I thought about putting this in the Pit, but I’m not quite annoyed enough yet.
Question: Why do so many online merchants no longer specify which shipping provider they use to deliver their products? It used to be that I could order something online, and when I got to the shipping screen, I’d see a range of choices. For example:
Ground - USPS
Ground - UPS
2nd Day - UPS
Next Day - UPS
Now, I see:
Ground
2nd Day
Next Day
Or no choice at all. Even Amazon is no longer specifying the shipper. I just ordered a part for my car (not from Amazon, but an auto parts vendor), and was given no options at all for shipping, just the shipping cost. It wasn’t until I got the order confirmation e-mail that I learned that my order is being delivered by FedEx.
Given that I live in an apartment, I don’t want packages being left on my front porch. I’ve already had one incident where a neighbor’s 3-year-old son found and opened one of my packages that had been left by UPS (thank Og it was just some Pixar DVDs, and not the latest addition to my butt plug collection). And given that I work for a living, and live alone, there is typically nobody home during the hours that companies like FedEx and UPS deliver to residential addresses.
I would honestly prefer to have the option of selecting USPS, since most of what I order will easily fit into my locking mailbox. And I don’t understand the logic of using UPS or FedEx, companies that only make deliveries between 9AM and 5PM on weekdays, to deliver small packages to residential addresses during hours when the residents are probably not at home. If I wanted to make arrangements to come down the FedEx depot to pick the damn thing up myself, I would have simply spent my day off work driving around to every auto parts store in town trying to find this part (and given that the part in question is a relay that makes my car’s AC work, and it’s over 100° here this week, I DID NOT want to do that). I ordered online for the convenience of having the thing delivered to my home. But it’s hardly convenient when I’m not going to be home and the package is going to require a signature.
The “seller” may not be the one actually shipping the item. Quite often, online stores will sell stuff and have it shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer (or their provider). In that case, they may not know how it’ll be sent out
The seller may use different carriers for different areas or types of areas. (e.g. some carriers only operate in certain areas, others don’t service APO’s, etc).
One possible solution: call or email your top choices and ask if they provide USPS as a shipping option.
Fast affordable (often free) delivery is crucial for online shopping. Larger sellers (none moreso than Amazon) are able to efficiently ship products cheaply and quickly by setting up distribution centers throughout the country.
If you live a few hundred miles from one of their distribution centers, they can ship it ground (relatively cheaply) and still get it to you as 1 or 2 day shipping. If you don’t, they still have the option of sending it via air and getting it there on time for more money.
In other words, they’re letting you pick the detail that matters to (most people), how quick they get it and what price they pay, and maintaining their own flexibility where they need it, how it’s actually shipped.
Is it not possible to have stuff delivered to you at work? In the UK, where online shopping has taken off astronomically, we are seeing local stores that will accept parcels on the customer’s behalf. Easy to pop in and collect on the way home then.
Do you guys suffer from the delivery driver who sprints up the drive and shoves a “No one at home” note through the door without even knocking? Or the ones who just toss the parcel over the gate? Another awsome typical Yodel delivery - YouTube
It may be that the merchant changes shippers regularly as costs change. But in the situation in the OP, if you know that the item is being sent via Fedex, and you wait until the item is sent, you can usually get the tracking number on the merchant’s website. Once you have that, you can go to Fedex’s website and reroute the package. You can specify that it be held at the depot, for instance.
I had an experience in which FedEx tried once, left a card saying they had made the “final delivery” attempt. I tried calling the number on the card only to get into voice mail hell and they ended up disconnecting. I then called the merchant and, after I explained, they resent it (by USPS) and said that, in the future, if I wanted to specify the delivery service I should order over the phone, not online. They reshipped and I got it in a couple days. Several days later FedEx called me and asked what they should do with the undelivered package. I told them what they could do with it. I assume they returned it to the vendor,
It would be possible, but there are a whole bunch of hoops to jump through in order to have something delivered to an address that doesn’t match the billing address on the credit card. (For fraud-protection reasons.)
With UPS MY Choice you can get email when a package is sent to you and request to have your packages held at the depot (free) or rerouted to a UPS store or another address (your work, for example) ($5 per package or free with $40 annual premium membership).
With FedEx Delivery Manager you can reroute packages or have them held at FedEx Office locations (Kinko’s) many of which are open 24 hours for no charge. FedEx Home Delivery (not FedEx Express) also delivers on Saturday for no extra charge. Delivery Manager lets you reschedule the delivery date.
Here are instructions to get a free 6 month UPS My Choice trial courtesy of Office Depot.
I order a lot on the net. UPS my choice and FedEx delivery manager both work very well as mentioned by Alley Dweller. I’m retired and don’t have the upgraded version, but it’s nice getting the emails announcing incoming packages.
I’m not willing to pay for the UPS My Choice service. But I find that most merchants will either email the tracking number after shipping or provide it on their website. And using the tracking number, you can usually redirect the shipment for free.
Fed-Ex and UPS make big time sales efforts to get as much of the shipping business that is out there as they can. The prime goal of their sales people is to get businesses, large and small, to use their company as their primary shipper.
The rates these companies charge businesses are highly negotiable and highly negotiated. If a company negotiates a rate with Fed-Ex or UPS based on using them as their primary shipper - or even based on delivering a specified volume of sales - they then need to stop offering their customers a choice of shipper on the website. It will hinder them in steering the bulk of their shipments to one shipper in order to get that volume discount and in some cases they may be violating the terms of their deal by offering their customers a choice of shipper on-line.
Which is probably why the merchant above told this poster he had to call in the order if he wanted to use an alternate shipper.