Shipping in the Technology Age

I think there is a lot that we can do to make the internet buying experience better. Why can’t companies tell you how long it will take to deliver your online order? I ordered iPod’s for my brothers this past Christmas from www.apple.com. I ordered them on Saturday and paid the extra $20 for the 2-3 day FedEx delivery thinking that I would receive them before I left on Thursday. (I should have known that 2-3 day delivery would really mean a 6-7 day delivery). I didn’t receive an email from apple until Tuesday telling me that they had sent the iPod’s and after checking the FedEx web site, I noticed that it was being sent from China. I quickly realized that I would not receive it until after I left. Why couldn’t apple tell me that my 2-3 days delivery would not actually be shipped for another 2 business days? We need to get to the point where companies can tell us exactly how long it will take to fill and deliver our orders. I was even willing to pay the extra money for the delivery. Online buying is all about delivering products. If you are in a hurry to receive it and pay the extra money to get it they should tell you how long it will take. I don’t think that it was FedEx’s fault. The problem was that apple didn’t tell me how long it was going to take for them to fill the order. This is a problem that most of not all online companies have. I realize that this can be a tricky thing, especially when quantities run out and things go on back order, but if I was willing to wait I would not have paid the extra money.