Fedex delays with my Creekstone Order

[GolfGeezer]

Just a note of caution and and kudos to Creekstone. I ordered their beef chuck short ribs that were on sale on 12/4, a Friday. I knew they would not ship until Monday, and as expected, received a shipment notice on Monday it was shipped via 3 day Fedex. That should have been a Wednesday delivery here in Cali.

Nope, no show on Wednesday. Fedex's site still showed it as being in Kansas City on Tuesday. By Thursday nite, and no order on my doorstep, I decided to call Creekstone first thing Friday. Very nice customer service rep said that Fedex was experiencing delays, and that they packed for "a longer delivery window". However, she said, if the order did not look right to me when I got it, to take photos and give them a call.

Well, the order did show up on Saturday, 6 days after shipping. 2 - 4 bone racks in a 35 lb box! Lots of dry ice. The ribs were defrosting, but only partially thawed and refrigerator temp cold. It was a bit messy, but I decided to re-vacuum seal each into separate double vac bags, and into the freezer as I cannot cook them for at least another week.

So, the cautionary tale for folks that are on the "edges" of delivery windows, be careful about the product you are ordering. Many briskets are shipped not frozen - not sure if I would like a fully thawed brisket (or any meat) showing up. Very happy that Creekstone has adjusted in consideration of the delivery challenges. I'll bet delays will be even more serious with the fact that Fedex and UPS are the primary carriers of the COVID vaccines now going out (Fedex western US, UPS eastern US).

[Jerod Broussard]

Man I would hate to order meat right now, I've got a package stranded in Pennsylvania and a package stranded in Dallas. Both packages are at least 30 inches long so I know it's not a case of a small package getting stashed somewhere.

Somehow a package from Ohio made it to the distribution center in Shreveport so I might get that on Monday. I think that package was at a distribution center in Ohio for a week.

But this is US Mail which is somewhat expected.

[Old Glory]

I've got a Porter Road order in the works. Thanks for the heads up I'll keep an eye on it.

[ComfortablyNumb]

I work for UPS and all I can say is I wouldn't order anything perishable right now unless you have to. All delivery services have been swamped since the pandemic started, now toss in what is called 'peak season' (Christmas volume) and a major embarkment to ship a vaccine, and you can just about count on delays. Search on www.localharvest.org for a small farm that raises meat near you and pick up or be close enough for one day delivery, which is less likely to suffer delays.

[smokin fool]

Agreed I talked to couriers at Purolator where delivering parcels shipped on Nov 16 last Fri.
The national hub I work out of is grid locked.

[rickgregory]

Scrolled up after I posted and... yeah.

[rickgregory]

I would NOT ship meat now unless you really really need it and then I'd ante up for next or 2 day shipping.

It's holidays and shipping is a nightmare, plus people are likely ordering even more online than usual because of our friend COVID. You just can't count on deliveries and shipping a perishable is kind of silly esp when it's Creekstone who insists on shipping fresh.

I had/have a Porter Road order in the cart but then I remembered this and.. it will wait.

[ecowper]

Impressively, I ordered a brisket from Creekstone last weekend. It shipped on monday, arrived at my house on wednesday. Was still frozen solid. I managed to get it defrosted in time to cook yesterday afternoon/night for dinner today.