What about that time of delivery you get when you order an item off the internet. What does it actually mean? Well I can't speak for all businesses but for those in the book business, the delivery times on site are an estimate of the delivery time and not a hard and fast rule. Also, they are 'business days' and not 'calendar days'. That is weekends and holidays don't count.

The estimates tend to be fairly accurate. In fact, it is not all that unusual for the time to be at the short end of the estimate. Suppose you got an estimated delivery time of 7 to 14 days. Then it would not be unusual for the item to arrive in 10 days to 2 weeks actual elapsed time. However, it can happen, and does more than one would like, take at the upper end or a bit more than the estimated time - in this case 3 to 4 weeks.

The actual delivery time can also be dependent on just where the item is coming from. I used to mail my Mom books when she lived about 75 miles or so from here in Dallas. If I mailed by about 5 pm at the main post office, she generally had it the next day (USPS gives an estimated time of delivery of 6 days). Mailing books to a friend in California typically took about 5 days although once it took about a month and a half (USPS gives the same estimated 6 days).

Generally I think it is a good idea to give the delivery say, an extra 'few days', and then write the dealer asking about the package. You should hear back from the dealer within several days. I'm speaking here about media mail. If your package was supposed to be shipped priority or expedited, that 'few days' might be as little as one.

To turn 'business days' into 'calendar days' just add about 2 days for each 5 business days at the short end and 4 days for each 5 at the long end. So an estimated 7-14 days deliver really means about 9-26 calender days. Even then, remember that it is an estimate and not a hard and fast rule.

>> 'til next time - DW <<