UPDATE IN OP: Textbooks: Cargo Jet landed at 530 A.M. DD is home for Spring 2021 semester. Books delayed by USPS and COVID-19

[Lanny]

UPDATE on 21 January 2021:  WOW. 😀 Yesterday, the Tracking of our Receiver/Forwarder showed the Cargo Jet arrived in Bogota at 530 A.M.  Later they showed the carton went into Colombian Customs. Then out of Customs and at 1117 last night it began the long overnight truck ride from Bogota to Cali.  I doubt that it will be delivered to our house today, but hopefully tomorrow they can deliver it.  

 

DD is taking courses that are 100% Online this semester (Spring 2021) and she decided to come home and be here with us in Colombia this semester and save money.  I think she would like that money for a trip overseas during the Summer of 2021, but of course that will depend upong the COVID-19 vaccination progress and the travel regulations so she really cannot firm that up until May 2021.

Well, in our case, we should have begun buying the Physical textbooks (5 of them for 3 courses which the Professors indicated are necessary) and were a total of $73.05 USD into our Receiver/Forwarder in Miami FL USA)  one or 2 weeks earlier than we did.

DD is OK.  The Professors have .PDF files of things the students need immediately.  DD said that dozens of students were reporting delays in getting their textbooks because of COVID-19.  Yesterday was FDOC.

4 of the 5 Physical textbooks that I ordered on eBay started out on OSM Worldwide (3 from second.sale and 1 from BetterWorldBooks) and they were extremely good. After OSM Worldwide Tendered the 4 packages to USPS, I saw excellence and I saw atrocities.  Media Mail. And one package from a small eBay Seller (about 800 Feedbacks) was sent from their local Post Office in NJ and there was nothing in USPS Tracking for 10 days after it was accepted in NJ.   Media Mail all the way on the one from NJ.

The worst was a First Class Package with 2 tiny batteries to go into the Motherboards of our Dell Laptops.  That was sent by USPS First Class Package and missed being in this Consolidation. As of this time, USPS hasn't delivered it to our Receiver/Forwarder.  That surprised me because I thought the First Class Package would get Priority in the USPS system over the Media Mail packages.

DD is going to rent 4 eTextbooks,  3 of them from the UNC (Barnes and Noble) Bookstore and 1 from Amazon.com  I am concerned about the one from Amazon because of ISBN Numbers and also their Rental period when I looked a few weeks ago ended before the end of Final Exams and I don't recomment that to DD or anybody else.

My understanding is that Colombian Customs (DIAN) in Bogota inspects freight for our Receiver/Forwarder on Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays. Usually in during the early morning and out late the same afternoon. Today is Wednesday, so if our carton missed it for today, hopefully it will be there and ready early on Friday morning. There are no Colombian taxes or Customs Duties on books so the customs clearance is a legal matter of getting the freight into the country and we pay our Receiver/Forwarder 25 cents (USD) for that service.

Suggestion is to buy the textbooks your DC will need ASAP.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Lanny
add Update: Great progress in this shipment

[Kassia]

Glad she's home and I hope she has everything she needs soon!  

[Arcadia]

Glad your daughter is home 🙂

Much as I dislike the Cengage online textbook monopoly, it is useful when USPS might not deliver physical textbooks on time.  

[GoodGrief3]

Lanny, I am sorry to hear the start of semester has turned out to be so complicated for your daughter. I know she is grateful to have you supporting and helping.

I was glad to see you post! Was hoping Covid had not hit you in Colombia.

[Lanny]

With one exception, renting the eTextbooks from the UNC Bookstore (Barnes and Noble) or the other one from Amazon, will save a lot of money compared to buying a Used textbook from them or another Seller.  In one case, the eTextbook was slightly higher than purchasing a Used Textbook in "Good" condition or better.

Since we are overseas, renting a physical textbook isn't an option, because we cannot return the book to the Rental company in the USA when DD is done with it.

 

[Lanny]

3 minutes ago, GoodGrief3 said:

Lanny, I am sorry to hear the start of semester has turned out to be so complicated for your daughter. I know she is grateful to have you supporting and helping.

I was glad to see you post! Was hoping Covid had not hit you in Colombia.

It isn't complicated other than the slight delay with the textbooks she needs.  She was on campus last semester and I believe all of her courses were 100% "Online" and she is accustomed to "Online" because she is a graduate of Texas Tech University High School, but those courses were Asynchronous and these are Synchronous so in that respect they are a little different.

With regard to COVID-19 in Colombia: Sadly, we are right behind the USA.  The situation here is not like in the USA, certainly not like in L.A. County (one million cases?)  but the ICU beds here are few and far between.  Approximately 95% occupancy.

Unlike in the USA, we are subject to much more strict quarantine and curfew regulations.  We live in a rural area with lots of fresh air and I have been in the house  since mid March when the COVID-19 situation became apparent.  I think DD was on Spring Break at a Leadershape seminar, and they extended Spring Break for a week and then most of the students went to their homes.  I am thankful for the Fresh Air and that our house has tons of that.  

They will begin vaccinating the people over the age of 80 and (I think) Medical people during February. Then gradually younger groups of people. And they have purchased or are evaluating vaccines from 4 or 5 different companies.

[MerryAtHope]

10 hours ago, Lanny said:

The worst was a First Class Package with 2 tiny batteries to go into the Motherboards of our Dell Laptops.  That was sent by USPS First Class Package and missed being in this Consolidation. As of this time, USPS hasn't delivered it to our Receiver/Forwarder.  That surprised me because I thought the First Class Package would get Priority in the USPS system over the Media Mail packages.

DD is going to rent 4 eTextbooks,  3 of them from the UNC (Barnes and Noble) Bookstore and 1 from Amazon.com  I am concerned about the one from Amazon because of ISBN Numbers and also their Rental period when I looked a few weeks ago ended before the end of Final Exams and I don't recomment that to DD or anybody else.

Glad she’s there with you! Sorry about the trouble with textbooks. Many carriers are experiencing delays because of a huge influx of packages over the holidays due to Covid. USPS guarantees are all on hold, and they aren’t updating tracking info to try to save time. Some areas are worse than others, but some processing centers are really backed up. 

Ebook rental was a great idea. With physical book rental, it’s easy to renew, so maybe she can do that?

I hope it’s a good semester for her!