Caution re: Fedex Ground

[Rider]

Just found out the hard way:

Even if you don't check the box that says "deliver without signature," the driver can still choose to deliver the package without obtaining signature.

To make sure a signature is required, you have to pay extra.

Might have lost a nice old shutter because of this.

[Ted Stoddard]

Well FedEx is not the only one who does this, so does UPS... I have heard DHL does it too... I worked for UPS before and most drivers just knock and run... I was not a driver so dont shoot me... paying a few extra bills for the signature required is well worth it... I worked during the thanksgiving/xmas season.... I enjoyed it best and easiest money I ever made... it paid my car payment for 6 months...

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Funny how I have the opposite problem- I get shipments of junk not worth a thing, and the UPS people refuse to leave it outside my door, even if I tell them on the phone (the yellow stickies they leave always say "signature required in person"). The driver simply checks off both boxes for the time to deliver- "will redeliver tomorrow between 10:00 and 2:00 and 2:00 and 5:00" (aren't they required to just check one box?!?) So I cut out of work early the next day, and after hanging around at home all day, the driver actually shows up at 6:45!!! I've tried driving up to south city to pick up pakages in person, but that takes 45 minutes or so each way in traffic, and the weather is so nasty up there; last time I did that, it took them over an hour to find my package! Watch out for those big brown trucks! Ok, enough of an anti-UPS rant...

[vinny]

Same happended to me with a book i had printed. Gone. Thanks Fed Ex.
I was out of town for 10 days and had my mail held as well. USPS delivered 5 packages, all of which were stolen.

[Rider]

Worst part is they claim they are not responsible for any losses!

[JasonC]

From my understanding (well.. at least that is what they told me), Fedex and UPS would not get signatures for residential deliveries. Signatures are required for commercial deliveries. You need to add separate fees for getting signatures on residential deliveries.

[photographs42]

I ship and receive a lot of stuff, but not with the crooks at Fed Ex. About 25 years ago I had a package sent to me that Fed Ex claimed I signed for but I never saw it. They showed me the “signature” which was my name forged by someone who had no clue what my signature looked like and they refused to do anything about it. I never knew what happened to the package and haven’t done business with them since.

Jerome

[QT Luong]

Fedex online shipping page has a confusing set of options. It would appear that if you use Ground service, signature is always required unless you check "Residential address", in which case they switch you to Home service, for which the default is no signature.

[Doug Dolde]

Just wait until one of your "insured" packages gets damaged by FEDEX. They routinely refuse to pay using the ruse " insufficient packaging "

[Marko]

I'll take FEDEX over UPS any day, if I have a choice. Fedex guys in my area are always on time and wait for the door to open after they knock.

UPS guys never even bother knocking, they simply drop the package at the door and run away - I've watched a UPS guy literally drop a package with a lens in it (and big FRAGILE label on it) from the waist height at my door and run away. He was away before I managed to open the door. Well, at least he came to the door - a neighbour had a box of lightbulbs tossed over the wall into the patio! But when I asked for singature delivery the next time, he didn't even attempt to show up, he simply wrote that the address was incomplete and returned the package to the center, where the local morons couldn't find it for several days. Of course, each time I called they could not tell me anything else then "come and pick it up".

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

In my experience the problem is FedEx Home Delivery, not FedEX ground. I had FedEx Home Delivery leave a huge box--a Jobo CPP--on my stoop (the stairs in front of a house, in Brooklynese). The owner, an elderly woman, called me at work to tell me that she couldn't get into the house because it was blocking her way and she couldn't move it. I think the fact that the box was still there when I returned to move it was only due to its size. Had it been smaller it would have been long gone.

Since then I have only used regular FedEx.

[John Schneider]

I'll add my $0.02 re: FedEx ground shipments. The only bad experience I ever had, and which they corrected to my satisfaction, was a shipment of around $1K of 4x5 and 120 film shipped to me. Somehow one digit in the zip code was transposed in their system (their mistake), so the package bounced back and forth in the summer heat between Magma UT ("no such address") & Phx AZ ("wrong zip code"). It took a few phone calls to finally stop this crazy circuit with human intervention at one of the terminals. They then airshipped the film to me, paid me the value of the film, and returned the film to me as well. The film turned out to be okay (although I wouldn't use it for a commercial job, it was well with my tolerances for personal use).

I don't recall for sure, but I believe this was FedEx Ground and not Home Delivery.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Funny how the country of origin and the creators of these services seems to be the one with the most problems. While I lived in the US I had nothing but trouble for the same reason you guys mention. Leave the package on the door step, stolen..."Oh sorry, you had home delivery we are not responsible"....I got to Mexico and I have had nothing but great service from both UPS and Fedex. They call me home (long distance from Mexico City) to tell me how much my taxes are, and that the package is on the way.

Fedex ruined 5 boxes of 8x10 film on 5 different deliveries and they paid for all five times, unfortunatelly I could not train them not to open the boxes, I was able to train UPS not to do it though.

One piece of advice, never, EVER put a "fragile" sticker on the box. I was told not to do this by an UPS employee, I did not beleive him, so I went and shipped my enlarger to Mexico with the stickers, the enlarger arrived in pieces...more that what were supposed to be, the same with a print washer.. :(

[eddie]

funny stuff,

i get all my stuff delivered at work. this is because i am most always there (except lunch). the UPS driver and the PO driver come by very often and we get on really well. great guys. they leave packages when they can (i never ask for signatures. we work ina very safe and friendly neighborhood!). the USPS guy even flags me down when i am driving my car if i got a package! i use Fed X less as they are more money generally and they need signatures more often. it seems they have 3 different delivery trucks that go by all at crazy times during the day (they other scome by about the same times) so i am never sure when my stuff will arrive by Fed X. BUT one time i had something i really needed, a long weekend was coming up, and i missed the delivery. i called Fed X and was very nice and asked them if they could help me as i needed the package. they called the driver and she came back!

oh! and tips also help out!

eddie

[JasonC]

Similar to Jorge's experience, outside of the US (Asia) UPS and Fedex are excellent.

Jason

[Scott Davis]

UPS is beyond horrible for me. After a particularly bad experience with them (damaged or destroyed (DESTROYED!!!!) a full 25% of what I shipped with them, they fought me for three months on paying the insurance claim (which I purchased), then dragged their feet another three months to pay the claim. As it is now, if someone sends me something via UPS, I have to let them fail to catch me at home once, then wait another day to call them and have them hold the package for will-call, then drive through rush-hour traffic all the way across Washington DC only to sit in their waiting room until they find the package, which often means that I'm not home from retrieving the package until almost 10 pm. It seems like they go out of their way to make things more difficult.

FedEx by contrast, if I miss the initial attempt, I can go pick it up at their facility, which is a 10 minute drive from my house, on the same day as the initial attempt. It also usually takes them less than 20 minutes to retrieve my package from inside their facility. With the Post Office, I have to wait until Saturday to go fetch the package, but they're also pretty quick about getting it to me, and they're not far away either.
I'll gladly pay the extra couple dollars for FedEx or USPS for the convenience factor.

[Dick Hilker]

It seems your experiences with UPS and Fedex must have a lot to do with where you live. I've used both regularly and have never had a problem with either. We live in a low-crime semi-rural area and packages left on the front porch are never disturbed. In bad weather, both carriers are conscientious about covering them in plastic for protection.

My complaint is with USPS who will either leave an unprotected package on the ground under our roadside mailbox or not bother carrying it to the door, instead putting a notice in the box that it was undeliverable because "no one was at home" (we were and saw his truck pull away!,) requiring a trip to the post office another day to pick it up.

[CG]

I think it often has a lot to do with the drivers involved - and with "local" situations.

At one point a couple of years ago I saw lousy service from Fedex and swore not to do business with them if I had a choice. I never called to sound off or anything, but some time later, the service quality bumped up to where I am completely happy. I think it may have been a change of personel.

UPS has seemed to be consistently good in my area. Now I'm happy with both.

C

[John Schneider]

Another thing to be aware of: if there is a problem with the package (mis-labeled, you want the delivery address changed to your office because a signature is required, etc.) UPS allows you basically one phone call and one change. After that it is returned to sender with no exceptions.

FedEx, on the other hand, is much more helpful, and will allow you to make several changes if you're having problems with the delivery.

[Mattg]

Like others I've had stuff shipped to me in Asia and Australia using both UPS and Fedex and found them both to be excellent every time.

[Rider]

Guess what, Fedex Ground doesn't go to Australia. Fedex Ground is a separate division within Fedex that they bought a few years back. Different rules, procedures, trucks, people. They just share the name and the counter.


Like others I've had stuff shipped to me in Asia and Australia using both UPS and Fedex and found them both to be excellent every time.

[Jim Noel]

I guess I am lucky. Both the FedEx and UPS men who serve my area are very careful about signatures. They always wait for a signature unless the No Signature box is checked. Even then, they seem to know when a package contains valuable photo equipment and leave me a note about future delivery instead of taking a chance on the package being stolen.

[TenOx]

My local UPS driver saw me holding a pet (kingsnake! aaaaggghh!) and didn't drop packages here for a year! I would see him turn the corner and hit the gas (it's a 25mph zone, he'd hit 50mph in 1 block!) We're ok now, but he drops and sprints; won't enter my driveway if I'm out there and he can't see my hands, I swan it! (swear on it)

When our USPS person switched routes and we got a middle aged man, he didn't seem to like to spend too much time in the neighborhood, and would always leave pickup/redelivery notices -- they were pre-filled-out! I saw him pull up and leave one twice! I complained each time I picked one up, but didn't pursue it or file a complaint. Then one day I managed to catch him and asked really nicely if he'd knock louder when I had a package, and we've been extra super nice to each other ever since & he really does come down the driveway and KNOCK! now, cool; hey, it's 80' downhill, and there are SNAKES!

I've delivered stuff and you never know when someone is going to come up behind you with a pipe (happened to me twice!) or if there's a dog or feral cat in the yard. It's a pain. But you do contract for a service, and they need to follow through.

/..

[Marko]

Well, I am happy to report that I had a package shipped from East Coast on Aug 28 and despite the holiday, FedEx ground just delivered it to my door without a hitch. There was no signature required, but the driver knocked on the door anyway, waited for me to open and confirmed that I was the recepient, before handing me the package.

:)

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

See, the problem is in the US. Last week I sent 12 prints to a customer on CA via UPS, so I made a box with plywood tops and cedar sides, not fancy but very secure. The plywood tops are screwed in and the cedar sides are screwed in as well as glued. Well, the package is stuck at US customs and UPS is just giving me the run around. I bet these idiots will try to take the box apart and then won't know how to put it back together. I swear, you can't win for loosing.... :(

[Bill Kumpf]

I just had a package delivered from Freestyle; FedEx dropped it over the gate at the road. My house sits back over 1500 feet from the road in the woods. It sat out there for over 5 hours before I returned home. I am not happy…………

Compared this to the UPS man who schedules my deliveries late on his route to match my schedule, will open two gates, drive though the cattle, pet both dogs, and, if by change, no one is home, places the packages on the pouch safe from the dogs.

Guess which service I request?

Bill

[Rider]

Well, the story had a good ending: the recipient got the package. But, the moral of the story is the same: FedEx Ground told me flat out that once they left it outside the door, insurance would not cover it even though I did not authorize leaving it without signature, and even though I paid extra for insurance and was told by the clerk it would not be left without signature.

[David R Munson]

I've had bad experiences with both UPS and FEDEX, but many more with UPS than the other. Two spring to mind. When my film came for my trip to Mongolia, UPS just left the box from B&H on the front steps of my house in downtown Columbia, Missouri. They DIDN'T EVEN KNOCK, let alone get a signature. The other time that springs to mind was when they delivered a box from my sister containing the exposed film I shot at her wedding to the right street address, but THE WRONG STREET, and didn't even tell me. I had to call UPS and find the wrong address they delivered to in order to get the box back. Incredible.