Covid delays: Paul Components

[JAGI410]

I emailed Paul again (this time CCing Paul himself) and the response was much quicker. They sent another package, and it arrived quickly/safely. I was prepared to be mad at the contents, but they are so ridiculously nice that I installed them immediately. The original package is still missing, and should it ever arrive, I'll send it back to Paul.

[Hilltopperny]

Glad to hear you received your goods! I ordered some campagnolo pull actuator arms from them and received them shortly after they were dispatched.

[tctyres]

My experience with Paul has been stellar. I'm sorry that your project was delayed, but I'm glad you got everything smoothly in the end. The parts are *ridiculously nice.* When I got my medium racers, I could not believe how good they were relative to other brakes (eg Shimano).

The USPS and shipping in general (Fedex, UPS, DHL, etc) is a different can of worms. The USPS is a gong show, and I'm not sure what the solution is there. Having a bad faith actor as CEO and then having Congress step in is a recipe for something that I haven't heard of.

[pcb]

I'll add to the chorus singing that USPS is a hot mess right now, due IMHO to DeJoy/lieutenants' new policies. I was shipping a fairly steady volume the first half of this year, going from zero delivery problems through April to increasing delays and weirdness.

I have a few take-aways:

1. Many businesses are scrambling to stay afloat, with significant covid-induced headaches. It must be especially difficult for a business like Paul's, which manufactures most of their products in-house. I'm not telling anybody what to do or how to feel, but I'm grateful the folks I buy from still exist. I will not complain about delays, or scattered communication/follow-up.

2. Almost all the delays I've experienced, both incoming/outgoing, have been due to USPS, not me or the vendor. USPS delays and poor tracking is now rampant. I don't blame the frontline posties for this, it's all coming from the top down.

3. Once you get the "Package received, awaiting acceptance" message, USPS has your package, and you're waiting for it to get scanned again and processed. I used to never have packages in "awaiting acceptance" mode for more than 12hrs, now it sometimes takes a few days. When you read about trucks being required to head out at a certain time, not allowed to wait for packages that haven't been processed, and piles of packages stacking up waiting to get processed, that's what happens.

They're sometimes sending out empty trucks! Truck's gotta leave on time, doesn't matter if it's empty.....

4. The other common holdup now is the "in transit to next facility." Same story as #3 above. This used to be almost always same-day turnaround, overnight at the worst. Now it can take a few days.

5. With the volume of packages backing up, and the likely behind-the-scenes chaos underlying all this, I'm expecting more packages to get lost or damaged.

I'm not shipping anything uninsured, unless it's such a cheap item I don't care if it goes missing.

[oldfatslow]

Let's also remember that Chico (where Paul is based) is within 10 miles of one of the major fire zones in Northern California. While Chico itself is safe it's not out of the question that employees or their families or friends could be affected by the fire.

[charliedid]

Glad you got your PAUL it's always worth the wait IMO

I ended up with two new pairs of insoles since the first was delivered to the wrong address and DHL couldn't locate. The vendor sent a second pair and of course the next day the first pair showed up.

Everything is upside down.

[tuxbailey]

At least it is bike parts. Imagine the people waiting for their prescriptions by mail.