With the advent of Amazon's new Amazon Prime program (where for $79 you get 2nd day shipping on all of your orders for a year) on 2/2, it seems like the Super Saver shipping is taking a lot longer than it used to, not because UPS is taking longer, but because its taking Amazon longer to get the order out the door to UPS.* I have bought a fair amount of smaller electronics, accessories, CD, and books from Amazon in recent years but have been very disappointed with the service this year. I don't usually need an order shipped 2nd day so I haven't joined this program. And my recent experiences are more likely to drive me to purchase from others than to shell out the $79.
I can envision one possible Amazon response: "We're so busy with shipping to the Amazon Prime customers that other orders are being delayed." I'm a bit incredulous. I suspect we'll have a better picture as to how successful this program is in a few weeks when Amazon announces earnings for the quarter.
* Specific example: order placed March 13 for 1 CD, 2 books, and 1 software (all indicated that they normally ship w/in 24 hours) and one other items which was backordered, all via SuperSaver shipping and all coming from Amazon, not one of its affiliates. UPS scanned the package in on 3/21, which contained 3 of the first 4 items; UPS delivered on 3/24. The other 2 items have yet to ship. For comparison, an order I placed on December 13 was shipped on December 15 via Super Saver shipping (and Amazon's getting an order out the door to UPS in 2-3 days was pretty typical).
Just wondering whether others have had similar experiences.