FedEx is Ridiculous

doubleshot00

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Wow. I never would have expected that fedex and ups have a significant difference in pay. That must really screw things up from day 1 at FedEx.

Another job also being crappy doesn’t make it okay. That is just complacency in life with “the way things are”….never moving forward to make it better.

Google states average pay is 21 hr for UPS and 18 hr for FedEx.

I don’t see that as making a “killing” but perhaps we have different terms of what that is.

OK good job googling. Lets here how you can make it better?

I bet you ask any UPS driver how much they make and you wont hear any of them say $21 :face-with-tears-of-joy:
 

Dan_P

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I know many of you have horror stories about FedEx lack of prompt delivery of reef creatures and such, but I just have to tell todays story.

My company is running a critical experiment at a contract lab. Overall the experiment is costing mega dollars and weeks of work. One lab was sending frozen blood plasma samples to a different lab for a very specialized chemical analysis. The chemical can degrade so the box is filled with dry ice to ensure it stays frozen.

Today I get word from the receiving lab that FedEx says there is a delivery delay. Oh crap, that’s really not good.

I look up the tracking, and it says that the package is actually at the local FedEx location for delivery, but delayed 24 h and will be delivered “by 4:30 pm tomorrow”. Definitely a serious risk the dry ice is gone due to an extra 24 h delay.

Since I’m not either the shipper or the receiver, my standing to get FedEx to do something is minimal, but I tried.

I called FedEx and asked for customer service at least eight times to a computer that kept saying no agent had more info on the matter, then I got through to a human.

I explained the urgency and she seemed to suggest that the package could be delivered at 8 am tomorrow if someone would be there. Good. Not perfect, but better than 4:30 pm. I alerted the receiving lab to be ready.

Got a call back a couple of hours later from a different FedEx person . Here’s where it got luny…

“so, I hear you want this package delivered at 8 am”

“well, I didn’t ask for 8 am, just that it not wait until 4:30 since it is a critical medical sample that might be ruined by waiting”

Gave her the tracking number (how did she not already have it when calling?).

“It’s actually on the truck for evening delivery now” she says. Apparently there was a partial tracking update, saying delivery was still by 4:30 pm tomorrow (about 26 hours away) but that it was also out on a truck for delivery…

“Not good, the business will be closed” I say

“Well maybe it will get there before it closes” she says

“If it doesn’t, can I be sure it gets delivered in the am and not 4:30 pm tomorrow?”
I ask

“No, you didn’t pay for morning delivery”

(omg, this is nuts)

“But I paid for delivery the day before, and you didn’t meet that time, so doesn’t it seem like you should try to fix your not meeting your obligation by delivering as soon as you can?” I ask

“no. We have other customers who paid for morning delivery” she says

ok, so i realize neither logic nor good customer service are going to solve this mess.

“Can I pay more with a credit card right now to ensure it gets morning delivery?” I ask

The conversation got confusing here. Not being the shipper, or receiver, I didn’t know if this would work, but she never answered. She just said let’s first see if it gets delivered today.

In my mind it would risk being told tomorrow that it was too late to change it if we waited, and even an extra $100 is easy money to give greater odds of a successful experiment.

But that’s all she would do.

So i watched the tracking, and watched, and watched. Finally it changed to delivered at about 4:30, which is on time.

I hope it was delivered to the right place because the receiving lab later wrote to me saying that yes, they would be there at 8 am in case it arrived in the am. No word that anything did arrive.

I think I’m going to ask the shipping lab to send all samples for morning delivery so that any delayed shipments will deliver in the morning, regardless of how many days late it is. lol

Now I have to wait to find out what happened to it at 4:30. I hope it got checked in and put in a -80 freezer. My fear is it is sitting on some random loading dock on a hot night in the Midwest.


Happy Reefing! lol
Let us know on Monday how it turned out, e.g.,

1) Turned out OK, I should never have checked :)
2) High temperature excursion occurred, all screwed up. I will volunteer to drive the sample to the Midwest next time, it’s only about a 14 hour drive on I80.
3) Just checked my points, I am retiring. Unstable chemicals be danged!
 

JDCagley

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OK good job googling. Lets here how you can make it better?

I bet you ask any UPS driver how much they make and you wont hear any of them say $21 :face-with-tears-of-joy:
lol- my brother is a topped out UPS- driver/local - he makes $41.40/hour - FedEx Express makes $26-28 range, FedEx ground are contractors and they make ~$10-15/hour (based on packages delivered - so the math makes them earn less than it appears when traffic is bad, etc.) Ground and Express are 2 different entities.
 

Borat

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You should send it through China! It will get delivered on time and faster than Fred&X...
 

Tamberav

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OK good job googling. Lets here how you can make it better?

I bet you ask any UPS driver how much they make and you wont hear any of them say $21 :face-with-tears-of-joy:

Sounds like they can start by installing AC. They may get it though.

It doesn't matter how much they make to me. You could pay them $150 an hour, it is still a messed up situation.

I hope they pay well, they deserve it for hauling my giant boxes of salt :grimacing-face:
 
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doubleshot00

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Shipping has gotten so bad lately. I stopped ordering livestock online . I have a bunch of requests for my seahorses from people out of my area wanting me to ship. It’s too risky for me. It’s not just fedx it’s also ups
I ordered fish a few weeks ago and the flight was delayed. I went to the UPS hub and kept asking around then someone finally helped me. Took a few hours but i got my fish. Sometimes you have to grab the bull by the horns.
Sounds like they can start by installing AC. Sounds like they may get it though.

It doesn't matter how much they make to me. You could pay them $150 an hour, it is still a messed up situation.

I hope they pay well, they deserve it for hauling my giant boxes of salt :grimacing-face:
Sounds like they can start by installing AC. They may get it though.

It doesn't matter how much they make to me. You could pay them $150 an hour, it is still a messed up situation.

I hope they pay well, they deserve it for hauling my giant boxes of salt :grimacing-face:
The way i see it. They are deserve what they make.

My buddy worked for fed ex and said it was one of the most miserable jobs ever. My dad just retired from UPS and the driver that drops off at my house sounds like @JDCagley brother. He loves OT :face-with-tears-of-joy:
 

Lbrdsoxfan

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Wow. I never would have expected that fedex and ups have a significant difference in pay. That must really screw things up from day 1 at FedEx.
What most don't realize, FedEx drivers are contract employees. Have been for years, since I last worked there in 2015.

UPS is a Teamsters shop and the drivers are paid pretty WELL...

The whole thing about the delivery trucks not having AC... That's another subject. You notice for the most part individual drivers aren't screaming, it's the union, and every one else that's an arm chair QB about the issue. Those trucks can get AC, but something else is will be given up. Nothing is free when it comes to union anything. Corporate greed and union labor at its finest.
 

MichaelReefer

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I was lucky and once had a fish that got held up at the local Fed Ex (was sitting in a truck and was pushed out 24hours). They actually went out and got it for me because the manager I spoke with had a reef tank.

I have also had bad experiences though, so its kinda a wash.
 

davidcalgary29

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I think I've mentioned several times that, in Canada at least, internal tracking is uncoupled from internal software given to customer service, so there's no point in call them at all: employees (if they admit it) will simply tell you that a package is at X location because that's where the software expects it to be at that point. If there is a software system that actually provides real-life updates, they don't have access to it. I had several sympathetic managers explain this to me.

I always ask for overnight shipping. The last time I actually received an item within 24 hours was in 2019. I realize that companies are still struggling with pandemic logistics, but I think that the courier companies have just decided to consolidate their services so that they can offer consistency instead of providing an erratic experience, even if that consistency is at a new, much lower level of service.
 

Daniel@R2R

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Wow! Glad things worked out! Crazy situation!
 

rwreef

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I work for a very large corporation that has a FedEx account and we use them all the time for international and domestic shipments. My words of advise is never trust the tracking number/website or the person on the phone. Both will lead you towards disappointment. I feel your pain!! Best of luck!
 

Tamberav

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I was lucky and once had a fish that got held up at the local Fed Ex (was sitting in a truck and was pushed out 24hours). They actually went out and got it for me because the manager I spoke with had a reef tank.

I have also had bad experiences though, so its kinda a wash.

ya, a lot can fall on an individual. My FedEx guy is really caring or might have fish. If I don’t answer the door he leaves them with the neighbor who always does because he’s worried about leaving the fish out in the cold/heat. He leaves me a little hand written note to let me know :)
 

Bladezz

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Omg, the stories I could tell.... I used to buy and sell on ebay and I used to have my shipments held for pickup so I could get them on my time. BUT, the person running the counter at the UPS pickup place was a complete tool. It was so bad you could tell the person was being intentionally RUDE. Absolutely zero customer service.

Funny thing, I would tell this story to others here locally and they all had the same experience.

The post office is even worse and I refuse to deal with anyone at the counter in those places.

I could go on but I would get banned from R2R. lol
 
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