Is it normal for packages mailed "First Class" to take this long?

[Shrapnoid]

I have a first class package that I've been waiting on that was sent out on the 14th, the post office's website says it was expected by the 16th and now it's the 17th and still nothing.
Every time I check the number, I keep getting the same status as when it first went out.
I don't understand what could be taking them so long to carry this stuff across just a few states and then put it in my mailbox.

Has anyone else had this problem with the mail system?

[xcrement5x]

If it's USPS (which I'm assuming since you said First Class), I normally have to tack a couple day on my anticipated waiting.  Sometimes it's super fast, sometimes it's slower than expected.  If you don't have it by Monday though I'd follow up with the sender or your local post office, sometimes stuff gets "stuck" in your office waiting to be processed.  I had a package from China that sat in my post office for 3 extra weeks and it wasn't until the seller inquired for me that they finally "found" my package and told me to come pick it up. 

[NecroPhile]

Take a chill pill, man.  Three days is not unheard of for first class, and the tracking info. is not updated in real time (usually only updated evenings).

[SignOfZeta]

Usually USPS is fantastically quick, especially since they are the cheapest, deliver on Saturday, and can use actual post boxes.

Every once in a while something will slow them down though, but it's pretty rare. Just relax.

[NecroPhile]

And don't forget that Tuesday was Valentine's Day, one of the USPS's busiest days.

[Sadler]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. I know what it's like when you are excited for something to arrive, and I've showed myself to be a dumbass at least twice by asking the shipper where the hell the item is. 3 days isn't worth panicking about, a week or two late and I'd probably start inquiring.

[HercTNT]

everything said above and it depends on were you live. for some crazy reason in my neck of the woods you can add two days to first class no matter how far the people are who shipped it.

[Shrapnoid]

Okay but, I haven't tracked a package in so long that I'm not sure exactly how to tell what everything means but, under "FEATURES" it reads...

Expected Delivery By:
February 16, 2012
Delivery Confirmation

Could this mean that it has already reached my local post office but, not sent out from there just yet?

Sorry. I'm just a little uptight is all.

[HercTNT]

No, its just an estimate. For me, the usps estimates are always way off.

[Shrapnoid]

Thank goodness. Okay. I feel better now. Thanks for the advice, everyone.

[nat]

Jeez, people are impatient these days. This is not meant as a personal attack, Shrapnoid, just an observation on the state of society. Everyone wants everything, right now, and it seems to be getting worse. It's an unfortunate byproduct of the instant gratification Internet age we now live in. I recall in years past waiting up to two weeks for stuff to arrive that I bought online, and I never gave it a second thought. Now it's literally two or three days and people start freaking out.

Patience is a virtue. Sadly, it's a virtue few people possess anymore.

[HercTNT]

I wish i could say i was not one of them but your dead right nat. usually i'm easy going, but there have been times when i have lost my patience on shipping. I think my lousy post office has something to do with that though. they lose alot of stuff.

[SignOfZeta]

"Please wait 6-8 weeks for delivery" used to be attached to every magazine and television ad in the 80s. I think people would fucking explode if they had to wait that long now.

EDIT: I must confess that sometimes I get pissed at UPS since they take two weeks to get to my place from CA or CO when the USPS could do it in several days less. And DHL...fuck DHL. God, they suck.

[HercTNT]

another good point. kinda creepy really, i did not realize they dont say that anymore. infomercials used to say "allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery" and now they dont. man, i feel like the little light bulb just flickered on.......i need to sit down.

[Shrapnoid]

I know. You guys are right but, when I found out that it would be sent first class, I looked up the average speed of first class out of curiosity and it was rated at 3 days usually and 5 days for Hawaii and some other place so, I just got a little nervous is all.
On to p of that, I have other packages that I have to get ready to ship out and I'm a little overwhelmed.

Thanks for the input though. I'm just gonna chill for a while and since it's the weekend, I can load up on beer and junkfood so, no more worries here.

[nat]

I'm just gonna chill for a while and since it's the weekend, I can load up on beer and junkfood so, no more worries here.

Now you're talkin'!

[PCEngineHell]

Since I ship so many items per week on a pretty regular basis, I can tell you something has been going on with USPS. They have been sitting on parcel post and first class mail packages I have dropped off, pre-paid label ones, for days on end. If I am lucky, they finally show up scanned in at the sorting hub in Little Rock, but more often then not they go un-scanned up until they reach the state nearest the destination, or are in the destinations home state. I have been told flat out by one of the clerks this is becoming a normal practice for parcel post everywhere, in order to reduce fuel cost and man power, to wait until they have a entire truck load of packages to send out on routes to diff hubs. There was talk of them officially starting a delay on first class also, as you can see on this link:

http://www.dailytech.com/USPS+to+Make+FirstClass+Delivery+Cuts+in+Spring+Could+Affect+Netflix+Gamefly/article23431.htm

Supposedly they were not supposed to be doing this yet, not until spring, but that has not been my experience at all. As far as delivery confirmation goes anyway, its not considered active tracking unless you get it with express mail. All other services, its mainly just to confirm delivery, but as a courtesy they do scan it at sorting hubs sometimes, and this is what has keyed me into their sitting on stuff for days on end as of late. Its all screwed up, so just sit back and relax. There is nothing you can do about it.

[RegalSin]

If the mail status has not changed, then it might have not been ship yet, or is in the proccess of being shipped. Make sure it is heading to you and not leaving you.