Just got an ARC AAA, Shipping time for Holidays

I ordered a Turquoise and UV. WOW, I can say I will be ordering more of this. There should be a HA available with all the colors. My first impression was "D**M it's bright" since I was used to the Infinity. I'll be retiring my Infinity and carrying the ARC from now since the runtime really doesn't matter to me. I can stash a handfull of AAA's in my car and carry a couple on me if need be.

A word of caution, shipping is getting slow probably due to the holidays and an increase in mail flow. If anyone is thinking of getting X-mas gifts via mail, do it NOW! My ARC AAA UV was ordered 11-19-01 (BrightGuy got it out the next day) and the UPS website shows that the delivery date is 12-05-01 for normal Ground. A quote from UPS WEB:

"The UPS guarantee does not apply to UPS Ground shipments that are picked up or scheduled to be delivered between Dec. 12 and Dec. 25."

In other words........don't procrastinate.

I have found that UPS ground is very dependent on distance as one would assume. I live on the East coast and items from the west coast, typically CA, can take the better part of two weeks to arrive while those within the eastern third of the US generally get here within a few days. If it's within a few states away radius then I usually get it within two days, sometimes the next day. So when paying for shipping and using UPS, I base my shipping options on distance only. Generally, most places offer UPS three or two day shipments that isn't too much more then ground and gives greater piece of mind, particularly during the holiday shipping season. Also good old US Postal Priority when available, is pretty reliable and cheap.

I checked the "transit time" on the UPS web and it says from OH to CA is 4 business days transit time. But it's actually taking alot longer, I can only assume because of the Holidays.

USPS is much better in value due to the millions of regular mail it delivers every day, it can absorb some of the costs for Priority, 2nd day and next day. If it were up to me I would choose USPS Priority for all my purchases.

actually I work for ups I'm always ordering or shipping something. the post office can be jerks about paying up on a insured package. they also lose more boxes. if you have something valuable or the shipper wont replace damaged or lost items your much better off through ups. the thing i hate about ups though is if you wanna send a small cushioned envelope its still like 5 bucks, post office you can send it for less than a few bucks. for small envelopes with little value i go with the post office, everything else i do ups. im not saying this because i work there, its just from my own and other peoples experiences.
all the volume still moves quite fast regardless of how much they get around christmas, I think their even open christmas eve. you should see all the weird stuff we get through there.

I have to agree the US Mail is cheaper for small stuff but they lose a larger amount of packages.

At this point my Order from Brightbuy is MIA and was shipped via UPS. I should have gotten it on the 28th of November but no package yet. BrightGuy has called UPS for a trace on the package. Annoying.

*BrightGuy shipped within 24hours and has been very responsive and concerned. This has nothing to do with them.