UPS rant

[Ryk Loske]

I got some information about this problem while checking on an order i have coming. The lady i spoke with at customer service was kind and apologetic and explained that the 2 ton gorilla (Amazon) and other large shippers get priority from the shipping companies .... their stuff goes asap ... little guys go at convenience. This is not my experience with USPS but it certainly is with UPS and FedEx Ground. The knowledge didn't make me feel any better but i appreciated learning why the situation is what it is.
Ryk

[Br1ck]

In their defense, all carrier’s systems are swamped by Black Friday sales. But ‘tis the season to bash them, each and every one.

[Jeff Mando]

I guess it goes without saying if you order something this time of year the shippers have the best excuse of all for something being late -- IT'S CHRISTMASTIME!

On an unrelated matter, I was on the phone with eBay last week and it clear to me that eBay representatives are being coached to mention Amazon as the "bad guy" and one of the reasons eBay sales are down.........

It is somewhat hard for me to picture eBay as the "little guy!"

[JeffD]

I have had experience with all the different shippers, and very (very) rarely had a problem with any of them.

As an aside 60 miles is not a crazy drive for a musical instrument. I much prefer driving out to pick up something like a mandolin, within say 200 or 250 miles. I just recently drove 150+ miles to pick up my Girouard. About two and a half hours of driving.

I am not saying I know statistically it is safer for me to drive the instrument home than a regular carrier, because I don't know if that is true. But I feel more control of the process all along the way.

[DHopkins]

Online shipping dates can be deceptive. Often, shippers will create the paperwork online but the product may not leave their property for a while. It often happens when the paperwork is created on Friday but the item is not picked up until Monday.

[mandotool]

Secret.

Have the shipper mark GIFT on the box. UPS treats it like gold and won’t hold them.

My brother has been at UPS for 30 years, been a driver for 20.

fscotte.....are you suggesting that a "GIFT" designation can be entered into the labels barcode when the label is created by the "shipper" ?
or just have the shipper/Seller apply a handwritten note on the box as a "GIFT" ?

[Walt]

I ordered a fingerboard from LMII a couple of years ago. USPS sent it from San Fransisco to Shreveport, Louisiana (70 miles from my address), then back to San Fran, then on to the United Arab Emirates, Saudia Arabia, Lebanon, the UAE again, back to San Fransisco, then finally to my house in Louisiana.

[LadysSolo]

I ordered a fingerboard from LMII a couple of years ago. USPS sent it from San Fransisco to Shreveport, Louisiana (70 miles from my address), then back to San Fran, then on to the United Arab Emirates, Saudia Arabia, Lebanon, the UAE again, back to San Fransisco, then finally to my house in Louisiana.

I would say whoever paid the postage on that DEFINITELY got their money's worth! That fingerboard got a tour of the world!

[Bob Clark]

I just today received a card from my local Post Office saying that a trailer truck carrying mail from the local post offices was in an accident and burned up. All the mail went up in flames. So, glad I hadn't shipped anything of value. See. . .could always be worse!

[Br1ck]

I almost didn’t start this thread, considered it to be in “just another BC pick” category. But clearly, many need to vent. This has been a public service announcement.

[AndyV]

fscotte.....are you suggesting that a "GIFT" designation can be entered into the labels barcode when the label is created by the "shipper" ?
or just have the shipper/Seller apply a handwritten note on the box as a "GIFT" ?

All upper case... is that an anagram? Get It F'n There?

[DHopkins]

We can all complain but, in reality, how many choices do we have?

[Leftoutside]

Fedex has gone to the dogs in my area. It's all contract drivers, not regular Fedex employees (often driving Penske rental trucks that leak oil all over my driveway). A different one every time. They left my package somewhere in the surrounding area and showed it as delivered. Took me 3 days to finally get in touch with the local office and get it tracked down. Thankfully it wasn't an instrument.

[Russ Donahue]

Let me disagree slightly re: US Postal Service. I had a mandocello shipped to me from Canada, and went out briefly on a Saturday morning. When I got home there was an "attempt to deliver" notice in my mailbox. I was worried that the instrument, a century-old Waldo, wouldn't like to be hanging around in an overheated truck for the rest of the day, then stored somewhere until I could pick it up later. I went to the post office that handles delivery to my house, and they called the postal worker on his cell phone, and made arrangements for me to meet him and receive the package.

I've dealt many times with bureaucracies where the answer is, "Our procedure is thus-and-so, and we can't make exceptions." This was just the opposite, and while I thanked the USPS workers profusely at the time, I think their going the extra mile, warrants public recognition..

I've had the same experience with my local Post Office as Allen has with his. FedEx? Not so much. UPS? They leave things hanging on the telephone poles on our private road if they don't want to take the time to come all the way down to our house. Several years back at Christmas they did that with a box of ink for fountain pens. All that colored ice wasn't a pretty sight. I use USPS almost always and have had great luck with them on all my catch and release adventures.

[DHopkins]

We can all go through this catharsis and probably everyone has a horror story or two but the truth of the matter is, they do at least a pretty decent job, considering the number of packages they carry. They're confident enough to let you use the Internet to follow the progress of your parcel's trip. That can also be their downfall because it can show that the shipment going from New York to Kansas City sometimes takes the scenic route by visiting the beach in Miami, the Alamo in San Antonio and Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

[Jim Garber]

The default for UPS is to drop a package on your doorstep without even ringing the doorbell. I think you can ask for mandatory signature but I have seen computer boxes on people's steps.

What I have done more recently is to have Fedex deliver to their nearest store so it won't be sitting anywhere with terrible conditions. Actually Fedex impressed me when I had to ship a nyckelharpa back to its owner. I brought it to the store and they packed it for me in a golfbag box and it got there without incident and the cost was minimal.

[Luna Pick]

Billions of pieces successfully delivered around the world, bound to be a few rants along the way. . .

[CES]

My last online mandolin purchase was shipped UPS, who usually comes by our place 6 pm-ish. Perfect, I thought...until they tried to deliver it at 10 am when no one was home and all the neighbors were at work. Fortunately there’s a UPS store very close to my office, so I was able to route it there and pick it up over lunch. I’ll probably do that to begin with for instrument purchases in the future.

I’ve gotten good service from our USPS branch, and the employees are genuinely friendly and helpful, but they recently declined to ship a mandocello packaged in a dreadnaught box because “the box exceeds allowable dementions.” They’d shipped dreadnaught boxes for me in the past but commented that businesses don’t have the same size restrictions as individuals. Guess regulations have changed (and we’re not a small rural outpost).

Our Fed Ex hub is on the other side of town, so workable but not nearly as convenient as the UPS store. When I asked a Cafe sponsor recently which company they preferred, their response was, “We usually use one til they make us mad, then switch to another until they make us mad, then...”

The horror stories are real, but a pretty small percentage of their total deliveries. Also, this time of year the delivery guys are the final common pathway, and they’re working their behinds off. It doesn’t excuse improper handling or drop offs, for sure, but most of the issues happen long before these guys get the packages on their trucks...

[Jeff Mando]

Exactly, tiny tiny percentage of problems vs great service. Common sense would say.......if you have the choice, wait until AFTER the holiday rush to ship things. Similar to my "philosophy" concerning driving in traffic -- since I work for myself, I avoid driving during either of the daily rush hours -- I'll let the commuters have the road during those hours. Common sense, less traffic -- fewer problems.

FWIW, I live in a rural location. Unless I ship USPS, then I have to drive 16 mi to FedEx, 18 mi to UPS.....so there's that.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Have you looked at your calendar lately? In the words of the immortal Tex Logan, "Christmastime's A-comin'"!

The folks at UPS, USPS, Fedex, and all the others are running their skinny little butts off. They're all under huge pressure, few are unionized, and none of them are getting any slack. They're even electronically monitored these days, which is why (at least where I live) you see drivers running up to doorsteps and back to their trucks.

They're not sitting on their thumbs. (Or your packages.)

Google electronic employee monitoring to see what's out there for the time-obsessed employer now.

And here's what's right around the corner: chips (Which the folks at ABC seem to think is hilarious.)

So here's what I do: sit tight, hoist another 'nog, and trust Santa to get the job done.

[catmandu2]

Well I get to spin the wheel again this year … I wasn't planning on buying anything needing shipped, especially after tempting fate last year (Ordered a hardanger fiddle on new year's eve; sent the guy an extra $50, gratuity, to ensure first rate shipping. Thing was in the mail for 3 weeks, with no tracking info supplied. I was amazed and astounded that it arrived intact, much less immaculate, with only a few layers of bubble wrap around it - no case or interior rigid protection of any kind).

Having regarded this a minor miracle, I had no intention of pushing my luck. But lo, I snagged an Arabic oud on the bay today, and here we go... Again, no case. I think ouds are even more fragile than hardingfele. I'll employ me usual strategy of much dialogue with the seller prior to shipping.

Crossing my fingers that we all have good luck this holiday season!

[DHopkins]

FYI: On Tuesday, 12/17, I order a wireless microphone system from B&H Photo. It was shipped the same day from New Jersey. It arrived here in Columbus, GA, today, less than 48 hours after it was ordered. It was shipped by FedEx.