FedEx shipping quality down the toilet?
 

I know I am not using their overnight express service, but if the headaches I am going through with their Ground and Home delivery service (and I use that word lightly) are any indication, I sure as heck am REAL glad I am not having to ship live animals through them any longer.

I had to file multiple Better Business Bureau complaints against them just to get the driver to stop believing it was perfectly OK to just drop off packages at the end of my driveway instead of delivering to the house. Now the end of my driveway is not visible from my house, but IS visible to passerbys on the road. All it would take is someone walking by or riding by to pick up the package and be gone in an instant. Then I have to go through all the headaches trying to get that problem resolved. Their tracking would show it as being "delivered", and that would likely put me behind the eightball. Thanks, but NO thanks. Oh, I had to even put a sign out at the end of the driveway requesting FedEx to please deliver all packages to the house. It is still out there now. For all the good it is doing. See below.

Now for the past two weeks I have been trying to get an order from Sam's Club delivered, and a package containing strawberry jam that Connie wants is apparently too much for them. The first shipment eventually showed "Pending" for a delivery date, and then a couple of days later claimed that the product was damaged and undeliverable. As best I can tell it is still somewhere in Tallahassee, and has been there since 08-10. So I contacted Sam's Club, and they sent out a replacement. OK, so now this second package claimed a delivery date at first of 08-18, then that changed to 08-19 ON 08-19. Tracking says it showed up at the local depot at 5:20 am on 08-19, which usually means that the next status is going to show "Out for delivery". Nope, not this time. Up until just a little while ago, is was still showing nothing beyond being delivered to Tallahassee on 05:20 am, with the delivery date showing as 08-19. Well now, guess what? Yeah, the tracking status is showing as "Pending". :face_palm_02:

Maybe everyone at FedEx who could find their own butt with both hands got the CCP Virus and is laid up in quarantine. Because whoever they have working there now really can't figure out the job, apparently. I am going to try to get Sam's Club to ship to me via UPS the next time. FedEx just isn't cutting the mustard lately.

All three of the shipping companies (UPS, USPS, FedEx) are having issues. Thanks to COVID enough people are shopping online regularly that they've basically been dealing with Christmas-rush level demand for months.

We haven't had to sign for packages in months, the drivers just drop them, ring the doorbell, and run. Nothing like coming home to a stack of guns on your front porch.

Lots of ongoing issues due to the virus with shipping companies. Lots of delays, the drivers don't even ring or knock like they usually do, just drop and run. Also noticed some new drivers, one which left my package at the back door of my neighbor for some reason. It was there a week before neighbor found it and brought it over, I had already ordered a replacement. Lots of shipments show delayed or pending and then they suddenly show up. Wish the drivers would at least knock. (edit to add, most of the stuff I've been getting has been through UPS)

Definitely not going to be doing any shipping of reptiles until this settles down.

I haven't been having any problems with UPS or USPS lately. Just FedEx.

FedEx has also disabled email contact with their customer service representatives, first foisting a lame brained virtual assistant that is virtually useless. Then it tells you to call them on the phone, but expect long delays. Their way of discouraging you from bothering them with your problems, I guess.

The latest shipment is still showing that it is stuck at the Tallahassee depot with "PENDING". I guess the employees there just enjoy the hell out of strawberry jam sandwiches. :rolleyes:

I contacted Sam's Club via email and requested that if they have to send yet another replacement package, to PLEASE use UPS instead of FedEx. Heck, UPS has even been delivering packages here ahead of schedule. I always suspected they had programmed-in delays to try to encourage people to use their higher priced express services. FedEx does this a LOT. There is a depot up in Georgia that seems to always have a 24 hour delay from the time it is received there to the time it leaves that facility. Before they implemented that, orders I would place with Summit Racing in Georgia would get here overnight using standard ground service.

One interesting note about FedEx I have noticed lately is that often when I placed an order with some place like Home Depot, the tracking info would show some ridiculously optimistic delivery date such as the following day, even though the package hadn't even been picked up at the origination point yet. Then year day the delivery day would get pushed back a day. Not sure what is up with that, but I would think it would piss off someone if they were counting on the delivery date because of a project that needed that part they were waiting on. Heck, first time FedEx did that to me I was working on something and actually stupidly counted on that original delivery date to schedule things accordingly.

I wonder if people are having problems with their live animal shipments lately? Could be some sorely disappointed people if that is the case. Waiting on strawberry jelly stuck in limbo is no real big deal, but a box full of live reptiles is another matter entirely.

Well, I called FedEx on the phone, and after wading through their virtual phone assistant and asking for "REPRESENTATIVE" several times, I finally got to talk to a real person. She checked on the package and told me it was showing as being damaged in transit and therefore undeliverable. I'm thinking that perhaps the driver caught some hell from corporate about my BBB complaints about his dropping my packages off at the end of the driveway and may be purposely damaging these incoming packages. The jam is probably in glass jars and I doubt Sam's Club is packing them well enough to be bomb proof. Anyway, just seems very odd that in both instances the packages come through Memphis, TN, and then Ellenwood, GA before showing up as being damaged in Tallahassee. Or maybe the Tallahassee, FL FedEx depot is just having some employee issues with their entire team. Heck, I'm not going to be shy about filing yet another BBB complaint about them. Honestly, that is the ONLY way I can get any sort of response out of them these days.

I suppose the prudent thing to do is to request any carrier other than FedEx where ever that is an option for me. Unfortunately many places do not give you the option and they seem to select carriers in what seems like a random fashion.

The volume thing has already been mentioned.

Express (with such options as Priority Overnight which we use for animal shipment) and Ground/other operate as independent business units or did the last time I had to deal with a BU interoperability snafu (someone sent me an animal using non-Express, which is quite bad, to a local Express facility that I use for live animal receipt...during hot weather in 2018).

I have seen some delays with some (fewer than 10%) Express packages lately, but this was dependent on the destination and whether or not a hold-at-facility option is taken (which I recommend if feasible for live packages). I am still shipping live packages safely using Priority Overnight, but with the overall plan and the endpoint being considered strongly before doing so.

This does not help at all with the Ground/other situation, but I wanted to mention the independence of the two business units so that it is understood that the failings of one BU are not necessarily interlaced with the operations of the other BU, depending upon where the point of failure is occurring.

Well, three times wasn't the charm. I requested a refund from Sam's Club, since obviously FedEx cannot deliver the package to me. The latest one is showing as being stuck in Jacksonville, FL since early AM this past Saturday. Even with it showing as being last scanned in Jacksonville, they claimed it would be delivered on Saturday, and then when that day passed with no sign of it, again claimed today that I could expect it by COB. Which, of course, never happened. Right now, it is showing as "PENDING". Again. So they seem to be in complete chaos, in my opinion.

And now I have another order stuck up in Pennsylvania for some reason. Can't imagine that FedEx broke this item because it is a pair of air filters for my DeWalt battery powered vacuum. Well, I guess they could have crushed it. Ask me if I would be surprised?

Today I ordered some hedge trimmer blades and when I talked to the guy about shipping I specifically requested that he NOT use FedEx. He just chuckled and told me not to worry, they have been having their own problems with FedEx and only ship UPS now.

I guess FedEx is just not coping well with the current situation. YMMV, of course, but I sure as heck won't knowingly be shipping anything through them. I do hope their overnight service is better than how the rest of the company seems to be coping.

I've had problems with FedEx as well. I had a couple of outgoing animal shipments delayed- one overnight shipment took three days. Fortunately, the animal survived.
FedEx also lost some UVB bulbs that I ordered. I called FedEx to let them know the package had not arrived, and they said they'd find it. A few hours later, a neighbor brought it over. My neighbor saw the "Reptisun" labeling on the package, quickly realized what it was for, and was naturally curious about my collection. As I prefer to keep my hobby private locally, I was not thrilled with being "outed" by FedEx in this way. I guess that cat is out of the bag now.
The funny thing is though, that I am still waiting, after several weeks, for FedEx to follow up with me on the missing package.

All of my inbound Ground/other shipments in the last couple of weeks appear to have been on time if not ahead of time. I am getting stuff early, yes.

Well, things seemed to get better, but suddenly took a turn for the worst, it seems.

Saturday I had a delivery, which did get completed on time, but when the driver left, he backed the truck over some of Connie's ornamental plants and bent up some metal stakes she had there to hold the plants up. I decided to just let it slide as I could likely bend them back into shape (more or less).

But today I had an order from Sam's Club with some food stuff in it that was supposed to be delivered. Shipped via FedEx's Home Delivery service, just like the above mentioned delivery. Usually they show up here by 11:00 am, but that came and went and by the afternoon I decided to check the shipping status.

Damn... Showing a delivery exception. Driver claims he attempted delivery but was unsuccessful. Yeah, right. There was NOTHING to prevent him from getting here. Not a drop of rain to scare him off from our dirt road. And Connie and I were here all day long. Matter of fact, outside watering plants much of the day. My guess is that the driver was just feeling lazy and didn't want to deliver here, for whatever reason.

So great. That food stuff will be sitting in a hot truck for an additional 24 hours. Assuming, of course, that the driver will feel like making the delivery tomorrow. You would think that supervisors would be all over a driver who came back to the depot with undelivered packages still in the truck.

There is still no way to contact FedEx via email, and I am not going to sit ON HOLD on the phone all day, so lately what I have been doing is just filing Better Business Bureau complaints against them. At least I get some sort of response that way, and with the tendency for crap to run downhill, I hope it lands right on the driver's head. My demands are rather simple, I believe. I just expect people to do their job. If they can't, then go elsewhere and try to do something else more to their capabilities.

:hot: :hot: :hot:

I agree and also prices went up

It's not just FedEx.
I have crickets delivered to my house quite regularly, purchased from various suppliers- I have yet to find that ideal cricket vendor.
On this particular day, a couple months ago, I was not home, so I asked my adult son to watch for the package. When I got the email notification from UPS that they had been delivered, I asked him to bring them in. Unfortunately, they were not at my house, meaning UPS had delivered my crickets to the wrong house. This has been happening more frequently these past few months, from all shippers.
My son checked with the other houses in the neighborhood- nothing.
I wasn't concerned that the cricket supplier (which shall remain nameless, so that this isn't taken as a BOI type post) would make good on the order; I was concerned that the crickets would die before I got my hands on them, and that it would be a week before I got replacements. So, I placed a call to the well known cricket supplier, and left a message on their voice mail, asking them to help track down my order. I also sent them a text.
Then, I placed a call to UPS, despite the fact that they usually tell you that only the shipper can intercede in cases like this. I simply asked the lady to have the driver please go back and retrieve the package from wherever it was left, and bring it to the proper address, before the driver left the area. Miraculously, she did exactly that, and I had my crickets a short time later.
I am still waiting for the well known cricket supplier to return my call or text.

Yeah, perhaps this is just one facet of that marvelous gem of a screwed up world we are now going through. But I haven't had a bit of trouble with UPS or USPS. At least not lately. They seem to all go through their patches of troubles now and again.

Here locally, FedEx seems to be really struggling. We have had their trucks break down in our driveway a couple of times, and even when they are running they sound like they are on their last legs. Matter of fact, when the package was delivered today, I talked to the driver and he said he wasn't the guy running this route yesterday. But he heard that the truck had broken down yesterday. Something about the rear bumper falling off. Several times we have had FedEx deliver via rental trucks, so I think they are having financial difficulties and are pushing those old trucks long past being due to be overhauled or replaced.

For a while FedEx was delivering using those same old trucks but painted white without any lettering. I was thinking that perhaps they had been bought out and in the process of having the trucks painted to show the name of the new owners. Of course, a new company name of Fed-UPS would certainly be fitting. :rofl:

I just had a UPS order 'delivered' but to some mysterious house (drove around a few blocks to see if it was at any neighbor but nope). Calling UPS the only options I was getting were 'wait 3 days and make a claim', same with Amazon. This was a sold out collector item so I didn't just want a refund. Luckily a very nice neighbor brought my package over 3 days later (unopened) and were looking for their own package that had also apparently been misdelivered.

My main gripe is I wish they would knock/ring the bell. Don't just drop and run. oh well.

I have noticed that a LOT of companies no longer have any way to contact them via email any longer. And when you call them via the phone, wait times can often be some ridiculously long period of time. Just seems to me that the whole darn world has gone customer hostile on us.

Customer service has certainly been a notable victim of this plandemic going on. And I am pretty sure that a lot of businesses are just using it as an excuse to cut corners from their customer service expenses, too.

Of course, I was talking to a guy the other day who said he is having severe difficulties hiring people. Apparently people are making so much money being unemployed, that people have no incentive to work. That, coupled with a severe shortage of materials he needs to run his business is making things look pretty grim for him. The guy does roofing and porch enclosures. He has orders on the books for 52 screen enclosures and only has materials and people to do 2 of them for the foreseeable future.

Man, for a number of reasons, I am GLAD that Connie and I retired 10 years ago. I sure as heck would hate to have to be trying to take care of thousands of animals right now. So many things could go wrong that would mean a lot of animals dying.

I'm lucky to have a good FedEx Ship Center here (knock on wood) -- one of the counter workers keeps reptiles, and has been really helpful in sorting out issues.

USPS (well, one person there) isn't on my good list lately. Week before last I had a box of day-old guineas come in mostly dead. It had frozen here overnight -- we were in the middle of a pretty cold stretch -- so I figured even the ride in the truck was too much for them to tolerate (shipping standards for poultry are much lower than those for herps, stupidly -- three days in transit, no supplemental heat).

Anyway, I picked up some feeder insects there this morning and I could hear a bunch of chicks in the back room. I mentioned the chirping, and the counter worker told me that two weeks ago he had some guineas that were so loud he put them out on the back dock so he didn't have to listen to them. Probably were mine. :(

I know some people will say that stupidity is it's own punishment, but sometimes it just is not enough. Karma needs to be instantaneous.

$1500 drone shipped USPS back to manufacturer for firmware upgrade. This is a higher-end model used for business. Claim filed and reported theft to FAA since it was registered.

USPS claim denied. Appealed. Denied.

Sent report to USPS OIG's office. USPS investigator called and said delivery scan was four miles from address on the package, and to file another appeal referencing his name, phone #, email, and the tracking info.

Appealed again as directed. Denied.

:dammit_01:

Well, THAT sucks! Guess that shows you just how much paying for insurance through USPS is worth.

Doesn't USPS investigate their own people for theft? Did anyone look up the address of the delivery and contact whoever lived or worked there?

Any way to escalate the complaint up the chain of command at USPS?

Small claims court against USPS? Or is that just a fool's errand?

Yeah, probably all a waste of time. No one in law enforcement gives a crap about us little people in situations like this.

I would be fit to be tied in your shoes. :kaboom:

So, should I be holding my breath waiting for that delivery today?

:face_palm_02: :face_palm_02: :face_palm_02:

Are all of these issues with Ground?

Ground and Home Delivery service.

They also have something called "SmartPost" service, which gets the package taken to the post office for final delivery. Which drives me nuts, since I don't have USPS delivery to the house, and only use our post office box at the post office. And you never really know WHICH service from a retailer they will be selecting for your shipment. Sometimes they will even state that they cannot deliver to a post office box and kick out my shipping address because I include the PO Box along with the physical address, then ship the merchandise via FedEx's SmartPost service, so go figure.

I haven't had any reason to use their Overnight service since I retired the reptile breeding business.

But these kinds of problems roll all the way uphill to upper management that can't seem to fix the problems.

FedEx no longer wants to receive emails from clients and customers, so I have had to resort to filing Better Business Bureau complaints when I get fed up enough. THAT gets someone's attention. And that usually fixes the problem, at least temporarily.

Lately when I place orders that are being shipped via FedEx (Ground or Home) I will get an email notice of a completely unrealistic delivery date. For instance, the package is still awaiting pickup at the merchant's store across the country somewhere, yet deliver is stated as being for the next day.

I guess just they are just another victim of "COVID Brain Syndrome". I am seeing a LOT of that lately. Don't get me started....... :NoNo:

You might have weird regional luck. A Bermuda Triangle of misfortune. Do you know any people in your area who likewise receive cruddy service from the non-Express business unit(s) of the company? I mostly keep to myself and enjoy the lack of intrusion, so I cannot gather neighborly info.

Even Ground treats us (or my area) very well. Express/Overnight deserves Christmas cards from me, really.

Yeah, we keep to ourselves here, too..

We also tip the drivers for both UPS and FedEx every now and again. And every once in a while we will contact Zaxby's and have lunches sent over to the post office. Sometimes I feel like tipping people around these parts is taken as a sign of weakness and gullibility (for paying more than you have to for anything). I may have to cease with that practice and just turn mean(er) on people. I guess I am now at the age whereby being noted as a crotchety mean old "bastid" will be socially acceptable. I guess I need to get a cane I can use to "prod" people with. :pokeowned:

I've heard complaints about Fed-Ex from other States. In the State of Michigan Fed-Ex is the only carrier that can tell my address from a hole in the ground. UPS and USPS can't find my house. Even though it's bright red with bright red vehicles in the driveway, with the only store for many miles on the front lawn. On a curve in the road. Where all you can see for a mile is my house. So at least in Michigan. Fed-Ex works great. But I hear stories it's bad in other States.

I am not certain about how local the problems are. Their website showing expected delivery dates is just showing fairy tales. I can place an order with someplace like Home Depot, and later that evening will get a notice that delivery is expected tomorrow, even though their status will show that the merchandise hasn't even been picked up at the destination yet. The only real believable status is that the label has been printed up at the source. So the delivery date can't possibly be accurate. So where does that programming and data processing originate from for those delivery dates to be issued via their website? Surely that is not done locally?

I sincerely hope their overnight service is a LOT better than their ground and home delivery service, because quite honestly, if I were still in the business, I would be sweating bullets sending live animals through them now.

As for the previously mentioned package, now their status is showing delivery for Tuesday, 06-29. It departed Grove City, OH on the day it was supposed to be delivered here (06-27) at 1:12PM. It supposedly showed up in Ellenwood, GA at 4:16am today. This is ominous, because in the past I have seen Ellenwood, GA become sort of a black hole for FedEx packages.

And to keep the laughing ball rolling, I have another package, again via FedEx Home Delivery that is claiming Scheduled Delivery: Monday, June 28, 2021 by end of day. Which if you will look at a calendar, is TODAY.

Travel history is showing the last scan as taking place in Ellenwood, GA on 06-28-2021 at 1:52am. Think I should hold my breath on this one too for delivery today? So it appears the FedEx black hole has two of my packages right now.

They are SOOOO screwed up....

:rofl:

I get those 'expected delivery tomorrow' when it hasn't even shipped yet notices all the time, I've learned to ignore the expected delivery date and just watch the tracking. It's a tad frustrating seeing 'label printed' and no update for multiple days from some sellers, "come on, go drop it off so it can at least get on the way" lol

Bear in mind that "label printed" doesn't mean that the seller has pulled the item you ordered from the shelf, packed it in a box, sealed it, and slapped the label on it. Often sellers have crappy inventory control systems and may not have the item in stock, so the label gets "printed" to a PDF file for later use when the inventory finally does show up at the warehouse.

I have a shopping cart/inventory control system for my business and if the item is not in stock you can not order it. You can put your name on a wish list so you are notified when the item goes back in stock, and then you can order it (assuming everyone else waiting for that item doesn't beat you to it).

yeah, I realized, I sometimes get that notice after hours right after placing the order when I know they didn't even do anything yet :)

I like how fedex makes it easier for local thief's to get your stuff. $300 impact wrench just waiting 8 feet from sidewalk.

https://i.imgur.com/avnETBB.jpg

It could be worse.

We went through a stretch where the FedEx driver would just leave the package at the end of our driveway, fully exposed to the road. Had one instance of packages being stolen because they made the delivery on a Saturday and I wasn't expecting that. It was a Ground shipment, and they don't normally deliver on Saturdays. The packages had been scheduled to arrive on Friday, but there was some sort of exception, so I didn't expect to see anything further till Monday. We don't go out all that often, so when I checked on the status on Monday, I found that the packages had been "delivered" on Saturday, and marked left at gate. Of course they weren't still there after a few days of sitting down there. I can't see the end of the driveway from the house, and had no reason to walk down there to look.

Not sure who wound up paying for it (total came to close to $1500 for the both of them), but both places sent me replacements after a lot of aggravation and time on my part on the phone with both of them explaining what happened. But it sure as heck wasn't going to come out of MY pocket!

I think the driver either got fired, or resigned from all my complaints about him. The guy was rather heavy set, and I guess the long walk up the driveway was too much for him. Everyone else seemed to be able to get the truck up the driveway and maneuver back out, but I guess he was just kind of *special*.

Lately FedEx has been delivering everything OK. Knock on wood.

Amazon delivery here is good. They always put item where it cannot be seen from street or sidewalk then send a pic of it to my email.

Amazon delivery? Any orders I have placed with Amazon (reluctantly, I might add) have been delivered via UPS or FedEx.

I did notice recently that a couple of miles from me at a convenience store there is a huge green cabinet looking thing that says something like "Amazon deliveries" or something to that effect. No telling what that is. But then again, I am not a real big fan of Amazon.

In many areas they have their own delivery drivers and trucks. They deliver seven days a week.

In my area they have prime drivers. Some in big marked vans that say prime and also people who deliver in personal vehicles. I ordered some skin and paw treatment for dog last Sat and it was delivered Sun afternoon.

Amazon delivery has been getting much better than it was a few years ago. I am using the Amazon pharmacy for my meds because it is cheap and reliable, and often the Amazon drivers will get it here the next day, so I'm happy with that. UPS is good. Fedex for many of my packages is not delivering on time, but a day or two later.

Never seen an Amazon delivery truck around here.

Lately FedEx has been doing something interesting with their estimated dates of delivery. When I get email notices of the order from the seller concerning shipping via FedEx, FedEx will often make an unrealistic claim of estimated delivery at the same time. For instance, had I placed an order today, when that order is processed and FedEx gets notice of a label having being created, they will claim a delivery date of tomorrow, even though the package had not even been picked up yet, and the small matter of the package being clear across the country from where I am located. So every day there will be an "update" to the estimated delivery date. Often FedEx will claim one problem or another as an "EXCEPTION". Sometimes the package shows up earlier than their most current delivery date. More often it shows up at least a day later.

So when I get the initial delivery date estimate, I know it is just pie in the sky, and deserves as much attention as that.

Well, FedEx is "excelling" at their job. Again.

Ordered something from a place in Ohio on 08/31. They created the shipping label on 09/01 at 08:12am. FedEx didn't pick up the package until 12:00am on 09/02. At that time, the estimated date of delivery was Friday, 09/03. Package is being sent via FedEx Home Delivery.

ETD then changed to Saturday, 09/04 (today).

Then late last night (Friday night) it changed to Sunday, 09/05 (tomorrow).

Package got into Kennesaw, GA at 3:36am this morning (09/04) and there it has sat all day long. ETD is still Sunday, 09/05, but there is a red notice on the page saying "POTENTIALLY DELAYED". Yeah, THAT is a surprise!

I have had packages choked up in Kennesaw, GA, before, sometimes for a couple of days. Not sure what that FedEx depot is like, but seems they have some real issues there.

And, of course, Monday is a holiday. :face_palm_02:

So, what are the chances for me to actually get this delivery tomorrow? :nonod:

FedEx tracking is saying that the package is on the truck and out for delivery today. It is now 5:00pm, and normally FedEx will show up before noontime. I am expecting an email saying there was some sort of "EXCEPTION" and they are rescheduling the delivery for Tuesday. This has happened before. I have heard the excuse that the driver couldn't find my address, the road was impassible (yeah, right), the gate on my driveway was closed (it wasn't) and the truck broke down enroute. Wonder which one they will use this time? Perhaps "the dog ate the driver's homework"?

OK, so I thought that during my typing the above, I would hear the driveway alarm indicating the truck was pulling in. No such luck. :angry:

So, I am wondering if the package was never really put on the truck for delivery today, only scanned that it was, or if the driver is just planning on making up some excuse so he can cut the day shorter by not making the delivery?

Well this is a surprise. 8:20pm, no package, and FedEx's tracking number says DELIVERY: PENDING.

So I called FedEx on the phone and just got some numbskull located in Puerto Rico who as about as helpful as gravy on a doorknob.

I spent the entire weekend just waiting around for the delivery.

And just to set the record straight, there were actually three boxes in this delivery, not one. I had a subwoofer die, and decided to replace three of them that were getting pretty long in the tooth.

I am so pissed right now. I can't see straight. I am sorely tempted to tell the driver when he shows up on Tuesday (assumed) to just take that package and shove it where the sun don't shine and get the hell off of my property and stay off. I will ask companies I am buying from, and if their only mode of delivery is FedEx, I will decline doing business with them. Screw this. Best thing FedEx could do is to just go out of business and let people who know what the heck they are doing, DO IT.

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: