I can hear the groans and see the eyes rolling. The US Postal Service. Not the best reputation when it comes to package delivery or customer service. Despite their flaws, there are simply no other options as cost-effective for shipping small, lightweight packages. As such, USPS has been the most used carrier by our customers for the 9 years we've been selling watch straps.

Due to a long list of political, economic, and pandemic-related reasons, USPS has recently been running behind on domestic deliveries, something we began to notice in early July. While not yet a wide-spread news topic, we came across a great article that covers the ailing US Postal Service in depth. We encourage you to give it a read.

Link to article on VICE: The Post Office’s Great Mail Slowdown Is Hurting Small Businesses

Thankfully the majority of shipments are still arriving in a normal time frame. However, we have experienced 10-20% of USPS shipments delayed at random [sometimes significantly]. In light of these delays, we have updated the estimated delivery times for the two USPS services we offer:

• Economy (First Class): 4-10 business days
• Priority Mail: 3-5 business days

To end on a positive note, we began offering FedEx shipments last year, and they have proven to be very fast and reliable for both domestic and international shipments. To best serve our customers, we offer multiple shipping options, allowing them to make a decision based on their needs and comfort level. FedEx 2 Day Air is just $4.99, and in our opinion offers the best value on the market.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to reach out to us if you have a time-sensitive shipment and would like to discuss your options first. As always, we wish you the best health and safety during this crazy time.

This is a revision of a post we first published back in March. It's hard to believe we are now in August, almost a full 5 months since our area enacted significant changes and procedures due to the coronavirus pandemic. With diverse situations across the United States and indeed worldwide, we hope this short summary of our operations is helpful.

Status of customer-facing operations (as of August 6th):

• Shipping & Fulfillment  Status: Normal  We are fulfilling orders with little to no delay. Our daily pick-ups from USPS and FedEx are still occurring. Please anticipate in-transit times being longer, most notably for "economy" shipments. Heavily affected areas may have more significant transit delays.
  Carrier Links: USPS Service Alerts // FedEx Service Alerts
• Customer Service  Status: Normal  Our support response times are normal (read: fast!) within business hours, which are Monday - Friday 9:30AM - 4:30PM EDT. We're here for you, and still providing the excellent service that we are known for.
• Returns & Exchanges  Status: Minor Delays  To observe social distancing protocols, we are taking less trips to our mailbox (which is located inside a staffed UPS Store). Please bear with us on any returns, which will be delayed approx. 3-4 days.

Unprecedented effects from this pandemic have been felt in every nation. Our hope and prayer is that we as a global community are able to mitigate and recover from this quickly. C&B owes all of our supporters a debt of gratitude. We are wishing you the best of health and safety through this crazy time.

Sincerely,

Thomas and the C&B Team

Romans 8:38-39