shipping times from aliexpress

[s3si1u]

I ordered a front end cap for my Ryet wheelset, shipped 2/22 and delivered to California at like 8am on 2/25. Crazy fast, even with free shipping. Bad news is they sent me the wrong part. 

[Tijoe]

Here are some stats I have been tracking.

1. USPS publishes that regular mail should take 5 business days to be delivered.  -  In my neck of the woods in Montana, domestic mail is delivered in 8 to 11 business days.
2.  Tracking my packages:  Shipments from China to US Customs almost always takes 3-4 days.   Customs 1 to 2 days.  Once they are state-side, Individual orders are taking another 8 to 14 business days. 
3. Pick3 and Choice packages are taking 7 to 10 business days.
4. Electronic items and items that are not cycling related are being delivered 2-3 days faster than bike part orders.

As I see it.  China kicks butt on their end, and USPS is the bottleneck.  USPS sends all my packages through at least 3 sorting centers. This adds 2 to 5 days to the total delivery time.

[jonathanf2]

My daughter ordered a few AliEx items from no-name sellers, which then triggered combine shipping for something I ordered. Now the combined package is sitting in USPS limbo. I already had four other Choice and Pick 3 orders delivered through AliEx's private courier which seems (for now) exclusive to the SoCal area. Yet for some reason USPS can deliver tons of junk mail shipped on-time that goes straight into my recycle bin!

[Tijoe]

Venting again.   It appears that Aliexpress has changed their shipping details.  I used to see my order's shipping progress all the way to when the item was delivered. Now I see Aliexpress tracking my items until they they depart customs, then they list a shipping number.  I plug these numbers into USPS tracking, and 1/2 the time USPS says the number is not valid, the other half it says the number is registered in the system, but no information is available.  For the past month, all my orders shipping progress is no longer visible or available.

Today,  my wife received 4 notifications from USPS that items are out for delivery.  I input these numbers into USPS tracking and there is no shipping details available. then I was able to match up these numbers with Aliexpress shipping numbers, and it appears that these are 4 of my ordered items.   

On top of this, I ordered a Flyweight carbon rim, on March 18th, that had guaranteed 12 day delivery.  A month+ has passed. I asked the seller if they could tell me where the rim is.  Their answer was: "It has been shipped.  Be patient".   The only tracking information I have is that it shipped April 1st. No tracking number listed.  I filed for a refund and the seller has rejected the claim stating the item has been shipped.   Now I have to wait the complete period of time before Aliexpress will approve the refund and admit that the item is lost.   

To add insult, In the past 6 weeks, I had 5 orders that went past the guaranteed delivery, and I was supposedly given the "One Dollar off" coupons.  Aliexpress lists me as receiving the coupons, but when I've tried to use them, nothing happens and my app locks up.  After about 2 weeks, I can no longer find them.   Something is messed up with their software, or they have figured out a way to not let me use the one dollar off coupons.

EDIT:  May 1st - Aliexpress closed my order for the Fiberin Flyweight and started the refund process.  I have one of these rims and like it. I wanted another but  no longer trust the Fiberlin store because of their lack of communication and that they never provided me with a good tracking number.  Makes me wonder if they ever actually shipped the order.