Should I be concerned about this engine order being lost?

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Marc_G

Marc_G

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Hi folks,

Looking for insights here. I ordered some engines from the good folks at Belleville Hobby a few weeks ago, on the weekend. They promptly shipped it via USPS ground ($40 hazmat, ouch) on Monday the 18th. See below the tracking info. Note that Belleville is near St. Louis, and I live in the suburbs of Indianapolis, 4 hours up I-70. It's a straight shot.

USPS clearly has the package as shown with it departing the Belleville PO. Each day for a few days, the "In Transit to Next Facility" would update with that day's date, until it stalled on May 22. It hasn't changed since then at all. Originally delivery was scheduled for May 23rd; when that was missed it shifted to "Delivery Date Unknown" in my Informed Delivery listing. There has been no update to the information or any sign of life about this package in over a week.

1590849417947.png

I inquired with Belleville and they stated it can take 21 business days so let it sit until June 16th; hazmat orders don't enter the facility etc so that reduces tracking. I've never had an engine order take more than a week even if I order from across the country. I've tried contacting USPS but they don't seem to make it possible to get more info than is available via the online tool.

This was over $100 worth of engines; I probably should have ordered from AC Supply Co but maybe they didn't have all the Q-Jets I wanted in addition to the Estes ones. There was some reason I chose Belleville.

I think my order got lost but maybe I'm over reacting. I've ordered from BElleville before with good results so this is not a rant on them in any way. Just looking for experience with engines making a "short distance but long time" trip through USPS.

Should I do anything other than wait until the 16th, which means not having my engines in time for the next launch?

EDIT: The situation is fully resolved; I'm a satisfied Belleville Hobby customer.
 
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I had a non-hazmat order with some 24mm reloads stalled for 2 weeks with the same message. It eventually started moving again and I got my order, although the epoxy spilled over everything. Parcel Select is slow like that.
 
I ordered two boxes of Q-Jets from Belleview Hobby and it did take quite a while to get here.
I did try to track the order. But like you, here wasn't any updates after the first day it shipped.
They'll come, just took a few weeks.
 
I just had an order from NovaSpace in Arizona arrive. It was a signed book by former astronaut Michael Collins, so I was quite interested in making sure it didn't get lost. I'd ordered from them before with no issues in shipping but this one, sent insured media mail took a round about way to get to me. Started in Tucson on April 23, then to Phoenix, then to Los Angeles. Then it was "In transit to next facility" for a good 10 days or more and it finally appeared in Springfield, MA, which usually means it's going to soon arrive. A couple of days later it shows up again as "In transit" and it stays that way for about a week. It usually doesn't take that long to get to my closest distribution center and then to my local post office here in eastern MA. Sure enough, next stop was Raleigh, NC. Great. It sat there for a few days and again, "In Transit". 4 or 5 days later, again, in Springfield. A resting period there and "In transit". For a week or more. Wondering where it is on its journey now, suddenly it shows up at my local post office in Bellingham, MA. Delivered on May 25th. That compares to my prior order from them, an autographed print of an astronaut painting, which was delivered in less than 5 days.
 
I would wait until the recommended date by Belleville.
Parcel select can be slow, more so with the current situation.
More than likely you'll get your package by then.
If not file a claim with Belleville, they will ship a replacement.
 
I appreciate these responses greatly. I figured the week+ that it went silent meant it was lost but from listening to you guys this seems common, or at least "it happens" and doesn't mean the package is lost necessarily.

I was considering placing an order elsewhere (probably AC supply if they have qjets) and just waiting for Belleville to declare it lost to get my money back, but I guess I should just wait a bit. I don't want to not have the engines for the next club launch June 21 so I will wait a week before doing anything. Probably my order will start moving by then.
 
Parcel select can be slow with long gaps between updates. But, if it has been more than a week since the expected delivery date, you should start a Missing Mail Request:

https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm
It may just be a coincidence (and confirmation bias), but it appears to me that some packages do suddenly start moving through the system again after you submit the Missing Mail Request.

Edit: BTW, I haven't noticed Parcel Select shipments of motors with the proper markings taking any longer than unmarked Parcel Select shipments. Both can take a while and, sometimes, a long while. I think they get thrown on trucks last and if a truck is full, Parcel Select packages get bumped to the next trucks.
 
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I had a package from Chewy that took almost 3 weeks. Normally I get the shipments in 2-3 days. This whole COVID-19 has slowed everything down. You'll get them, but it will take awhile.
 
Maybe I'm not remembering right, but I thought Hazmat orders had to go Fedex or UPS, and that the USPS only took exempt packages?
 
Marc,
This was on the Sirius Rocketry home page:
NOTE: Most USPS Parcel Select Ground packages (those containing USPS-shippable rocket motors) are often taking MUCH longer to arrive than normal, and tracking is not updated nearly as often along the route as movement has been much slower. According to USPS: "Parcel Select packages travel by ground. As a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, packages may temporarily experience delivery delays due to limited transportation availability."
We cannot control this situation and appreciate your patience and understanding.

Sheds some light on the situation.
 
Marc_G said:
I appreciate these responses greatly. I figured the week+ that it went silent meant it was lost but from listening to you guys this seems common, or at least "it happens" and doesn't mean the package is lost necessarily.

I was considering placing an order elsewhere (probably AC supply if they have qjets) and just waiting for Belleville to declare it lost to get my money back, but I guess I should just wait a bit. I don't want to not have the engines for the next club launch June 21 so I will wait a week before doing anything. Probably my order will start moving by then.
Click to expand...
I have a bunch of kits and motors I'm going to bring to the next launch for sale. If your order doesn't come through, maybe I have something that'll work for you.
 
I'll pile on - I ordered some E30 Econojets from Balsa Machining on 5/10. They shipped USPS Parcel Select on 5/11. Tracking information was very minimal, and I got pretty suspicious. From 5/18-5/27 tracking said, "In Transit to Next Facility". And on 5/28, it arrived. That's Parcel Select these days. Nothing wrong with any of the vendors mentioned - this is just the state of the delivery system right now.
 
I once had an order from AC Supply Co go "wandering around". It got from near St Louis 9where AC Supply is), to Minneapolis, I think, then got routed BACK to the St Louis facility. I needed that engine order for a launch. I contacted AC Supply about it. They sent me a DUPLICATE order, and asked me to ship the original order back if it ever showed up. I got the replacement order in plenty of time. After the launch, the "wandering" original order finally showed up. AC Supply emailed me a prepaid shipping label to print out so it cost me nothing to return it. I was already a faithful customer to them (40% off, and free shipping for orders over $100). So this is why I have such a super-high opinion of them.

I also like Belleville, and have ordered from them a few times (like some Quest motors that AC Supply does not carry). I am absolutely not suggesting they do what AC Supply did. I point out the above as an example of a wandering order, bordering on lost, that did eventually show up. And this was like 4 years ago, in good weather, no current events as a complicating factor.
 
I had a order from Apogee that had a motor. They shipped it out the next day. It sat at the Colorado facility for a few days than it took a couple days to get to Pittsburgh. a couple more days it showed up in Detroit. 2 weeks later it started moving again. I'm not sure if it went thru Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo then but it finally showed up. The box looked like it had been thru the mill, 31 days from Apogee to me.
 
It's not just COVID-19 that's causing the slowdown. I sent a xmas package to a friend in Wyoming. USPS gave the 'package in transit to next facility' message after it left the KY post office. No change in the message until the day *after* I was informed by my friend that the package had arrived! Another package sent to the same address apparently spent over a week at a PO in Indiana. When queried, the USPS employee claimed they couldn't find it (a Registered Mail package!!)...until it suddenly appeared in a Colorado mail facility.

Of late it appears that USPS tracking is a joke.

Best -- Terry
 
Same as prfesser and neil_w. I had a package from Hobbylinc stuck in Washington for a week, and in what was a real nail-biter for me, BuyRocketMotors shipped the 75/5120 motor case I ordered for my level 3 via priority mail, and it spent over a week getting to me after being misdirected to a wrong location. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to have something show up at my doorstep.
 
I ordered some Quest Q-Jet motors and Estes kits from Belleville Hobbies back in September.
The order shipped USPS on September 29, 2019.

I am still waiting for it.
Last information was that it was in Montana.

Ron at Belleville worked with me and filed the claim with USPS for the lost shipment.
I received a check from the USPS in December.

I decided to re-order the motors direct from AeroTech/Quest.
Yes, I know I would pay full price but I figured the motors would get to me.

That's not how it turned out.

The order was shipped to my previous address even though I had listed my current address on the order form.
Back to Utah the order went and was re-shipped to me.
Three weeks after the order was originally shipped, I received it.

I ordered some other Q-Jet rocket motors from Chris' Rocket Supply.
The order arrived in less than a week.

Go figure.
 
USPS tracking is really screwed up right now. My wife is taking care of here parents at the moment. I mailed her some stuff she needed priority mail. It should have been 2 day delivery. I dropped it off at the post office and tracking always showed label created USPS waiting on package. Tracking finally worked the day it was delivered and it was a couple days late.
 
The businesses that are dedicated to rocketry have suffered extremely low sales as a result of the shutdown of rocket launches that occurred early during the pandemic (March 18 - April 28). In many cases they have inventory and the time and motivation to get things right. Also, in the original post the poster mentioned a $40 hazmat charge for USPS. Because I typically order high power motors, I never order using USPS, but I’ve never paid more than $35 in hazmat. I always receive my motor from a FedEx Ground truck within a week, regardless of which vendor I order from. Buy rocket motors from someone whose sole source of income is rocketry.
 
The package lives, apparently. I have been tracking it every day, and there was no record of it since May 18, and even the "in transit" stopped at May 22. I signed up for tracking notices on it, and this morning got one that it arrived today at the distribution center in Memphis Tennessee. Now, Memphis is about five hours straight south (on I-55) from the starting point of St. Louis. Indianapolis is 4 hours northwest of St. Louis. So, this package went in almost (not quite) the exact wrong direction to get to me, but who can fathom the algorithms USPS uses.

I'm just happy to know that it pinged from ANYWHERE and is still moving. I was getting pretty sure it was a goner. I hope those engines aren't getting excessively heat cycled...
 

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