Shipping Options Have Changed Due to COVID-19

COVID19 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. Like all of us, we are doing our best with what we’ve got, and we hope you can understand why we have made these changes.

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 fear that issues with mail delivery are going to continue to get worse as we head into the holidays and mail volume increases.

We promise to keep a close eye on the mail situation, but for now - at least until the new year - we will offer “All in One Box” as the only available shipping method.

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 ten business 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. 

WE ALSO OFFER EXPRESS SHIPPING

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. (At this time we do not offer express shipping for international orders). 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, possibly sooner.

PLACE YOUR HOLIDAY ORDERS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE

We have no idea what the future holds. But in the spring we had to shut down for two months because of the lockdown. More people are shopping online and we expect parcel and delivery services to become overwhelmed as we get into the holiday season. So if you're thinking of ordering a Mail Order Mystery as a holiday gift, please consider doing it now. All of our mystery experiences are personalized; they take time and care to put together. In the past we've had to temporarily stop taking orders around the holidays because we couldn't assemble mystery experiences as quickly as people were ordering them. So place your orders now to avoid disappointment.