have already mentioned, DHL ruins your package regardless of shipping speed or location. This I have experienced several times. But Amazon Japan probably knew about it therefore they ship most packages overly protected and buffered. Its only when I receive the goods in envelopes do I receive them squashed and maimed.

Its even worse now that Amazon Japan has done away with international economy shipping since Mar this year. When they ship express I don't necessarily receive the packages any faster but have to pay more as well as additional duty fees incurred by express shipping.

I don't really care to have my packages arrive fast but in several pieces I just want it intact. Probably the next competition should be for shippers to compare who ships packages in the most intact fashion.

the poor people at the wrong address finally wrote on the front of the package, "REFUSED; please deliver to address listed on package, not this one."

My holiday gifts might not be as important, but I don't want them run over either. The other part that was in the box was lost entirely.

Then again, we had a lot of fun running around the office with a big smashed cone on our heads afterwards.

I lived in Alaska for 23 years. The only problem I ever had with the USPS was with things coming from the west end of Fairbanks to North Pole. (About 20-40 miles, depending exactly where) Particularly from the university, where it consistently took 1-2 weeks, to go 20 miles.

Apart from that, I never had ANYTHING, even large packages sent book rate, take more than 3 weeks. Including an M-bag to Japan. I even had a regular first-class letter get from Fairbanks to Atlanta THE NEXT DAY. (The timing at every step would have had to be flawless for that, it was obviously a fluke.)

Maybe I've just been lucky. Maybe I've just never sent packages to or from any places where USPS (and other national postal systems) sucks. But I've never had any big problems with the USPS.

Also, am I imagining things, or have parcel post rates dropped, drastically? I remember the difference from priority used to be pennies.

But that's Providence for you. Everyone sells drugs.

Recieving: I prefer USPS/FedEx. Packages aren't beat up and they arrive quickly.

UPS: Damaged boxes every time.

DHL: One site I buy from uses them. Shipping time varies from 3-10 days and tracking is flaky. So far everthing has arrived undamaged.

I'm sure the package was moved along with many other packages of questionable necessity. It's the risk that comes with the delivery person's job, and they are well aware of it (and probably paid nicely for dealing with the extra risk).

Somebody somewhere probably risked their life delivering the box of cookies I got the other day. I could have lost sleep over that thought, but I was too busy enjoying the cookies.

Haven't you been paying attention, the insurgency is in it's last throes. Mission accomplished.

Despite the fact that the country is at war, life must go on for the people who live there. It sounds as though the package contained GT hats and t-shirts and surely brought some joy into an otherwise bleak day for the recipients.

FedEx is sort-of on my shitlist as well, because once they misdeliver an overnight package (which happens surprisingly often with FedEx to law & ordery addresses -- they must use a different address database than USPS, UPS, and DHL, at least for government buildings) and put it back in the system ("lost package"), they can't pull it out FROM the system without five days of processing, which is A SERIOUS PROBLEM WHEN YOU'RE COURIERING COURT DOCUMENTS. They also refused to refund the money for their failure to deliver, let alone failure to deliver within the guaranteed time frame.

They could tell me exactly where it was but they informed me nobody in the entire company had the power to WALK INTO THE STORAGE ROOM and PICK UP MY PACKAGE that I had paid an arm and a leg to have overnighted on a court's order. "Could the CEO go in and get the package?" "No, ma'am." "Why not? Is it locked?" "No, ma'am, we just can't go in there." "Is there a magic forcefield preventing you?" "We can't go in there." "So how do packages get out of there in five days?" "Someone goes in and gets them." "I want to talk to that guy." "You can't." "Why not?" "He can't go in there." "Then how does he get the packages out? LEVITATION?" It was absolutely ridiculous.

I bet if this shipped from Zimbabwe, I'd already have it by now

I've only used DHL a couple times, but have no complaints. I once ordered a textbook off eBay that came from Bangkok (international edition). Left there on a Monday, arrived at my parents house in St. Louis on Wednesday. Needless to say, I was impressed.

1) The headline should really read "DHL Wins Package Race. UPS, Fedex Still In Transit." You guys sure do hate you some Brown around here, huh?

2) Where does morality come into shipping? "Is it really moral to send unnecessary packages into a war zone?" Wha???

Besides which, who are you (by which I mean anyone, really) to say what's "necessary"?

My only exception is if I have to send paperwork to my fiancee: It takes about 36 hours to get from the post office to customs in her country. And then it takes another four weeks before it's in her hands. FedEx can do it in about 30 hours, only ten hours more than the actual physical transit time.

Since when has academia ever had common sense or a sense of moral obligation?

Ya maybe the reason UPS never made it to the Iraq location is because the guy was brutally slaughtered by insurgents.

Doubtful. Only the package would be brutally slaughtered, and it would be by the UPS staff, not insurgents. I've had far better luck with USPS than UPS, and that's saying a lot considering how terribly disorganized USPS is.

@fourmajor:

Is it really moral to send unnecessary packages into a war zone?

Since when has academia ever had common sense or a sense of moral obligation?

my thoughts too.

Ya maybe the reason UPS never made it to the Iraq location is because the guy was brutally slaughtered by insurgents.

I cringe whenever Amazon sends me something by DHL. I never know if or when I'm going to get it. Last time I specified 1-day shipping (inexpensive with Amazon Prime), my shipment disappeared for 3 days. DHL couldn't tell me where it was. It had completley fallen off their radar. It eventually showed up. I was unimpressed. (Amazon refunded my shipping upgrade fee.)