Shipping Updates

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Hi folks! In order to answer a few questions about why you might not be receiving your orders as quickly, I’m here to give you an update. We appreciate your business and want to keep you informed as we ship your orders to you.

Holiday Season Orders

Some of you who have placed an order within the last month or so may have noticed a delay in receiving your orders. The busy holiday season at Simon Says Stamp began in November and it persists through early December. The volume of orders does slow things down just a bit, especially if you have ordered items on RESERVE (more about that below).

The Simon warehouse is hustling to get your holiday orders to you! There have been many late nights and weekend work days. We’re committed to shipping your orders as fast as we can. And thank you for being patient during this super busy time. :)

Did you order an item on Reserve or Pre-order?

In the excitement to order new crafting goodies, some might not notice that certain items in their order were on RESERVE, and that is most likely why the order hasn’t shipped. When there is an item on our web site listed as RESERVE or PRE-ORDER that this means your entire order will be held until that item(s) arrives into stock.  You will see this note in the item description:

“Please remember that you are placing this item on reserve and we will ship it as soon as it arrives.  Please do not order this item with other products unless you want your ENTIRE order to be held from shipment.  If you wish to purchase in stock items for immediate shipment, please place them on a separate order.  Thanks so much!  We anticipate a ship date of approximately _____.”

If you are currently waiting on an order, please take moment to check if you have items marked RESERVE or PRE-ORDER on the order.

One particular item that has been on reserve quite a bit are our Simon Says Stamp snowflake dies. You all are loving them, and we are too! They’re selling like hotcakes! But we just received another batch of dies and our team is working around the clock to ship out the orders that were waiting on the dies. The snowflake dies are making their way ’round the world :)

Thank you for your patience while we work to carefully ship your parcels around the world.   Items that were on pre-order or reserve yesterday have just now been moved to “in stock” status on the web site.  If you’ve been waiting for your order to ship, please know that your order is now entering queue in the warehouse and we are working hard to get it out right away for you.

USPS Tracking

If you are tracking your orders online, it does seem as though USPS is pretty busy too.  We are noticing that many parcels are not being track”able” along the way.  USPS tracking shows that orders are simply stating the departure date from our warehouse, and then the arrival at your doorstop. There is nothing noting the stops along the way.   However, this is inconsistent …. some orders are fully track”able” and others simply aren’t.  Please don’t be alarmed.  Many customers are finding their orders arriving at their doorstep when just minutes earlier tracking showed that the parcel was still in Columbus, Ohio.

Are you waiting for a Monthly Card Kit?

Our monthly card kit subscriptions are billed and shipped between the 17th and the 24th of each month.  Since Thanksgiving fell right around after that time, some of you might have noticed a delay of a day or two in receiving your December card kit.  We ship all orders USPS and Thursday, November 28 was a postal holiday.

Improvements are on the way!

We are very excited that 2014 is going to bring not only tremendous improvements to our web site, but also to the other flows in business.  We want to be better for you and are constantly trying to find ways to improve.  Thanks for hanging in there with us!  It wasn’t long ago that I was hand addressing, hand mailing, and hand stamping parcels (yes with POSTAGE stamps!) at my kitchen table.  In fact, it was just a few years ago.  Now we are very lucky to have 35 full time and many seasonal helpers working hard for you.  THANK YOU for helping us help you!

No team works without error.  But I PROMISE you we have a team full of HEART and we look forward to you receiving your parcels and creating season’s greetings this year.

Thank you!

Heidi Crowl
Founder of Simon Says Stamp. Crazy in Love with my hubby and life partner, Mommy of two fun(ny) kiddos, forever mom to our pup Simon who sadly passed over the Rainbow bridge, and a new mom to our family protector German Shepherd. Lover of all things art, craft, and stamp related. Goofball at heart.
  1. Heidi, we all are having a busy season! And the snow storm hasn’t helped. I watched my package arrive in Columbus on Novemeber 29, leave on December 5 and finally arrive on December 12. It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t order enough of the Avery Elle stamp and storage pockets. :) Maybe I’ll wait until things slow down a bit.

    1. Hi Kelley! Thank you for taking the time to post! The snow storm (s) certainly have not helped, but I m glad you finally received your goodies! HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

  2. Thank you for all this info. I have to admit I have had some packages that I was rather IMPatiently waiting for, but mostly it was stuff on pre-order that I was really excited to get! This was a good reminder for me that you guys are the best, and that I probably just need to practice a little patience. =)

  3. I think it’s great you have made everyone aware of how your system works. It sounds like orders usually arrive pretty quick and I would expect things to be slower at this time of year and am surprised if anyone is expecting different. We are all spoiled, expecting things to arrive next day. Sounds like your elves are working overtime. Thanks everyone. It’s certainly busy with the posts on the blog today…….

  4. Thank you for the update, Heidi! I also remember calling 5 years ago during the hectic Christmas season and getting a hold of you and how incredibly helpful you were in getting a certain Hero Arts stamp out to me. Been shopping with you ever since then. :)

    Hope to get my orders soon. Until then, I wish you and yours a very blessed Christmas. ♥ And a huge thanks to everyone working so tirelessly.

    1. HI Lisa!
      I totally remember that call too :) And am so glad I’ve been able to meet you several times through the years in person even though you live across the country. This is a great industry that brings people together for great causes. THANK YOU for taking the time to post and I hope you have a blessed Christmas too :)

  5. Simon Says Stamps customer service is top-notch and keeping customers informed is part of that. I am not currently waiting for a shipment to arrive but I did want to take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for a job well done. Any chance one of the enhancements in 2014 will be the ability to add other items to the card kit so that we only pay shipping fees one time>

  6. SO happy things are a-hoppin’ at Simon Says Stamp, sweet Heidi! Thank you to you and all of your awesome employees for your hard work! Merry Christmas! :)

  7. I appreciate the update on shipping. I love ordering on Simon Says Stamp but have noticed that my orders take a long time to fill. I completely understand the items on reserve holding up the order, but those orders that are items in stock seem to take a long time too. I was hoping that it was because of the storms in the East and the Christmas rush and not a new trend. Thanks again for addressing this issue and letting us know what is going on!!!! Communicating with us Shoppers makes all the difference in the world! :)

  8. When would be the best time to add items to my monthly card kit? I would like to combine items and get only one package, hopefully making it easier for you and easier explaining to my husband! :) thanks

    1. Hi Kathy! Right now we cannot add items to subscriptions. They are processed on an entirely separate system. :( Unfortunately – you can only add other items if you purchase the kit separately as a store purchase. We hope to make adjustments to this so that by mid 2014 that will change.

      Thank you for the feedback and Happy Holidays!

  9. Hi Heidi — Thank you VERY much for sharing this update!! I know a lot of crafters have been wondering about orders and I hope this will help them to understand the delays.

    I am also happy to hear you are also working on more improvements and website updates for the New Year! I love many of your fabulous products, (especially the monthly card kits and all those wonderful exclusives), and have been shipping with your for years now. But, I also must admit that the delays can be frustrating, especially when you are waiting on an item for a class or to complete a project. In the day of “instant” everything, I need to remind myself to be a bit more patient, waiting on my craft goodies, especially this time of year!

    Looking forward to shopping with you more in 2014!

  10. Thank you for the post & the information! As a new shopper (first order in Nov.) I wasn’t really sure what normal shipping times were, or if there were problems with my orders. This clears up a lot!

  11. Glad to hear something. There has been no tracking info on my order. I was concerned. But what really frustrated me was there was no way to contact the company directly on the website. You need a contact us link to an email form at least. Looking forward to my order.

  12. Yes, we all get impatient but the goodies are always worth the wait. Love your products and your store on line. Wish I lived close to the real store…. maybe it is a good thing that I don’t. :)

  13. Please help me! I called customer service three days ago, wondering where my package is, and I have not received a return phone call. I looked at the tracking info on the USPS website, and it seems like the package is in limbo. It said it was supposed to be delivered Dec. 9, but it has not arrived yet, and today is the 13th. I ordered these things on 11/27, and I don’t know where they are. I should not be charged for any of this until my package arrives, if it ever does. Is there ANYONE there who can at least give me the courtesy of a reply? I appreciate the info on the blog, but really, I think I deserve a return phone call or email, at the very least.

      1. Just as I thought. You are deleting my post to look better on your blog. How can you live with yourself with such a lack of integrity?

        1. Hi Jean,
          Just a quick note to let you know that I found a couple of your posts in the spam folder. I’ve approved them.

          Thanks and Happy Holidays.

          Shari

      2. I can’t believe that you are blocking negative posts instead of addressing real issues. It is really sad that you do not want to help people get their orders. How can you still be in business?

  14. Patience is the word of the season, I have found. I placed 2 orders maybe a week a part. The first order shipped and I anxiously tracked it to Columbus….. for a week! I figured it was on a truck, or at the bottom of a bin – who knows with the Post Office. It finally showed up in Opa Loka, FL? Then went to Tampa and finally to South Florida. I received the second order 3 days before the first one. So, as skilled as the Post Office is, I realize that our packages are in their hands. SSS has done everything possible to ensure that we receive our goodies and for that I say thanks! And, congratulations and best wishes for continued success!

  15. My order arrived yesterday, YAY!! The snowflakes weren’t listed as RESERVE on the web site but were on the invoice. I can understand how difficult it is to get a great volume of orders out, especially at this busy time of the postal year. Thanks for getting things done as quickly as you do.

  16. Heidi,
    I find that SSS ships my orders very promptly and have never had a problem with any of my orders, on your end, ever! I have successfully tracked my orders with the information you provide. After several 16 day deliveries with several orders and a few complaints from me, I received 2 orders in 3-5 days. Then the last order 16 days. I think you all do a fabulous job, postal service, not so much. Thanks for being a wonderful resource for everything paper crafting I need!

  17. Heidi,

    Thank you for communicating this. I’ve been an avid SSS Shopper for about 2 years and lately I’ve wondered what’s been going on with late kits and sloooow shipments. A couple of times I’ve been surprised to see that items became reserved *after* I ordered and really delayed my whole order. I’d love to see tracking numbers on my orders, are they emailed to us, now?

    Thank you for everything and I look forward to shopping at SSS in 2014.

    1. Hi Steph!

      I’m not Heidi but I can answer your tracking number question. No, you don’t receive an email with the number. However, after you get the email saying it’s shipped, you can login to your account and see the tracking number near the top of the order page (be sure to click on the individual order).

      1. Thanks for that info Kristina! I had never received tracking info so was wondering where others were getting that info. Another hang up at the moment is the huge sale on Copics. I think they are finally receiving those at the warehouse so we should be getting them soon – too late for Christmas cards though when this is your first order of Copics.

  18. I’m so glad you posted this update for us, Heidi! Simon Says Stamp is a favorite for many of us, because your customer service has ALWAYS been top notch!

    I look forward to the improvements in the New Year…meanwhile, I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!

  19. So glad to hear the snowflake die is in stock! I was wondering if I will get my craft goodies before Christmas. It’s been a month of anticipation..thanks for the updates.

  20. I have always appreciated the wonderful customer service I receive from all of you at SSS. If I have ever had a question about an order, I’ll email your CS department and always received an answer within a day.

    I am so happy for your great success and continued growth! When that happens in such a short amount of time, as it did with you, it is totally understandable that you would have some problems with filling and shipping orders in a timely matter, especially at this time of year!

    Thank you, Heidi, for letting us know that you are working hard to improve and to become an even better company! I LOVE SSS and appreciate all your hard work! ♥

  21. Thank you for the information. I have placed three previous orders; first order I received within 5 weeks (to Canada), second order took 6 weeks and my last order which I placed in November arrived in 10 days!!! I was so happy I was able to get my Christmas order in time to finish off my Christmas cards. SSS carries great products at competitive prices, I appreciate all your hard work. Merry Christmas to you all!

    1. Hi Gail! YAH! SO happy your last order came to you in Canada in just 10 days and even more happy you had it in time for the holidays! WAHOOO!! Thank you for taking the time to post! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

  22. Thank you SO much, Heidi, for your continuing efforts to keeping all your customers informed. It is so appreciated. Your customer service on the phone and via e-mail has always been nothing but professional. I am really looking forward to another year shopping with SSS. Wishing you much prosperity in 2014!

  23. SSS is my “go to” online resource for all my craft room supplies. The shipping to Canada has remained very low compared to other places and the variety and quality of your products is top rate! It does take a while for that poor pony express horse to cross the border but it is always worth the wait. Postal delivery times are out of your hands. As others have stated, the customer service at SSS is number one! Merry Christmas to Heidi and the whole crew! I’ll be back soon to spend my Christmas money… ;)

  24. I am a newbie to SSS. I ordered the October kit late and loved it then placed another order in November and didn’t receive until Dec…it said it had shipped 2 day mail. Then with being Leary of the length of shipping I placed another order when the new releases came out. Still waiting for that. I am impatient but do understand. I don’t think we should be charged for the merchandise until it is actually shipped though…that was a bit frustrating! That’s just my ramblings! I do love SSS and will continue to order, but I hope the packaging and shipping times gets better!

    1. Hi Jeannine! Thank you for your feedback! We do have some enhancements coming to our web site in 2014 which should make us more efficient and ease the backlog of Reserve and Preorder issues.

      Happy holidays to you too!

  25. Thank you for letting us know about shipping, Heidi. I only became a customer a couple of months ago, but your fabulous collection of craft supplies (and great prices!) has kept me ordering a bunch. Being new to the store, I’ve had a bunch of questions about shipping and monthly kits. You have been just wonderful about answering them.

    Thank you for your hard work, and merry Christmas!

    1. Thank you Elle! Our customer service peeps are really eager to help and I’m glad you’ve found the answers you’ve needed. We appreciate you shopping with us.

      HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

  26. Heidi, wow, i always wondered who was behind all this great SIMON SAYS place. Nice to meet you! Hang in there. I do so love your site and products offered and all the chances to win too! Love the Wed. challenges. Happy Holidays to you and yours. BREATHE!!!

    1. Hi Janeen! It’s so nice to meet you too :) Thanks so much for taking the time to post! Back in the day I used to email send an email to each person who purchased from me and type digit by digit their shipping confirmation number in the email. Although I don’t miss typing the confirmation digits, I sure do miss connecting with people in that way. It’s so much fun to still be able to connect with you through social media. Thank you for your support! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU TOO!

  27. SSS Team…don’t forget to stop and smell the poinsettias. You are all so kind and helpful on the phone and via email whenever I have had questions. Thank you for the update…communication is key. Happy Holidays!

  28. First off all I would like to thank the SSS team for all their effort I have been ordering now for about one year and I’m very satisfied with all the parcels I got. Especially when you consider I live in the Netherlands. I’m even thinking off ordering the cardkit so way to go SSS keep up the good work and happy holidays see you in 2014.

  29. Well, I can say that I do not have any complaints with SSS! Just praise! After my card kit went on a detour to no man’s land (and decided to say, it seems!) SSS sent me a new card kit to replace my missing one….with no hassles. I have placed a few orders and received them in a evry timely fashion…and I am in Canada! SSS really is amazing…and I am very happy to be their customer! Thanks!

    1. Hi Laura!
      Thank you for taking the time to post! We find that USPS is very reliable MOST of the time. When it’s not, we do our best to help you when we can.

      We appreciate hearing from you and hope you have a very happy holiday season!

  30. I love SSS and have had great customer service when I have ordered and when I have had issues. That being said I have not received my December Card Kit yet. I have never gotten my kit later than the 4th of the month and it is now 10 days past that. I wish there was tracking on the kit so I knew what the delay was, although I understand it would add too much to the shipping costs. I gave my wish list to my family so they could order my Christmas presents from SSS. My mom ordered on Nov. 30th early in the day and she did not get an email it had shipped until December 10th. She is really upset as she called to ask about shipping times and they quoted her 4-6 weeks. I am hoping it does not take that long as my orders usually take 10 days max. to ship to Canada. She was really upset it took 10 days to fill and ship the order to start and now she is very worried I will not have anything from her to open on Christmas morning. I understand that it takes time to fill the orders and get them ready, especially with all the sales they are having, but I wish this notice about increased shipping times had been posted clearly for everyone to see before they ordered. My mom thought she gave plenty of time for slower shipping (there was 25 days vs. the usual 10), and she was very careful to only buy items that were currently in stock so that the shipping would not be held up, but a lot of those extra shipping days were eaten up with the order getting ready to ship. I am hoping my card kit arrives early next week and that my mom’s order arrives before New Year’s. I will continue to order and get my monthly kit, but I will make sure if my family orders off my wish list again that they give it at an extra month for shipping.

    1. Hi Rachelle! Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback. We really appreciate hearing from you and love that you and your mom share this hobby!

      Please know that we always bill and ship subscription card kits between the 17th and 24th of the month prior. We have never missed those deadlines. This year, the United States celebrated Thanksgiving right after kits were shipped. That did seem to delay USPS transit times just a bit. We depend on Canadian customs to clear parcels in a timely manner and this is a high volume time of year for them too. With that being said… I really hope the parcels arrive quickly. My fingers are crossed!

      I hope your mom’s parcel arrives sooner than the quoted times. Please be sure to keep in touch with customer service if we can ever do anything for you.

      Such great things are planned for 2014 and I hope you’ll be very happy with our enhancements:)

      HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

  31. I have always found your staff very helpful in resolving issues. I love SSS and my buying record certainly indicates I purchase lots of stuff for my hobby. I have one suggestion as you contemplate the new year and improvements. If it is a large order and a few items are out of stock or on reserve then send out a partial order by a designated date(let’s say 30 days after purchase). I ordered in October some Christmas stamps and dies. I still have not received it. I know now that it is being shipped but I had to revamp my plans and make Christmas cards with other things. All the new things I was excited about will be stored until next year. MY card kits and subsequent orders all came on time. I think your reminder was very helpful. You all work very hard to make SSS a wonderful company to work with. I appreciate your efforts and love your company.

    1. Hi Barb! I really love your suggestions and you will see them implemented with our web site enhancements coming in 2014. I think even better things are to come for all of us :) Thanks for shopping with us and taking the time to comment!

  32. What a helpful post you made regarding shipping, etc. I am a cheerleader for your company. As a matter of fact I do not order anything from any other company. Your customer service is beyond a doubt the best I have ever dealt with. I am so pleased that your company is doing so well. I love to hear success stories like this. The monthly card kits are great and I am such a fan of Kristina Werner. I hope you and your family have a very merry Christmas and I also hope that nex year is even more successful than this past year. If anyone gives you a hard time just refer them to me and I will beat them up. Considering I am a great grandmother and 80 years old it will probably not be any more than a love pat. Thanks for keeping us informed.

    1. Hi Anne! Congrats on being a great grandma! Thank you so much for taking the time to say such kind words:) We appreciate you shopping with us and hope we can always help you in any way you need! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

  33. Every online company is going to have shipping problems, particularly around the holidays. But not every company has TIFFANY in their customer service department. I have had a problem or two during the year, but Tiffany gets right on it, solves it and is also very pleasant along the way. Customer service is as important as the products you sell. I am sure you are having growing pains. Place Tiffany in a copy machine and print a few more of her to help you get through it!

    1. Oh My gosh Susan! You are awesome! I’m sending a picture of this comment to Tiffany via text right now. She will really appreciate it. This time of year she often works 60-70 hour weeks / 6 days a week is definitely a hard worker and treasure. Thanks a million! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

  34. I’m so glad to hear you have improvements in the works for next year. I’ve heard a lot of complaints of 4+ weeks of waiting & not during the holidays. I’d like to order from SSS in the future & if the process improves I’ll be doing that. Thanks for the info & Happy Holidays!

  35. I have been ordering from SSS for YEARS and I live in Canada. Sometimes it takes a while for an order to arrive, but I don’t think we can blame SSS for everything. I had one order sent by SSS in two parcels at the same time. Parcel no 2 arrived two weeks before parcel no 1! It was the postal service…
    I am extremely happy with the service at SSS and love the SSS brand name products. If it’s slower these days, it’s because they are busy, which must mean they are doing well, which is GREAT! So happy for the company! Long life to SSS!

  36. And thank you for the info about shipping. People, read the notes about pre-orders and reserve, they are clear!
    Merry Christmas to everybody at SSS!

    1. Thanks Louise! We do try to be clear. When an item is out of stock, we get a lot of requests to put it on reserve. Our new system in 2014 will offer some Reserve and Preorder enhancements that I think will help everyone. Happy holidays!

  37. Thank You Heidi for all your explanations regarding ordering and shipping. I love your company! When a business grows as fast as yours has, there will always be hiccups in the process. Looking forward to your new shipping in 2014 and have been patient when my orders too have been a bit slow. I have contacted customer service once or twice by phone and email and your staff has been the most helpful and considerate everytime. I appreciate all that you do for us papercrafters. Merry Christmas and hope you drink some really good eggnog that helps you relax during this busy time. Kudos.

    1. Carol, Thank you so much! We are definitely trying to make good decisions and make customers happy. We love what we do here and take our business seriously. Your encouragement is so kind and appreciated!

  38. Even though I discovered SSS like 8 months ago, every time I have some ”saved money”d, I purchase from your site, I love your products and became addicted:) I also subscribed for the card kit and I’m impatience every time the reveal day is near:P I only wish that international orders could have some kind of priority in shipping, only for the time that it takes an order to arrive. From the card kit reveal day to arrival day it passes almost a month. Keep up the great work, love you all!!:)

  39. Hello Heidi, thank you for addressing this issue. I Absolutely Love your site! The shipping cost, selection of products, & customer service is the BEST!!! Have a Happy Holiday! Hugs Traci

  40. I have been trying to post on this I blog and keep getting blocked because I am having a problem with your shipping. You people are unbelievable in the way you are censoring me. Terrible.

  41. Heidi, I am disappointed that you are not allowing people to ask questions on this blog. It is sad that you have to hide your poor service by deleting comments on here. If you would just acknowledge your faults and address your issues, your company would improve. I am sure you will delete this, too, but hopefully, somebody will read this before you do.

  42. Thank you Simon Says Stamp for you customer service. I can not rave enough about how good it is that you communicate with your customers and there is always someone to answer an email :) I am a happy online shopper from the other side of the world and will continue support a great company!

  43. I just want to give a SHOUT OUT to Tiffany. She is such a great help everytime I call. Keep up the great work and customer service Tiffany. :). Merry Christmas!

  44. Hello,
    Just found this post by chance and just wanted to say “thank you” for taking the time to do this. I am one of many, by the sounds of it, waiting for the snowflake dies to be shipped around the world – well for me – over the pond. I know they are on their way and I am looking forward to receiving them.
    Plus, like Gina above, I too will give “well done” to Tiffany for her excellent customer service.
    Merry Christmas to all.

    Jackie, Southam, UK

  45. I was wondering how long it takes for a Reserve item to get shipped after it’s in stock? I also have other things along with this order…but was wondering how long it would take to ship from simon says stamp?

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