FedEx Ship of Fools

[kosmosattik]

I decided to try FedEx for the first time because they offered the lowest ground rate on a fairly large 11 lb. package.  Since the nearest FedEx office is about 20 miles away I dropped it at a designated pick-up spot--Dollar General.  The kid at the register scanned it in and sent a receipt to my phone number.  The scan showed up on eBay, so far so good.

Two scheduled pick-up days passed with no update to the tracking so I went to Dollar General to see what's what.  The package was sitting behind the counter, on it's side with the label not visible.  The kid behind the register was clueless but said he'd advise the manager.  The FedEx 800 number rep was worse than useless, talking in circles.  I called that nearest FedEx office in the hopes they were the dispatcher and could get the package flagged for pick-up.  No, that cannot be done.  Dollar General is the FedEx agent responsible for the package.  No surprise--algorithms and knucklehead are a potent combination.

Evidently, one can set-up on-line a FedEx account and schedule a pickup.  Evidently, an eBay label is not entered in the pick-up schedule.

Then I called the Dollar General and got the assistant manager on the line who also sounded like a kid.  He said sometimes the FedEx guy just comes in and grabs packages off a designated shelf.  I pointed out my package is not on a shelf.  He said it wouldn't fit.  I said, how about you get out a sheet of paper and a sharpie and tape a note to the shelf.  He chuckled, with a less than committal,  I'll let the register clerk know.   And what if the FedEx guy just grabs and runs again?  Chuckle again.

So, a Wednesday drop for pickup on Thursday is not a 10:00 AM pickup on Monday--maybe.  Now I feel compelled to go to Dollar General at 9:00 AM Monday with my own note, tape and instructions to the clerk.  No telling when the pick-up will actually be.

Never again.  In retrospect, I would redo this listing with up to $7 more charged to a the potential buyer ($4 to the actual buyer) via UPS which I used previously, with an actual store two blocks from Dollar General with zero hassles and fast delivery, even if that was an impediment to making the sale. 

[rfmtm]

Wow, that's just absurd, and FedEx apparently could care less.  After many years I had to drop FedEx, just too many problems.

You can flag down a FedEx truck and hand it to the driver, if no shipping stores in your area, but I don't think I want to leave it at Dollar Store, unless there where shipping lockers.  At least the tracking got scanned into the system.  At this point I'd continue to hammer of FedEx.

[u_cant_take_it_with_u]

I would NEVER trust any one of 8 of my local DG's to handle that. I mean nothing against DG, as I will pop into one from time to time.... they are, what they are; Not very fastidious, when it comes to above and beyond the call of duty. I can't even see FedEx using a DG for a pick-up spot.   I would almost go a step further and say this is almost more of a FedEx machinations and not DG. FedEx should know better. (just judging by the DGs in my city.)

[kosmosattik]

"I would NEVER trust any one of 8 of my local DG's to handle that...."

Me neither...now.  What they needed to do is hardly rocket science.  Of course the worst part of it is the rank indifference. 

I could have driven a few more miles to the next closest drop off location--Walgreens.   That hardly inspires more trust.

[kosmosattik]

"At this point continue to hammer FedEx."

Believe me, that would be pointless.  When all is said and done, after the package is delivered if it ever gets delivered and the shipping charge comes through on eBay, if I'm still in the mood I'll send a letter to Fred Smith's office.   CEOs don't handle these things but they have people who do.   This package was carefully measured and weighed.  Any back end upcharge would be something else to write about.

[babsklassykloset]

The sad truth is that DC employees are expected to unload truck, stock said goods AND run the register.  Unfortunately, they don't have a clue as to the workings of FedEx.

NEVER, never would I drop off there. You can easily open a FedEx account and they will then give you the option to schedule a pick up right from your home.  

This also helps avoid the extra fees the board speaks of regarding shipping labels.  Best of luck moving forward

[uniwarehousewares]

You should make business account with UPS and you can get much lower rate what you get on ebay for UPS. ebay force the sellers to add dimensions , in my case i have hundreds of listings and its not possible for me to assign specific box for every listing due to hundred of items so we use our own boxes, on UPS market place when you ship the item you are not forced to use dimensions + you get much lower rate what ebay offering to sellers but its also depend on the packages qty.

fed ex and USPS are most worst carriers they are looting people.

[wastingtime101]

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@kosmosattik wrote:

I decided to try FedEx for the first time because they offered the lowest ground rate on a fairly large 11 lb. package.

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We haven't even gotten to the part yet where this is a fairly large package, so you might see an extra charge on your monthly bill based on dimensional weight.

Can you retrieve the package from the dollar store and make other shipping arrangements?

If it's worth your time, send a complaint to the dollar store's corporate headquarters.

[kosmosattik]

"Can you retrieve the package from the dollar store and make other shipping arrangements?"

Can't void this $40 shipping label.  FedEx does not allow voids; other shippers would not allow it once it is scanned in as received for obvious reasons.  Could I grab the package and drive 20 miles to an actual FedEx store?  Who knows what trouble that would cause since it is already scanned as received at another location.  

[wastingtime101]

Find out what time FedEx picks up, then go to the dollar store and wait there to make sure FedEx takes your package. I'm half kidding and half serious.

[kosmosattik]

"Find out what time FedEx picks up, then go to the dollar store and wait there to make sure FedEx takes your package. I'm half kidding and half serious."

That's the plan as noted in a previous post.  Seriously.

[a_c_green]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Find out what time FedEx picks up, then go to the dollar store and wait there to make sure FedEx takes your package. I'm half kidding and half serious.

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I would be 100% serious and no kidding at all. You do what you have to do to get your package picked up properly. If it happens again after that then raise holy hell with Dollar general about it.

@kosmosattik : In our town the local Jewel supermarket offers FedEx dropoffs. That is a much busier place with lots of staff, so the process is much smoother because someone who doesn't know how to do something has lots of others around him to ask, and they have a caged-off drop area for the packages. I imagine the FedEx website can give you a list of other dropoff places that might be close enough for you to try...?

[kosmosattik]

Here's an update to the OP for anyone interested.

I went to the Dollar General in question shortly before today's 10:00 AM pickup cut-off with a sheet of paper, a sharpie and roll of tape to "enhance" their process.  Lo and behold, several packages, including mine, were loaded on a trolley with a sheet of paper taped to it, marked up in Sharpie, saying, "FedEx Ground Shipments".  LOL   I was beyond the  point of curiosity to ask if this is something new.   The register clerk, an older gentleman this time, said the FedEx driver usually shows up sometime before noon.   I wasn't going to stick around.

Now it gets weird.  I checked eBay tracking a little before noon.  It showed it was picked up.  All's not so well that ends well.  But wait!  When I checked the eBay tracking again to quote the time of pickup in this post, that tracking entry is gone!  I checked the FedEx site and it does indeed show pickup at 11:33 AM.  I'll be swinging by this afternoon to see if my package is in fact picked up.  Best case, the package will arrive three days later than the eBay estimate.

I asked today's clerk why my package was sitting on the floor right below the pickup shelf right behind the register and the FedEx driver skipped over it on Thursday and then Friday.  I got the same answer as before--that's up to FedEx, we don't tell them what to do.   Of course the possible answer is the box was on its side with the label not showing, sitting next to a box of stock.  In the end it was a don't ask, don't tell,  clusterf'ed ship of fools.  Now we have an eBay assist in this mess if the buyer goes there to check status.  I already advised her of the delay last Friday.  I hope I don't have to provide another annoying explanation.

Thanks to posters for the various suggestions even though I wasn't looking for help.  The point of my posts is a cautionary tale.  As noted in the OP,  this was a first time with FedEx, and as with all first times in the world of eBay it was an experiment.  Going forward I will not be using the Dollar General drop off location.  Further, for my volume of sales, setting up a FedEx account which likely would not offer the eBay discount anyway, is out of the question.   As noted in the OP, FedEx is on the "do not use" list along with USPS Select Ground. 

Back to UPS--a store nearby, a good eBay discount (typically cheaper than Select Ground anyway), frictionless service, often delivering ahead of schedule.  

[rfmtm]

Thanks for the update.  You made the right choice.

I shipped with FedEx for years, but so many problems of one kind or another started happening that when my personal rep that always fixed things retired, so long FedEx.  Besides the ebay FedEx has never worked 100% since day one, often with bad quotes, billing issues, and no clear protocol for handling delivery problems.  Even though you can get very close to ebay discounts with your own account, it just isn't worth it.

I have been using UPS for awhile now with none of the FedEx problems.  If you sign up for your own UPS account through PayPal you will get the PayPal UPS discounts loaded to your rate table.  Then even when you ship directly on the UPS website you get those discounts applied.  UPS also regularly offer discounts codes to us as well.

[kosmosattik]

I set up a UPS account just for yucks.  Here's a comparison of rates for a recent real world package measuring 24" x 19" x 18" weighing 11 lbs. using UPS, USPS and FedEx discounts selected in my seller profile.  I wonder how many sellers are not aware that eBay discounts are not applied by default--you must actively select them in your profile.

For anyone reading the quotes below I'd like to see an example of a better rate than eBay's FedEx discount for this package's specs through a venue other than eBay labels.

UPS Ground - eBay discounted rate:  $44.84 

Note:  If you're still using Classic View, the UPS discounted rate range DOES NOT show up when selecting from the listing page; that pick list shows the rack rate range.   But the discount range does get applied to the listing.  You have to go the Rate Calculator to see the discounted rate range to see them in advance of creating the listing.  Seller Hub solves this problem.

UPS Ground - from UPS Account:  $83.44

Note:  That's for measured dimensions and weight; does not qualify for Simple Rate based on dimensions;  with Simple Rate turned off the rate is quoted with "Billable Rate:  50 lbs" for a reason I could not explain.  @rfmtm:  You might want to do a rate comparison between the UPS Account and the eBay discount for some of your typical shipments.

FedEx Ground or Home Delivery - eBay discounted rate:  $40.59

USPS Parcel Select Ground:  $85.43

My FedEx Ground experiment is over.  Back to UPS Ground eBay discounts for anything too large or heavy to qualify for USPS First Class, or USPS Priority Mail depending on rate comparison.