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Fedex, didn't it used to mean Federal Express?

I just wanted to share this story with all of the Audiogon circle...

Based on an episode I am currently experiencing, it seems the grumblings of Fedex are well founded. What was once the paragon of how to get something from here to there, is now a shadow of that reputation.

My comments are related to Fedex Ground, which has been described to me as an entirely different operation than Fedex Overnight. I only hope so.

I picked up a pair of loudspeakers in a recent auction here on Audiogon. No complaints, the handling of the auction, paying, and shipper doing his thing were fine.

Fedex took it from there. Monitoring the progress using my tracking numbers and the Fedex website, all seemed fine. Until Friday. They arrived at a corporate destination 10 minutes from my home. At 5:43 Friday morning. Theoretically, they could have been delivered to me that same day. But, no problem, I understand.

Would it be Monday, or even Saturday(not sure if they even deliver on Saturday)? Monday is fine.

NOPE!!!

So, I check back Tuesday morning, and what do I find? They left this location, and were sent back to a place more than two hours from me. Huh??? Do they have ANY idea what they are doing? It's utterly amazing to me. I mean, I used to work at the Post Office part time, and thought this kind of thing only happened there. That the "professionals" at UPS, let alone the "experts" at Fedex never blundered along these lines. Well, I guess as time goes by, instead of the giant rising up to meet the young guns, the new kids on the block are lowering their standards to meet the ponderous.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Still waiting to hear the sweet sounds of my new purchase,
Joe
trelja
slowhand
610 posts
 
Fed Ex Ground used to be RPS, and when Fed EX bought them out they did keep most of the RPS employees. Fed Ex operates much differently than RPS did and getting these employees to learn the Fed Ex way has been frustrating at the least. There will always be horror stories from every carrier, that is no consolation to the person that it happens to, but there are millions of pkgs moving through these hubs every day and when you consider that, it is amazing that most pkgs do get to there destination on time and undamaged. If you have not guessed by now, I am a Fed Ex employee (Not Ground). I hate to hear about these "horror" stories because it reflects negatively on the company that I work for. There will always be bad employees on every job, be the majority of us take pride in our work and we are doing our best to serve you.
cornfedboy
1,645 posts
 
i would NEVER use fedex ground. it is simply an accident waiting to happen. the usps is much better (if weight limits allow). really. i use fedex economy (3 days) in the usa, dhl to europe. for heavy (usa) items, i prefer air frieght resellers. -cfb
avideo
222 posts
 
Yes it used to - BUT NO LONGER! Out here in the far west -
Portland,OR - FedEx has taken over the RPS service for
ground service. The service - if you want to call it that -
is just miserable and the delivery people are rude, arrogant
jerks.
If you are going to ship at all with FedEx - avoid the
ground serice at all costs and use one or two day air.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
My most recent experience with Fedex Ground was very good. Amp shipped from Ohio, Feb 28, tracking claims delivery scheduled Mar 2. Mar 2 is a Saturday; I figure their program doesn't recognize the Feb has only 28 days. On Sat, Mar 2, 2 days after pickup on Ohio, amp arrives on my doorstep in CT. So far, nothing I've shipped or received by Fedex Ground or UPS has been damaged; but packing was all pretty good. I guess I've been lucky.
trelja OP
3,223 posts
 
Here are the latest and greatest events in the saga of Fedex Ground delivering my speakers...

What's most laughable is that I received an audio rack via Fedex ground one month ago(with no problems, believe it or not). I guess they forgot a lot in a month.

The speakers were resent to the location 10 minutes from my home(Norristown, PA). Unfortunately, the crew couldn't figure out where I live. So, they left a message on my home voice mail to call them with address confirmation. The person spoke my correct address information, but just wanted to "check". In calling the number the person left, there was never any answer upon repeated attempts.

Fortunately, my caller ID displayed a number for RPS from the call. This number I was able to actually parlay into reaching someone. I gave them my address(I didn't raise the issue of the package containing the address). You want to talk about dense, it was, "Eight, that's 'Eeeeeeiiiiigggghhhhhttttt'."

The next question was directions to my home! Huh?!? Aren't these people in the delivery business? Well, I complied without a word of reservation, but it took a good 5 minutes from that point on. The person wasn't even familiar with the major highway that their facility lay right off. I did ask, "How do you get to work?". Response, "I don't know the roads, but I know which places to turn, etc." Wow is all I can say.

My only real question was, "When should I look forward to receiving my package?" The answer was they would "attempt" delivery tomorrow. Time will tell.
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