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Federal Express Rant

Bob from Florida

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Federal Express is definitely not the company featured in "Castaway" any longer. They have been going downhill for years with the pandemic making it exponentially worse. My company uses them for repair parts and meeting delivery times has been dicey at best. Last week the control board in my dryer decided to take a vacation. I found and ordered a board last Wednesday - in stock in Jacksonville, Florida. One day delivery to Central Florida no matter which way you ship. They told me that it would be Federal Express home delivery or the US Postal Service. As luck would have it they picked Federal Express home delivery and it shipped last Thursday. Tracking information from Federal Express indicated delivery on Friday. It did not deliver on Friday but changed the date to Sunday. It did not deliver on Sunday. I called Federal Express today and was told they were very busy and that was why it was delayed. I asked them if they could check to see if the package was lost. They told me it was not considered lost until 14 days after shipment. I went to the FedEx website only to discover that their money back guarantee is still suspended for FedEx ground services. Apparently they reinstated it for overnight services back in January. It's one thing when I have to deal with this kind of thing at work but quite another when I had to deal with it at home too. I really wish they had used the US Postal Service. End of rant.
 

Ricardus

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I find FedEx to be the most reliable carrier of all of them. I have inquired with various businesses that were willing to share the data, and FedEx has the highest percentage of successful deliveries among the big 3. UPS generally comes in 2nd, and USPS comes in 3rd.

Mind you, these are companies that ship so many packages the statistical differences aren't very big at all, but they're there.

A friend shipped me some acrylic pieces he cut for me on his laser cutter last month via USPS and they never made it here. At least not yet. He had to recut and reship.
 

Doodski

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I have not used FedEX for some years. When I did they where fabulous. On a corporate account we where shipping electronics in plastic pouches because FedEx was so solid as a shipping partner. They usually arrived before 10am even if we never requested that service. Granted we where shipping 10-20 packages a day and the driver got to know us. :D Sorry to read that FedEx is deteriorating.
 
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Bob from Florida

Bob from Florida

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I find FedEx to be the most reliable carrier of all of them. I have inquired with various businesses that were willing to share the data, and FedEx has the highest percentage of successful deliveries among the big 3. UPS generally comes in 2nd, and USPS comes in 3rd.

Mind you, these are companies that ship so many packages the statistical differences aren't very big at all, but they're there.

A friend shipped me some acrylic pieces he cut for me on his laser cutter last month via USPS and they never made it here. At least not yet. He had to recut and reship.
My company switched to UPS several years ago to get Federal Express's attention for a one year period. I found that UPS consistently delivered more critical medical repair parts on time during that year. We switched back after FedEx pledged to make some positive changes. However, the issues encountered are typically failing to make the flight for various reasons. When it works it is great. FedEx must have read my rant as I now have an update that the package is in Orlando and surprisingly had been transferred to the USPS for delivery tomorrow.
 

pjug

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For me USPS is the worst. I try not to use them for anything. I was dropping off my heating oil payments in person rather than mailing, until the oil company asked me to mail my checks.

I go back and forth with UPS vs FedEx. I use UPS more than FedEx, but if something happens I might get mad and switch. I have to mention that I am lucky and have the best FedEx delivery guy in the world. He figured out on his own that I live near my shop, so if I'm not working he brings packages to my house instead of dropping at my work.
 

squared80

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No service is perfect, but I have so much better results using UPS; it's not close.
 

Randy Bessinger

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I tried to setup a FedEx account yesterday online and a message said to call their number. Transferred by three different people only to then be transferred to main recorded menu. Terrible service.
 

Doodski

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I tried to setup a FedEx account yesterday online and a message said to call their number. Transferred by three different people only to then be transferred to main recorded menu. Terrible service.
I had a package shipped via UPS and I forgot to put a residence number in the details. So I tel UPS and they knew exactly where the package was at the time and adjusted all the details in maybe 90 seconds and that was that. It was so easy to deal with them and it was fast fast fast. I had the delivery several hours later to my door. I also dealt with Fedex with a corporate account for years and they where awesome too. The driver started appearing to get packages even if we never notified Fedex for a pickup. To be transferred by Fedex so many times and then connect with a recorded menu is BS and I have endured the same sometimes. I would complain to a customer service rep and get things sorted out.
 
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Bob from Florida

Bob from Florida

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There was a "happy" ending to the story. On the 8th day, after Fedex finally delivered the part, I installed it and the dryer was fixed. This naturally happened after my wife did laundry anyway and found lots of places to hang out clothes to dry!
 

Dialectic

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Federal Express is definitely not the company featured in "Castaway" any longer.
Do you mean that their service would be better if they crashed the plane with your package on it into the middle of the ocean?

FedEx has two distinct divisions: the legacy, high-speed delivery division with planes and little vans, and FedEx Ground, which competes with the likes of USPS and Lasership. My recent experiences with the legacy division have been the same as they've always been. My experiences with FedEx Ground have been mixed.
 

MattJ

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Fed Ex Ground is far inferior to their Express service. I find Express to be about as good as UPS. I have also had good luck with USPS. But to be fair, they have ALL been massacred by Covid, and it will be a while before it all gets back to normal.
 

Randy Bessinger

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I had a package shipped via UPS and I forgot to put a residence number in the details. So I tel UPS and they knew exactly where the package was at the time and adjusted all the details in maybe 90 seconds and that was that. It was so easy to deal with them and it was fast fast fast. I had the delivery several hours later to my door. I also dealt with Fedex with a corporate account for years and they where awesome too. The driver started appearing to get packages even if we never notified Fedex for a pickup. To be transferred by Fedex so many times and then connect with a recorded menu is BS and I have endured the same sometimes. I would complain to a customer service rep and get things sorted out.
I did complain to the third person and said please transfer me to the correct person as they all said they needed to transfer me to someone else. The last guy said yes and transferred me back to the main menu.

I will say the FedEx stores I have used have been fine.
 

JWAmerica

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Fedex is just low budget UPS. At least your UPS drivers have been with the company for years before they ever got in a truck. Fedex will send out new drivers with no experience.
 

ROOSKIE

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Strange, after years of using both companies about equally to ship and receive many packages (well over 1K, likely near 2k) I find they are about equal. I have had the same number and type of issues with both and the same type and general quantity of great experiences.

I actually prefer FedEx a tiny bit due the association with FedEx Office retail locations which I found to be vastly superior to typical UPS stores and much less expensive for the services offered there.

In any case I'd sum of my take by saying I appreciate and like both companies.
 
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