I'm trusting FedEx/ UPS less by the day

The part I like is when the weight limit is 100lb and the part being delivered is 95 pounds. I can lift 100lb pretty easy, while I’m looking at a box van full of 3-30 pound packages. A sub is heavy, but fragile? It’s a SUB. :-)

I was helping out a buddy install a diesel engine for the tractor pulls. We use a pair of OHM subs to set the front tires on and strapped the tires to them. I don’t know what it weighed but an 8-V 92 with an Allison automatic is 3 tons or close. Those subs were "fragile" LOL Kinda like Mike Tyson fragile.

I looked at the subs after we were done. They never stopped playing for one and there were a couple hundred small stones embedded in the bottoms of the boxes. He just laughed an said "it added character". You could see he had done it a few times.

That was one neat 49 Studebaker Pick up..

O man...I'm awaiting a sub via UPS. It's already late.

This should be fun.

Fed ex used to bring the stuff I ordered to my front doorstep and not ring the door bell. For the last two orders they delivered, they didn't even make it the front doorstep--they deposited it the orders in front of my garage.  (I guess because it is an attached garage and the orders were, after all, from Rockauto.)

@immatthewj 

I too have an attached garage. I also have a covered  front porch. I can't tell you how many times the UPS guy has left a package in front of the garage. I suppose it saves the 30 steps or so. One time I was expecting a tablet and happened to see the delivery guy walk to the garage and put the package there. It was the tablet of course. It had already rained and we were expecting more so it was very overcast. I went outside and told him that this needed to be put on the covered porch.. He became frustrated as he brought it to me and said he thought it would be alright there because it was covered. Yeah, there is a 16" overhang 2 stories in the air above the garage. IOW, he added stupid to  lazy on his resume . But that is what many employers face today.

'nuff said.

All the best,
Nonoise

I am home quite a bit of the time, but anymore they never ring the bell.  I generally find out something has been delivered when I check my email.

And those Amazon delivery drivers?  Their driving is going to kill people.

I try to buy things that do not have to be shipped far to try and minimize the risk of shipping damage which may well have become more of a problem in recent years. So many businesses struggle to do things well anymore in that there is a shortage of reliable labor in general. We have a local Brand new Starbucks that only has its drive through open half the time due to labor shortage. Even then it’s common orders come out wrong. Chick filet is fully open but also struggles to get simple orders right.

I've been using Fedex very heavily at work for the past 20 years, and when delivering to hospitals and academic institutions Fedex is very dependable, and they are doing an incredible job. 

Yet, even 20 years ago, all the audio items I got delivered by Fedex were damaged, and ruined... the worst being my CD player, that arrived damaged by Fedex, and when I returned it, they left it by the front door of the seller (against explicit instructions from seller), and it was stolen. I ended up having delivered all audo purchases to my workplace, and there was never a SINGLE hiccup with that. Domestic deliveries - 100% of electronics items arrived damaged.

Their system is massively overloaded. But same is true for every carrier. We ship more stuff than available shipping capacity to carry out the shipping properly. Times are hard on everyone.

Bottom line: whatever you ship, TRIPLE PACKAGE IT.

I heard Fedex and UPS are merging.  The new company will be called Fed-Up.

Seriously, I don't trust either company either.  Recently I ordered a headphone amp from a seller in Texas shipped by Fedex Ground that required a direct signature and followed it across the country.  It then showed it being delivered to my address but someone else had signed for it and the driver did not reconcile the signature with the intended recipient.  Luckily the wrong recipient saw my name and address and delivered it to my home.  When I filed a complaint with Fedex the driver lied about delivering it to me and about my address.  Never again will I use them.

A few weeks ago the Fed Ex guy dropped off a big styrofoam cooler with Omaha Steaks…..   they weren’t mine.   I love steak…. It’s so good, but I did the right thing and brought the steaks to my neighbor a few streets over .   I really believe in karma,  that week my preamp was on its way back from California, via Fed Ex….

There's an easy way to avoid all this

There's an easy way to avoid all this

Quit eating Omaha Steaks?

I redirect any high value shipments to a FedEx hold/drop location. I have a Walgreens close by that is a drop location. Worth the 15 minute round trip for piece of mind. So far so good. 

I was in freight  and trucking  for over 40 years, even worked as temp. for UPS. All I can say is triple box it. Then crate it and  strap it to a pallet when possible. Stickers of fragile or this side up mean nothing at all. You can bet your  equipment is going to travel upside down on its side no matter who you use. You can bet if its heavy it will be rolled or slid across a dock on to a truck. Boxes fall off the conveyor belts all the time. any where from a 2ft- 4ft fall.

OVER KILL PACKING A MUST

How about fedex neglecting to pick up at a fedex box for 3 weekdays in a row without notice and then promising to rush the delivery and failing to do so?

I want to thank all of y’all that have had such bad luck with UPS, FedEx, USPS, or any of the other alphabet soups of agencies.

It’s the rare package or shipment that arrives damaged in any fashion.

I guess the luck is due to our ’live/work situation’, where we know our ’daily drivers’ pick-up and delivery routines, and are able to meet them in person. Since we’ve got a number of items incoming, know when to expect them and from who and by whom.

Our ’personal packages’ are part of the flow, and everything gets the same treatment.

It helps being next to a high-profile pottery (45$ for a coffee mug....Yes, One.).

The exceptions: OTR truck deliveries of some of the large items we use and/or install. The packaging on pallets can be iffy...holes allowing hardware to ’escape’, pallets on the verge of disintegration, exposed edges and ends with scrapes or dings. Worse is the boxes of galvanized chain marked ’OVERWEIGHT’ and treated as such...

But our ’lightweight’ (in contrast) personal’ stuff....no issues. *S*

(The ’lost’ stuff gets replaced ’Next Day’ generally when we call it in....)

There’s always a place on the outgoing and incoming forms where one can note ’Arrived Damaged’ AFTER you open the box and Look @ It.

The driver Must Wait while you do.

The driver has a name tag; if they say they’ve got to go, you can object.

Take pictures, note time/date/where/whom.

If dropped off and left, same routine.

Don’t open the package if damaged and dropped off without driver contact; this is considered ’acceptance by addressee’, signature or not.

If you feel screwed, Don’t continue to drive it in.

Yours for better, J

If Ace V. showed up @ my door, he'd not only get to sit in the hall while I made a call, he could open that box with bare hands and inspect the shipped items as well for me....

Nothing like ones' blood on their PDA to remind them to be consistent.

I have had so many issues with FedEx I will no longer purchase anything that’s  using FedEx as the delivery. UPS has been good so far and great luck with USPS. 

I have had so many issues with FedEx I will no longer purchase anything that’s using FedEx as the delivery. UPS has been good so far and great luck with USPS. 

Carriers can be careless and sometimes stupid.

But responsibility lies with the manufacturer.  Original packaging must be engineered to take what the shippers hand out.  After that, if the packaging fails and the item is damaged, the manufacturer should carry full insurance cover, so that a replacement will be supplied to the buyer cost free.

Step forward Krell (as under D'Agostini).  My reference monoblocs each came in a heavy timber crate fitted to a premium quality pallet below.

Step backward Martin Logan.  The original packaging on my CLX References was made of cardboard and was abandoned not fit for purpose after three transits.  Shame on ML, these are $40,000 speakers weighing 100kg each.  You CAN'T put 100kg in cardboard.

I stopped using FedEx when I checked on a preamp delivery and it was marked as delivered but wasn’t.  I called FedEx and was told that late in the day drivers might mark something as delivered when they plan to deliver it the next day.  Since I paid for 2-day delivery, I was not happy.  My conversation with FedEx did not go well.

The next day, still no delivery.  I called FedEx again.  Support said they would contact the driver. Later that day, a lady in our development rang my doorbell.  She delivered my $7K preamp. FedEx did deliver it on the right day, but to the wrong house.  I never did hear back from FedEx support.

I’ve been pretty lucky with UPS and have had zero problems with the USPS.  

Just yesterday FedEx was stupid enough to send me a customer satisfaction survey. I rated them zero in every department. Things were fine before and during the height of the pandemic. (For every shipment of sensitive electronics gear I receive 25 of overnight perishables). Since then, you pay for overnight and NEVER get it; you check the website and all tracking information is ludicrously false. FedEx had cornered the market on overnight fresh food deliveries and was doing  a crackerjack job. Then the bottom fell out and now UPS is making inroads. Hardly great, but better than FedEx.

That said, everyone is right about low pay and lousy treatment of drivers. Many of them don't care, and understandably so. But my troubles have been upstream, in the Newark-to-Memphis and Newark-to-Indianapolis routes -- air transit and regional distribution centers. Can't blame that part on drivers, but maybe upstream employees are treated no better and good workers have vanished on all levels.

A few packing issues. Never a shipping issue. I had two packages sent to the wrong address because the seller put the wrong address on the package.

If it's close to 75lb or very expensive, it goes freight. No exceptions. I've strapped a few preamps to pallets with enough stickers to turn the box RED!

Just had to add my two cents to this one!

I've never had ANY problem with UPS or AMAZON deliveries and only one or two with USPS, which was quickly and effectively redressed. FedEx, on the other hand, is a raging disaster of a company, in my area anyway!

My brother-in-law recently had a pair of small floor-standers delivered by FedEx. He had home security camera video footage of the numbnut carrying the boxes (around 40 to 45 lbs. a piece) over his shoulders to the front porch and flip-dropping them to the ground at the front door. Fortunately, only the exterior box/packaging was damaged. He lodged a complaint with FedEx, nonetheless. Don't these bozos have dollies or hand-trucks in their delivery vans? Haven't they ever heard of the concept "don't work hard; work smart"?

My last 3 deliveries via FedEx were an 800-dollar laptop, 1200-dollar laptop and something considerably less expensive. The 800-dollar laptop was left or thrown in the brush at the foot of my 200-foot driveway. The 1200-dollar laptop was left on the ground in front of my neighbor's barn, directly across from my driveway, the evening before a snowstorm. My address is clearly marked by a metal pole with a big red number on it right at the foot of my driveway! The package of considerably less value was, similarly, dropped or thrown in the brush at the foot of my driveway.  Any one or all of these packages could easily have been seen and stolen by people driving by.

ALL of our UPS, Amazon and USPS deliveries are placed on our porch, out of the elements! On two occasions, when a UPS driver didn't want to risk driving up our rather steep driveway in the snow, s/he actually walked it up and placed it on our porch! I never thought of it at the time (shame on me!) but, if this happens again, I will do everything I can to find out who that person is and reward them with a generous tip!

Another horror story, this time courtesy of UPS.  I had a pair of monitor speakers that used a pair of nicely built stands made of plaster and lead bars.  I shipped both sets double-boxed and got a call from the buyer who asked me to report the stands damaged.  When I got them back the boxes looked somewhat damaged but I was shocked at the contents:  white powder and lead bars, no exaggeration.  I spent time trying to estimate at what height they were dropped to disintegrate those stands.

So my sub arrived today. I saw the UPS guy coming and went to the door. He already put it down before I got there. He was very gentle with it and then offered to bring it into the house.

The sub itself was fine. The seller shipped with the grill attached and the jostling broke off the plastic pegs. Not a major deal and I can work around it. It's on the seller, not the delivery.

Ups at least delivered day they said...although they did’nt put out for delivery just to keep you guessing... but said friday delivery...sure enough 7:15 pm...heard truck pull up.As far as the rolling packages...I heard truck pull up once and was taking delivery of amp/cd player $.Sure enough down the stairs it rolled right onto street.Man i was steamed running out there retrieve it quick!...The area delivery driver was a real arse with major tude.

Hello,

I have been shipping with FedEx and UPS for almost 20 years with high end car and home audio. I always use factory packing because these manufacturer companies got it right and have had many countless experiences compared to us as consumers. If the factory box doesn’t look up to par, then I order a new one. Let me tell you. In the past couple of years, FedEx and UPS has gotten sloppy. Don’t put this on customers, put it on the company’s that handle your shipping. I am currently involved with a claim that has lasted almost 4 Months and have spoken or emailed with several people. The come up with various excuses and have shady excuses even when you follow everything to a T. I shipped to a friend a McIntosh McIntosh MHT100 in mint condition that was even cleaned and gone over by George Meyers (an authorized McIntosh service center). It was packed in a authorized McIntosh box made for the unit where it is even screwed down to the bottom of the board for security and protection. Just like it is shown on the diagram of their inner floating box. Due to glass panels, McIntosh does an excellent job of describing how to ship and pack their items. Those who own McIntosh knows this to be true. Those who don’t, well, you don’t! As FedEx parks in front of my friends house to deliver the packages, (understand McIntosh boxes are quite large and really sometimes require 2 people to handle it due to its size. McIntosh emphasize this) my friend runs outside and said do you need any help. The driver said no, I got it as he drops the unit on its side. My friend opened the unit after the driver drove off and finds the glass shattered. Thank goodness George Meyers was able to sell me their last MHT100 glass as they are extremely on back order for at least 6-12 months. In this case, don’t blame the person who packed the item, blame the person and the company who mishandled the item. The unit was even packed in 3 boxes with arrows from FedEx that tells you how the item faces up and stickers all over that said fragile. All FedEx products. No excuses. In my case, don’t tell me or McIntosh about packing, I think they do a great job considering what they are packing. McIntosh owners know this. My final thoughts and I hope upper management of FedEx and UPS hears this! Since took money from me (to me this is considered steeling) if I was the consumer, I would not waist my money purchasing their insurance. To me it is a scam for them to make money. Both of these companies have very poor customer service and most likely will not honor your claim especially if it is a high dollar item. Take that same funding they charge you and freight ship it. You will be happy you did it. Hopefully this will help them change their views and provide training for their employees. I doubt it unless there profit drops. When I mean by freight, I mean put it in a pallet even if it is 40lbs and it is an electronic item, and ship it with a real freight trucking company. They do a much better job than UPS & FedEx. After a while I think they will get the point. I’ve heard stories of them kicking packages around like a soccer ball. FedEx sometimes hire subs to deliver. But at the end of the day what your eyes and camera see’s doesn’t deceive you. Trust what you see, not what you hear. As far as timeline goes, I’ve been doing this since the late 80’s and I’m sure McIntosh as well as other companies have been doing it longer. I like that McIntosh was smart enough to put instructions on how to repackage and ship their items. Genius! I am shipping freight with anything over 40lbs electronic because they can’t be trusted and believe me, don’t waste your time on insurance. It is a total scam to make money. Take that extra cash and pay for Global or freight shipping on a pallet.

I ordered a couple of JBL's for my DAW..25lbs worth...UPS dropped off a small envelope with the shipping label for the JBL's attached. The label even said lbs on it, scanned it as delivered...JBL's long gone..still working on that one, between Amazon, UPS and the seller.

Well I worked for the old PO loading trucks,and as a shipping Clerk for DLDalis in LIC,NY and as in the UPS claims dept....the costs are now going threw the roof and packing is smaller boxes, good luck ,in Shipping Audio equipment....I know first hand about shipping and costs ...

Oh and wait until your claim is denied....which is the norm now ,lol.

68pete is right. Items must be packed to withstand a fall from a second story. I learned this one day when I watched UPS trying to deliver a 40 year old Gibson guitar. The box had a big hole and the headstock was hanging out by the strings and foam peanuts were spilling out as he walked the box to my front door. I refused delivery and cancelled the credit card payment.

Great. Another fed up with FedEx article. Yawn.