Fedex rant!

[stranger706]

Is Fedex retarded? Or do they just not give a [censored]? Every freaking time something is sent to my house via Fedex, they never can deliver it. So the day (or two) after its supposed to be here I enter the tracking # online and I see that the package made it all the way to the local delivery truck "out for delivery" and then after that it says "unable to locate address." And they never follow up! They just take the box back to their facility and wait for me to call and ask about it. So when I call (very polite, no att.) I try to give them turn by turn directions and they always act all [censored] off and get an attitude like its my fault. It wouldn't be so bad but this happens every single time! It has happened at least 4 times now. I have lived in the same house for over 1.5 years. There is nothing hard about where I live.

UPS has delivered every package on time. The one time (right after we moved in) their driver could not locate my house, they called right away, got directions and still delivered that same day, and were very happy about it! Never a problem from them!

I will NEVER ship a package Fedex. They act like complete idiots and their customer service is terrible.

Edit: Forgot to mention that twice they refused to try and re-deliver, made me come to their warehouse and pick the package up myself.

 

[heypete]

I once had UPS leave a parcel on my apartment doorstep (right next to the walkway, in full view of passers-by and anyone in the parking lot), in the rain (it was under an overhang, but the box was still soggy when I got back), for three days.

They even had the guts to say I signed for it. I had airline ticket stubs indicating I was in Chicago, not Tucson, during that timeframe (which I was).

Fortunately, the contents weren't damaged, but I called to complain and request that if they couldn't deliver to me that they should deliver it to the apartment management, who is authorized to sign for me and will keep the parcel secure until my return.

For whatever reason, they interpreted this request as "DO NOT DELIVER ANY PARCELS TO THIS ADDRESS" without telling me. Future deliveries would go "out for delivery", present some exception, and go back to the local facility without telling me. It took several calls over the course of a year (I don't order that much via UPS, and each time they assured me it was resolved) before they finally fixed the problem.

Sure, they eventually cleared it up, but it was still annoying.

The only parcel delivery that I've never had any trouble with was the US Postal Service; they have no problem finding addresses. It tends to be cheaper than UPS/FedEx, but doesn't offer the same detailed tracking that the commercial providers have. Oh well.

 

[Gary Allan]

That would be cured by having it sent to you IN CARE OF the manager's office/apartment address. Or in the special instructions that usually accompany the check out part of ordering anything.

I can't imagine that there isn't some wizbang genius out there that would have figured out that the whole FedEx/UPS deal should be integrated into a GPS routing scheme. With all the time restraints and whatnot factored in to have the driver make the most deliveries in the most efficient manner. Now before someone chimes in as Captain Obvious with all the little nuances involved in parcel pickup and delivery ...there are indeed rocket scientist that can handle this task. It's not like teleporting people. That takes dimensional scientists.

 

[nfs480]

UPS keeps delivering my stuff to my neighbor, so far Fedex has been 100% with delivery's and I actually do live in a hard to find house. USPS has definitely been solid as well.

 

[crinkles]

the street i live on has three different names
XXXX highway
YYY street
"town down the road" road

there is no access to the front area (retaining wall built above road)

so it's a basatrd to get anything delivered. i have stuff shipped to my work...

 

[Mr Nice]

Even if they had GPS routing scheme....

Fed Ex, UPS and the USPS does not have the brightest employees delivering packages.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette


Fed Ex, UPS and the USPS does not have the brightest employees delivering packages.


Bull

I worked as a UPS driver helper several years ago for the Holiday season. If you think it's easy and doesn't take someone who's smart and can think on their feet, you have no clue. It looks easy - guys just driving around delivering packages, but if you did it for one week, you'd feel like you just held the world on your shoulders. Those guys have to sort the packages in the morning and basically remember practically all of them so they can stack and order them correctly to run a route smoothly. Stepping into and out of the truck several hundred times a day carrying heavy packages - most guys have knee replacements by age 50. Most people wouldn't last a week doing it. I lost about 20 pounds in a month from doing it.

That's why UPS drivers are compensated so well.

 

[hr1940]

I sent a package to my mother-in-law (97 at the time) and she did not answer the door. They took it back to the post office. I called her and the package had not arrived. I called the post office in her town and was told they had attempted delivery and she would have to go to the post office to pick it up. This is a town of 700 people and she has lived in that house since 1937. I hit the over head. She can not drive and they expected her to walk to the post office and pick up her package (over a mile down hill). I ship only UPS now. In that size town I feel there was no excuse for that kind of treatment for someone that old. There are problems with all delivery systems.

 

[Drew99GT]

I've found overall that UPS has the best customer service because they compensate their employees so well.

Fed Ex ground? Forget about it. Fed Ex Express is good for next day deliveries though.

I've had good luck with the USPS as well. In fact, the new guy who delivers in my neighborhood holds packages and delivers them in the evening when people are home, as we've had a rash of stolen packages lately. He also gets paid by the hour, so he could care less if he gets home a bit late!

 

[Steve S]

UPS type work wears you out. Our UPS guy is wasted.

 

[Mr Nice]

So sorting packages/boxes inside your truck so that your delivers go smoothly takes a lot of intelligence ?
To me that sounds like basic common sense.


Drew,

Are you still out of work?

If so, maybe you should go back to UPS since UPS drivers are compensated so well and you had an interest in driving a truck.

As for them having knee replacements, maybe if they had an education (white collar job like an accountant) they would be sitting behind a desk making big bucks, sipping coffee and surfing the web.

 

[LS2JSTS]

My experience has been just the opposite. I live on a very long drive way back in off the road. The UPS guys consistently delivers to my neighbor, while the Fedex guy almost always takes the time to drive the package back to my house.

Sounds like this may be a case by case thing, even driver to driver. Some people are just lazy, simple as that.

 

[Kruse]

I live out in the boonies, so most people know each other. Our mail carrier is wonderful, calls us if there is a large package and asks if we want it delivered or if we want to pick it up. The UPS deliver is also great, although they yanked our driver of 25+ years against her will. The replacement guy is also pretty good, but because of management's decisions, he had to learn a new route and the previous driver had to learn a new route also. FedEx drivers are nothing but a bunch of whiners, complain because our residence is too far away from the truck's loading dock and most of the time, overnight deliver is impossible. My wife has told several FedEx senders to get their money back on something that gets shipped "overnight", but doesn't make it until the 2nd day. DHL never was a big player in our area, subcontracted out to individual carriers and I'm not surprised they went under.

 

[Cutehumor]

You probably have the same idiot delivery guy that works your neighborhood. He probably has some kind of contrived excuse for not going to your house.

I live in a gated apartment, ups and fedex drops my package directly to the office manager, it's usually the same guys that do it. No sticker on my door or anything. After on the phone with these companies and they said the package was delivered. I thought my neighbors stole my packages the whole time. I didn't know where my stuff went until one day my Apt office manager calls to tell me that they will throw my package in the garbage if I don't pick it up.

If they are on vacation or sick, I'll get lucky and get a knock on my door with a package in hand.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette


Drew,

Are you still out of work?

If so, maybe you should go back to UPS since UPS drivers are compensated so well and you had an interest in driving a truck.



I would in a heart beat, but it takes as much as 10 years working as a package handler for a driving position to open up. I'm too old for that!

I'd much rather work a job like that then sit around staring at the walls of a cubicle or an office. Done that now for 3 years as an accountant. I hate it!

 

[doitmyself]

UPS consistently delivers better to our "difficult" address than Fed Ex.

Drew, can you confirm this story I heard about UPS driving? I was told that they drive with a "no accident permitted" policy. In short, the driver has to operate so defensively that NO accidents are allowed. My friend's son (a UPS driver) said someone ran a red light and plowed into his UPS truck. The union saved his job, but the company says in these instances he should have "cleared the intersection" (make sure its safe)and this accident was "his fault". He said even if he gets rear ended, its considered his fault and the company has policies to terminate him, or try to. Is this true?

This seems like a very stressful demand to work under every day.

And, to those judging others according to what you think are, or aren't difficult jobs, I say go somewhere else to stoke your ego.

 

[The_Jeff]

Does the OP have Enhanced 911? About a decade ago around here every street needed naming and numbering. Seems like a simple step but that put everyone on the map. Before that many people were RFD which only the post office knew how to decode.

 

[GMBoy]

I prefer UPS. Great service and the female delivery person as really cute. The USPS is next - never any problems there. But Fedex? For one - they NEVER ring the doorbell. Just drop the package on the door step. Can't tell you how many times I just happened to look out the door and see a package there.

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Drew, can you confirm this story I heard about UPS driving? I was told that they drive with a "no accident permitted" policy. In short, the driver has to operate so defensively that NO accidents are allowed. My friend's son (a UPS driver) said someone ran a red light and plowed into his UPS truck. The union saved his job, but the company says in these instances he should have "cleared the intersection" (make sure its safe)and this accident was "his fault". He said even if he gets rear ended, its considered his fault and the company has policies to terminate him, or try to. Is this true?


I'm not Drew, obviously, but my boss worked with UPS for several years & I knew the UPS guy at my last job pretty well. Your question has some truth to it, but not much. He had a wreck while driving for UPS (not his fault), & his job was never in danger. If it is their fault, look out. I suspect some local bosses may hang that over their head or use that as leverage to try to get rid of someone that doesn't do good work or their personalities clash, etc.

 

[stranger706]

Now that I've calmed down a bit. I know these drivers bust their [censored]. I'm not saying they don't. Years ago I used to be a delivery driver. Not for any of these companies but a local one. So I know what delivery involves. Believe me it can be a PITA. Although I wouldn't mind doing it again...

In the beginning I did suspect only the Fedex driver. But after 4 failed deliveries, a couple visits to their sort facility (to pick up my package) and several phone calls with customer service, I think it is a lot more than just the driver. Not a single person I came into contact with seemed like they cared about their job.

And it looks like I will be visiting their sort facility once again on Monday to pick up a package they could not deliver. Apparently my street does not exist.