Shipping services in America

TallTom

Registered
If we use shipping items as a barometer to America's health, we are having a massive stroke.

In the past 2 months, I have watched UPS, USPS and FedEx have had absolutely epic fails. Customer service doesn't let you talk to a human. On the rare chance you talk to a human they just look at the same info I do and essentially don't do s thing.

1st example. I had a UPS package enroute, signature required. With a date but not a time. So I scheduled no work and stayed home all day to receive it. It was absolutely obvious I was home. Music playing, garage door up. Doorbells are all working properly.

No package arrived.

There is orange label on the door. Sorry we missed you.

Now mind you I was here all day. Never left the property.

With instructions on the tag.

So I called them. I state, I was here. Took an entire day off work for it.

Well if you just sign the back, that I'll suffice for the signature requirements.

So I did
Next day, same tag with a 2nd entry. Sorry we missed you.

Call again....getting pissed now......oh you shouldn't have been told that, we have had a policy change...

Well the form says sign here........ Hold please I will hand you off to.......a recorded automated system.

Now I want to speak to my local dispatch office. No number. No address. The tracking info said the city it was located in. But no address. So I called the police dept to the city. Can you tell me where UPS is located? And they did.

Got in my car and drove there. Parked in the no parking zone, walked past the sign that says this is not open to the public. Specifically wore light clothing so anyone could see I wasn't armed.

Found a human!

Sir you're not allowed in here.

I want my package.....holding their tag up in the air

Sir it's not here. And you're not allowed here.

Well if it's not here and not at my address, we need to find it. Could it by chance be from a truck that will show up here at some point in your day? Tracking info says it came here......in 3rd grade level discussions.

Give us a second sir, we will find it.

Well what do ya know.....they can talk to the drivers on the trucks.

And just like that, a human being was capable of providing customer service. Here is where the truck is, can you meet it here? Wait....you want me to go to your truck to get my package? I thought the whole concept of paying you was so you would deliver it to me. Why can't they just go back to to the address and drop it off?

No sir it doesn't work that way. He would have to come back tomorrow and deliver it.

Fine I'll meet the truck. So now I have to haul arss to intercept him so he can stay on schedule.

So I hauled arss. The driver rolls up, goes and gets the package and hands it to me. Never once asked for an ID or my signature. Which was the whole reason he couldn't leave it at the door in the first place, because it was high value and people steal packages.

UPS just agreed to a workers contract where they get a fat raise and better working conditions.


Not let's move to the original American institution. The United States Postal Service. It's even a little twinge of pain just to write it.

Package was enroute with tracking info and estimated delivery. Except it didn't. The tracking data shows it coming to my post office literally a mile from my house at 4A on the day it was to be delivered. Then it shows it being sent to Jacksonville, Fla. What in the effin H is going on here? With new tracking info stating, sorry but if you don't receive it by the 27th, let us know. So I went that mile to my post office. What the effin H is going on here? How can it come to this building, you deliver everyday mail to my mailbox, and you can't find me. Further why Jacksonville?

Crazy.

Now my favorite. FedEx. Sender sends me tracking info. The actual picture of shipping label. For 3 days it shows as not being picked up by FedEx. I reach out to sender. FedEx cancelled the shipment according to him. Why? Because one of the 3 packages was oversized and all 3 were cancelled by driver.

So I get a new tracking # in day 4. An actual picture of it in the box. It states in tag day of scheduled pick up.

That tracking # again sits for 3 days as not in system. I call the sender.

It's not here. They picked it up.

Hey look at the tracking info, it says they haven't received them.

Well it isn't here. It was picked up. So I call FedEx and provide tracking number. All automated. Automated response was.....we don't have it. So I find a number to a human. Sorry I can only go by tracking info. We don't have it.

Not...let me check. Not somethings gone wrong. Not this doesn't makes sense to me as a human working for FedEx.

4 days later....finally it shows as received at FedEx! Troubles are over right?

They provide an estimated delivery. And you can watch it progress.

And it suddenly shows as awaiting package again. With no estimated date. With a note that states, there is a problem with your shipment, we can't establish a date at this point. And that doesn't change for 2 days. Sender says he physically does not have it, shipper says they don't have it, and I know I don't have it. And nobody on either end, can talk to a human.

Then I show up home after work in a day full of rain to a box sitting outside by my garage door soaking wet. Mind you I have a covered front entrance that greets you as you approach my house.

No notice of delivery of package sent to me. I look at the tracking info and it skipped from awaiting package to delivered, with all of the individual steps missing.

Thank goodness the sender packaged it well and everything was wrapped in plastics.

Amazon is going to take over the movement of packages across America. They get it here on time. Sometimes ahead of schedule. And you can talk to a human when needed.
 
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Never had an issue here....I get notices that a package will be delivered by a certain time on a certain day and it arrives on schedule time and time again....

Perhaps I'm just lucky....

But if we go on about service.....calling a service provider that has their people working from home is a nightmare....twice I've had to ask the person to repeat themselves because either a dog is barking or a kid is yelling in the background.......and more than once I provided updated information only to find out on another call on another day that this information wasn't updated....

I called our insurance company to add the wife's Edge the other day and it took me 5 minutes to get through all the pre-call stuff....as I was listening to the animated rambling I could only think about if I was on the side of the road reporting a crash....

This working from home for the service industry is a farce...
 
Never had an issue here....I get notices that a package will be delivered by a certain time on a certain day and it arrives on schedule time and time again....

Perhaps I'm just lucky....

But if we go on about service.....calling a service provider that has their people working from home is a nightmare....twice I've had to ask the person to repeat themselves because either a dog is barking or a kid is yelling in the background.......and more than once I provided updated information only to find out on another call on another day that this information wasn't updated....

I called our insurance company to add the wife's Edge the other day and it took me 5 minutes to get through all the pre-call stuff....as I was listening to the animated rambling I could only think about if I was on the side of the road reporting a crash....

This working from home for the service industry is a farce...
Wait til it goes overseas to the Philippines or India.

They speak English more goodly.
 
Not specifically a shipping issue, but a sharable story:
ordered a rear tire for the dirt bike from Revzilla. Arrived timely enough but wrong diameter. Found a Revzilla ph# to call and (wow!) actually spoke to a human who not only fixed the error but added a credit to the refunded amount. Then I received yet another credit via email. A Kenda K760 Trackmaster ended up costing me <$20 US OTD. Naturally, they are currently out of stock. But I liked the fact that they fessed up and rewarded me for their mistake.

FWIW also learned that Revzilla, CycleGear and J&P Cycles are owned by one company: Comoto Holdings.
 
Not specifically a shipping issue, but a sharable story:
ordered a rear tire for the dirt bike from Revzilla. Arrived timely enough but wrong diameter. Found a Revzilla ph# to call and (wow!) actually spoke to a human who not only fixed the error but added a credit to the refunded amount. Then I received yet another credit via email. A Kenda K760 Trackmaster ended up costing me <$20 US OTD. Naturally, they are currently out of stock. But I liked the fact that they fessed up and rewarded me for their mistake.

FWIW also learned that Revzilla, CycleGear and J&P Cycles are owned by one company: Comoto Holdings.
Yes I've used RevZilla. They aren't the cheapest. But they know their chyt and do have humans paid to support customers.
 
Ups (in my experience) literally just a meat (box?) grinder

Things usually go right but if they don’t, oh well it happens. I did work there many years ago, and saw first hand how bad it can be.

Just recently I had a box that was repacked by ups while enroute and they left some stuff out but never told me or the sender that it got repackaged. Luckily it was something big that I could tell I was missing one or I never would’ve known.
 
I recently ordered a set of Ohlins forks , from Italy , sent express UPS to Australia . The tracking was showing the forks had landed , and then switched over to another courier , which said expect delivery on Tuesday 21st Nov. . Well I found the AU$ 4.5K + duty... box on my front doorstep late afternoon 17th Fri . when I was closing up .
I have had 2 other issues with Fedex as well , purchased from Brocks . 1st was sent AU $7K BST wheels , and 2nd another package with AU $5K exhaust + kit . I came home to find the BST 's sitting on my front doorstep , and then the 2nd package , I was home and caught the courier walking off after dropping off at my doorstep . Both Fedex was top level express with signature initially paid for with deal . My latest 2 sets of BST wheels have been sourced from AU distributor , just to take that worry out of the deal .
 
I recently ordered a set of Ohlins forks , from Italy , sent express UPS to Australia . The tracking was showing the forks had landed , and then switched over to another courier , which said expect delivery on Tuesday 21st Nov. . Well I found the AU$ 4.5K + duty... box on my front doorstep late afternoon 17th Fri . when I was closing up .
I have had 2 other issues with Fedex as well , purchased from Brocks . 1st was sent AU $7K BST wheels , and 2nd another package with AU $5K exhaust + kit . I came home to find the BST 's sitting on my front doorstep , and then the 2nd package , I was home and caught the courier walking off after dropping off at my doorstep . Both Fedex was top level express with signature initially paid for with deal . My latest 2 sets of BST wheels have been sourced from AU distributor , just to take that worry out of the deal .
Thankfully we don't have porch pirates here in our neighborhood...

Amazon use contract delivery people who are a bit sketchy and it is hit and miss if they ring the bell or knock when they deliver a package.....they always take a picture of the package on the step though.

I generally say thank you to them as they walk away when I get the package.....just to let them know I was there.
 
I live in Englishtown Nova Scotia Canada
ordered a pair of Polk Rti a9 tower speaker for a sweet deal from a dealer in Las Vegas
75 lbs per speaker unboxed weight
seller ships Fed ex
all's well and good till the speakers hit customs in Montreal
several days delay
Fed Ex Montreal figures a mistake has been made
even though
my country Canada
my province Nova Scotia
and my Postal code
is clearly indicated on the shipping label
Fed Ex Montreal sends them to
Englishtown New Jersey
several days in customs
New Jersey sends 'em back to Montreal
several days in customs
well a mistake has been made
ok they go for a second trip to New Jersey
several days in customs
New jersey sends then back again
several days in customs
Montreal gets them, reads in English the complete destination
and they arrive two weeks later at my doorstep.
looking like the boxes had been dragged up the beach at D-Day
LOL
fortunately they were packed well and there was no damage.

cheers
ken
 
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