michael78651

08 Dec 2019
12:46:38pm

re: A Short Rant About Fedex

Merchants are using FedEx Ground for shipping. Ten days to get to its destination is about right. FedEx Ground is a low priority, low cost shipping method. Packages often sit at FedEx locations while enroute to their destination as FedEx Ground packages are loaded onto trucks only when there is space in the truck for them.

Login to Like
this post

keesindy

08 Dec 2019
02:51:39pm

re: A Short Rant About Fedex

As a matter of fact..........

Our electric power, AT&T internet and Comcast cable were out for 13 hours November 29. 150 customers were affected. Power and AT&T came back on that evening, but Comcast did not. I called. We're literally at the end of the line for all three services. Comcast didn't show any outage and couldn't get a technician here until the evening of December 1. ("If he needs to come into the house, there will be a service call charge.") OK. The technician arrived after our 3-day Comcast outage. Spent some time looking around and came to the door, saying he couldn't do the repair without looking at our TV cable boxes in the house. I explained that the wind storm on the 29th is when we lost the cable service. There was no wind damage inside our house. I had no desire to pay for a service call and denied access. He asked if I wanted to reschedule the service call. No, the power company didn't need to check the service panel in the basement to get our power back--two days ago; AT&T didn't need to check their gateway box in the basement to restore our service--two days ago. Comcast should be able restore service just as quickly without checking our two TV cable boxes. He said again he couldn't do his job without coming inside. I then told him we were done with Comcast and thanked him for his time.

That was early Friday evening. The remainder of the evening and Saturday were spent researching the alternatives to Comcast service. It was obvious that the brand new Roku devices, Ultra 2019 and the Streaming Stick+, were the way to go. There were sales at several locations, but websites mostly said "out of stock." Amazon was showing negative comments for third-party sellers who were selling the new Ultra 2019, but shipping the older version of the product. Then, later that night, I found that Staples had the Ultra 2019 available and on sale. Most stores were "out of stock," but the Staples store just a mile from us had "1 in stock!" They didn't open until 10:00 Sunday morning, and I was there. The clerk knew nothing about Roku devices, but went to the back and brought out the two types they had. No. Not what I'm looking for. He got online and did some checking and I showed him the box on their web page for the Ultra 2019. He checked again, but didn't have it.

Back to the internet. I discovered that Roku was selling their devices directly! The Ultra 2019 was $50 off (half price!) and the Streaming Stick+ was $20 off (40% off!) I placed my order for overnight shipping. Even with the added shipping cost, I was getting a good deal. On December 1, at 12:56 PM Sunday afternoon, I received a GREAT NEWS email from Roku stating, "Your order is in stock and processing." I was expecting our Roku devices Tuesday December 3. They didn't arrive either Tuesday or Wednesday. I called the company on Thursday the 5th. The guy on the phone couldn't determine what the problem was or if the items had even been shipped. He did say that both items were now out of stock. He started a "ticket" and said he would look for a shipping tracking number and email me. I got an email confirming that they were now looking into the problem.

On Friday the 6th, I still hadn't heard any more from Roku about my order. I asked if they could could loan us a device to use while we waited for our order to be fulfilled. A reply email acknowledged receipt of my email request.

Yesterday, December 7, I got a "GET EXCITED!" email from Roku saying our devices had shipped. I clicked on the "Track Order" button in the email and the FedEx tracking shows this for a package that was supposed to be delivered overnight.

All times are my local Indianapolis time.

December 5, 10:11 PM, San Jose, California picked up at Roku

December 6, 11:36 PM, Oakland, California arrived from San Jose facility

December 7, 2:20 PM, Memphis, Tennessee arrived from Oakland facility

That last entry is the latest entry from FedEx. That was 24 hours ago.

It took Roku more than two days to send the email announcing they had shipped my order. FedEx has now had this overnight shipment about 2½ days and it appears to be about 400 miles from Indianapolis with an expected delivery time by 8:00 PM Monday evening. If it doesn't arrive until Monday evening, that will be a four-day journey for an overnight delivery.

My wife receives a 13" x 14" x 15" refrigerated box every month with 12 ice packs and two doses of prescription medication in syringes. The medication must be kept refrigerated until use. UPS delivers those to our home overnight as prescribed by the pharmaceutical company without fail. Maybe Roku should look into sending their devices for overnight delivery in packages marked "REFRIGERATED."

Edit: By the way, about three hours after receiving the Roku email saying our order was being processed for overnight delivery, I was at the nearby Comcast store with our TV cable boxes and canceling our Comcast service. We expected to be without TV service for up to two days. It has been a week and the withdrawal symptoms are beginning to subside!

Tom

 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

Dakota

08 Dec 2019
05:03:13pm

re: A Short Rant About Fedex

I agree with the Fedex tracking problems. However, my gripe is with UPS. The other day I left my place in the morning and somehow spotted a white Tyvek envelope lying on top of the snow in the yard. This package had to have been delivered the previous evening. If there had been any wind, it would have been long gone. It was shipped by 2nd Day Air.

Login to Like
this post