It WORKS

I cannot impress upon you all how much I loathe FedEx. I feel like they go out of their way to mess things up.
- It is usually a driver who has too many packages or doesn't care, both cases are an issue with the company itself.
  
  Yep know a guy at FedEx and they leave those notes when the package never made it to the truck but they have a contract to deliver in a certain time frame. So they put the blame on the customer as a strategy of cooking the metrics.
  
  I’ve lived in several different areas of my city, and even moved to a different county and lived in three different places in the new county. Unless I have beat the odds and gotten the same driver each time I’ve been unlucky to use fedex (usually not by choice), I’d lean more toward it’s a company problem and the drivers are merely a symptom (or victim).
  Anecdotally, I’ve never heard horror stories about FedEx like I’ve heard about Amazon, and yet Amazon still does a decent job with deliveries; not perfect, but orders of magnitude better than FedEx. That tells me how much worse it must be to work at FedEx.
- It's amazing the difference a union makes for customer satisfaction isn't it?
  Note: USPS & UPS are both unionized.
  
  UPS - Union, drivers are the MOST senior positions and get about $150k a year (I think they're hourly? With really really really good holiday and OT) with great benefits (afaik). Everything is insured, and drivers are generally held to incredibly high standards.
  FedEx - ground delivery drivers are not union. They aren't even employees. They're independent contractors so that FedEx can save money with MINIMAL liability. Drivers own their own route and trucks, and have to pay for everything. It's basically a mini franchise and you do not make very much, there are no benefits.
  These companies are NOT the same at all.
  
  This. FedEx drivers get wrung, squeezed and micromanaged every second of every day. Pay someone a living wage, set reasonable expectations, and stand back. The job will get done right the first time.
- More times than not they have faked deliveries for me. Sit beside door all day, no knock, no ring, nothing. Then look outside and there's a we missed you slip
  
  My fed ex people like to put my big/heavy packages right in front of my glass door that very obviously opens out and not in, which blocks my ability to open the door. 😡
  
  Eh that’s not specific to fedex. Mostly seems to be regional; all the carriers do that shit somewhere
  
  Motherfucker literally snuck up my stairs to put that on my apartment door when I was inside waiting for hours.
- FedEx lost a $500k case of equipment for the service techs who maintain the instruments we use at work. They work nationwide and have two of these cases for the entire country, they keep thousands of labs running. FedEx just... lost it. Eventually it was found a few weeks later or something. The cost is not really a big deal, it is basically just instrument components they use to verify the running components, but they're the components that all instruments are compared to, so they can't just put together another case as it suits them. There's extra testing that goes in to make sure these components are exactly to spec.
- Still better than OnTrac somehow.

Fedex sucks in general. This box contains 7000 bucks worth of laser cutter/ Box has been handled so harshly that its starting to come open. Not to mention they ignored the this side up part.
- Used to deliver for Amazon. Fragile, handle with care, this side up, lay flat, team lift, don't stack, all those mean nothing to the warehouse workers or most of the drivers. It's so chaotic in there and nobody has time to treat packages carefully.
  
  This has been the case for decades, everywhere.
  People, package your shit properly or pay the extra amount to ship it specially.
  
  Yepp. I work in shipping, and if you’re not comfortable throwing the box as hard as you can at a wall, you shouldn’t be comfortable shipping it.
  
  Just want to shift the blame here: that culture is set by management. The likelihood of damaging any given item to the extent that a claim is made is low enough that throughput is prioritized for profit. It's a shitty statistics game and your "fragile this side up" means nothing.
  I threw boxes for FedEx for a while at an airport. And yeah, "nonconveyable" freight (oversize/oddly shaped/overweight/hazmat) gets handled differently and holy shit is it a nightmare simply because its isn't easily stackable. Overweight? Yeah, we just tipped that out of the can and let it fall so we could roll it onto the low belt and into the next can. Over/oddly sized? If you're lucky it got set aside and shoved on top. If not, it got crushed by whatever got thrown on top.
  And sidenote: that box looks great, especially if it went through more than one ramp sort.
  
  In part because a large fraction are bullshit.
  I have seen boxes with 'Open carefully, do not use a knife' on the outer box when there was another set of cardboard boxes inside protecting the product. Oh yeah, real glad I didn't cut the tape with my blade that's not long enough to fully cut even one layer of cardboard.
  I have also seen a label "delicate product, fold carefully" on fucking denim jackets.
  When everything is 'fragile' nothing is. If you won't pay for a packaging engineer then pay for actual special handling.
  
  That's what happens when people don't want to pay for deliveries.
- i was reading about shipping fragile things by USPS…
  every forum i found, of people that ship antiques and such, is that marking it “fragile” guarantees that it will get destroyed in transit.
  i’ve only tried it once… we packed the thing super nice, and it was completely destroyed…. in was impossible to do on accident… even if they had treated it like a regular package, it would’ve been destroyed.
  but, treat employees like shit, pay them shit, and they’re going to be malicious….
- Shouldn’t it have been shipped in a crate with tilt indicators if it is truly fragile? You should blame your supplier.
- All I see is a packaged ~~you~~ someone failed to pack and ship properly. If you want white glove service, then you have to pay for white glove service.

Narrator: they did not deliver the package.

FedEx is so bad that if they're the only shipping option for an online order, I go and find a different vendor.
- It depends on the driver really. The guy on our route is great. The one for my mom is the worst.
  
  With USPS and UPS it doesn't depend on the driver, they all get the job done and do so safely. Meanwhile I've almost been killed on my bike by FedEx drivers multiple times. Has never happened around UPS and USPS trucks. I once watched a FedEx driver pull up in front of my apartment and literally locked eyes with the guy before he pulled away again and my tracking updated to "package undeliverable". They're over-worked, under-paid, under-trained, and it shows.
  
  I'm fairly sure that at least FedEx ground is all contracted drivers. They're kinda like a franchise that owns a particular route.
  
  I've had packages delivered to my bin before now. Without telling me.

I find it absolutely adorable when people who have never experienced Purolator - they claim to be a package company - complain about any package shipping issue.
You want invisible buildings? Purolator can't see 35-storey buildings rising high above a sea of bungalows next to a massive landmark.
You want customized delivery? If your building has a blue box system FUCK YOU they're gonna need a signature today and you're gonna have to beat them to the truck to give it.
you want careful handling? I think they use packages as ramps to get out of the snow or over speed bumps
you want friendly service? They're just pissed you burst out of the bushes to beat them back to the truck
safe pick-up of the package they can't seem to deliver? Get out near the airport where it'll probably be out in the ditch, but be there during the convenient hours of 2 and 4, week-days, and you can fight the thieves for your stuff.
i just don't know what keeps these guys in business.
- I seriously did not realize Purolator was still around. My dad worked for them 40 odd years ago, and quit on the spot, with kids and a wife at home, because of how awful they were (called and checked with my mom first, who was supportive).
  
  They still operate in Canada.
- Just today, FedEx said they delivered my two packages from eBay. I looked at the confirmation picture and it’s not even my house! Turns out, they delivered it two doors down to the wrong house. Fortunately, I have an honest neighbor and she brought them to me.
  This isn’t the first time this has happened.
- I've only heard of Purolator as an automotive filter brand, of which is about the same basic and minimally-achieved OEM specs as FRAM. I guess I should just avoid anything with that name altogether.
- I've given up on Purolator.
  I just contact customer support/the seller and tell them all the steps I took (filling out my complete address, and on the day of, contacting them with my buzzer number), and tell them that I didn't receive my package despite being home all day. I also didn't receive their "sorry we missed you" sticky note anywhere. And no missed calls for the buzzer.
  They often try to tell me the package is at a pickup point...I tell them that that's not the address I entered into their system, it's not the one that you put on the package, and you need to tell Purolator to send it to my address, or they're going to return it to you/the sender.
  This worked for my $1,000 package, thankfully. It didn't work for my ~$50 packages. So that got sent back to the sender and I got a full refund. And I won't be buying from them again unless they stop using Purolator.
  Meanwhile, Amazon will drop off $200 packages at my doorstep without a signature -- the way I want it! Lol
  Purolator said they needex me to print out a form saying I authorize a drop off without a signature. I told them the driver is never going to see it because they don't enter my building's lobby let alone come up to my apartment. They said to do it anyway and it'd be fine. When I told them it said missed delivery again despite me following their instructions, they stopped replying to my support ticket...lol
- I had a tablet that stopped working under warranty. Printed the return label and dropped it into a Purolator box. Later realized I had printed the wrong label. Called them with the exact box location and time that I dropped it off. They couldn’t find it anywhere, so essentially the driver stole it. THEY are the thieves after your package!
- Purolator is a bastard company I always freak out when I realize my online order defaulted to Purolator from the shipper's end. I'd literally send more money so it can be anything else.
  Not shilling for FedEx but FedEx has come to my house rang my doorbell and stood there for 1 min and I've never seen any other company do this.
  
  USPS will do their damnedest to get you your package, and they're the cheapest option. US only of course.
- Sounds worse than UPS. I know that if I'm supposed to get something from on a Saturday, that it won't be coming until Monday. Every fucking time "business closed". I dont live in a fucking business.
  
  Not yet you don't.
- I think these guys operate in Australia as fastway
- i just don’t know what keeps these guys in business.
  I've never heard of this company in the US, but I assume they have super cheap rates. That means they will continue to be the first choice of shippers that are covering shipping costs. This is especially true for high-volume businesses that move so much product it's cheaper to replace a couple of lost packages than to pay a better shipping company for every one.

The only problem I have with FedEx is that they routinely bait and switch me with delivery dates. Something will ship on Wednesday. I'll check the tracking on Thursday and it will say that it's coming Tuesday. Cool. On Sunday, they'll email me and say the package is going to be delivered on Monday. Then Monday comes and goes and the package is never on the truck for delivery and then they'll say it's delayed and coming Tuesday. Like why are you making yourself look bad? Don't tell me it's coming a day early just to then fuck that up. You're going out of your way to piss me off at that point.
UPS on the other hand will just tell me a package is coming on Tuesday and low and behold, there it is on the delivery truck on Tuesday.
- They claimed my package was delivered and it was nowhere to be found. I followed up and they just sent back the delivery confirmation. Said it was dropped off at a reception desk. My place didn't have a reception desk. Their CS went nowhere.
  I ended up making a BBB complaint and whadooyaknow, I get a call from a supervisor at the local DC informing me that the package was actually delivered to a hotel two blocks away and they would retrieve it and redeliver it for me and apologizing for it taking so long. I had already gotten a reship from the vendor in the meantime. (Bonus, I ended up with twice the product)
- It’s like the packages get to the last mile warehouse a day early, so the system says “it’s here, let’s send it a day early”. Then some idiot in either the warehouse or on the truck sees the package and says “oh this wasn’t scheduled to be delivered till tomorrow? Fuck that, it’s not going on the truck till tomorrow”
  Happened so many times for me with FedEx now, I just disregard any updates they send.
  
  FedEx is the worst of all. USPS is the best. At least where I've lived.
  I was in an sketchy apartment years ago waiting for hours for a FedEx package that needed signed. I waited the whole time in the living room by the front door. Eventually I got frustrated and walked outside. The FedEx person had snuck up my creaky stairs and put that fucking sticker on my door instead of even bothering to bring up the package and knock.
  
  It's not even that. It happens before it's even at the last warehouse. I know to disregard it but at the same time, if I have a phone coming from Google that I requested signature for delivery, I can't roll the dice. I'll move work from home days just to be annoyed again.
- I've had recent problems with FedEx like this as well. Like 3 of the past 4 deliveries it says it's going to deliver maybe a day early, then just fucking sits in the depo in the city ALL DAY while still saying it's going to be delivered today, until it's the end of the day and it switches to tomorrow.
- My favorite is when it actually says "out for delivery" on the day it's supposed to arrive, never shows up, then changes to "could not be delivered" after not showing up.
  I called FedEx last time this happened because the delivery was a firearm, and I needed to know what's happened. The person said it was loaded on a truck that morning, which triggered the status change to "out for delivery", but they didn't actually have anyone scheduled to drive the truck that day so it never even left the lot. It did arrive the next day, but I learned to not even trust "out for delivery" from them.
  Awesome system, guys.
  
  I actually ordered an adjustable/standing desk. They shipped via FedEx on the 21st and FedEx emailed me saying it was coming today. Did it show up? Nope. Never even moved from the initial location. Now they emailed me that it's coming tomorrow. It might, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Honestly I hope it doesn't come because it's only the top of the desk and not the adjustable base so I'm going to have a 48" x 24" table top just sitting around without the base.

Obviously screw FedEx, but why the hell is the # symbol part of the door code? It's just asking for this to happen.
- You press the # to start writing the code on Yale doorman, or to lock the door
  
  Ohh, I see. That makes it more clear than saying it's part of the code

Once Fedex lost a gait trainer to help my disabled daughter learn to walk. They then fought me for 6 months to stonewall me on getting reimbursed. When I was finally going to get my money back (it was quite expensive), it shows up at my house broken and now my daughter was too big for it anyway. I did find a local therapy center that said they could use some of for parts for their other trainers at least, but I was out nearly a month's pay. Fuck Fedex forever.
- They “lost” a $1300 computer monitor I was returning because it had multiple dead pixels. Tracking was weird, there was a “delivery exception” and it showed up 3 days later than originally expected.
  Monitor company said the box arrived empty.
  FedEx wouldn’t even talk to me about it because I wasn’t the one who ordered the shipping, Monitor company was. Monitor company accused me of sending them the empty box, routing me to their fraud department, unwilling to act as an intermediary to FedEx.
  Had to dispute the charge with my credit card to get it resolved, a process that took about 4 months. Thank god for AmEx.
  
  Having handled RMA disputes in a previous job if FedEx shows a delivery exception we'd generally trust that it was FedEx's fuckup. Glad you could get it sorted one way or another but that really freaking sucks
- I mean, the people they hired are probably jackasses, but not all of them. And it's really the management that's the issue.

Yeah delivery has become such a fucking shitshow. I shelled out the money for a PO Box, which seems like the only solution in the U.S., because in my experience FedEx and UPS are not functioning companies; they're scammers that take money from corporations to lose packages.
- Guess who USPS new PMG comes from...
  
  Conservatives are trying to destroy USPS because they want everything as shitty and privatized as possible. They want to run a government service as a business after kneecapping them by making them fund 30 years of pensions in advance. They bitch about a government service not turning enough profit. They're sick with greed.

These drivers are treated like shit. There is a reason why things are the way they are. I didn't get my package right away, but it's okay, because eventually I did and they just left it. They're asked to do much for way too little. Remember, it's the fuckers at the top that cause all of our problems. Don't blame the help.
- I mean thats cool and all but somebody has to deliver the packages. It's not the recipient's fault the job sucks, the recipient paid for delivery with an expected time of reciept. Entering gate codes is part of the job, ringing doorbells and actually waiting for someone to answer is part of the job, actually stopping at the goddamn address and getting the package out of the truck and going up to the door with it is part of the job. If they have unreasonable expectations placed on them, that's between them and their manager. I fail to see what it has to do with me or my package. I had FedEx leave notes on my door THREE consecutive times saying "we could not deliver your package because 'the business is closed.'" It was a residential address, and the package contained critical medical equipment. Mofo had those slips ready so he could cut and run without looking for the package.
  
  Yes, yes, it's the wage slave workers who have unreasonable expectations placed on them in order to feed themselves and their families that are at fault in the our capitalist system. I see that now.
- They won't deliver FedEx Ground packages to my workplace because it takes too long. Only next day or other priority levels are delivered.
- I mean, I agree. But also is it not just more work for them to bring the package back to the facility? If they would just leave the damn package they could save us both from more work!
  
  I don't think it'd be more work for them, since they presumably have to go back to the facility anyway.

I’ve never heard pen scratches in a photo so loud

Honestly I prefer usps now.. I worked as a driver for FedEx express and when I helped on the belt with packages the loaders would say fragile is French and I don't understand French while rolling the packages.
- Thought fragile was Italian. Frah-jee-lee.
  
  Heard that too. Lol
- Yeah my boy worked for UPS and said he saw dudes bounce pass TVs in the warehouse.
  
  I used to work at a factory that made exercise equipment and the rule was once it's out the door it's not our problem so we're like drop kicking packages into the truck and just cramming in as much as we can. That's just the culture in some workplaces and a lot of these companies are really just cutting corners everywhere and the morale is low. The factory was built in the middle of the city, but the area surrounding it was a historic neighborhood, and it was kind of low income. And they would just run trucks through that area that were overloaded by a lot, and no one cared. I'm not talking about boxes of Amazon goods. I'm talking about solid-ass steel. This destroyed the streets. I mean, if they're hiring people and firing people, you know, who's going to take the job seriously? It Is an absolute fucking shit show out there. It was a very unsafe workplace and you know, I like tried to organize some workers and they retaliated, the people at the top that is, by messing around with my forklift. I almost crashed into racking and the metal, because it was metal above. Plates of metal could have came through my cage and killed me. We've gone back in time. I mean, we have got such a toxic culture for example at some of these amazon warehouses, where you've got people coming in with guns killing each other. But then if you're a hard worker, you still get treated like shit, and you gotta go through turnstiles like your a fucking criminal. The workplace is incredibly unsafe and there are things that most people who work a desk job don't understand. I always punch upwards.

Well now one of the FedEx board members is now USPS PMG... Expect mail to get bad too.
- Why make your product better if you can just eliminate the competition?

So you're telling me the company that doesn't have unions fails to deliver?

In my neighborhood, they misdeliver a package at least 2 times a week.
I'll see the FB group, so and so, your package is at my house or does anyone recognise this porch
They never fuck up my house, but man do they fuck up the rest of the hood.

I want to know more about the monkey test

I have a moron who works in my area, morning post. They, not even the company they work for, just them, have the shittiest track record for delivering parcels. They literally will not deliver unless it's small enough that they can damage my mailbox door, bending it open to put the parcel in. They refuse to deliver parcels, and yet the company still gives them parcels to deliver.
Every other company has a success rate of 95%+. Not this one. Thanks to a maximum of three delinquents in their employ. Last time I tallied up their success rate was 50%.

Up until about 6 months ago or so, in my area FedEx was the best of the delivery services in my area by far. Granted, I know that whichever service is best tends to vary from region to region. But, whenever I saw that my package was getting delivered via FedEx, I was generally glad to know it.
In my area, UPS is the shady shit-show that would totally pull some bullshit like this. UPS will open my mailbox and put packages in there (which is illegal in the USA). UPS will claim my package is delivered and then 3 days later, USPS delivers it. They have some kind of agreement with USPS to deliver the last mile, but UPS tracking literally shows the packages as delivered the moment they turn it over to the USPS. UPS will furiously beep the horn outside my bedroom window until I go to the front door to see what's going on, and then have ME dig through their truck to find my own package. Anyway, I'm ranting now, as is the custom for men my age and in my condition.
USPS is just a whole other paradigm of unfathomably terrible shit show. Okay, I'll stop. I have a problem.
Point is, FedEx used to be the best of shitty lot, so I wonder why they've suddenly and drastically gotten so bad as of late.

Cheap labor equals cheap results.

It's always them lol

I had similar with Hermes/EVRI, they were so bad and just refused to do the most basic things. Visible doorbell? Nope! Gonna ignore it, pretend you aren't in and won't even deliver the parcel to a neighbour, just take it with them. They're making more work for themselves.

Lmao, this still ain’t gonna work. I swear it’s like they can’t read or see the world around them.

What i don’t get is that amazon deliveries have a date they tell me. I usually don’t need it right now so whatever, i just need to be able to intercept it sometime that day. It will flag as being delivered. But its not out side “oh sometimes they will mark a package as delivered but it will take up to 48 hours to arrive” ok, i get that traffic, and overburdening the driver’s is a constant. But fuck, don’t mark it as here. And i am talking to amazon. They know it’s a problem, just let me know there is a delay, so i don’t go rummaging through my bushes, or canvassing my neighbors!

You can just let the free market solve this problem for you. It doesn't happen often, but it's actually true here.
It's super fucking easy too: place the burden of delivery on the seller/shipper, and presto, suddenly paying a little more for non-shit delivery becomes worth it. Or they keep trying till they get it right.
- Not when there's a hot new trend of charging extra at checkout for "shipping protection" from some shell of a company named Route, on top of paying for shipping. And checking it by default, too, so most folks probably never even notice.
  "By declining package protection, $merchantname is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen items."
  Of course they still are responsible, but some companies like this are making it clear they're not gonna deal with their own selected shippers when they fuck up
- ...and you're suggesting to implement that... how?
  
  That would require making and enforcing laws.

If they're leaving a door tag, it means a signature is required. There's three flavors of signature: you specifically, someone 21 or older at the same address, or anyone with a pulse standing near your door.
Making two trips to deliver a package means they made no money on that delivery.
- It's a self own on FedEx tbh. The drivers leave without really trying because they have to in order to keep their schedule and FedEx loses profit margin because their drivers have a bunch of fake stops on their route.
- Not always the case. I've had these assholes come up to the door to my building, leave the tag without trying the doorbell then running off before I could run down the stairs.

Ok, now imagine that you've left "signature required" packages like this before and the person reported them stolen or not delivered to collect on the insurance. How do you think that would make you feel as a delivery driver. Would you ever do it again?
- Not every package is signature required, in fact, few are. you don't know this one is. I am going to assume OP is competent enough to not be complaining about such a package.
  The only "signature required" packages I've ever had defaulted to USPS rather than a contracted private service.
  
  If it doesn't require a signature then why wouldn't they just leave it?

I have a FedEx store near me, I can usually just go pick it up from.
- Nice for you.
- This is the trick. If you have any concerns about receiving the shipment, have FedEx hold for pickup
- There's a Walgreens 2 miles from the house that I pass every day on the way home that I send all my packages to. Good strategy.