Some Fedex Complaints From Customers

[Devilwin]

I am a supervisor and although I do run a route, I arrive early to sign settlements and check out service mail, which is mainly complaints from disgruntled customers.
Many are legitimate, but some are just downright unbelievable. Here are a few gems from this week:

Customer said her package was chewed up by her dogs. Package was left where she had told our guy to leave it, no previous issues.

Customer said her child saw a picture of the enclosed toy on the box, ruining his Christmas.

Customer called to complain the driver didn't make another attempt after seven at night. ( He had been there twice during the day)

Customer complained her package was left in the rain in a plastic bag, and she accidentally threw it in the trash! (We bag packages to keep them dry)

Customer said driver didn't wait on her to get to the door, just left her package, rang her bell, and left. (Standard procedure, at least he rang the bell)

Customer said driver refused to let his 13 year old son sign for a case of wine.

Sometimes we get packages that shippers pack poorly. Something happens, guess who gets blamed??
Look at this Amazon package.package.jpg
We repacked it...

[CameronBornAndBred]

Customer said driver refused to let his 13 year old son sign for a case of wine.

How did either of them know it was wine? Did he see a picture? Was this the same kid that had his Christmas ruined?

[DukieInKansas]

How did either of them know it was wine? Did he see a picture? Was this the same kid that had his Christmas ruined?

If it was FedEx Ground from WTSO, it says alcohol on the box.

[DukieInKansas]

Of course, that is just a wild guess. :-D

[brevity]

"No ice? You mean I gotta drink this coffee hot?"

Customers are the worst. Can't correct them, can't kill them. After what only feels like a lifetime dealing with them, I have become a much better customer to others. People in the line of service don't have to be friendly, or even decent. They just have to be competent. If I get upset, then someone really had to screw up.

[Devilwin]

How did either of them know it was wine? Did he see a picture? Was this the same kid that had his Christmas ruined?

We have a standard label which states the package contains alcohol, and must be signed for by an adult over 21.
Also, it must be signed for by a person residing at the home, or a relative.
People like these in these "complaints" are in the minority, most customers are nice folks and appreciate what we do, especially this time of year.
The last two days we broke records for volume. And, our hub's drivers delivered 99.8% of the packages on time. Considering what we had, that was a herculean effort! Kudos to the folks at the K-Vegas hub! Our hub takes over from Raleigh at Burlington, goes to the Virginia line, Mt Airy to the north, Mocksville to the west, and Troy to the south. Servicing the cities of Greensboro, Winston Salem,High Point, Burlington, Graham, Thomasville, Mt Airy, King, and all the rural areas in between.
Friday, 43000 packages came in. Yesterday, 46000 arrived. Most of the drivers in the big city routes had between 150 - 250 stops each of those days.
But we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Things should trickle down now. Christmas Eve should be light..(fingers crossed,lol)

[Indoor66]

We have a standard label which states the package contains alcohol, and must be signed for by an adult over 21.
Also, it must be signed for by a person residing at the home, or a relative.
People like these in these "complaints" are in the minority, most customers are nice folks and appreciate what we do, especially this time of year.
The last two days we broke records for volume. And, our hub's drivers delivered 99.8% of the packages on time. Considering what we had, that was a herculean effort! Kudos to the folks at the K-Vegas hub! Our hub takes over from Raleigh at Burlington, goes to the Virginia line, Mt Airy to the north, Mocksville to the west, and Troy to the south. Servicing the cities of Greensboro, Winston Salem,High Point, Burlington, Graham, Thomasville, Mt Airy, King, and all the rural areas in between.
Friday, 43000 packages came in. Yesterday, 46000 arrived. Most of the drivers in the big city routes had between 150 - 250 stops each of those days.
But we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Things should trickle down now. Christmas Eve should be light..(fingers crossed,lol)

You guys to an Outstanding job. Congratulations and kudos for excellence. The few mix-ups and errors pale when compared to others - like the USPS!

[weezie]

Last week, FedEx came up the driveway in rain and fog at 8:30pm. Unfailingly polite drivers and helpers. I really appreciate you men and women!

[nocilla]

Last week, FedEx came up the driveway in rain and fog at 8:30pm. Unfailingly polite drivers and helpers. I really appreciate you men and women!

We regularly get packages from UPS between 8:00 and 8:30 at night. I don't know if that is our driver's regular route or if he is stopping on his way home or what. He is always nice though. We don't mind it but I thought it was weird the first couple times. My wife even plans for it sometimes and has a bag of cookies or something the kids made for him.

[bjornolf]

My son needed an extra long VGA cable for his school presentation today. I ordered it December 15th Amazon Prime 2 day. They said guaranteed by the 16th. On the 16th it said it had been delivered to the USPS office in my town by FedEx and would be delivered by Dec. 18th. It has said out for delivery since then. Still don't have it. Amazon very kindly refunded my money. Fat lotta good that does my son's grade.

So, my question is, how come MOST of my Amazon Prime packages are delivered by FedEx or UPS, but some get delivered to my post office for them to deliver?

[Devilwin]

They must have sent it SmartPost. That's where the USPS takes it the last mile. I personally do not like that service, because I would rather have my customer's stuff in my own hands, rather than depend on them. I am not certain of the criteria of what goes to SmartPost, but it may be because of a volume issue. Next time insist on Fedex Home Delivery, avoid the USPS. I am waiting on two packages myself from the Panthers' Store. Been stuck in NYC for five days. Today we get a delivery date of the 26th (my birthday, lol). Ordered these items November 26th. USPS, of course..lol
Sorry, I shouldn't say that. They work like dogs too this time of year, and usually do a good job.
Sorry your son's package got delayed..

[sue71, esq]

Ugh I cannot stand when companies use Smartpost! I always (mentally) tack another week on to the estimated delivery because the USPS part takes so long, for whatever reason.

Note that when my packages have been delivered via Smartpost, I did not select quick/urgent/guaranteed delivery. However, I also have not been notified prior to ordering that the delivery would be via Smartpost. I've only found out once I received either an order or delivery confirmation. So there's that.

[Devilwin]

It seems to be a volume issue, along with size (small), and SmartPost and the UPS version Surepost are cheaper than ground. Also, it takes packages that have po box addresses and many rural areas. But if it were me, I'd ask if they didn't offer you a choice.

[bjornolf]

Okay, but I pay a lot of money for Amazon Prime, and when they promise it'll be there in two days and it's late, that really makes me angry. If they know this happens, they shouldn't promise two day then send it with that method.

[Devilwin]

They should not use Smartpost or Surepost for Prime customers, agreed. It's got a lot to do with the USPS Sunday delivery thing as well. Plus, the shipping companies infrastructure has not grown enough to meet the growing demands of e-commerce. In the end, it's human beings making the deliveries, and they can only do so much.
We need to get real and hire more full time help. Remember Christmas 2013? Lots of presents didn't make it under the tree, mainly from UPS AIR, but Fedex Express Overnight had some too. The shipping companies were blamed, but the truth was, vendors accepted shipments past the cut-off dates, bad weather grounded several planes, and procrastinators overloaded the systems, resulting in the delays..

[Jeffrey]

When I buy anything fragile, worth more than $1,000, I insist it be shipped FedEx! I have refused to buy fragile items when the shipper insisted on shipping UPS. Our local UPS group abuses packages, frequently in front of us. They'll come into our building and drop a package, on hard tile, from 3 feet in the air. When politely asked not to, they ignore our receptionists and do it again. Clearly, they have no pride in their work.

What I can't figure out is why Amazon uses UPS? Does FedEx refuse to match their price? Every time Amazon asks why I'm returning a damaged package, I write, "UPS sucks! Why do you use them?". Of course, I'll probably never get a response, but it guarantees Amazon takes back my return. Amazon must be losing substantial money from all the damaged returns caused from shipping UPS.

[Devilwin]

When I buy anything fragile, worth more than $1,000, I insist it be shipped FedEx! I have refused to buy fragile items when the shipper insisted on shipping UPS. Our local UPS group abuses packages, frequently in front of us. They'll come into our building and drop a package, on hard tile, from 3 feet in the air. When politely asked not to, they ignore our receptionists and do it again. Clearly, they have no pride in their work.

What I can't figure out is why Amazon uses UPS? Does FedEx refuse to match their price? Every time Amazon asks why I'm returning a damaged package, I write, "UPS sucks! Why do you use them?". Of course, I'll probably never get a response, but it guarantees Amazon takes back my return. Amazon must be losing substantial money from all the damaged returns caused from shipping UPS.

Amazon uses UPS, Fedex, and the USPS. We get tons of their stuff every day.
Thanks for your vote of confidence, but we sometimes have items get damaged too. It's really unavoidable when you handle millions of packages every day like we do.
But we do try hard to get your package to you in good condition.
Tomorrow is my last Christmas Eve working there. Retiring in August. To be frank, not gonna miss Christmas one bit, lol. In fact, now I will be able to enjoy it for a change!

[budwom]

When I buy anything fragile, worth more than $1,000, I insist it be shipped FedEx! I have refused to buy fragile items when the shipper insisted on shipping UPS. Our local UPS group abuses packages, frequently in front of us. They'll come into our building and drop a package, on hard tile, from 3 feet in the air. When politely asked not to, they ignore our receptionists and do it again. Clearly, they have no pride in their work.

What I can't figure out is why Amazon uses UPS? Does FedEx refuse to match their price? Every time Amazon asks why I'm returning a damaged package, I write, "UPS sucks! Why do you use them?". Of course, I'll probably never get a response, but it guarantees Amazon takes back my return. Amazon must be losing substantial money from all the damaged returns caused from shipping UPS.

Well, our local FedEx driver enjoys leaving packages several hundred yards away from our home nested in snowbanks because he's habitually too lazy to actually drive down our
rather modest, plowed and clearly marked driveway...the point being there are lazy drivers to be found at all the major delivery companies. I wouldn't make any generalizations about UPS vs FedEx based on
my experience.

[Jeffrey]

Well, our local FedEx driver enjoys leaving packages several hundred yards away from our home nested in snowbanks because he's habitually too lazy to actually drive down our
rather modest, plowed and clearly marked driveway...the point being there are lazy drivers to be found at all the major delivery companies. I wouldn't make any generalizations about UPS vs FedEx based on
my experience.

I think it's what we've both said, "local UPS" and "local FedEx". I assume regional management has different expectations, demands, goals, etc. of what their employees' accomplish. Our local FedEx is awesome and our local UPS sucks, so I insist on FedEx. I've never noticed anywhere near the disparity anywhere else I have resided.

Thanks, your response certainly explains why Amazon does not work exclusively with FedEx. As you point out, they have their share of lame employees also. Fortunately, I have not met them.

[Devilwin]

Well, our local FedEx driver enjoys leaving packages several hundred yards away from our home nested in snowbanks because he's habitually too lazy to actually drive down our
rather modest, plowed and clearly marked driveway...the point being there are lazy drivers to be found at all the major delivery companies. I wouldn't make any generalizations about UPS vs FedEx based on
my experience.

Report him. That's not acceptable at all.