Just had a run in with the Fedex Freight guy

[bigdeals.etc]

I ordered something from ebay and the seller sent it to me by Fedex Freight despite the listing saying UPS Ground. They contact me telling me they will deliver today from 10am - 2pm. Dude comes by early at 930, I'm not in the office yet and he calls me.

He sounds pizzy and asks where I am. He refuses to leave it with my neighbor. Then I said I can come by 10am (as it's the timeframe they mentioned). And he specifically says okay half an hour... you better be here! He went to make another delivery. Less than 20 minutes later he calls again and asks where am I. I said, same as we agreed, I'd be there in 30 minutes... he grumbles and continues to repeat himself that "we had a contract with you. You NEED to be here to accept." I told him it hasn't even been 30 minutes yet like we discussed and said I'll be there like I said. He replies "yea... we'll see." and hangs up.

I get there 2 minutes early and apparently he's gone. I had to call him and he said he would be here in 5 minutes... it actually took him 10. When he finally came to drop off, he didn't say a word to me at all, except "sign here".

I'm not familiar with Fedex Freight... do they not make another delivery attempt next day if no one is there (like UPS or USPS)? Do all Fedex Freight carriers behave this way? What would have happened had the item not gotten delivered today? Would I be protected since the listing said UPS Ground?

FYI, the item is about the size of a small fridge and was 100 lbs and costed $2000.

[berserkerplanet]

In general freight deliveries don't have 3 delivery attempts like normal consumer services do. For example, a UPS Ground delivery can be reasonably attempted again the next day when the driper is near that delivery address again on his daily route, but a bit different for freight if they have to roll a big truck out and back for a one off delivery and have to offload that truck when they get back to the barn if delivery failed.

Then again, freight deliveries are usually more coordinated and both parties are generally more professional than with consumer deliveries.

I believe some/all? FedEx Ground drivers are (still) contract employees, but don't know about freight. FedEx Ground and Freight were created out of absorbed/merged companies (Roadway Package Systems and Viking Freight) and FedEx is an umbrella corporation over various divisions, while UPS is more of an all in one in-house outfit.

I guess you are in LA, but I might have thought you were in rural Ohio near lja440 who has an ongoing feud with FedEx there (they do sound like a second rate outfit there). I have had no issues with FedEx Ground (although they tend to be less professional than Express drivers - due to be contractors?), but last incoming UPS freight delivery deal turned into a slight CF due to customs clearance issues (UPS was brokering so all on them) with them not communicating properly about that and then the delays, but then sending out the delivery without notice before we knew the dust had settled. Somewhat similar to your FedEx experience.

Probably not what you were fishing for, but all I got.

[moms**art**window**]

All of this could have happened with UPS just as well,Sounds like the driver was rude and it was a hassle getting a signature otherwise you wouldn't care if it were UPS or FedEx,sellers should do what they say they are going to do since the shipping was a bad experience now the seller could get a neg because this fate of rudeness could have been prevented had he used UPS,FedEx is usually the most polite people to deal with my experience,was the fridge damaged? Did it come in a timely manner? The seller probably didn't tell FedEx to send their rudest employee,you could have had a real nice UPS driver that damaged the fridge that may have been what could have happened,sellers try hard sometimes don't want to bother buyers with what seems like an insignificant change in plan that end up ticking off buyers,your probably used to UPS and have a better feel for when they come Shakespeare "twas Fate" (it twas not me it twas fate not my fault Romeo & Juliet act 1) (we both wasted a lot of time writing this) try to cut the seller a little slack,if he's rude give him a neg

[patd3283]

Call Fedx and tell them how pizzy the driver was.

The drivers do have a lot of delivers to make in a tight time slot.

Most of our Fedx drivers have been extra pleasant and helpful but we think most are Fedx employees, not subcontractors.

Most Freight divers are used to going to a warehouse (many open 24/7) dumping things and moving on.

Patd

[smileytown18]

Any 100 lb item will always be sent by freight. And having dealt with some of them, they are more or less the same. It depends on the individual driver and they often subcontract to regional freight contractors to do the actual delivery in the area. 

Usually freight companies deal directly with both sender and receiver and coordinate delivery. That being said, freight drivers need to make many heavy expensive deliveries and are under pressure, so they sometimes get annoyed. Always give yourself a wider delivery time then they promise. 

btw, Where I used to work, we had a freight driver arrive once at 6:30 am and he napped n his cab till we arrived at 9!

[ed8108]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
 For example, a UPS Ground delivery can be reasonably attempted again the next day 

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I will avoid buying from any ebay seller that uses UPS for package delivery.

My UPS experience, you wait for a delivery by UPS that does not require signature, package never does arrive,

tracking indicates attempted delivery, you have indisputable evidence carrier never attempted delivery.

UPS now automatically directs package to a access point for  pickup, instead of redelivery.

Although you immediately contact UPS and arrange for redelivery, which UPS indicates for the next business day, UPS still transports the package to an access point for pick up.

The result is that delivery to your residence will now require you to wait several more days.

You avoid this bureaucratic delay of several days by complying with UPS to pick up your package, which results in the advantage to UPS in saving both the cost of gas and carrier time !

[jela_7588]

I've noticed that delivery drivers in general are getting more difficult to deal with.

I recently had a run-in with a UPS driver that resulted in her actually going to jail. Long story short, you can't take a Billy club to someone's dog and keep the delivery, especially when the delivery instructions clearly said to leave the item OUTSIDE of the back gate.

[myboardid]

For any and all delivery services, it all depends on the local employee.  None of the above bad experiences reflect on the entire company. 

I have retail stores.  I deal with all the companies on a daily basis, and overall have had great service from all of them, even the ones that no longer exist.  There have been a few drivers from all companies who have been, shall we say, less than stellar.  Some have even been thieves.  Most just dump the boxes, but one driver brought all my boxes inside my house.  He brought his wife and kids to meet me in my store, we send Christmas cards to each other ( he lives on the mainland, I am on an island). 

For that rude Fedex Freight driver, I would be on the phone in an instant reporting him.  But I would also sympathize that he had a lot to deliver in a very short time, and possibly had just gotten chewed out for being too slow.  Still no need to be rude, it didn't help him get his job done quicker or better. 

[fern*wood]

I would say most people in jobs like that have lots of pressure with time constraints on them.  Some handle it better than others. 

[bigdeals.etc]

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@moms**art**window** wrote:
All of this could have happened with UPS just as well,Sounds like the driver was rude and it was a hassle getting a signature otherwise you wouldn't care if it were UPS or FedEx,sellers should do what they say they are going to do since the shipping was a bad experience now the seller could get a neg because this fate of rudeness could have been prevented had he used UPS,FedEx is usually the most polite people to deal with my experience,was the fridge damaged? Did it come in a timely manner? The seller probably didn't tell FedEx to send their rudest employee,you could have had a real nice UPS driver that damaged the fridge that may have been what could have happened,sellers try hard sometimes don't want to bother buyers with what seems like an insignificant change in plan that end up ticking off buyers,your probably used to UPS and have a better feel for when they come Shakespeare "twas Fate" (it twas not me it twas fate not my fault Romeo & Juliet act 1) (we both wasted a lot of time writing this) try to cut the seller a little slack,if he's rude give him a neg

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My issue is not with the seller, but with the Fedex Freight guy. I was wondering if his behavior is more common among FedEx Freight, not all FedEx carriers (my FedEx ground guy is just fine). I was just wondering had the driver chose to not complete delivery and return to sender... would I be covered by MBG since the seller used a different service than advertised. Good thing it didn't have to come to that.

And I didn't buy a small fridge. I was just using that as reference for the size of the item... about 3'x3'x4'.

[smileytown18]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

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My issue is not with the seller, but with the Fedex Freight guy. I was wondering if his behavior is more common among FedEx Freight, not all FedEx carriers (my FedEx ground guy is just fine). I was just wondering had the driver chose to not complete delivery and return to sender... would I be covered by MBG since the seller used a different service than advertised. Good thing it didn't have to come to that.

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No, Fed Ex does not write on its job application: rude drivers welcome. Each driver is different. As all of humanity

And freighters don't usually send items back so quickly. They usually keep it in their local warehouse and require you pick up if they can't redeliver.

[ebuycdn]

LTL freight can vary quite a bit depending on the policies of the local terminal. If the driver can't deliver, he usually takes the shipment back to the local terminal where it will sit in storage either until another delivery attempt is set up and successful or a certain time frame is met (7 days, 30 days, etc). If the item is still there after their timeframe, the terminal may contact the shipper or receiver to get them to pay warehousing fees. If warehousing fees are not paid, the carrier considers the item abandoned and does whatever it normally does with abandoned items.

Most terminals would have called you to try to set up another day to deliver the item. Some call the shipper. Some wait for someone to call them. Depending on the terminal, a redelivery fee may be assessed to the person that arranged the shipment.

I don't think eBay cares that much if the seller changes carriers when considering the outcome of cases. That kind of thing is handled by DSRs and feedback. I do think eBay would have refunded you if the item ended up not being delivered.