What Delivery Times Do You Expect When Ordering Fresh Roasted Coffee Online? - Page 6

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What is the longest reasonable time to wait for delivery of fresh roasted coffee?

3 days
43
59%
5 days
25
34%
7 days
4
5%
10 days
1
1%
 
Total votes: 73

Intrepid510
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#51: Post by Intrepid510 »

HB wrote:I would call the company from which I ordered the coffee. Misunderstandings happen and either they'll make good on my expectations or not; I don't expect them to address a service issue if I don't tell them about it. On the other hand, if I tell them and they shrug my complaint off, then I won't order again and won't recommend them. For me, this is e-commerce 101.

I would cut them a day or two of slack due to the holiday season.
Yeah I am shooting them an email, and what I didn't like was how long it took from order to it getting into the mail. Ordered Friday went into the mail on Thursday, got here today. So ten days.

zin1953
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#52: Post by zin1953 »

Better late to the party than no show up at all . . . .
drgary wrote:1. What is the longest reasonable time to wait for delivery of fresh roasted coffee?
A) 3 days
B) 5 days
C) 7 days
D) 10 days
I voted for three days, but Marshall is correct -- it should be "business days post-roast[/]." For example, both FexEx and UPS promise five day deliveries coast-to-coast, but that doesn't include weekends or holidays. It's actually feasible for a shipment to take nearly two weeks, but have the shipper say, "Yup, five days!"

So weekends and legal holidays can mess it up, so can the year-end holidays, and so can weather.

Anyway, I typically order on Sunday, so that my order can be roasted on Monday morning. Generally speaking this has worked quite well, and my orders generally are roasted on that Monday and delivered either Wednesday or Thursday. ALL of the roasters I order from use USPS Priority Mail, so I have Friday ("well, OK, I guess") and Saturday ("grumble, grumble") if things go wrong. If my shipment does arrive until the following Monday . . . well, see below.

drgary wrote:2. Do you expect any accommodation for delayed delivery so it arrives 7 days post roast?
A) No, you take your chances ordering non-locally
B) Refund shipping cost
C) Refund part of the purchase price too
D) Refund the purchase price or replace it with another shipment


For me, it's "D." To be fair, this has only happened to me once, IIRC, and I've never ordered from them again. This is precisely why I won't order from someone using FedEx or UPS. The Post Office has never let me down, never lost a Priority Mail shipment, never taken too long to deliver. So even though ______________ roaster may be phenomenal, I won't order from them if they insist on using FedEx or UPS.

drgary wrote:3. Do you expect any accommodation for delivery 10 days post roast?
A) No
B) Refund shipping cost
C) Refund half of the purchase
D) Refund the purchase price or replace it with another shipment.

This has never happened to me, and -- again -- it would be "D."

drgary wrote:4. How many pounds should you order to expect a price break for fast delivery?
A) 2 lbs
B) 3 lbs
C) 5 lbs


In my experience, delivery times do not vary with volume. That is, regardless of the size of my order, it's always shipped Priority Mail, so . . .

Cheers,
Jason
A morning without coffee is sleep. -- Anon.

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drgary (original poster)
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#53: Post by drgary (original poster) »

zin1953 wrote:In my experience, delivery times do not vary with volume. That is, regardless of the size of my order, it's always shipped Priority Mail, so . . .
I just ran into a situation where delivery cost did vary by volume, so when Priority Mail grew to a medium box, the shipping discount went away because of a larger order. I thought that odd and let them know. We'll see. But I believe there's a difference between a company envisioning themselves a local roaster that will ship for what it costs versus envisioning themselves an Internet portal for fine coffee, which suggests a different business model and far greater growth potential (and challenge).
Gary
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What I WOULD do for a good cup of coffee!

zin1953
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#54: Post by zin1953 »

drgary wrote:But I believe there's a difference between a company envisioning themselves a local roaster that will ship for what it costs versus envisioning themselves an Internet portal for fine coffee, which suggests a different business model and far greater growth potential (and challenge).
One reason I only deal directly with the roaster, rather than with an "internet portal for fine coffee." That is, while I know that ROASTe and GoCoffeeGo are popular with some, I prefer to go direct to each roaster individually.

Cheers,
Jason
A morning without coffee is sleep. -- Anon.

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drgary (original poster)
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#55: Post by drgary (original poster) »

Sorry if my language was unclear. I was dealing directly with the roaster.
Gary
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drgary (original poster)
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#56: Post by drgary (original poster) »

I received the coffee yesterday, two days post-roast from very far away, and the roaster did charge extra for the larger Priority Mail box of a larger shipment, as I'd said they could if they must. Sometimes a little compromise is needed if one really likes a roaster's product. And I really like their product.
Gary
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zin1953
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#57: Post by zin1953 »

FWIW, Gary, when I was still in the wine trade, I was fortunate (IMHO) to work for several different wineries that all took the same approach to shipping: charge the customer exactly what it cost to ship. Meaning that "Postage & Handling" was not a euphemism for "let's make some extra profit on the side." So we would charge the customer for the styrofoam shipper what we paid for it; we would charge the customer for shipping exactly what UPS charged us.

I don't (necessarily) expect companies to pay for shipping*, at least not on the 4-6 one pound bags I typically order at a time. But I don't want to overpay for the shipping either. In that regard, flat-rate Priority Mail works for me! The, uh, "variability" of FedEx/UPS charges can be confusing, and the rates do indeed vary widely depending upon the "deal" the shipper has with FedEx/UPS. And while I appreciate -- on some level -- the ability to select the method of shipment, paying for, say, 2nd Day Air makes it really expensive! So there are certainly roasters from which I will not purchase; they are too far away from us in California, and they won't use Priority Mail.

Cheers,
Jason

* OTOH, I think it's great that -- for example -- Redbird includes shipping in the price of a 5-pound bag, and if I had room to store all that . . .
A morning without coffee is sleep. -- Anon.

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drgary (original poster)
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#58: Post by drgary (original poster) »

zin1953 wrote:OTOH, I think it's great that -- for example -- Redbird includes shipping in the price of a 5-pound bag, and if I had room to store all that . . .
Jason,

I think Red Bird sets the standard for the combination of price, quality and fast shipment. I had grown accustomed to that but need to allow for other roasters offering more variety, which must be harder to manage. I do have a stand-up freezer in the garage that has quite a few coffee selections for convenience. And some of what's in there is Red Bird.
Gary
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What I WOULD do for a good cup of coffee!

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ex trahere
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#59: Post by ex trahere »

subq wrote:drgary: what I mean by "roast to order" is basically fresh roasted with the roast date clearly marked...ability to pick the blend/type and roast level...I realize not many places have all those options so fresh roasted (roasted and shipped same day or within a day) will suffice IMO...obviously price is a factor...there aren't any local places near me so I have to order online until I get a new roaster.
This thread has been inactive for a bit, but I had an experience recently that reminded me of it.

I ordered coffee from a roaster (A fav HB roaster, no less), and I had a slight issue. Two of the three were roasted 4 or 5 days before I received them (acceptable, but I voted 3). The third coffee I purchased was one of their higher end coffees, sold in half pound increments for ~$18. This one arrived 32 days post roast. Quite the rest! I thought it was a typo, so I consulted with the roaster. Turns out there was no mistake. I was told that roasting every order to order is 'not a viable business model.' I was then told that they believe that one way valve bags actually keep coffee fresh for up to two months. At his/her persistent suggestion, I tried the coffee (as a brew). As I suspected, it was indeed stale, and lacked any bloom or vibrancy.

I gave my opinion, and was given a refund for the coffee. I hold no qualms with the roaster for my individual order, but was quite surprised that it happened at all.

I realize this thread was about delivery time assuming it was roasted and sent on the same day, but have any of you had a similar experience?
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Eastsideloco
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#60: Post by Eastsideloco »

TONX has a good service. They roast on a Monday and ship USPS priority the same day. We're half way across the country in TX. The coffee arrives on Wednesday, in most case. (Just got a batch today.)

I've also noticed that when I get a shipment from Klatch, it's typically roasted the same day it ships. However, the shipping is usually slower. That's because I shop there when they have a free shipping sale, which invariably doesn't qualify for Priority shipping.

So based on that, I sort of expect to receive an a coffee order 3 days post-roast or less. 5 days is acceptable, if not optimal, since it's not unusual to find that at places that sell quality fresh coffee.

We're within 3 days shipping of either coast, but CA to VT would probably take longer. Depending upon where you are located relative to the place of origin, 4 or 5 days could be more of the norm.

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