FED EX Sucks

[Tyek]

Ok,

So I was told I had to be home to sign for a package. I needed to go to therapy for my knee so I asked for a timeframe and wa told 8 am to 8 pm. So I sit, and sit and sit and sit. At 5:25 I call and ask where my package is and was advised they have until 8 pm and that it is still on the truck and will be delivered. At 7pm I track the package and the driver has stated "5:34 - Business Closed or Customer Unavailable."

I am pissed now and call customer service and advise them that i need a specific timeframe for an AM delivery. I was told I would have to call in the AM, but since the package was sent ground they have 5 days to deliver and therefore do not have to deliver it a specific day. I tried to explain that when a signature is required it is polite and professional to respect the customers time and deliver said package on the day they are supposed to. I am told to bring that up in the AM.

I call back at 8 am asking for a specific timeframe for delivery since they have wasted my day and I have a doctors appointment this afternoon. I explained they cost me a therapy session on my knee already and they are necessary since some of the equipment they have cannot be duplicated at home and is needed to keep the knee from stiffening and slowing down recovery. They say the manager is not in until 9 am and call back then.

I call back at 10:30, still no package. FINALLY they get me in touch with the manager of the delivery location and she says, we can only guarantee 8 am to 8pm. I explain to her again that her driver falsified his report on delivery and that while they may not care,my time is valuable. She calls the driver to get a timeframe and he does not answer.

After 11 I get a call that he will deliver after 5:30, which based on yesterday means I am not getting my package again. I also now cannot go to therapy due to doctors appointment. Thanks for caring Fed-Ex.

Sorry for venting, but this is stupid. As a result, I have sent an email to my customer service rep instructing her that any and all ground shipments not sent on truck should go UPS, unless specified by the customer. I am serously concerned that their lack of performance would reflect badly on my company and myself, so this episode is going to cost them significant cash.

I can't even pick it up since they had loaded the truck with the package before they could contact anyone on site.

[Funkmasterr]

That sucks, however to be honest I think that UPS is just as bad. I have had more bad experiences with UPS Ground than I can count. It makes me wonder how they would like if I just accidentally overlooked a bunch of mistakes on one of their forms, and sent it to production.

[Tyek]

UPS is at my house several days a week and never later then 11 am. I guess it depends on the area, but I will not be using them here again. I cannot imagine having to explain this crap to a customer.

[Boogahz]

UPS has been the worst for me. I have the "will-call" hours at their facility which is about an hour from my home memorized since I have had to be there in the thirty minute window allowed to get you into the fence. They have coded things as delivered when it was not, no answer when I was 5 feet from the front door during the entire window, "forgot" to put the item on the truck when it had already been scanned as on the truck for delivery (this one probably pissed me off the most at the time).

DHL changed the status on one of my packages to business closed like what you saw with UPS over the holidays. One call had my package delivered within thirty minutes since I had the constant tracker thing they have sending me emails/text messages. As soon as I saw that message, I was on the phone calling.

I have yet to have any problem with FedEx, other than the fact that they cannot guarantee AM delivery unless something is shipped specifically for AM delivery. I think this is fairly normal across most carriers, although DHL seemed to be more flexible for me personally. This could also be due to them having less to move.

[Tyek]

I guess now I am getting a different kind of delivery.

The regional manager of one of the companies we own resigned today. The company asked me if I could hold onto the company car until they find a replacement. So now I am going to have my Dodge Charger company car and a Dodge Magnum company car that I have full use of. The last job hire they did took almost 1 year, so now we have 5 cars here with 2 drivers. Better yet, they pay for gas, so it will cut down even more on the use of the personal car, which was bigger, since the Magnum should cover most of our large car needs.

I guess things are looking up.

[Tyek]

I emailed them a copy of the email sent to my customer service rep and a manager called me and apologized. He says he will be following up tonight to make sure delivery is made, but when they said he would deliver after 5:30 tonight, I get the feeling I am not seeing that package today.

I told the manager that if I did not receive it tonight, then the email would be sent to my regional manager and also to the VP of sales. The email states that based on their lack of concern over my delivery, I do not feel comfortable with their representing me or my shipping practices. Can you imagine a project being held up over some driver falsifying a delivery attempt?

[Ashur]

One of my first real jobs was a call center manager for a major online service. Even though I had the experienced technical teams, I had to help out with interviews. I interviewed someone who had worked for a major delivery service *cough* FedEx *cough* and tossed them a standard interview question which was along the lines of "We've all been late with an assignment before in some work situation. Could you give an example of a time when you didn't have something completed when expected and how you handled the situation?"

Now normally, people put on their professional hat and say something like "When I found out it was going to be late, I notified the person, followed-up after delivery of it after hours blah blah blah". This guy goes "Oh well yeah, at FedEx we were late with stuff all the time." and left it at that, so I probe a bit more with "What would you do when that happened?" and he replied with "We'd just scan it early in so it was on time. All the guys did it."

Yeah, I didn't recommend him for a position. More from lack of fucking common sense than willingness to lie and cause a potential problem for the customer and employer.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

I once drove 45 miles in rushhour traffic to pick up a package from the fedex warehouse after they'd mistakenly bounced it to germany and back twice. I'd talked to a very nice lady on the phone who confirmed that it was there and that yes, I could pick it up provided I was there before 5pm. I was there just after 4:30, the office was closed. I finally managed to bang on a door hard enough for someone to come help, but the package was nowhere to be found. They'd shipped it back to the sender because they'd "been unable to deliver it".

I actually managed to get a written apology and a full reimbursement for shipping costs - but the package (a birthday present) ended up being well over 3 weeks late.

Fuck FedEx.

[*~*stragi*~*]

it depends on the variety of GED holders staffing your local logistics establishment.

the tempe ups facility is great
the mesa ups facility is pretty terrible

[Syenye]

Fedex is in the habit of chucking stuff at my front door. They just hurl it as far as they can from their truck. Thanks, Fedex.

UPS is a little better. They do the drop and run.

I used DHL yesterday. Got my package from NJ to my door in Oklahoma in less than 24 hours, using their ground service. I had typed in my address wrong, with an extra number at the end of the house number, so I called DHL and they let me change it through them, instead of bouncing it back to the shipper.

[Fash]

They're both good around my area... I live about 3-5 miles from the giant regional hubs for both Fedex and UPS.

I feel bad for them sometimes since they have to park and walk like 100 feet to my door. Sometimes I want to laugh though, too. It must have sucked when I ordered my Kettlebells. (53lb each)

[Siji]

You had to order your balls?

[Boogahz]

You had to order your balls?

I read it the same way, and I immediately thought of Johnny Dangerously...

[Bagar-]

That sucks, however to be honest I think that UPS is just as bad. I have had more bad experiences with UPS Ground than I can count. It makes me wonder how they would like if I just accidentally overlooked a bunch of mistakes on one of their forms, and sent it to production.

Dude, fuck that, have you seen Castaway?

[Leonaerd]

That sucks, however to be honest I think that UPS is just as bad. I have had more bad experiences with UPS Ground than I can count. It makes me wonder how they would like if I just accidentally overlooked a bunch of mistakes on one of their forms, and sent it to production.

Dude, fuck that, have you seen Castaway?

Seriously though I've never had a shipping problem. I'm only a small-time consumer though.

[Noysyrump]

You had to order your balls?

"Yay my e-peen is finally here!"

[valryte]

That's why when something is that important that you need a guarantee of when it will be delivered you freaking order it Next Day, 2nd Day, or 3 day. Ground is not guaranteed. It will get there when it gets there. If you are bitching because they can't guarantee a delivery of a ground shipment, then I'm sorry, but that's your problem not theirs. Next time cough up the money and get a guaranteed delivery. In all the years I've bought/shipped items, I've never had a problem with a delivery. From either FedEx or UPS. Hell, just this past Christmas I ordered something and had it shipped 2nd day air to arrive the day before Christmas and FedEx had no problem delivering it on time.

[Tyek]

The company that shipped it to me chose Ground, not me. My bitch is if I am told to be there to sign, then they should at least show that day. I did not say anything until they falsified a shipment attempt, then refused to give me a more specific time the next day when I called them on it. It took a cc: on an email to my inside sales person telling her to stop using Fed Ex on all shipments, and a call to a manager to finally get some timeframe the second day. On top of that, they told me 5:30 or later, then showed at 3:30. I happened to have just gotten home from the doctor or I would have missed it.

As a result of their attitude, they will lose a lot of business shipping into my territory. If they don't care then oh well. While I understand your point about shipment importance and paying for the best delivery, I don't think if someone pays 4 dollars less, they deserve to be treated like shit.

[Aslanna]

It took a cc: on an email to my inside sales person telling her to stop using Fed Ex on all shipments, and a call to a manager to finally get some timeframe the second day.

Much drama queening about nothing.

[Winnow]

FedEx is the best delivery service out there despite issues which, when there's a bazillion deliveries a day, are bound to happen.

You've got to be nuts to go with UPS over FedEX unless you are unfortunate and somehow have a retarded delivery driver on your route or some other logistics issue with them.

I've known for years, since the very first time I received a little yellow notice of a delivery attempt, that FedEx won't let you pick up the package the same day. That's why I'll get the tracking code, note the delivery day, and leave a signed permission letter by my door, allowing FedEx to leave the package on my doorstep. Of course, I'll then race home from work which takes 30+ minutes to put the package into my home as I've done that with items costing over $2-3K multiple times, particularly with my projectors.

FedEx tops the list of all companies that amaze me with their ability to deliver packages, with a very high on-time delivery rate, overnight. I may be impressed by small things sometimes but next to Par2 files, FedEx is something we take for granted that really is awe inspiring when you think about the number of packages that are processed every day.

[Hesten]

I havent tried Fed Ex, but after having both UPS and DHL ship to me, i refuse to trade with companies who will only ship with those companies.

DLH:
Bought some T-shirts and some candy from thinkgeek. Pay 24.92$ for the shipping. Then take a few days, and i come home, and find a message from DHL about me not being home, so ill have to call them to get the package out.
I call them, and are informed that they can ONLY deliver to private persons between 10 AM and 4 PM, at which time, i am at work. Tell them to deliver it at work, and get told theyll show up at the next day.
Nothing from them the next day, so i call again, and get told they couldnt find it.
I tell them to come again the day after, and give them VERY specific instructions on how to find this very hard to find numbered building in a hospital area, that ARE listed on the signs, and maps of the area.
They show up, and tell me that there are taxes added to the order. Ok, our taxes in denmark are 25%, and usually it dont get put on because customs dont notice it. But this time its on, so well, ill pay it.
But noooo, they added a 15$ fee for paying the taxes for me (which WILL happen ever time, since they report the packages to the customs office, so ALWAYS a 15$ extra hidden fee). Ok, theyre there, i want my stuff, so dont want complain, so i find my credit card.
Whoa, credit card? We cant take advanced stuff like either VISA or the danish credit card Dankort. So i gotta run around to 8 coworkers to borrow the 35$ the idiot want from me, since i dont normally run around wtih 35$ in cash.
Swear to never buy from DHL again

UPS:
Basically same problem as above, can only deliver during work hours, charge 25% VAT + 15$ extra fee, i ended up paying over 140$ for Civilizatio 4 special edition.


NEVER buy from shops that only ships with UPS or DHL.

[Winnow]

*ahem*

Let me amend something. FedEx is the best delivery service in the United States, for Americans. Since most of the world sends their goods to the U.S before selling them to the end user, we can order them from within the U.S., avoiding international shipping issues. We don't even pay sales tax on items sent outside of our own state as long as the company isn't established within your state.

All of those extra fees suck Hesten!

[Fairweather Pure]

I've made friends with the UPS drivers pretty much everywhere I've ever lived.

Currently, they deliver in my area at around 2-3pm depending on how busy they are. If I'm waiting on a package but have to leave home early, I can drive around the block, find the driver, and get the package right there.

When shipping, I go with the cheapest since I really don't have a preference for any delivery service.

[Truant]

Hesten, you'll have the same problem with FedEx. I've learned from Int'l friends and from a music forum i frequent that all independant shipping comanies do this as standard practice. They all request that we (americans) ship using USPS when we send something to them overseas. USPS will still have customs (or at least it's supposed to), but no extra fees tacked on.

[Tyek]

Much drama queening about nothing.

I wouldn't disagree with this to an extent. Was I pissed? Hell yes! I missed 2 physical therapy sessions that help with my recovery because of this. Since I had to sit around and wait, I had time I normally would not to pursue this issue.

I guess you have the time to sit around for 2 days waiting and waiting. I generally do not. I also do not want my customers dealing with the issues I dealt with. I am sorry if you think jerking around your customers and having a shipper fake deliveries is acceptable behavior, but I do not.

For the record, I never yelled, or screamed anything. I called, politely asked why they faked the delivery, and they told me they do not do that. Since I was home icing my leg about 15 feet from the door at the supposed delivery time, I am thinking they faked it. When I asked for a general timeframe for the next day so that I could do my physical therapy, they refused to say anything but 8 am to 8 pm. I do not think that is asking for much considering they were caught faking deliveries the day before. I told them I would take a 4 hour window and they refused until I did what I did.

So they lost business and I was a drama queen. Sucks for them. A little customer service and I would never have told my CSR to stop using them. I do not want to deal with an irate customer who has a crew sitting around waiting on a package while Fed Ex refuses to help.

Based on the posts that followed it seems to really depend on the local driver and delivery warehouse. UPS here is delivered by 10:30 every time. The Fed Ex person seems to choose whatever is convenient for them. So based on that I feel more comfortable using UPS. So I am a drama Queen, but one with a desire to help provide the best service possible for my customers. I guess I will live with that stigma.

[Fairweather Pure]

I'm curious what was so important that you had to cancel PT appointments in order to receive? I can't think of anything I would put my health, or other people's time on the line for.