Please don't ship wine to arrive on a Friday

Just missed a delivery attempt and now have to wait til Monday for the next attempt, which means the wine sits who-knows-where over the weekend. I work from home and try to be around when I’m expecting a delivery, but occasional misses happen anyway. (Sometimes, I think they wait for me to leave and then quickly leave a note).

just a data point:

ground shipments from CA to GA are a five day process, meaning if i were to ship on a Monday - i.e. UPS picks up on Monday - then the wine would be out for a first delivery attempt the following Monday. in other words, it’s going to sit in a warehouse/hub over a weekend at some point in the delivery chain. the only way to avoid this is to use expedited delivery options: 3Day, 2nd Day, Next Day.

You are right about that. Fedex, OTOH, seems to go Monday → Friday to GA. Personally, I would feel more comfortable if the wine went out Friday. Then, you know it’s going to sit over the weekend, but it’s happening immediately and you won’t be in for any weather-related surprises.

true that.

Whenever I have wine shipped ground from the West Coat to East Coast, I have it shipped Tue/Wed so it has time to make it through the local terminal and put on a truck where it is travelling across country during the weekend, avoiding having it sit somewhere over the weekend.

Shipping from Napa, Atlanta is 5 days via UPS Ground (Never includes the pickup day)
Shipping from Napa, Atlanta is 4 days via FedEx Ground (same as above)

You ship on Monday, via UPS Ground it will get there the next Monday. It will sit in the warehouse at UPS for probably 1 day, but most are temperature controlled so you’re probably fine.

You ship on a Monday via FedEx Ground, it will be there Friday. If it’s undeliverable and shipped Commercial Ground, you will get it Monday. If it’s undeliverable and shipped Ground Home Delivery, you will get it Saturday since that is a normal work day for that Service.

If it’s shipped Air with either carrier and it’s undeliverable on a Friday?, Monday redelivery it is…

I do like the buffer for sure… but the Ground transit days to this location make it a tough one. I think we’ve all felt like this before: “Oh no! Friday Delivery, what if something goes wrong and it’s not delivered? Will my stuff sit next to a heater all weekend!?” Completely understandable concern for sure.

I’m sitting in my car on my driveway. He usually shows up at 1:15 but I’m already late getting back so looks like I will just pick it up tonight at the main ups office instead

I guess I’m much more sympathetic to the wineries’ situation than many other consumers. Of course, since I live in California and shipping to me is a fairly short distance, it’s easy for me to be benficent. On the other hand it is 90 degrees here, today. I hope it cools off a bit because I know some deliveries (Myriad, Quivet, ?) are scheduled in the next two weeks.

My point is, if you live in the eastern time zone, and you are ordering wines from California, why wouldn’t you step up to an expedited shipping level?

I think you’re 100% safe over the weekend at this time of year in Atlanta, but I do understand the broader point about trying to avoid weekend stopovers during times when weather is very cold or very hot.

You raise a valid point, but the wine is just so darn expensive I just don’t spend any more than I have to. I don’t buy too much, but haven’t got a bad bottle yet via Ground shipments.

stalker!

On a related note, I was expecting to have a case of Rhys delivered today by UPS to an address in S.C. Has anyone else been affected by a “late UPS trailer arrival?” I am sincerely thankful that there is plenty of rain and moderate temps bearing down on the region.

Not with wine, thankfully, but several of my Amazon orders were delayed in the past few months because of that late trailer arrival excuse, and also another excuse about the trailer wasn’t unloaded. UPS is the worst for reliability, as far as I am concerned.

My wine arrived at the distribution point last night. Thursday.
They didn’t load it on the truck today.
Scheduled for Monday no attempt to deliver.
A case of Rhys.
UPS.
UGH!

Unfortunately, the winery has ZERO control of the arrival day/time.

I ship,to,northern Michigan. For years I have had my wine shipped on Wednesday. It arrives on Wednesday (UPS) and Tuesday FedEx…without fail.

This allows a one day buffer to get loaded on a TRAIN. Cross country shipments do not go by truck. And a buffer at the other end for the myriad of excuses for non delivery.

Any other schedule is fraught with potential heartbreak.

The only other problem is getting your winery’s shipper to follow your requested ship days. They love to ship on Monday. I am successful with my requests about 50% of the time.

I have finished bottling most of the wine that I need to send out for BDay orders. I am thinking of shipping on Friday, so that the wines will arrive on Tues., Wed. or Thurs depending on distance. It will/could sit in the warehouse in Eureka, but it is NEVER too hot nor too cold for wine there.

Is this a good idea, from your POV, as customers?

Also, if I know ahead, there is no additional charge to send it to a Fedex Ship Center where it can be picked up at customer convenience.

Ps: remember you are counting working days … M-F. Weekends are the dead zone…especially in the sticks.

Next time you leave the house, just drive around the block and return home. That always fools the driver.

But seriously, can you leave a signed note with the date, tracking number, signature and have the wine left at the side of the house or something? I’ve done this many times if I have to leave for a while and expecting a shipment. Especially on a Friday.

No you can’t leave a note if the box requires an adult signature.

Of course, since I live in California and shipping to me is a fairly short distance, it’s easy for me to be benficent.

That’s if you’re only buying CA wine or from stores in CA. Pretty limiting.

But to the OP - why don’t you just have it shipped to the local office? FedEx is great about that. Find the closest FedEx/Kinko and ask them if they’ll accept deliveries for you. UPS will hold it at the main depot but they charge you to hold it at a UPS store. Just make sure that it is shipped to your name HAL and make sure that the shipper has YOUR phone number as the contact and not the number of the office. Both UPS and FedEx will do it, but FedEx is much easier to deal with. For the last few years, all my wine has been shipped that way.

The alternative, if you have a decent relationship to the guys at the local hardware store, butcher, etc., is to ask if they’ll accept a delivery once in a while.