COVID-19 Shipping Update

COVID-19 continues to mess with everything, in large and small ways, and we have had to make some changes to the way we do things here at Mail Order Mystery. 

SHIPPING DELAYS

Both USPS and Canada Post are experiencing delays in the delivery of packages due to unprecedented volume and limited employee availability and other operational limitations due to COVID-19. The situation has improved considerably since the beginning of the new year, but we are still seeing fairly regular delays that range from a few additional days in transit to delays of a week or more.

All of our mysteries are personalized, so it may take up to 7 days for us to ship your mystery. Then for Canadian and US shipments expect from 3-14 days for USPS or Canada Post to deliver it. For international orders shipping time is currently running anywhere between 4-12 weeks depending on the destination. Because of the delays with our shipping partners we are unable to guarantee the date any mystery will be delivered.

If you need your mystery more quickly, we now offer an express shipping option for US & Canadian customers. If you select express shipping your package will ship by DHL overnight courier if you are in the United States and Xpresspost if you are in Canada. We do need some time to process each personalized order but with express shipping you can expect your package to arrive within five business days, often sooner.

WE HAVE SUSPENDED THE OPTION OF SENDING WEEKLY MAIL

We know that kids love getting mail. Everyone loves getting mail. But the postal system in many countries continues to be overwhelmed and letter mail continues to travel at unpredictable speeds. Mail Order Mysteries are narrative-based story adventures, which means that all the letters need to arrive on time, in the correct order. If the letters arrive out of sequence, or not at all, a kid’s experience could be ruined. We also do not want kids to end up in a situation where they are part-way through a mystery that ends up on hold because of a potential shut-down, ongoing postal service issues or other COVID-related work interruptions.

We realize that the mail is probably still showing up at your house. But if you live in the United States, you've probably seen the news stories about USPS delays this summer and fall. And it's not just anecdotal, people are tracking the delays. And these delays are significant. 

We promise to keep a close eye on the mail situation, but we don't anticipate being able to bring back the "Send Weekly" option until the postal system becomes more stable again.

WE WILL SEND YOUR MYSTERY PACKED TOGETHER IN ONE BOX

For now we will be shipping mysteries “All in One Box”. This  means everything will be packed together in one trackable box as opposed to sending a series of weekly installments. The letters inside the box will be packaged the same way as if we were mailing them, so you can hand them out at your own pace or even stash them in the mailbox for kids to discover.  

If the mystery is a surprise and you don’t want kids to know it’s for them you can choose the name you would like on the shipping label. The letters inside the box will still be addressed to the kid(s) receiving the mystery.

WE WILL SEND OUT YOUR MYSTERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

In the pre-COVID past, customers chose the date they wanted their mystery to ship. For now, we have switched to a system where we will ship mysteries as soon as possible after orders are placed. Orders will typically ship within seven days. All of our mysteries are personalized and packaged with care, and we want to make sure we get each one right. American orders are shipped with USPS and Canadian orders with Canada Post. Tracking information will be sent when your order ships.