We confirmed it was a mistake but that the package was literally a dollar of baby safety latches and not to bother. Her response was an eager, "no! This is the most exciting part of my week!"
This is why I don't pay merchants for any sort of expedited delivery. I live in a major port city. Any self-respecting delivery business has a depot in this city - some have several, which means any products destined for me aren't going via the far end of the country, or to a city I've never visited, they are definitely coming here ASAP.
And once they are in that depot they are taking up space that the company pays for. The sooner my package is on a truck and delivered, the less it cost to store it, and the more profit they keep. Now, if I paid for the most expedited delivery, perhaps my package would make it onto the very first truck and I'd be the first stop and I'd be woken by an anxious delivery worker buzzing me. If I ever need something for 0800 the next day I'll keep that in mind. But if I'm a little bit more patient the next truck, or the one after, will have some space and my package goes in that truck. Maybe if I'm unlucky the product arrives at midday. Good enough.
That depends on the difference between ground vs. air delivery. I usually pay expedited shipping if I expect it to convert a 2-3 week ground delivery into a 1-3 day delivery by air.
Yes, some companies offer "normal" vs. "expedited", with either choice being shipped by ground. In that case, I agree that shipping expedited ground–especially if it's within state–is designed to rip off those who don't known any better.