The holiday shopping season is once again upon us and for many, that's a mixture of joy and anxiety. Unfortunately, the 2021 shopping season is bringing with it more anxiety than usual. A combination of global supply chain issues, labor shortages, and transportation challenges from all of the major shipping companies means getting your gifts ordered ASAP is more important than ever.
We'd like to be able to offer a shipping deadline and to guarantee delivery before the 25th, but given the shipping inconsistencies over the past year, we just aren't comfortable offering a guarantee that relies on factors out of our control. We always do our best to ship orders as quickly as possible after you place them, almost always doing so within one business day, but unfortunately, once the shipment leaves our building, we have no control over how quickly it moves across the city, state, country, or beyond to reach you. For this reason, our best advice is to order soon and hope for the best!
Please note that we will be out of the office and spending time with our loved ones from December 21st through the 28th. During this time, we will have limited shipping capacity which will likely lead to some delayed order fulfillments. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time. Business will return to usual on 12/29.
As we posted a year ago, here's just a few things to expect from the shipping companies this holiday season:
- Shipping times are longer than usual. We used to reliably ship a paddle anywhere in the US in 2-4 days tops. We're now seeing shipping times as long as 10+ days.
- Shipping times are inconsistent. Two packages shipped out the same day to the same city may arrive days apart. We have no control over this or reason for it. It simply is.
- Tracking information may be inaccurate. We have daily shipping pickups at our shop. If you received an email with a tracking number, rest assured that your package left our shop within 24 hours of that email being sent. We won't pretend to understand how the logistics for shipping companies work, but it's clear that a package can move throughout their system without the tracking updating.
Point #3 above is especially important. We've received many emails from customers wondering why their package hadn't shipped for several days after receiving a tracking number. In every single case, the package had shipped and it was simply the tracking that was not updating properly. In most cases, the first tracking update would happen a few days later in the destination city, with no information while in transit.
Hang in there everyone. Be kind, support one another, and stay safe and healthy. As always, THANK YOU for your continued patience and support!
