That F-ing FedEx again

[Jenise]

Tuesday, 11/14/23
11:41 AM
Picked up
SAN LEANDRO, CA
12:25 PM
Shipment information sent to FedEx
8:59 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
SAN LEANDRO, CA
9:03 PM
Shipment arriving On-Time
SAN LEANDRO, CA
10:06 PM
Left FedEx origin facility
SAN LEANDRO, CA

Wednesday, 11/15/23
1:08 AM
Arrived at FedEx location
SACRAMENTO, CA
7:36 AM
Departed FedEx location
SACRAMENTO, CA
7:52 PM
On the way
PORTLAND, OR
8:53 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
PORTLAND, OR
10:23 PM
Departed FedEx location
PORTLAND, OR

Thursday, 11/16/23
6:35 AM
At local FedEx facility
BURLINGTON, WA
6:48 AM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
BURLINGTON, WA
2:10 PM
Ready for recipient pickup
BURLINGTON, WA

I have no idea what ready for recipient pickup means since FedEx doesn't offer pick up at their own facilities, and I did not designate a 3rd party receiver. And now this completely contrary new information:

Friday 11/17
3:40 AM
At local FedEx facility
BURLINGTON, WA
3:42 AM
Delay
Package delayed
BURLINGTON, WA
3:53 AM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
BURLINGTON, WA


Once FedEx starts logging in faulty data, I have zero confidence that the package (wine) will actually be delivered as described. The driver might just decide to turn around and head home without completing all deliveries (they don't admit that this happens, but it does and very often--we're at the end of the line). And of course I won't receive notification of this until 8 pm tonight or something like that.

[Jenise]

And here's the update:

Friday, 11/17/23
3:40 AM
At local FedEx facility
BURLINGTON, WA
3:42 AM
Delay
Package delayed
BURLINGTON, WA
3:53 AM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
BURLINGTON, WA
5:56 PM
Delivery exception
Customer not available or business closed


Total lie. I was here; lights were on, TV going, and from the front door he would have seen in front of the TV from the front door. (Of course, there's no notice on the door either because he didn't actually get here.)

FedEx does provide hold-package-for-customer-pick-up service at their facilities. At least they do at the one in Londonderry, NH (near the Manchester NH airport). I receive all of my wine shipments this way. I started doing this because when I was working I couldn't be at home all day waiting to sign for the package. Now that I'm retired I've continued the practice because it's convenient not to be tied down at home waiting for the FedEx delivery truck to arrive.

I lately have noticed glitches in their online package status information. I've seen cases where a package originally forecast for delivery on Friday gets changed to Thursday, never shows up on Thursday, but does arrive on Friday as originally forecast.

-Paul W.

One other thing. Is this FedEx Ground or FedEx Express? FedEx Express is the original FedEx shipping service. FedEx bought RPS (aka Caliber System) and in 2000 renamed it FedEx Ground. FedEx Ground and Express are run as completely separate companies under the FedEx holding company. The only thing they share is the FedEx brand name and the website.

It's FedEx Express that offers the hold-for-pick-up service that I use. I don't know if FedEx Ground offers that service.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

FedEx Ground. Locally there's the Burlington station which is about 60 miles from me and a FedEx Air at the airport. Neither will hold for customers. I can redirect a shipment to a Walgreens about 16 miles south. But that's not the point. The point is their failure to deliver as promised and their dishonesty about why they don't. Over and over and over again. Lately, I only get about 1 out of 5 shipments as promised which is a pain since I have to sign for these deliveries.

The most irritating part is that there's no one to complain to. Oh yes, there's a call center in South America or Bangladesh that will answer, but they can't tell you anything more than what you already know from checking the tracking number. I've paid for a service, I haven't gotten the service, I wasted two whole days hanging around for a package that never showed up, and there's literally no one at FedEx who gives a damn. And sadly, I know that this will happen again.

FedEx Air = FedEx Express. I have no experience with shipping wine by FedEx Ground.

Curious that neither FedEx operation in your area offers a hold-for-customer-pickup service. FedEx Express here in NH will do that at their Manchester Airport location. Chateau Montelena used to use DHL to ship their wine to me, and they also would hold parcels for customer pickup. But then they stopped handling packages containing alcohol and we switched to FedEx Express 2nd day air. I've occasionally had wine shipped by UPS. I don't recall now whether or not they have a hold-for-pickup service.

One annoying thing about interstate consumer wine shipment is the on-again, off-again policies on booze shipment by the various carriers. Every now and then one of the carriers will decide it doesn't want the hassle of dealing with each state's regulations regarding to shipping of alcoholic beverages and will stop shipping them. FedEx (both Express and Ground) seems to have decided that they are going to stay in that business now, but IIRC a few decades ago they weren't accepting booze parcels.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, like I said, I can redirect to a Walgreens when I know I'm not going to be home, but since I was going to be around on the intended day of delivery I did not do that.

And the current status:

Saturday 11/18
5:08 AM
At local FedEx facility
BURLINGTON, WA
5:21 AM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
BURLINGTON, WA
4:56 PM
Delivery exception
Customer not available or business closed
BURLINGTON, WA
4:57 PM
Delay
Package delayed
BURLINGTON, WA
8:06 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
BURLINGTON, WA


So here's the deal: Ground doesn't deliver on Saturdays. They did not attempt delivery and never intended to, nor did the truck re-arrive at the Fed-Ex location. It actually never left Burlington. My shipment has been there, unmoved, since Thursday. But they feed all these 'fake' status updates through most likely as CYA to hide these problems from performance measurements for the facility.

The newest claim is that it will be delivered today, but I doubt that too.

[Jenise]

Received an email since my last post claiming that the pkg will be delivered today. Strange, because it's not showing as "out for delivery" on the tracking system. Maybe, from a contrarian POV this is good news since all the other times it did show that, it never showed up.

[Jenise]

Did the shipment show up yesterday? Of course not. Any new news today? Of course not.

Is it there yet?!?

[Jenise]

Yes, it showed up Monday afternoon. The driver, a contractor vs. direct employ, told me everything I assumed was correct. This arrived in Burlington on Thursday and wasn't put on a truck until the following Monday. All the scans were just CYA to cover up their intention to not even bother until this week.

The system that the BC wineries use is much better. It is a refrigerated medical transfer company that ships drugs etc. as well as wine. their tracking is dead accurate and the shipments are on time. I have even had the guy that delivers it see me go driving by him going the other way, expecting him to come later, call me on my cell and ask me if I want to come back and get the delivery (they normally require signatures).

I have never been particularly impressed with UPS - I don't trust them with delicate (and often irreplaceable) audio equipment and such. Nor with the drivers for Amazon, who seem to be unable to read a simple address and often deliver to someone else a block away or claim to have left it at my front door and I find it out in my carport. I have even had parcels delivered to the house next door when it was under renovation so no one there except workmen

Chateau Montelena ships FedEx Express 2nd day air. That prevents the sort of dawdling about delivery that you encountered.

I like the idea of using a medical supplies shipper for wine. How do the shipping rates compare with FedEx, UPS, DHL, et. al.?

-Paul W.

I like the idea of using a medical supplies shipper for wine. How do the shipping rates compare with FedEx, UPS, DHL, et. al.?

-Paul W.

$45 Can. to next day deliver 4 cases to my home in BC in refrigerated truck, from Alberta.

[Jenise]

Bill, that's astonishingly cheap, and for such amazing service. Here I'm paying around $35/case.

That is indeed an amazingly good price!

-Paul W.