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Shipping: UPS Ground vs. FedEx Ground
Hi all,
I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! 73, Dean K5DH |
Dean,
I have been using Fedex Ground and Home delivery for some time now after discovering the same thing you posted here. You can print label and manifest using their web-based shipping manager and process on plain printer paper. The Web interface is a bit counter-intuitive, but usable. I have accounts with USPS (Onluine Click and Ship), Fedex (Online Shipping Manager) and UPS (Online Web Interface). I use Fedex for most items over 5 pounds that won't fit in a USPS Flat Rate Box. "-=H=-" wrote in message ... Hi all, I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! 73, Dean K5DH |
-=H=- wrote:
Hi all, I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! On the otherhand, in the last 2 weeks, I have had 4 packages delivered to me by FedEX Ground, and each arrived from 1 to 4 days later than the tracking system said they would. When the appointed day came, they just bumped up the delivery date to the next business day. In one case, they lied about no one being home. At the time they said no one was home, I was sitting on my porch talking with a friend (and for 1/2 hour before and 1/2 hour after the appointed time.) I have in the past had a number of crated packages delivered by FedEX Freight, and most cases, they completely and totally destroyed the crates. I was lucky to only have to replace one item from this damage. Once they delivered a 4'x8'x1' crate that weighed 600# in a small econoline van. They couldn't even get the crate out of the van without my help. One guy bloodied his mouth when the crate went over balance, and smashed his head between the crate and the roof of the van... All the while, the drivers young daughter sat on the front seat. I have never had UPS miss the delivery time they said they would meet. I have never had UPS lie about delivery misses. And no matter how heavy the package, they always bring it to my door (and use safe methods for moving heavy packages.) To me, it seems that your luck with delivery is just luck of the draw. I have a great UPS delivery guy. The FedEx guys are different every time. -Chuck |
Hi,
Be sure to ask for indirect or direct signature for fedex home, (fedex ground has signature included no charge) otherwise they just leave the cartons at the door. I've been using FedEx ground since they started the service, 30% less expensive then ups and one day faster transit times too. UPS uses company drivers and FedEx Home uses subcontractors/independants so they have less overhead, so lower fees. US Postal flat rate boxes are a great value for most of the auction items I ship. Don't spend a lot of money on those self adhesive ship labels, instead use regular paper and get one of those glue sticks that the kids use at school, that turns your plain paper label into a stick on label for a few cents ! 73 guido |
wrote:
I have been using Fedex Ground and Home delivery for some time now after discovering the same thing you posted here. Agreed. Let me also say that, from my experience, UPS and FedEx Ground break things at about the same rate. But when FedEx damages something, they promptly inspect it and pay out without a fuss, while UPS will do almost anything to avoid paying insurance claims. Admittedly I have had only three UPS issues, but all were nightmares. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
-=H=- wrote:
Hi all, I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! 73, Dean K5DH I would have to agree that my luck with UPS has been less than satisfactory. but with fedex my stuff gets there a lot quicker and costs less money. i have even sent msr 2000 repeaters across country with fedex for only about 48 bucks, but if i sent them with ups, they would be destroyed in no time. i have a friend that works at the local ups and he tells me that the sure fire way to have something destroyed is to mark it as fragile or handle with care. seems the guys in the warehouse love to kick the hell out of boxes like that. |
main reason We stopped using ups is their insurence is a total scam,
they put more effort into not paying than handeling it ligit. |
Fed-Ex Ground has always welcomed packages from private individuals, while
UPS would rather do business with business. UPS finally saw the light over the last year or two due to Ebay, but they've did too little too late. I've used Fed-Ex Ground for at least 5 years since UPS started opening and inspecting packages accepted via their counters. The UPS counter folks around here are extremely rude... in fact one of them is so bad just mentioning her name to about anyone across the region who has been to their counter and they know who you're referring to. Go to a Fed-Ex counter and you're greeted with a smile. Also love their Ship Manager web processing. Even when there's a line of people at the Fed-Ex counter, just throw your packages on the desk... say "they're done"... and walk out. UPS lost my business long ago. "hinkeydo" wrote in message .. . I would have to agree that my luck with UPS has been less than satisfactory. but with fedex my stuff gets there a lot quicker and costs less money. |
chef@dennys wrote:
Fed-Ex Ground has always welcomed packages from private individuals, while UPS would rather do business with business. UPS finally saw the light over the last year or two due to Ebay, but they've did too little too late. I've used Fed-Ex Ground for at least 5 years since UPS started opening and inspecting packages accepted via their counters. The UPS counter folks around here are extremely rude... in fact one of them is so bad just mentioning her name to about anyone across the region who has been to their counter and they know who you're referring to. Go to a Fed-Ex counter and you're greeted with a smile. Also love their Ship Manager web processing. Even when there's a line of people at the Fed-Ex counter, just throw your packages on the desk... say "they're done"... and walk out. UPS lost my business long ago. "hinkeydo" wrote in message .. . I would have to agree that my luck with UPS has been less than satisfactory. but with fedex my stuff gets there a lot quicker and costs less money. so true. the people at the ups place here are also rude, uncaring, and obnoxious. one time they lost a package and the woman at the counter was told by a friend of hers, "that guy sounds mad", to which she replied, "oh yeah, we get them all the time", then laughed. well, i made a really big stink about this and she was fired on the spot. then it was my turn to laugh. i'm too always greeted by a smiling individual at fedex. and the ups place here is only open 2 hours a day to accept packages, which really sucks if you want to do business with them. |
In article ,
"chef@dennys" wrote: Fed-Ex Ground has always welcomed packages from private individuals, while UPS would rather do business with business. UPS finally saw the light over the last year or two due to Ebay, but they've did too little too late. I've used Fed-Ex Ground for at least 5 years since UPS started opening and inspecting packages accepted via their counters. The UPS counter folks around here are extremely rude... in fact one of them is so bad just mentioning her name to about anyone across the region who has been to their counter and they know who you're referring to. Go to a Fed-Ex counter and you're greeted with a smile. Also love their Ship Manager web processing. Even when there's a line of people at the Fed-Ex counter, just throw your packages on the desk... say "they're done"... and walk out. UPS lost my business long ago. The ups ppl are union, so they don't care about customer service |
"Chuck Harris" wrote in message ... I have never had UPS miss the delivery time they said they would meet. I have never had UPS lie about delivery misses. And no matter how heavy the package, they always bring it to my door (and use safe methods for moving heavy packages.) You must just be lucky in your location. As with most everyone here, I've had the opposite experience. The one that really sticks out in my mind was when I was watching the tracking data on the UPS website. The package was two (2) days beyond scheduled delivery, so I checked the site. Package was on time up until it reached the distribution center in, I believe it's Ohio, where, instead of shipping it to me, it was shipped three states over in the wrong direction, then shipped back to Ohio where it finally started it's journey back to me. Ended up being 4 days late! There are many more horror stories I could tell, and not just my own. Friend of mine shipped a $1800.00 Home Theater Receiver (weighed between 50 and 70 pounds) from Michigan to California. Exceptionally well packaged, in original packaging, then double boxed besides that. When it arrived, the outer-most box was gone (it arrived only single boxed, beside the original), with the original label and remnants of outer box taped to the inner box. That box was mutilated, and the receiver? Well, lets say it had a nice "leaning tower" look to it, along with all but one of the circuit boards being literally shattered... And then he had to fight for almost 4 months before he actually got his insurance claim. They were only going to give him a portion of the insured value, because they claimed that the contents weren't worth more that that. Well, it was, BEFORE UPS got their hands on it... |
mike murphy wrote:
The ups ppl are union, so they don't care about customer service Perhaps, but they are also employee owners, so I think they do care about customer service more than you know. I have dealt with UPS in two different cities, and out in the country, and they have always done the great job for me. I am certain there are regional problems, I just haven't witnessed them here. -Chuck |
PowerHouse Communications wrote:
"Chuck Harris" wrote in message ... I have never had UPS miss the delivery time they said they would meet. I have never had UPS lie about delivery misses. And no matter how heavy the package, they always bring it to my door (and use safe methods for moving heavy packages.) You must just be lucky in your location. Could be, then I have been lucky in three different locations, and for hundreds of packages, over more than 20 years. -Chuck |
-=H=- wrote:
Hi all, I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! 73, Dean K5DH HI, I agree!!!! I always use FedEx Ground. It IS much cheaper AND faster than UPS. OH, one more thing. I truly believe FedEx treats YOUR package much better than UPS!!! UPS does not seen to care much how much "bouncing" so to speak YOUR item takes. I'm sure every company has these animals dropping your fragile items. Its just UPS stuff gets broken MORE often. THAT A BOY FedEX..... Put em out of business!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Jack O'Neill wrote:
-=H=- wrote: Hi all, I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! 73, Dean K5DH HI, I agree!!!! I always use FedEx Ground. It IS much cheaper AND faster than UPS. OH, one more thing. I truly believe FedEx treats YOUR package much better than UPS!!! UPS does not seen to care much how much "bouncing" so to speak YOUR item takes. I'm sure every company has these animals dropping your fragile items. Its just UPS stuff gets broken MORE often. THAT A BOY FedEX..... Put em out of business!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess to sum up the service ups gives or doesnt give two words come to mind..........U P S S U C K S ! ! ! ! |
On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 15:25:31 GMT, hinkeydo
wrote: -=H=- wrote: Hi all, I shipped two boxes of amateur radio equipment yesterday from Lewisville, Texas to Cooper City, Florida. As always, I used FedEx Ground. Here's why: Two packages: (1) weight 33.60 lbs, size 24 x 21 x 16 inches, insured $900 (2) weight 13.95 lbs, size 22 x 22 x 14 inches, insured $100 FedEx Ground, delivery in 3 business days, cost $38.77 UPS Ground, delivery in 4-5 business days, cost $56.07 UPS would have charged $17.30 more than FedEx (that's almost 45 percent) and would have taken 1-2 days longer to arrive. To me, $17.30 is not a trivial amount of money. Something to think about next time you're shipping packages! 73, Dean K5DH I would have to agree that my luck with UPS has been less than satisfactory. but with fedex my stuff gets there a lot quicker and costs less money. i have even sent msr 2000 repeaters across country with fedex for only about 48 bucks, but if i sent them with ups, they would be destroyed in no time. i have a friend that works at the local ups and he tells me that the sure fire way to have something destroyed is to mark it as fragile or handle with care. seems the guys in the warehouse love to kick the hell out of boxes like that. UPS has been OK with me, except when you haver to talk to them on the phone. In one case, they kept calling back to my house. I had received one of their calls there while home for a doctor's appointment and told them not to call there again. No such luck. Then you can never talk to the same idiot twice. They introduce themselves as "account executives", but these cheap-ass "executives" can't accept an incoming call -- you get the luck of the draw from whatever connects them. Then the dorks go tappity-tap on their keyboards as you describe the problem, but the info never gets to the next dork you talk to -- it's a brand new day and you have to explain the whole damned thing again. Last year, a friend was getting DSL and the equipment was UPSed to her. On delivry day, she looked at the website during the day (Friday). Late in the day, it was recorded as "no such address". She lives on a short stub (three houses worth) of a street which had a section removed for a throughway -- twenty years ago -- and half the time, they still lose it. We then told them to deliver it instead to the UPS facility near where she worked -- on Monday, so she could pck it up at lunch time. I did that part for her. The wackos said they had to deliver to an address. I asked why they didn't know the address of their own facility ten miles north. So they changed their story to they couldn't just send it to another facility -- it had to be a house or business address. Since she had just started a new job and didn't want it coming to work on her third day there, I told them to just divert it to my address 25 miles farther north. They agreed to do that. In the end, I went to her place to accept a completely different furniture shipment (real trucking company for this one) on Monday. When I arrived, the UPS package was sitting on her doorstep. To hell with any instructions UPS had agreed to. Thirty of those bozos would have a cumulative IQ of fifteen. |
On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 11:18:00 -0500, "chef@dennys"
wrote: Fed-Ex Ground has always welcomed packages from private individuals, while UPS would rather do business with business. UPS finally saw the light over the last year or two due to Ebay, but they've did too little too late. I've used Fed-Ex Ground for at least 5 years since UPS started opening and inspecting packages accepted via their counters. A few years back, on salon.com, there was a story of a woman who went to France and had a major museum ship a rolled-up picture of a famous painting of a nude, to her son, a fine arts major, at home in the US. UPS in the US opened it, determined it to be obscene by their standards and sent it back to the museum store. The woman checked shipping policy with all the majors -- DHL, Airborne, UPS and FedEx. All except FedEx said they'd have done the same. FedEx alone said that, absent a court order, they wouldn't open a shipment which was properly packaged. The UPS counter folks around here are extremely rude... in fact one of them is so bad just mentioning her name to about anyone across the region who has been to their counter and they know who you're referring to. Go to a Fed-Ex counter and you're greeted with a smile. Also love their Ship Manager web processing. Even when there's a line of people at the Fed-Ex counter, just throw your packages on the desk... say "they're done"... and walk out. UPS lost my business long ago. "hinkeydo" wrote in message . .. I would have to agree that my luck with UPS has been less than satisfactory. but with fedex my stuff gets there a lot quicker and costs less money. |
On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 19:42:13 -0400, Chuck Harris
wrote: mike murphy wrote: The ups ppl are union, so they don't care about customer service Perhaps, but they are also employee owners, so I think they do care about customer service more than you know. I have dealt with UPS in two different cities, and out in the country, and they have always done the great job for me. I am certain there are regional problems, I just haven't witnessed them here. -Chuck Employee ownership is a crock of crap. If an average employee were to do something which made the stock go up a dollar, he'd get nearly nothing for his few measly (purchased) shares, but the fat cats at the top would each get a windfall for their 200,000 (given to them) shares. Apropos rec.radio.*.* -- that's a hell of an amplification factor. |
Guido Sarducci from NYC wrote:
Don't spend a lot of money on those self adhesive ship labels, instead use regular paper and get one of those glue sticks that the kids use at school, that turns your plain paper label into a stick on label for a few cents ! I advise against this; I did a mass-mailing using "glue sticks" to attach the plain-paper mailing labels. A large percentage of them fell off in transit. Spend the extra money for good labels; one lost package will cost a lot more than you save using "glue sticks." IMHO, of course, Dave S. |
hinkeydo wrote:
.... seems the guys in the warehouse love to kick the hell out of boxes like that. I'll never understand the Union attitude: "Lets see how much damage we can do to the company that puts bread in our mouths and clothes on our kids." |
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What about the "Union attitude"? Any problems that arrise are
attributed to management as they set the standards and rules. Bad management equals bad employees. The Union employees at UPS are no different than any other Union employee. All want their employer to thrive and earn many dollars. They know that more profit is more pay raise in future contracts. NOYK in central Florida UAW and proud Buy US! Buy Union! |
I truly believe FedEx treats YOUR package much
better than UPS!!! UPS does not seen to care much how much "bouncing" so to speak YOUR item takes. In the case of UPS it seems to have more to do with the shipper than anything else. When I get heavy items from Fair Radio via UPS the box always arrives in pristine condition. When I get similarly heavy items from random individuals the box is often nearly destroyed by the time it gets to me (and often the contents too.) Admittedly at least part of the difference is the inexperience of J Random Luser putting a 80 pound radio in a lightweight box filled with styrofoam peanuts... Tim. |
Hi
Can any US readers of this thread explain why Fedex or UPS is so popular compared with the much cheaper US Mail? Here in Australia Fedex and UPS offer a service, but few private individuals would consider using them due to high costs and the inconvenience when delivery is a problem if people are away at work. With normal post, we have post offices in all suburbs where undelivered mail can conveniently be picked up or items posted. I have never had loss or damage problems with ordinary mail to and from the US. Simon On 12 Oct 2005 10:23:59 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote: wrote: I have been using Fedex Ground and Home delivery for some time now after discovering the same thing you posted here. Agreed. Let me also say that, from my experience, UPS and FedEx Ground break things at about the same rate. But when FedEx damages something, they promptly inspect it and pay out without a fuss, while UPS will do almost anything to avoid paying insurance claims. Admittedly I have had only three UPS issues, but all were nightmares. --scott |
Simon wrote:
Can any US readers of this thread explain why Fedex or UPS is so popular compared with the much cheaper US Mail? Because for packages over about two pounds, US Mail is much more expensive than the package companies. For light packages, just a couple resistors or a tube, the postal service is usually a better choice. For international stuff, I don't know. And I will say that the postal service is not very good at paying up on their insurance claims either. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
David Stinson wrote:
hinkeydo wrote: .... seems the guys in the warehouse love to kick the hell out of boxes like that. I'll never understand the Union attitude: "Lets see how much damage we can do to the company that puts bread in our mouths and clothes on our kids." I've never noted anything like that. Our UPS guy has been on the same route for over twenty years. He even brings dog buscuits the dogs on his route. He is friendly and courteous. For outbound shipments, I take UPS items to Staples. One FedEx shipment for me was delivered to a neighbor who lives on a different road, a half-mile away. Airborne Express brought a fragile e-bay purchase during a snow. Rather than driving up my drive (which I'd done with a front wheel drive automobile, the guy placed the parcel atop my postal mailbox alongside the road where it could have toppled to the pavement or have been easily stolen by anyone. Dave Heil K8MN |
Dave Heil wrote: David Stinson wrote: hinkeydo wrote: .... seems the guys in the warehouse love to kick the hell out of boxes like that. I'll never understand the Union attitude: "Lets see how much damage we can do to the company that puts bread in our mouths and clothes on our kids." I've never noted anything like that. Our UPS guy has been on the same route for over twenty years. He even brings dog buscuits the dogs on his route. He is friendly and courteous. For outbound shipments, I take UPS items to Staples. One FedEx shipment for me was delivered to a neighbor who lives on a different road, a half-mile away. Airborne Express brought a fragile e-bay purchase during a snow. Rather than driving up my drive (which I'd done with a front wheel drive automobile, the guy placed the parcel atop my postal mailbox alongside the road where it could have toppled to the pavement or have been easily stolen by anyone. Dave Heil K8MN Yes different parts of the country are quite different. I gave up on UPS years ago because it was just to hard to ship a package with them. I live in Phx and the nearest Depot was 15 miles away. From experience on the receiving end thought I have had packages arrive in very poor condition plus have had packages delivered to the wrong address. I have shipped some items via FedX put from friend experiences collecting insurance on an antiques or old boatanchors is very hard. If an item is extremely height it will go FedX. Being I do not ship all that much but more than the most people I find shipping via the USPO the easiest and most friendly. There Priority boxes and Flat rate Box services can not be beat. If I was a business then I expect I would be using UPS and FedX. Back to boxing for my next run to the USPO, Ron WA0KDS |
Postal US now has flat rate boxes priority mail,
$ 7.85 for up to 70 lbx, check it out http://www.usps.com priority mail flat rate. UPS, FedEx and DHL offer insurance $ 100 value included in the rates and are reasonable for more expensive items to insure. Yes, the insurance at ups is to insure they do not pay the claims. Postal US mail is more expensive to insure. OTOH, I get shipments from aes in milwaukee just fine, fair radio (super pack jobs at fair prices) also. Those overcharger on ebay shoud take a lesson in packaging from fair radio ! Only had on problem with ups, they did not get signature and I paid for it, so I called to get them to credit me for the fee and they sent the driver out the next day to get a signature. what a joke, I protested the fee on my amex card and they had to refund it. Signature at delivery, not after delivery. UPS and Fedex counter people are great in my area. |
On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:23:14 GMT, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote: wrote: UPS has been OK with me, except when you haver to talk to them on the phone. In one case, they kept calling back to my house. I had received one of their calls there while home for a doctor's appointment and told them not to call there again. No such luck. Then you can never talk to the same idiot twice. They introduce themselves as "account executives", but these cheap-ass "executives" can't accept an incoming call -- you get the luck of the draw from whatever connects them. Then the dorks go tappity-tap on their keyboards as you describe the problem, but the info never gets to the next dork you talk to -- it's a brand new day and you have to explain the whole damned thing again. Last year, a friend was getting DSL and the equipment was UPSed to her. On delivry day, she looked at the website during the day (Friday). Late in the day, it was recorded as "no such address". She lives on a short stub (three houses worth) of a street which had a section removed for a throughway -- twenty years ago -- and half the time, they still lose it. We then told them to deliver it instead to the UPS facility near where she worked -- on Monday, so she could pck it up at lunch time. I did that part for her. The wackos said they had to deliver to an address. I asked why they didn't know the address of their own facility ten miles north. So they changed their story to they couldn't just send it to another facility -- it had to be a house or business address. Since she had just started a new job and didn't want it coming to work on her third day there, I told them to just divert it to my address 25 miles farther north. They agreed to do that. In the end, I went to her place to accept a completely different furniture shipment (real trucking company for this one) on Monday. When I arrived, the UPS package was sitting on her doorstep. To hell with any instructions UPS had agreed to. Thirty of those bozos would have a cumulative IQ of fifteen. I had the USPS return a package to the sender for "No such address". My shop was directly across the street from the post office. PO buildings act like Kryptonite on UPSers. It was all you could see when you looked out their front windows, yet they couldn't find it. UPS would leave my stuff at the wrong door, so if i was expecting anything I had to check quite often to make sure someone didn't walk off with it. |
"Dave Heil" wrote in message k.net... Airborne Express brought a fragile e-bay purchase during a snow. Rather than driving up my drive (which I'd done with a front wheel drive automobile, the guy placed the parcel atop my postal mailbox alongside the road where it could have toppled to the pavement or have been easily stolen by anyone. I had a nice experience with AE once, and only once. It's the one and only time I ever received anything through them. Great record in my book, (0 for 1)... Received an eBay package. Not too big of a deal, wasn't worth much, but they delivered it to the wrong address. Was delivered to the neighbor across the street, on a Friday. They were gone all weekend, so it didn't get to me until Monday. Worst part, it was on their doorstep, wasn't put in the porch, and it rained the entire weekend. Box and contents were so saturated with water, the neighbor barely go it to me without it completely falling apart... Worse yet, the label was made out to the proper address, their tracking site indicated the proper address, but when the driver logged the delivery, he even indicated that it was delivered to the wrong address. He wrote the address he dropped it at, instead of the my address; how blind can you be?! If only the shipper would have given me the tracking info, I could have gone across the street and gotten it myself before it got too wet, but they were apparently too lazy to email it to me, so I didn't find out until after I got the package from the neighbor and looked up the tracking info online. |
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Phil Kane wrote:
On 13 Oct 2005 06:21:10 -0700, wrote: In the case of UPS it seems to have more to do with the shipper than anything else. And sometimes it's the gremlins. Two horror stories: 1. Six years ago I shipped an AEA TNC to Timewave for an upgrade, UPS insured. It was well-packed - I've spent many years doing domestic and overseas packing of fragile household goods and electronic equipment (and during the 1967 War a commercial ocean shipper hired me to so some of it because his regular staff was out doing military service) so I DO know how to pack well. Timewave reported that the knob and shaft on the only front-panel control was bent and had to be replaced. Fast forward to last year. I had to ship another TNC to them, and mindful of the first experience, put TWO INCHES of snug-wrapped bubble-pack around the instrument, then two inches of sheet foam around that. I swear - the packing must have weighed as much as the instrument. You guessed it - Timewave reported that the control was damaged in shipment although the box and the packing was intact.. Go figure. Sounds like bovine excrement to me. I have dealt with companies in the past that always found certain things "broken" on items returned for repair, even when they weren't. It is a great way of bringing in a little extra money, and the customer has no way of proving the lie... well, unless the company tells the same lame story over and over again like Timewave appears to have done. 2. Quite a number of years ago I had a commercial art framer send a one-of-a-kind drawing cross-country to a friend of mine for a special birthday. It went UPS insured. When it arrived, my friend reported that there was a small crack in the glass frame and I reported that to the shipper. I'm betting this wasn't packed the way UPS says you should pack fragile items: double box, 2 inches of packing around the item, and 2 inches of packing around the inside box. You cannot just throw a glass frame into a box, and fill the box with peanuts, and expect it to survive. The frame needs a single wrap of thin foam (cardboard thickness), a piece of wood, or masonite front and back taped firmly. This should then be placed in a sealed plastic bag. This composit should be wrapped loosly with 2 inches of bubble wrap, and boxed. The inside box should then have another 2 inches of loosly packed peanuts. You can set the stage for a great amount of damage to a fragile item by simply packing the peanuts too tightly in the box. I have *never*, repeat *never* had a problem with UPS damaging an item that was properly packed. On the one or two occasions I have had a damage problem, the items were heavy, and were tossed into the box, with a little bit of crumbled newspaper thrown in on top to fill up the empty space. Or someone has shipped a BA that originally was shipped with the transformer removed, with the transformer installed... stupid stuff. That isn't UPS's fault, that is the shipper's fault. UPS moves quickly, packages literally fly through their hub. UPS gives recommendations on how to pack to survive. If you don't follow them, you are taking a very big risk. FedEX's ground operations are identical to UPS's. FedEX's air freight operations gain some protection from damage by forcing you to use their standardized boxes. -Chuck |
Back in the minicomputer days, we had a disk drive for a DEC PDP11-70 on
order. In those days drives were large and heavy, and a single drive might take up one-third of a rack. Well, the freight truck driver pulled up near the loading dock, opened the rear doors and backed the semi up to the loading dock. The driver got out again and looked around for unloading help. Not finding any help, he climbed inside the trailer and rolled the 120 pound crate out the back of the truck and down onto the loading dock. The height difference between the floor of the trailer and the loading dock was about four feet. The driver pulled forward, closed the trailer doors and drove off. Needless to say the drive didn't work, and the shock detector inside the packing crate indicated the drive had suffered at least one large impulse during shipment from the factory to the customer. "Chuck Harris" wrote in message ... Phil Kane wrote: [stuff] Sounds like bovine excrement to me. I have dealt with companies in the past... [stuff] |
In article ,
"John N9JG" wrote: Back in the minicomputer days, we had a disk drive for a DEC PDP11-70 on order. In those days drives were large and heavy, and a single drive might take up one-third of a rack. Well, the freight truck driver pulled up near the loading dock, opened the rear doors and backed the semi up to the loading dock. The driver got out again and looked around for unloading help. Not finding any help, he climbed inside the trailer and rolled the 120 pound crate out the back of the truck and down onto the loading dock. The height difference between the floor of the trailer and the loading dock was about four feet. The driver pulled forward, closed the trailer doors and drove off. Needless to say the drive didn't work, and the shock detector inside the packing crate indicated the drive had suffered at least one large impulse during shipment from the factory to the customer. ObAlsoRealLife: the quote below came about following the revelation that "ruggedised" PDP-11s were made for the military that were *intended* to be airdropped and remain fully functional. The bind moggles.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If being dropped out of an aircraft into what is, for all anyone knows, a minefield is "moderately rough handling", what would constitute "rough handling" or "very rough handling"? -- David Richerby Being shipped UPS. -- Dave Brown ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris. |
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:15:37 -0400, Chuck Harris wrote:
have weighed as much as the instrument. You guessed it - Timewave reported that the control was damaged in shipment although the box and the packing was intact.. Go figure. Sounds like bovine excrement to me. I have dealt with companies in the past that always found certain things "broken" on items returned for repair, even when they weren't. It is a great way of bringing in a little extra money, and the customer has no way of proving the lie... well, unless the company tells the same lame story over and over again like Timewave appears to have done. The cost of the replacement of the control was included in the flat advertised price of the upgrade so a) it didn't cost me anything and b) they would have lost money by "just doing it" unless necessary. special birthday. It went UPS insured. When it arrived, my friend reported that there was a small crack in the glass frame and I reported that to the shipper. I'm betting this wasn't packed the way UPS says you should pack fragile items: This was done by a commercial art framer and shipper who ships fragile and valuable artwork all over the world. I'm sure that they knew what they were doing. The problem wasn't the way it was shipped by them - a small crack can result from many causes including stress relief in the glass - and is no big deal compared to the condition that it was returned in. We had the "as arrived at consignee destination" pictures and the "as received in return by original shipper" pictures to prove it. The bottom line was that UPS figured that this would be covered by the shipper's insurance so they didn't give a flying fig about what happened to the package as they repacked it (by their own request) and returned it. UPS moves quickly, packages literally fly through their hub. UPS gives recommendations on how to pack to survive. If you don't follow them, you are taking a very big risk. A former neighbor retired as the regional UPS customer service chief some years ago. The stories she told after retirement which were similar to mine would make your hair stand up. Perhaps they now have a better grade of handler ???? I seem to feel that they have a better grade of delivery persons over the last decade. FedEX's ground operations are identical to UPS's. FedEx Ground is the former RPM. I have never had problems with them and lately have done most of my business with FedEx. FedEX's air freight operations gain some protection from damage by forcing you to use their standardized boxes. Never had problems with them. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane |
Phil Kane wrote:
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:15:37 -0400, Chuck Harris wrote: have weighed as much as the instrument. You guessed it - Timewave reported that the control was damaged in shipment although the box and the packing was intact.. Go figure. Sounds like bovine excrement to me. Ya wanna know my gripe with both of them? I live in Puerto Rico USA and neither of the two will treat this location as domestic USA. Its International Air pricing right down the line and discounted "ground" services are not offered. The Postal Service doesn't have this lack of imagination and gets "ground" (Parcel Post) here with sea shipping in a few days at rates parallel with anywhere else in the US. -Bill M |
Bill wrote:
Ya wanna know my gripe with both of them? I live in Puerto Rico USA and neither of the two will treat this location as domestic USA. Its International Air pricing right down the line and discounted "ground" services are not offered. The Postal Service doesn't have this lack of imagination and gets "ground" (Parcel Post) here with sea shipping in a few days at rates parallel with anywhere else in the US. -Bill M It is an interesting gripe. The Postal service is US government subsidized, UPS and FedEX are private companies. Why should they charge you anything other than what it costs them to service your location? They charge everyone else a rate that is graduated based on distance traveled. -Chuck |
Chuck Harris wrote:
Bill wrote: Ya wanna know my gripe with both of them? I live in Puerto Rico USA It is an interesting gripe. The Postal service is US government subsidized, UPS and FedEX are private companies. Why should they charge you anything other than what it costs them to service your location? They charge everyone else a rate that is graduated based on distance traveled. -Chuck In fairness there are actually import 'technicalities' for shipping certain items to PR and implications of the local tax structure, not unlike the Canadian scenario. Not that they do a good job with the Canadian market either. But UPS/Fedex/etc simply refuse to equally service this market of 4 million US people and the sellers/vendors that have obliged themselves to shipping ONLY via UPS/Fedex wind up refusing our patronage. I can't imagine them (or the affected vendors) telling everyone in say, the Toronto market, that "sorry, we don't serve that area" but thats the case here and I know Alaska and Hawaii suffer much of the same. Kinda screwy but thats why its MY gripe! The thieving bandits at USPS work great for me...who needs those others? USPS will get a package to me from NY as cheap as it will get it to California, and often, quicker. -Bill |
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 11:17:50 -0700 (PDT), "Phil Kane"
wrote: The only problem that I've had with the local UPS delivery here is that he leaves the package and rings the bell, and then it's a race to see if I can open the door before I see The Big Brown Truck drive off. That was decided years ago. Numerous friends who work for UPS tell me that, maybe ten or fifteen years ago, the beancounters figured the extra deliveries that could be made instead of waiting for sigs would easily cover the cost of stolen-off-the-doorstep shipments. A friend told one of these people that a $600 antenna had been left in plain sight under his exterior stairway and it might have been nice to claim it wasn't delivered so he could have a spare for his summer home. But they have this wacko deal where it's at the driver's discretion as to whether or not to require an adult's presence and sig. I once had some computer books shipped from Amazon. I came home to a yellow sticky saying the package had to be delivered to and signed for by an adult. I called about it. No reason was given, but I was told I could not just sign the yellow sticky and leave it on the door. Since the UPSsholes only work when I am at work, I had them divert the shipment to work, hoping it wasn't some porn mis-shipped to me for the amusement of the mailroom staff. It was just my Amazon order, so I called UPS to ask what the hell was up. They said the driver could make the non-overridable judgement to require adult presence and sig. The nest they could guess was that there might have been thefts of packages in my neighborhood, so he decided to lay on the requirement. |
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:49:54 -0500, "John N9JG"
wrote: Back in the minicomputer days, we had a disk drive for a DEC PDP11-70 on order. In those days drives were large and heavy, and a single drive might take up one-third of a rack. Well, the freight truck driver pulled up near the loading dock, opened the rear doors and backed the semi up to the loading dock. The driver got out again and looked around for unloading help. Not finding any help, he climbed inside the trailer and rolled the 120 pound crate out the back of the truck and down onto the loading dock. The height difference between the floor of the trailer and the loading dock was about four feet. The driver pulled forward, closed the trailer doors and drove off. Needless to say the drive didn't work, and the shock detector inside the packing crate indicated the drive had suffered at least one large impulse during shipment from the factory to the customer. Not as serious, but I once had a drive about 2x3x4 feet in size merely dropped off by UPS on an unattended, open loading dock -- no signature taken. That was on the shipper for not requiring a sig. But it stood on the dock, only occasionally attended, for another three days, with no notice to me -- my company's bad. When I fnally called the vendor, they chased it down (pre-tracking-website) and found it had been delivered three days earlier. Dumb vendor -- when we later replacd a line printer with a faster one, they were supposed to come and pick up the old one. They screwed around for four months and finally came around for the printer, on the third floor of a three-story building. Ha-ha -- by that time, the freight elevator was out of service for a couple of weeks for re-building. The vendor had to hire another outfit to come out with expensive equipment capable of walking a heavy printer down two wrapped flights of stairs. "Chuck Harris" wrote in message ... Phil Kane wrote: [stuff] Sounds like bovine excrement to me. I have dealt with companies in the past... [stuff] |
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