2. misc-audio
  3. 131503-2625

FED-EX ground and SMART POST..........It travels around the US with no place to go

I bought a 600.00 piece of audio to be shipped by Fed-Ex ground....Some how the seller decided to ship it Fed-EX Smart Post....Which is not "Smart".........The package leaves Alabama and travels for days and ends up in Troutsdale , Or which is a depot for Fed-Ex.......It lays in there for 4 days untel someone sends it over to USPS.....Now the tracking number doesn't work anymore so I don't know if it will ever show up...... I took the  tracking number to the post office and they can't track it ether.......Now you would say that the tracking number system is different, but this package has always had a USPS tracking number (22 digits) that you could only access through the Fed-Ex tracking system.......The people tell me when it is handed over to the Post office then I can access the tracking number through the USPS system......Do you think I'll ever get my package or my money or anything ?????   Beware "Smart" "Post".........POISON FOR SHIPPING
autospec
zephyr24069's avatar
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zephyr24069
1,243 posts
 
Have USPS and FedEx start a trace...

smileydoc
6 posts
 
I have had similar experiences with Fedex Smartpost. This includes packages shipped locally which inexplicably followed various different convoluted paths around the country, as though the procedure specifies the packages are loaded on the nearest truck, no matter which hub may be its destination. It is not unusual for the tracking system to lose these packages either, but they always arrive eventually. This is the least predictable shipping service that I’m aware of. I regularly make online purchases and I regularly travel on business, so planning shipping and tracking shipments has become a hobby.
grey9hound
1,112 posts
 
The thing that kills me about it all, is they the shipper saves pennies on the dollar compared to regular shipping methods.
My package left Cincinnati (i am in Knoxville,tn) went to Atlanta ,Ga ,then  sat around for a couple of days , then went to Charlotte,NC sat around some more days , then went to Nashville,TN then the next day went to Lousville,TN before finally coming to Knoxville a couple of days later.
Fucking Brilliant..... isn't it ????
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Sorry, Will...

I had a similar experience earlier in the month.  Bought a fairly small and inexpensive item on ebay.  The seller was located in the Detroit area, and I'm close to Philadelphia.  Normally, I would expect this to arrive in 2 - 3 days via USPS, UPS, or FedEX.  Except that it went into the same black hole you described.  The crazy combination of FedEX and the USPS somehow took 2.5 weeks (yes, weeks) to make the trip, with scant information available through the tracking portals along the way.

Question for Smart Post, was there actually a harder way to do this?
inna
7,296 posts
 
Still it's all not too bad. The packages never left the country and they always arrived eventually. Shipping is getting more expensive, and there appears to be even less reason to save on it unless you just have to. 2-3 days regular air shipping via any carrier seems to work fine for now.
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