FedEx shipping

[bedlamite]

I ordered some stuff last Friday, FedEx was listed as the cheapest.

Monday:

2:20 pm   
Arrived at FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST NEW BERLIN, WI
7:15 am   
Departed FedEx location CHICAGO, IL

OK, no problem. faster than expected.

Tuesday:

7:37 am   
Arrived at FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST NEW BERLIN, WI
6:31 am   
Departed FedEx locationGREEN BAY, WI
6:27 am   
Arrived at FedEx location GREEN BAY, WI
1:45 am   
Departed FedEx location CHICAGO, IL
12:11 am   
Arrived at FedEx location CHICAGO, IL

Wait, what? It Left the state, came back and drove past me twice, and it's back where it was Monday.

Wednesday:

1:11 am   
Departed FedEx location CHICAGO, IL
12:09 am   
Arrived at FedEx location CHICAGO, IL

Estimated delivery has been pushed back to Saturday.
This is the third time it's been to Chicago. 

[TechMan]

The SmartPost label in the tracking information means that USPS is involved.  Good luck.

[never_retreat]

I think Fedex is having some serious computer problems right now. I shipped a package 2 weeks ago they lost. When I mean lost they don't even have a record of the tracking number. So to them it does not even exist. Even though I have the number saved in my shipping software.
This should be interesting. I not holding my breath. We don't insure anything under 300 bucks our cost. Any less than that it is not worth the headache to try and collect the money.

[Boomhauer]

Never been impressed by Fedex.

Brown gets 'er done for us. A side benefit is you tend to get a regular driver who will work with you for special needs vs whoever grabbed the package at the Fedex depot and threw it on their truck

[SteveS]

Never been impressed by Fedex.

Me either.  People complain about the USPS, but where I live, they may not always be the cheapest, but they are consistently the fastest.  FedEx and UPS take 4 to 5 days longer, on average.

[BryanP]

The SmartPost label in the tracking information means that USPS is involved.  Good luck.

I've generally had better results with USPS than FedEx.  Over the years I've had two somewhat negative USPS experiences. FedEx would be closer two twenty. I don't use them unless there's no other option.

[bedlamite]

Checked tracking this morning. Back to New Berlin last night, up to Green Bay and left Green Bay early this AM. This makes 4 times it will have been within a mile of my house. This would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

[brimic]

I had an order from Midway take a two week tour of the desert southwest once using UPS.

[Brad Johnson]

Either you have an odd address that FedEx (or, more precisely, their GPS system) doesn't recognize, or the shipper put the wrong address on the package.

If the FedEx facility is within a mile of your home, call them and have them hold the package for pickup for cryin' out loud!  I can walk a mile in 15 minutes so waiting a couple days for it to be shipped that distance is kinda bassackwards.

Brad

[AZRedhawk44]

Never been impressed by Fedex.

Brown gets 'er done for us. A side benefit is you tend to get a regular driver who will work with you for special needs vs whoever grabbed the package at the Fedex depot and threw it on their truck

I've had so many packages mangled by the UPS gorillas that I don't use them any more unless it's the only option provided by the vendor.

[Tallpine]

I call them FedWrecks 

The drivers that are supposed to come out to our area either get lost, get stuck (I've actually gone and pulled them out - not again!), or call and ask you to come meet them 20 miles away to get your package (sure - pay me $50/hr and I will  ).

UPS drives like idiots* but at least they can find places and deliver.


* last summer nearly had a head on with UPS van in a 5-ton water tender with emergency lights flashing 

[Gewehr98]

Last year I watched the UPS tracking on an item I purchased go from Tennessee to the United Arab Emirates before finally arriving at the destination in Wisconsin.

I left the seller on eBay good feedback, because I'm pretty sure they did everything they were supposed to do with respect to the buyer's address.   

[bedlamite]

Unexpected surprise, package actually came back to the right town and was delivered this afternoon 

[Physics]

I just had UPS deliver a very expensive high pressure liquid chromatagraph.  *expletive deleted*er gets it on the ground and then proceeds to roll the box end over end, despite the clear fragile markings on the box.  I just got everything unpacked today.  Hoping everything still works.   

[never_retreat]

I started using fedex at work because they were willing to negotiate rates with me. I'm spending almost 20k a year on shipping and UPS would not budge. Less then 5 percent discount. Got a fedex rep to come out, I got between 25-45 percent of list rates.
UPS called once 6 months after the switch, still would not budge.
UPS has lost or destroyed more packages the  Fedup or USPS together. I do use the post office alot also, mostly for light stuff.

[Bolonium238]

I just had UPS deliver a very expensive high pressure liquid chromatagraph.  *expletive deleted*er gets it on the ground and then proceeds to roll the box end over end, despite the clear fragile markings on the box.  I just got everything unpacked today.  Hoping everything still works.   

So what happened with the HPLC?  You run anything through it yet?  Truth be told, that's the only thing about this story that has me on tenterhooks.

[Physics]

It's pretty banged up, but it looks like everything is going to work.  Haven't run any samples yet though.

[Monkeyleg]

I used UPS many years ago, and had so many problems that I switched to FedEx. Mangled packages, deliveries days late, and so on. I was on location for two weeks in Louisiana and had shipped my equipment down there via UPS. They lost a nine foot long tube, twelve inches in diameter, that contained my main light boom. I really needed that thing. They overnighted a new one to me from a photo supply house in Chicago, but I'd lost a day of work because of that. What's more, they never found that rather large package.

They've done other stuff, too. FedEx has always been reliable.

That's just my experience. I did a fair amount of shipping back then, but I do more now. Unfortunately, one of my distributors uses UPS for most things, and those things often get lost, so I don't use that distributor very much.

[Azrael256]

I had FedEx drive some sort of vehicle over a pair of rather expensive servers once.  They actually left tire marks. I never laid eyes on them myself, I only saw pictures, so I couldn't identify what kind of vehicle it was.  They delivered them like it was no big deal. 

Happily, we had insured them.  I sort of wonder what their demolished freight department said when they saw the $175k bill on it.

[Nick1911]

I just had UPS deliver a very expensive high pressure liquid chromatagraph.  *expletive deleted*er gets it on the ground and then proceeds to roll the box end over end, despite the clear fragile markings on the box.  I just got everything unpacked today.  Hoping everything still works.   

 

Poor machine.