FedEx stinks!!!!

[ThRoewer]

:thumbdown :thumbdown :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :headwalls:

It's not enough that half the time their delivery drivers are incapable to read the addresses right and drop things off at the wrong address, but now they decided that delivering a priority overnight express package will be soon enough to arrive by Monday instead of Saturday.

I ordered 2 Starcki damsels, 2 female Blue Stripe Pipefish and some corals from Blue Zoo and selected Saturday delivery, since that's the only day I can take care of the package as soon as it arrives.

I suspect by Monday morning all the fish and corals will either have suffocated or be frozen to death. :sad2:

 

[fearyaks]

Oh man that stinks! I presume you've called them and there's nothing they can do?

 

[ThRoewer]

When the package hadn't arrived by 6 pm I called FedEx and they told me the plane had been delayed but that the package was supposed to be delivered by 8 pm.

After it wasn't here by 9:30 pm I called again and was told that the package is still at the Oakland airport and that it won't be delivered until Monday.

 

[snorvich]

My condolences. Been there, done that. Now, I very carefully check long term (week) weather forecasts to attempt to figure out if there will be "system delays" in airplanes. For me personally, I can avoid problems some of the time by ordering from DD which is relatively close to my location but that would not work for folks that require a plane ride for their item.

 

[ThRoewer]

I don't think this was weather related. This is just due to a delayed plane from LAX to Oakland and that it wasn't processed further after it arrived there a little before noon.

In fact the box sits just half an hour from here in a holding facility at Oakland Airport. If the option existed I could drive there and pick it up.

 

[Big E]

FedEx is what it is..............the same with UPS.

I do whatever I can on my end to make sure I'm coverd. I know it sucks, but take a day off and take delivery Tues, Wed, or Thur. This allows a 48 hour window..........most corals and fish are packed to last that long without loss.

Or maybe a friend/relative can help you with taking delivery.......any reefer buddy I'm sure would be glad to help.

When I ship anything myself, I do the same and only ship Mon-Weds.

I know this doesn't help your cause now, but I'm just posting to help anyone so they can learn from your pain.

Also, with the holidays upon us.................I just stop ordering or shipping any livestock from about 12-10 to 1-10 the next year. Even after that it becomes a crap shoot till March with cold weather and delays.

 

[thewrasseman]

I have a hard time being free during the week as well. If this is an option for you, I usually have live goods delivered during the week (tuesday through thursday delivery) and have them held at a local fedex facility. If I do get off of work, it actually works out better for me than having a driver deliver because the times I have taken off the driver shows up with the package an hour or two after 1030. When its held at a local facility its climate controlled and usually ready for pickup at 8-9am. Im not sure about the shipping agreement from different vendors and how that would impact it i.e. is it technically delivered when its at the hold facility or delivered when you sign for it?

 

[Dmorty217]

Some places I order from wont let me get a Saturday delivery (even if they offer it) because of this very thing. If Something happens it snowballs into a big problem. Also I always have my packages (fish that is) held at the FedEx location. I feel you pain, and it sucks

 

[Jeff4777]

Wow that is terrible. Man they should of just let you pick it up since it involves live animals...

 

[BlueMac92]

FWIW, we had a large shipment of Carribbean fish get delayed over 24 hours once. When I went to pick it up, I thought for sure everything was going to be lost. To my amazement, all we lost was a rock beauty and all of the arrow crabs.

Good luck man.

 

[fearyaks]

Definitely keep us updated. I think BZA ships out of Los Angeles so weather related delays is weird because the weather has been fine down here.

So frustrating!

 

[ThRoewer]

Well, by my calculation, when I get the shipment on Monday morning, the fish and inverts will have spent at least 70 hours in the bag. I doubt that they will handle that well, if at all.

Unfortunately Saturday is currently the only day I can receive shipments.

I would be really upset if this was something like a shipment from Diver's Den or something else that can't be relatively easily replaced.
If I ever order something like that I will have to take half a day off to receive it on a weekday. I will also insist that the fish get packed in oversized bags to handle at least 48 h in the bag.

 

[joshky]

Man that sucks, sorry you're going through this.

I had two malus from DD get held up for a week in shipping last year due to a freak snow storm that put our area in a state of emergency. Anemone soup by the time I saw them.

RIP

 

[hogfanreefer]

So sorry to hear about this. The only time I've had a problem was when we had an unexpected ice storm the night before the delivery. I called UPS and they explained that they didn't want their drivers on the road but the driver waited for me at the shop and I picked the package up there. Hope against hope that your guys survive this!

 

[Taahirs]

Sorry to hear this. Have you gotten the Fish yet?

 

[BrianD]

Unfortunately, whether it is Fedex, UPS, or any other delivery service, there are never any guarantees. There are too many variables that may cause delays. I think the half-day off to receive the package is probably your safest bet.

 

[ThRoewer]

Sorry to hear this. Have you gotten the Fish yet?

According to the tracking info it just (Mon 07:25) arrived in San Jose for sorting.

Unfortunately, whether it is Fedex, UPS, or any other delivery service, there are never any guarantees. There are too many variables that may cause delays. I think the half-day off to receive the package is probably your safest bet.

With FedEx or UPS regular express or ground shipments I expect and accept delays.
But this is FedEx Priority Overnight. Even if there are delays they can't control, at a minimum I would expect a notification that there is a unforeseen holdup.
Also with shipments from L.A. to the S.F. Bay Area the number of unforeseen delays is much smaller than if it goes to the Midwest for example. Bad weather is something rather rare around here. Also the plane made it here but because it was close to noon after unloading, the shipment wasn't processed any further.
This one was a case of "Shift is over, we go home". They knew well in advance that the plane would arrive late and could have taken measures to deliver the packages at least on the scheduled day or at least let customers pick up their packages. I suspect, because Saturday is largely residential delivery, some manager decided that since the deadline for in-time delivery couldn't be made, they may as well call it a loss and save some money by doing nothing.

Next time I will just take weekday delivery, even if I'm not at home. A few hours more in the box at my front door won't do as much harm as a sitting over the weekend in a unheated warehouse.

 

[HiImSean]

Next time I will just take weekday delivery, even if I'm not at home. A few hours more in the box at my front door won't do as much harm as a sitting over the weekend in a unheated warehouse.

You can always have them send them for a hold at a local fedex office store. That way they are at least inside in a temperature controlled environment and you can pick them up on your way home. I've done that a few times.

 

[joshbrookkate]

There were so many good things said about the Starcki damsel in a thread last week, I ordered one from BZA yesterday, to be delivered to a Fedex hold facility in Detroit on Tuesday.
I hope I have a better experiencewith my little guy than you have had with yours.....
Good luck and keep us informed.

Michelle

 

[AUFishGuy]

Fed Ex is the worst and slowest of the major carriers by far. Just last week i sent them a complaint about their shipment times stating that due to their inabilty to be competitve with UPS ans USPS i have started to look at how a vendor or company will be shipping and if it is FedEX will go with another vendor even if it cost a little more, this is really specific to Amazon.

Example: I ordered two packages, both happened to be from the same area of CA and just happened to start in distribution centers in the same city on the same day. One was with FedEx and the other was with UPS, both were standard ground shipping. UPS packaged arrived 4 days after its Origin Scan while the FedEx arrived 9 days after its Origin Scan.Would have been 8 days but the sent it 2 hours in the wrong direction and had to fix that issue.

This has come to be what i expect from FedEx as this has been my most common experience. With that said UPS is easily the best with the USPS somewhere in the middle. Having worked for the USPS i find it staggering that FedEX could be so much worse and yet it absolutely is.