You know what actually works? Going to FedEx’s headquarters and talking to them in person. Guess what? I’m not going to do that. It’s not convenient.
And although it may be difficult to believe or understand, using the telephone is not always the most convenient way to do things. There are times when I cannot make personal calls from my work, and email must suffice.
The burden is not on me to make it right, it is on them. If they have failed in their communication duties with each other, that is their responsibility, and no phone call from me could avoid that.
Stuff like this is part of why I pay for my Mailboxes Etc. (or the UPS Store or whatever it’s called now) box. It’s so worth it to just run in and pick up my packages.
I ship stuff constantly, and I have completely given up on UPS and FedEx unless one of my customers/buyers specifically requests it. I use the USPS all the way. I can even send something first class mail to my boy in Austin, and if I get it in by the 8:00 AM pickup, it usually gets there the next day.
Well, this thread promped me to finally register. Crap I deal with 5 days a week!
I ship Radiators and such at work every day. We use UPS, Fed-Ex, and Airborne Express. The best way I can explain it is that UPS will get it there on time in three pieces, Fed-Ex will get it there three days late in one piece. My amount of damage with UPS is pretty bad compared to the other two, but both the other carriers can be pretty unpredictable with delivery time and tracking info. (Of course it doesn’t help that my company doesn’t pack anything worth a darn…)
Have your package shipped to you at work if at all possible. You never know if you will get your package at home properly. (Although one of the shippers once tried to deliver a rad to a business at 5 minutes to 6! When they wern’t there to recieve it, they sent it back to me. Thanks for allowing me to spend another $8 to send another package out to my customer. And don’t even get me started on claims).
If you call about tracking info, and get an a$$, try back again. It is amazing how much of a difference a courteous person, who actually tries to do their job, can be. I once had a customer who had a missing piece. Tracking it showed that it was out for delivery along with the other part that my customer just received. My first call the 800# got your typical “delivery is guaranteed by 6PM” with no effort. I tried back and got a decent person who sent a message to the driver and got him turned around. Problem solved.
Yes, they usually can send messages to their drivers. Don’t let 'em fool ya if you ever ask. (I think the person you’re talking to has to make a call to the drivers local hub). I have seen the UPS driver answering a message on his board, and my co-worker has seen both the Airborne and Fed-ex drivers scanners ring with messages.
Boy, that was a little longer than I expected too. It’s nice to rant sometimes.
By the way, the best reason for doing at least some of the communication by email, White Lightning, is that then you’re able to establish a paper trail, so to speak. Companies will record customer service conversations, of course, but the customer rarely gets a copy, even if they do ask for it. But email serves as an accurate record between the two. A cust serv representative can always claim, as a result of a phone call, that you didn’t say something when you know you did; with email, this would be impossible.
Perhaps it should not be used when it is shown to fail, but as I pointed out, I asked them to respond to me via the phone.
The problem with FedEx is that, as I understand it, their drivers are all independent contractors, so quality can vary dramatically. I’ve had GREAT experiences with FedEX, and terrible ones with UPS. In one case, UPS even delivered a package of mine to the wrong house! I haven’t had trouble with leaving a handwritten note “leave package here” on my porch, FedEx and UPS both have followed my instructions. I’ll second Broomstick’s note about two-day shipping often being overnight, too.
I’ve got no beef with you dantheman. I won’t restate myself because I don’t see any reason to argue with you about it. Sorry if I offended you.
Very true, but another aspect is that if you’re shipping with FedEx you’d better keep your fingers crossed that you’re not among the unlucky few who do get their packages damaged because their damage claims take weeks to process.
Actually, FedEx Ground drivers are independent contractors. FedEx Air drivers (the ones that handle Next Day, 2 Day, and Express Savers) are standard employees.
As for getting your money back, I doubt it. They made a delivery attempt, which is all that is required.
The best advice I can give you is to get to know whoever handles the receiving at your company and have stuff sent there if possible.
Some advice from “inside” the overnight package business: If there is a problem with a delivery, the phone is your best bet. Don’t settle for whatever the person at the call center tells you though- continue to bug them until they put you in contact with somebody at the location where your package physically is- customer service agent, station manager, whatever.
The call center people really don't know anything- all they can do is look up the tracking number in their computer. If some doofus didn't put the right scans in the system or the package was missorted, then the call center won't be much help. As an added bonus, making a complaint directly to the manager at the location that's jacking your delivery up is much more likely to improve service in the future.
About twenty years ago the company I worked for shipped and received packages daily via UPS and FedEx. Our office was in the garage of the company owner; therefore we were in a residential neighborhood. I don’t remember exactly how the conversation went, but our UPS guy once told us that UPS made business pick ups and deliveries during the day, and residential ones in the evening, since that’s when they were more likely to find someone at home. We, evidently, often through his route off, being a business in a residential area.
Evidently he was lying, or they have abandoned that practice.
I came home one day to find TWO UPS hang tags on my door, one indicating a delivery attempt at approximately 10:30 am and the other at approximately 1:00 pm. The interesting thing was both hang tags indicated that the item would be returned if I did not either pick the item up myself or call to arrange redelivery - by 7:00 pm of the day of the second delivery attempt.
When I called to complain about both delivery attempts being made on the same day, at a time when it would be reasonably assumed that I would be at work, I was told it was up to the driver to decide if they wanted to make that second attempt the same day or not. When I asked why did they not make the delivery attempts in the evening she told me they didn’t make a distinction between residential and other deliveries.
Since I ddin’t even get home that day until 7:05 I was SOL.
When I called the company that shipped it I asked them to reship it to my work address.
I can’t believe that it is UPS’s practice to give a customer, in effect, less than nine hours to claim a package, but evidently it is.
I got an email from them today that said they were going to look into the matter further. I didn’t think much would come of it, so I figured I’d call when I got home.
When I got home, there was a message waiting - they couldn’t deliver the package because the sender had specifically asked for a signature, unbeknownst to me. (FedEx should have noted this when I talked to them on the phone or any time I had communicated with them via email.)
I decided to go over tonight and just pick the dadblasted thing up myself. I had just finished visiting their site to see how late they closed (8 pm) when the phone rang - it was the local FedEx.
She said her coworker had called earlier and wasn’t sure what I’d been told, but that she could send the package to a more convenient FedEx location.
:eek: I was surprised. I certainly wasn’t aware there were any that were closer. (If so, why didn’t it go there instead of this other place, hm?)
Turns out this place is about half as far way. They’re sending it there tonight, and when I get done work I can go pick it up. Won’t be nearly as bad as a 30-min. drive.