A routine coffee order from Danville to Nicholasville took an unexpected cross-country detour, drawing attention to widespread holiday shipping delays that have frustrated customers throughout the region.
Scott Harvey placed an order for bags of his favorite coffee blend on Nov. 19, shipping them via USPS from a Danville coffee shop to his home in Nicholasville — a trip of just 20 miles. Rather than traveling directly, the package logged a 1,400-mile route across three states before arriving 19 days later.
“USPS said, you want shipping? We’ll give you tourism!” Harvey said.
The package traveled from Danville to Louisville, where it remained in limbo for several days. From there, it moved on to Rochester, New York, then to Indianapolis, back to Lexington, and ultimately arrived at Harvey’s front door on Dec. 10.
Two weeks into the ordeal, Harvey went to the Louisville postal facility to look for answers about the delayed shipment.
“I went down there like, two weeks into it, when it was in-between places for like 4 or 5 days. And they told me this is tracking in our system, there’s nothing we can do. Welcome to holiday shipping time,” Harvey said.
Harvey said he can laugh off the delay since it involved only coffee, but he noted that friends are dealing with even longer shipping issues.
“I had two friends say, let me know if mine ever shows up, it’s been 4 months,” Harvey said.
Still, Harvey said he doesn’t fault postal workers for the delays, instead pointing to larger, systemic problems within the shipping infrastructure.
“Good friends work for the post office, but they’re like, we can’t do anything about this either. It’s a system issue that’s not up with the times. It makes their jobs easier. They’re as frustrated as we are,” Harvey said.
The incident underscores broader shipping challenges many customers face during the busy holiday season, when increased package volumes place added strain on delivery networks nationwide.
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