For the last nine years we’ve been dealing with a lazy FedEx driver(s). We live out in the country and have a long driveway, but a moving van, UPS, and several other large vehicles had no problem coming down it.
In the last nine years we, and our neighbors, some of whom DON’T have long driveways, have been getting packages left at the end of the driveway, were everyone can see it and its out in the elements, hidden behind things (trees, trashcans, rocks) and even TIED to things (mailbox, tree branch, fencepost).
They’ve left things at the top of the driveway even on days were we and our neighbors are home. We, and several other people, have complained multiple times. They promise to stop, but they never do.
I also live in the sticks. But our issue is snow 6 months out of the year. I don’t even ask them to come.
I used to get packages delivered to work. Easy peasy. But now, they know works USPS box number, so they often just take it to the post office (this is new). Depends on the kind of shipping you get. Often, you don’t know.
Well, I can’t be using my works PO box for personal stuff. It gets more complicated that we don’t get regular mail delivery either.
Screw it. I got a box at the UPS store in town. All shippers work with them. I can get furniture, just about anything shipped there. It stays secure and dry inside the store, and they email me when ever I get something. I highly recommend it. It’s taken all the confusion out of getting things shipped.
That sucks. I’ve never had anything but excellent service from FedEx.
Take photos to document the problem every time it happens. Keep complaining up the food chain, to a regional or national office. Other than that, I don’t know what you can do.
I agree with this pitting. USPS and UPS seem competent enough here but geeze, the Fed Ex hirees they send out.
Shit they have done include
Opening the gate that says BEWARE OF DOG, driving through, and leaving the package on the porch. Thank God that I was out hiking with said dog at the time. I had to put up an addendum to the sign that said, “Not Kidding about the Dog. Do Not Open This Gate”.
Guy who parked halfway up of our driveway (which is a few hundred feet long), got out, and hauled two incredibly heavy packages to the gate. It was an unassembled portable horse corral, seriously large. I walked out there and said, “why don’t you drive in, unload, and turn around?” (I had put the dogs up). He appeared to not hear me. He was either ashamed of not being able to back up and wanted to pretend he had planned this ridiculous compromise, was deaf, on drugs, didn’t speak english, or did not deign to speak to customers. Dunno.
Today the same thing happened – except this was a light package and a different guy. But the weird thing was there was no logo on the van. What gives with that?
Just a bit of clarification: FedEx Ground and FedEx Express are two separate companies that are owned by the the same corporation. Their operations are completely separate. Their packages are picked up by separate drivers and trucks and taken to separate depots. Yes, you can drop both off at FedEx Office (Kinko’s), but the packages are picked up from there by separate trucks. Their packages are delivered by separate trucks and drivers.
This is much different than UPS where the Air and Ground operations are integrated and the same driver may drop off your Air and Ground packages.
So when one person says “FedEx is great” and another person says “FedEx sucks,” they may be talking about two separate companies. If you have a complaint, you may want to specifically identify which company you are talking about.
What you could do is install a weatherproof box next to your mailbox, big enough to handle the size of packages you commonly order. Label it so delivery drivers know it is for their use. That will keep your packages out of the elements, and out of the sight of possible thieves.
True, that’s some minor expense for you, but it will probably solve the problem more than just making complaints to the delivery company.
Many (most?) of the delivery drivers for both UPS & both FedEx’s are now independent subcontractors, not employees. That means they often own their own truck, and may or may not pay the extra to get it painted in UPS/FedEx colors.
They are often effectively paid piecework, not hourly. They have required quotas or routes to finish in a day, and don’t get paid more no matter how long it takes. And those often take more than an 8-hour day to complete – the drivers are very rushed to make their requirements. So that’s why you so often hear of drivers dumping packages at the door and running back to their truck, not waiting for you to answer the door: they don’t have time to do that. Or time to drive all the way up your long driveway.
And because of these high ‘performance standards’, there is a fair amount of turnover in the drivers. Either they find that they are losing money at this subcontracting deal, or they count up their hours and realize that their actual hourly pay is about the same as “would-you-like-fries-with-that?” at McDonalds/BurgerKing/etc. So that’s why you so often hear that complaining to the company office doesn’t fix it for long: soon it’s a new driver, who never heard about your special instructions/complaint.
Finally, many deliveries involve multiple companies: FedEx/Kinkos (a local franchise operation), FedEx corporate, and then a FedEx delivery subcontractor (or, especially in rural areas) a Post Office driver doing that last delivery. Any one of these inter-company handoffs can cause mistakes, and special instructions can quite easily be lost along the way.
In some ways, it’s really surprising how quickly & cheaply deliveries are made, and how small the percentage of error is,
Is there a clear line of site from the road to your house?
In other words: Is it obvious to the guy driving the truck; should he venture down that long driveway, is there a space down there that he can turn around and EASILY get out?
Last month, I had my hellish dealings with FedEx. I’d ordered a tablet, and it turns out it required a signature. They left a sticker on the door that said they’d deliver the next day (Thursday.) As it happened, my husband was going to be home that day, so no problem. Except they never showed up.
I checked the website and it had been changed to Friday by end of day delivery. I was off on Friday. They never showed. That’s when I started making phone calls and sending emails. I was promised calls back (never came) and I got an email saying they’d deliver the next Tuesday (I work for a living - I can’t be taking off in the hopes that the delivery will be made.) They told me I could come pick it up - yeah, I’m going to drive about 50 miles one way…
I tried to request they deliver to my work - but that had to be done thru the seller, so I dispatched an email to them asking for help. Then, shortly after 5 on Saturday afternoon, the tablet was delivered. The delivery guy said he couldn’t find my house on Friday for some reason. I’m pretty sure it hadn’t moved or anything.
Anyway, I emailed FedEx again to say it had finally arrived, and I told the seller I’d gotten my tablet. Never heard word one back from FedEx. But I did leave a review at the FedEx distribution center from which it had been delivered. I was far from the first to complain about their horrible service.
Many Yahrin ago, my job at a bio-phama company was to configure and install new systems. I had to ban Fed-Ex from delivering to us, as the 20" tube displays kept arriving in spheres, not cubes.
The idiots at the loading dock kept signing for them, despite failed rattle tests, and parts ejection. I put things into perspective for my boss when I pointed out they also signed for the radio-isotopes.:eek:
Fedex seems a few notches lower then UPS. I usually get UPS or USPS (which also is UPS smartpost), which I know what to expect. Fedex is a random crapshoot with regards to delivery time, location and quality. I don’t like Fedex.
Fedex isn’t terrible in my area, but they keep sending different drivers and different trucks. One day it will be a Penske box truck, the next day an Enterprise van, the next a Fedex truck. This is a rural area, you’d think they could assign one or two drivers to the route so the customers could get some consistent service. As it is, Fedex shows up any time of the day up to 6:30 or later at night, and leaves packages in some random place. UPS and USPS are much more consistent.
If I can’t get it delivered to work, I have it sent to the UPS Store 2 blocks from home, regardless of the package carrier. I’ve learned the hard way not to have anything but mail delivered to my home address.
FedEx has the choice between the driver spending the time to drive all the way up your long driveway to put it on your front step, thus making you happy, or the driver completing the rest of his route in time, thus making all those other customers happy. Guess which one they’ll choose?
Sure, they’ll gladly put a note on the label. But they won’t worry much about it. The driver will get in a lot more trouble for failing to make his delivery quota for the route than he will for one fussy customer who complains about where the package is left. Just reality.
Fed Ex left a 100 pound desk on my porch (in a box unassembled) positioned in such a way so that the address label was on the bottom so I had to flip the fucking thing over to see that it should have gone to a house at the other end of the street. The correct number wan’t even close to mine (not a transposed digit or something). Rather then come back to fix it, I had to lug this heavy thing down to my neighbor to finish their delivery. Yeah fuck them.
I live in a large city, so maybe that has something to do with it. Seems like most of the serious complaints are from rural folks.
I’ve had no problem with FedEx. It helps that we have regular drivers (they change routes occasionally), who recognize me (by name!) when I’m out with my dogs. My only issue was when I was working and a package required a signature, if I missed them, I had to drive about 8 miles to pick it up (instead of the office a mile down the road).