On Friday July 19th of this year I purchased a Conrad Johnson GAT S1 from The Music Room. In the deal they agreed to pay for next day shipping via Fed-X to the company I run (not my home) because we have a receiving dock and a receiving team ready to sign for items arriving. My rationale for next day delivery vs ground is because there are fewer stops along the way with fewer changes of transports. So I thought. On Monday morning July 22nd the package was at my local Fed-X center and then on the truck for delivery between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. At 11:05 I checked and the Fed-X tracking stated that it had been delivered and signed for a by "W.Brown". Problem is, no such person works for me. I went to my receiving dept, ant indeed Fed-X Express had not been by and I did not have my package, even though Fed-X showed it as delivered. TMR was notified and Fed-X entered an investigation. After nothing for two days, miraculously a man showed up in our lobby with my package. He informed my receptionist that he works at a warehouse nearby and the Fed-X driver had dropped it off there with multiple other packages. Thanks to this good gentleman, my CJ GAT shoed up unopened, unmolested, safe and sound. The next day, Fed-X notified TMR that the package had been found. Lesson learned by me: Have packages held for me to pick up at the Fed-X distribution center two streets away from my company and do not let their drivers touch it.
Can You Trust a Shipper? (UPS, Fed-Ex, etc)
No you cannot, and here's why: In July, I bought a Rotel tuner from an ebay seller with a rating of 99.8% on hundreds of transactions. He shipped the tuner via UPS, who delivered the tuner to a business a few miles from my house. Someone from that business signed for my package (it is a warehouse that takes in merchandise from retailers that is being returned to the wholesaler from whence it came). It took several weeks to find this out, and I went to the business back around Labor Day to see what they had to say. I was allowed into the warehouse to do a cursory search for the package, but there must have been 4,000 - 5,000 boxes. PayPal denied a claim I had filed, because the tracking info the seller shared with them showed the package had been delivered. I went to the local UPS store today and was told that a claim had been filed by the seller with UPS and they would have reimbursed him. Moral of the story: Always have your signature required when you have anything shipped, unless you want to fall into this same black hole. Better yet, avoid having anything shipped unless it is from an actual retailer or other reputable company.