DIY Planner - Shipping & Handling - Comments

How long did it take to get to you?

JediGamer — Sun, 1 Apr 2007 09:52:16 -0400

Just curious, I placed an order with Myndology last Thursday and am eager to get it! I know they are in Wisconsin, and since I'm in Iowa, I'm excited to think it should be here soon.

My impression

jonglass — Sun, 1 Apr 2007 02:14:50 -0400

is that it's like standard USPS shipping, but with tracking, probably at standard USPS rates, but Fed Ex has contracted the movement. At least that was the impression I got from the tracking page. Some data (delivery) comes from USPS, but the rest is Fed Ex.

My order shipped rather late Monday evening, and arrived bright and early on Friday morning. For standard mail, that's good. But, as I said, my world view is skewed with enormous shipping costs and wait times to Poland... In fact, this past week, I had my parents ship me some car parts (_never_ buy and American car in Europe!). They took about 10 days to arrive (supposed to take five for the rate they paid!) and I had to pay over $200 in customs to receive them! That's the sort of thing I'm used to. :-)

-Jon

Shipping issues

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:00:13 -0400

The shipping method (for my purchase anyway) was some sort of low budget marriage between FedEx and USPS. My local post office folks couldn't tell me much about this method other than they arrive by a different method from most of their packages and that it was a strangely slow process. I did complain directly to Levenger and got a positive response (excerpt below) within a few hours. Levenger isn't directly responsible for what happens to a package when they ship it, but they are responsible for the method they choose. Apparently, they are in a contract with a new service that is highly inefficient. It didn't prevent me from ordering again, but I won't even track this package. I'll forget about it and sometime in the future I'll be pleasantly surprised.

From Levenger's Customer Service:

Thank you for your email. We understand your frustration in regards to our shipping method as you are not the only one with the same concerns. We are actively pursuing other shipping options and currently trying to resolve the issues with our current shipper. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope this does not deter you as one of our valuable customers.

-Dirk

Can't win fer losin' eh?

jonglass — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:50:20 -0400

bum rap.... maybe would have been better at the PO! ;-)

-Jon

The evergreen Circa zip

Studio717 — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:45:40 -0400

The evergreen Circa zip folio seen here:

Levenger zip Circa folio in evergreen

is what I bought. It's on sale, so how could I resist? I use to always buy black accessories, but that grew tiresome after a while. Lately, when there's only the standard black-red-toffee choices, I've been going with toffee since it blends in better with my office furniture (cherry). When the evergreen appeared, I almost bought it that day, but I've been holding out for Plum, then when it went on sale - I couldn't resist any longer. ;D If a plum one ever does appear, I will snap it up, otherwise, this evergreen is just perfect.

(I can't fault Levenger for shipping time even though it will take a while for my stuff to reach me. Where I live, it usually takes everything a little extra time to get to me unless it's sent via the more expensive time-specific delivery.)

Evergreen?

supenguin — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:24:48 -0400

Do you have an Evergreen zip folio? Ever since I started using a planner instead of just a plain calendar, I've been using zippered binders of some sort to keep everythign all in one place.

I haven't decided for sure if I want to stick with black as I've done in the past of get something colored. The red looks great, green looks great and it is cheaper, but I've always used black before. If a dark blue was available, I'd go for that in a second. Oh, the exception to this rule was my first planner "The Big Blue Brick" as I called it. A letter size zipper binder from Franklin Covey that was blue. I think it was some kind of nylon.

-Kenny

more good stuff

supenguin — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:19:46 -0400

I'll add to the good news about Levenger... I called an order into them on Tuesday and it arrived here today. Great products, awesome customer service. I guess that's the problem with being a wonderful company. One little problem and everyone jumps all over you. Just look at Apple...

At least my order would've arrived today. I forgot to include my room # at the office in my order, so I get a call from FedEx that they couldn't deliver the package. On their online tracking it says "Cannot locate recipient. Scheduled for delivery next business day" Oh no!

-Kenny

Levenger products are always

Studio717 — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:14:11 -0400

Levenger products are always top-notch, ime. And their packing is second to none, no question. My only complaint about them is sending their beautiful well-packed products via USPS. And I only complain about that because I have to go to the PO to pick it up. (But if I remember to call them right after ordering, they ship it FedEx without any problem. Then my beautiful well-packed Levenger products arrive right on my doorstep. :D )

I think you're going to love the zip Circa folio. If you bought the evergreen one - it is gorgeous, imo.

positive experience

jonglass — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 14:42:42 -0400

After all the "piling on" of Levenger in this thread, I wanted to add something positive. I was going to create a new thread, but decided to post here instead.

Last Friday, I made my first order with Levenger--the now-discontinuted Leather zip folio, and a starter Classic-sized notebook (the latter simply to get a taste of all that goodness you all keep talking about, and showing on Flickr) ;-) I ordered, as I said, on Friday--late enough that I wasn't surprised when it shipped Monday. The total order was less $50, so shipping and handling as $9. I followed it from TN to FL, where it arrived this morning-Friday. Since I'm in Europe, I called my parents, and asked them to open it for me. They were impressed both with the packaging, and the attention to detail. The leather folio was gently wrapped in a cloth, and everything was just first class--so much so, that it impressed my parents who don't normally notice this sort of stuff.

I'm not a normal customer in that I have lots of things shipped, and I _always_ pay tons for shipping, but not only was the time reasonable, IMO, but the whole package seems to be top-notch. Levenger put a lot of attention in the little details. I seem to recall that they tend to position themselves as an upscale boutique for reading fanatics. ;-) I presume this has a large bearing on how they deal with these things, including Circa.

So far, I'm impressed, but the final word is still out until I get my hands on that beautiful-looking leather! ;-)

-Jon

We are about to find out...

jonglass — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:10:32 -0400

how it goes for me. My order shipped last night while I was sleeping. I shall alert my parents in Kissimmi so they know it's coming, and soon we shall know how long it took. Where is the Levenger warehouse, anyway?
-Jon

When Levenger switched to using "SmartPost"

Studio717 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:12:51 -0400

When Levenger switched to using "SmartPost" is when I started getting annoyed. Jon, I feel Levenger is responsible for choosing how they ship, so if it sits, it is their responsibility, imo.

My shipping experience

Coleoid — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:10:02 -0400

No hitches.
I ordered this last Monday afternoon, got my stuff on Friday late afternoon, which was earlier than I expected.

Sorry, a boring report to read, but I think it's fair to bring a non-rant into the discussion. :D

shipping

mad izzy — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:57:35 -0400

while the fact that it sits in the warehouse (the shipping company's, not levenger's) for days isn't directly their fault, the fact that they choose a very low quality form of shipping, while charging a very high fee for it, is.

i just had a pretty rocky experience with them, which i believe i posted above. ordered on the 1st of march. supposedly shipped on the 6th, and i was to receive on the 15th. well, it didn't arrive the 15th, and it was sent a way that i couldn't track it. (some form of fed ex and the USPS, i guess.) they asked me to wait until the 21st to see if it showed up (which is rididiculous that anything could take that long to go from florida to maine...i bicycle messenger could get it here in that time.)

anyway. in the end, it never showed up. they told me that they'd ship it back out, and i'd have it in 10 biz days. very frustrated at that, i told them to either cancel the order, or send it overnight at their cost. i wasn't going to wait until mid april for something that i ordered march 1st. they agreed to do the latter, and i received it march 23rd. and i'd bet you $$ that it probably didn't cost them much (if anything) more than the $11 s/h they initially charged me to get it there overnight.

the fact is, levenger seems to be reaping a bit more revenue from their s/h fees than they should be. and by no means do i expect them to charge customers the actual shipping rate. there's a reason they call it shipping "and" handling. that fee should help pay for the cost of the box, shipping materials, the person packing the box, the warehouse, etc. but theirs seem to be a bit more extreme in an era where amazon, staples, others are shipping for free, and shipping fast.

let us know how your experience works out, jon. i guess in the process of my order, they were moving their warehouse. that may explain some of it. and ryan (who posts here and works at levenger) also took some of our concerns to management. so, i'd expect things will improve.

But how is this Levenger's fault?

jonglass — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 03:03:19 -0400

Following the tracking is highly frustrating because the package will sit for several days in one location before moving again. I'm still waiting on a package that four days ago was just a few hours drive away.

Pardon me for my ignorance, but I fail to see how this package sitting--after it left their warehouse--could be Levenger's fault? This is confusing to me... I mean, if they hold onto the order for several days before shipping, that is one thing, but to blame them for the USPS or UPS delay seems a bit much to me--or am I missing something here? Sorry for my confusion, but I just ordered something (first order) on Friday--so I am about to personally experience what everybody has been threatening...

-Jon

Levenger Shipping

Dirk — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:51:20 -0400

I get great shipping speed with "standard shipping" with every company I order from but Levenger. Following the tracking is highly frustrating because the package will sit for several days in one location before moving again. I'm still waiting on a package that four days ago was just a few hours drive away.

Levenger has great products that we all know are a bit overpriced but we are willing to pay for the quality. We shouldn't have to pay an additional premium for prompt shipping. Bargain basement shipping quality at standard shipping rates is unbefitting for a company that otherwise works hard to please its customers.

Shipping & Handling

nay nay — Sat, 3 Mar 2007 16:54:27 -0500

I am frustrated with all of the shipping and handling charges that are associated with purchasing our office supplies. Sorry to Levenger, but they have to be the most expensive and my current experience has been SLOW... Then again I am impatient. It says Fedex Ground and 7-10 business days for shipping for $9.00. Whereas I paid $3.59 on eBay for a book (which is probably larger than my lev order) and it was mailed Prioity via USPS and it made it from NY in 5 biz days. My tracking for my Lev order shows Fedex/USPS... I do not really understand which carrier they use. It also shows that it has been sitting in my city post office for two days... UGH! Frustrating waiting for these packages. And I'm sorry, adding $13 to the $9 I was already paying to get the package in 2-4 days is just not worth it either... 2-4 days for a shipping charge of $22 just is not fast enough, is it?
We use UPS at work and I send packages overnight for under $10...
Am I being irrational and impatient or are there others out there who are as frustrated with Shipping fees on all of these sites? It may just be that I have been anticipating my last Lev order since the moment I hit the send button on my order!
nay nay

D*I*Y Planner - Shipping & Handling - Comments

How long did it take to get to you?

My impression

Shipping issues

Can't win fer losin' eh?

The evergreen Circa zip

Evergreen?

more good stuff

Levenger products are always

positive experience

We are about to find out...

When Levenger switched to using "SmartPost"

My shipping experience

shipping

But how is this Levenger's fault?

Levenger Shipping

Shipping & Handling

DIY Planner - Shipping & Handling - Comments