Really Fedex, Would It Have Killed You To Deliver It A Day Early?

A

AMP

New member
Not much of a pitting but it just annoyed the hell out of me.

I sent off a package via FedEx Tuesday. I would have liked to send it overnight but didn't want to pay the cost. While I was inquiring about the price difference between two day and three day deliver at the counter the FedEx guy told me to just send it three day. The destination was close enough that it would get there late the next day and on the truck for delivery the following day. So I check on the package's whereabouts just now hoping it was already delivered and signed for and what do I find?

PHP: 
Aug 21, 2008 9:36 AM At local FedEx facility HAMPTON, VA
              9:36 AM At local FedEx facility HAMPTON, VA Package not due for delivery
              8:15 AM On FedEx vehicle for    HAMPTON, VA 
                      delivery   
              7:55 AM At local FedEx facility HAMPTON, VA  	
              4:20 AM At dest sort facility   NORFOLK, VA  	
		
Aug 19, 2008  7:15 PM Left FedEx origin facility TAMPA, FL  	
		      6:17 PM Picked up                  TAMPA, FL
So it seems the package did indeed get there in time for delivery today. Not only that but it was put on the truck for delivery today but because I didn't pay for delivery today it was left on the truck and taken back to the FedEx facility to stay there overnight so that it can be delivered tomorrow. Would it have fucking killed you to just deliver it today?
 
That's lame.
At least with the Post Office I can pick their cheapest/slowest service that says 5-7 days, send it one state over, and it'll get there in 2 days.
 
I've had that happen too. It's bullshit. If you pay for three day that's the maximum you should wait, not the minimum. It's bad business for customers to be able to see online that their package arrived in their city within 24 hours and was purposely left to sit for two days, and then get delivered laaaate the third day.
 
You didn't get a service that you didn't pay for? Wow, sucks to be you.

While I have no personal knowledge of FedEx's route-planning strategy, I know that Sears for example very carefully plans its repair schedules and routes to maximize the time that technicians are working and minimize the time driving between jobs. I imagine that FedEx does something similar. So while it wouldn't have killed anyone to deliver your package a day early, it would have disrupted the driver's schedule to do so.
 
Otto said:
You didn't get a service that you didn't pay for? Wow, sucks to be you.

While I have no personal knowledge of FedEx's route-planning strategy, I know that Sears for example very carefully plans its repair schedules and routes to maximize the time that technicians are working and minimize the time driving between jobs. I imagine that FedEx does something similar. So while it wouldn't have killed anyone to deliver your package a day early, it would have disrupted the driver's schedule to do so.
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Well, you're a bit of an ass aren't you?

Like I said, it just really annoyed me that the package actually made on to the truck but not delivered. As long as it gets there by tomorrow my annoyance level will rise no more.
 
Otto said:
You didn't get a service that you didn't pay for? Wow, sucks to be you.
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Sorry, don't agree. The USPS will tell you how long it could take, not how long they'll make sure it takes.

I've had regular first class mail make it cross-country in 24 hours. That makes me a surprised, but happy return customer.
 
Ok, my ex SIL used to work for FedEx so I think I can field this one with at least a little knowledge. First off, the drivers have a limited time they can actually spend driving around delivering packages. If they don't get all the stuff on the truck delivered by the time their shift is over, it goes back to the warehouse. Every package and address is logged into a computer and a route is then deteremined for them to take. Your package would have been at the end of the route since it had a delivery date of the next day. So think of it this way, by delaying the delivery of your package back to the day when it was actually due to be delivered, that means that someone else actually got their package when it was supposed to be delivered, or hopefully soon afterwards. And FWIW, I'm sure that if they had the time to drop it off on their shift, they would have.

MT
 
levdrakon said:
Sorry, don't agree. The USPS will tell you how long it could take, not how long they'll make sure it takes.
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But we're talking about FedEx here, and a FedEx customer who paid for three-day delivery. The package was delivered in three days. The customer, in other words, got exactly what s/he paid for. If s/he'd wanted it delivered in two days, s/he could've paid for two-day delivery.
 
I placed an order for a t-shirt yesterday, and even though it was being sent from less than 100 miles away, I asked for UPS Blue (2nd day air) because 2nd day and overnight orders are pulled from the warehouse first (standard shipping items might not get pulled for two or three days), and I wanted it here by Saturday afternoon, if possible.

It arrived today, no extra charge. UPS rules.

:cool:
 
Amp said:
Well, you're a bit of an ass aren't you?
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I'm looking into my crystal ball... conjuring Otto... slowly coming into focus... I see... yes, an angry little man in a cube! And on his desk... something framed... a slogan... I can barely make it out... "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." I sense so much bottled rage... so much hatred of bureacracy... and yet so much love... wait, now it's fading...
 
Don't Call Me Shirley said:
Except that the FedEx employee told him (or at the very least strongly implied) that it would be delivered in two days.
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If they delivered it in two days, nobody would ever buy the two day shipping. They'd buy the three day shipping, and expect it to be delivered in two days. Regardless of what the employee at the desk said, that's simply not how things work.

It does remind me of a story, though. I was dating a gal who managed an apartment complex. Headquarters sent notice that all satellite dishes had to be removed from the balcony within X days, so she sent notice to those out of compliance. A few days later, a dish guy came to set up a new customer. He asked the maintenance guy if he could put the dish on the balcony. The maintenance guy said sure, since he had seen plenty of dishes on plenty of balconies. The manager then sent an out of compliance notice to the tenant. Does it suck? Sure. Does the tenant have any recourse through the apartment complex? No, because it says on their contract, in writing, that there are to be no dishes on balconies. Just like the OPs contract said it would be delivered in 3 days.
 
We get customers all the time who want to play the "well, it usually only takes 2 days to get here, but I have to be sure and I am not willing to pay for 2nd day air, so what if I pay for 3day?" There are some people who request 3-day because they know that the package usually arrives in 2 and they will not be there to accept the package. You got what you paid for -- I don't see the problem.
 
Amp said:
So it seems the package did indeed get there in time for delivery today. Not only that but it was put on the truck for delivery today but because I didn't pay for delivery today it was left on the truck and taken back to the FedEx facility to stay there overnight so that it can be delivered tomorrow. Would it have fucking killed you to just deliver it today?
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I really really doubt that FedEx is fucking around and sitting on a package just to try to get you to pay more for delivery. It's not like the driver went right past your house, twiddled his thumbs, and returned to the warehouse early. As it happens, FedEx runs an incredibly efficient system, and part of doing that is building some slack in for when there's more demand. So, depending on traffic, how many addresses were written down wrong, how many people had to go get their glasses so they could sign for something, etc., some packages don't get delivered. Since yours wasn't prioritized, it didn't make it on that day.
 
Hampshire said:
That's lame.
At least with the Post Office I can pick their cheapest/slowest service that says 5-7 days, send it one state over, and it'll get there in 2 days.
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Sometimes. I had a flame out with the Post Orifice where they took a package for Priority Mail, and it took a week to get across the same state. And we're not talking something like Texas, either.

I still agree, the OP's experience is pretty lame.
 
Sounds to me like the normal prioritizing that goes on at any high-volume, deadline-driven company. I do it all the time.

While I'm sure our clients would love for us to deliver work early, we have more than enough work to keep us busy all day. We have other clients, and hundreds of other projects to deliver every day. And I can assure you that we could start delivering early as a courtesy, but after a while it would become expected, and we'd be screwed. It would totally defeat the point of putting a deadline on our services.

Between that, and us being exhausted at the end of each day, the fact we routinely put in 9-10+ hour days, and management's desire to keep overtime work at a minimum, we're not going to push to get things out the door early without very good reason.
 
EJsGirl said:
UPS rules.

:cool:
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Except when they lie about having actually rung the doorbell. My sister had this happen when she was getting married - she was unemployed and home all day, and her buzzer was loud enough to wake the dead. And yet on numerous occasions, she would go downstairs at the end of the day and find UPS "Delivery Attempted" slips. They actually almost sent the bridesmaid dresses back to the manufacturer because UPS said they had "attempted delivery" three times, which was a big fat lie. I ended up having to drive 20 miles to the depot to pick up the damn dresses myself.
 
As someone who's sent hundreds of packages out via Fedex a day (though I haven't actually worked for them), I can tell you that a lot of times Fedex has gotten complaints about delivering things early (getting it there in 2 days rather than the 3 paid for, etc.) - many times someone will choose 3 day specifically because they know the recipient won't be at the address until 3 days later (business travelers or people on vacation and such), and if it's left at the door or the recipient comes home to a call tag, they freak out. A lot of times they'll still deliver it early if they can (as others have pointed out, it's generally not malice or laziness on their part when they don't), but they also have a box for you to check for delivery without a signature required, which lets them know it's OK to leave it at the door if nobody's home. If you didn't check that box, they're most likely going to wait until the scheduled date to avoid hassles.
 
Eva Luna said:
Except when they lie about having actually rung the doorbell. My sister had this happen when she was getting married - she was unemployed and home all day, and her buzzer was loud enough to wake the dead. And yet on numerous occasions, she would go downstairs at the end of the day and find UPS "Delivery Attempted" slips.
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I've had something similar happen with both UPS and FedEx, except without the slip on the door. Waiting at home for a package and tracking it online, I've watched them go from "out for delivery" to "delivery exception: recipient unavailable." No delivery attempt notice, no knock on the door, and no call from the gate callbox. I live in a complex small enough that you can hear when a truck enters.

I called once when that happened and the CustServRep, sounding somewhat sheepish, had the driver come back with my package. Gotcha, you lying bastards...
 
If it required no time to drive the truck to the house and then carry the package to the door, the OP would have a good point. Because these things do take time and FedEx operates on a tight schedule, it seems lame to pit them for delivering a package on the day they promised to.
 
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