FedEx SmartPost Final Delivery By FedEx

[berserkerplanet]

Just an interesting oddity.

Noticed that my most recent FedEx Smartpost shipment was delivered to the buyer by FedEx instead of being turned over to USPS for the last mile delivery.

When USPS tracking kept showing no status and no info even when FedEx tracking and eBay tracking showed delivered I just figured USPS tracking was down, and kept overlooking the "not US Postal Service" in the tracking 🙂

No idea why. No hurricanes, volcanoes, or civil wars in Southern California I know of.  For some reason, they opted to use FedEx Home Delivery at the end (delivery address on same street as a regular FedEx delivery, room in the truck, and software caught those facts and did the nice thing?)

Not a problem in this case, but could be an issue in the rare instance that a buyer intentionally selects Smartpost because they want the final delivery by USPS (for some reason - FedEx driver feud, delivery time, etc). Not going to worry about that until it happens though.

Raises an interesting issue about the indemnity though. Since it was never handed off to USPS, FedEx remained responsible, and it would be a lot tougher for them to weasel out of the $100 coverage if the package had been damaged.

Tracking #: 9261299998825444810871
Carrier: FedEx
Status: ACCEPTED  IN TRANSIT   DELIVERED

Delivered - Left at front door. Signature Service not requested.
Sep-23-17, 13:27 PDT, San Diego, CA 92109

On FedEx vehicle for delivery - Scheduled for delivery next business day
Sep-23-17, 04:08 PDT, SAN DIEGO, CA 92121

At local FedEx facility - Delivery scheduled via FedEx Home Delivery,
not US Postal Service
Sep-23-17, 01:16 PDT, SAN DIEGO, CA 92121

At local FedEx facility
Sep-23-17, 01:16 PDT, SAN DIEGO, CA 92121

Departed FedEx location
Sep-22-17, 19:43 PDT, BLOOMINGTON, CA 92316

Arrived at FedEx location
Sep-22-17, 14:25 PDT, BLOOMINGTON, CA 92316

Departed FedEx location
Sep-22-17, 01:27 PDT, SACRAMENTO, CA 95824

Arrived at FedEx location
Sep-21-17, 16:25 PDT, SACRAMENTO, CA 95824

Picked up
Sep-21-17, 10:26 PDT, SACRAMENTO, CA 95824

In FedEx possession - Tendered at FedEx location
Sep-21-17, 09:30 PDT, SACRAMENTO, CA 95815

Note: Tracking information may be transmitted with a delay.
Please check back later to view updated information.

P.S. To the Smartpost naysayers: it was dropped off Thurs morning and delivered Saturday midday about 500? miles away 🙂

[kattinsanity]

There is only one thing that bothers me about smartpost.  It ALMOST always gets delivered by USPS in the end BUT sellers who use it refuse to send to P.O. Box addresses.  I don't have home mail delivery so I do have a P.O. Box.  When I buy from one of these sellers I have to supply my physical address omitting my box address.  There is always a delay in delivery due to the fact I don't get home mail delivery.  I'm just waiting for the time one will be returned to the seller as "undeliverable as addressed".  In this case, if I want it I will have to pay for shipping again and AGAIN they won't accept my P.O. Box address. 

One of my recent purchases stated UPS so, of course, wouldn't accept my box #.  The seller ended up sending USPS 1st class instead and again it was delayed without my box address included.

The worst is when a seller states USPS and then ships UPS or Fed Ex in the winter months when I can't get delivery to my house by either of these carriers.  Fed Ex is good~~they call me and I meet them somewhere to collect my package (all my vehicles are 4X4's so I can go where they can't go).  UPS just tosses it from the county road as far up my driveway as they can and leave it there in a snowbank.  If my plow man comes in to plow I'm screwed~~hopefully I'll find it in the spring after the snow melts.  Until then, the seller can prove delivery through tracking so I'm out of luck.

[mg152]

I do ship to po boxes but some buyers are so used to being denied that service that they get creative. I've seen things like 1234 Main st (1309) or 1309. The last bit is the po box number. They use their physical address or the street address for the post office. Have you tried that? I don't understand excluding po boxes at all.

[kattinsanity]

I've checked out the USPS service concerning the Fed Ex and UPS deliveries to the post office.  I'm in a little town of 500 people with a small post office with only 1 clerk that works all 6 days.  My post office doesn't offer the service to ordinary people like me.  They do accept deliveries for the Federal Prison outside of town but that's the only exception they make.  I think they do that only because of the hassles and tie ups UPS & Fed Ex would experience having to deliver directly to the prison~~searches before going in and searches before being allowed to leave, etc..  THAT would be a mess for these poor drivers.

[berserkerplanet]

I don't know why many sellers have their eBay listing set to not ship to PO boxes, but as you know it has been hashed over here too many times to count. Ignorance from decades ago when PO box meant scam, sellers that mostly ship FedEx  and UPS Ground and don't want to deal with the issues that arise, etc.

Anyway, eBay labels WILL NOT allow a seller to use a PO box address for FedEx Smartpost no matter what settings the seller has.

The only way to do it is with the street addressing workaround already mentioned by mg152, and I suspect many sellers don't know how, and I know some will not do it because they (erroneously) believe changing the address slightly will void seller protection (saw that recently in a thread on the forums here)

Next time it's an issue for you, use a properly formatted address at checkout and you don't even have to deal with trying to convince the seller to change the address:

Katt Insanity

1234 Main Street #555

Podunk, KS 44444

where 1234 Main Street is the Post Office street Address, 555 is your PO box number, and the zipcode is your PO box zip code (it will normally be the same as that of the PO, but in my case it isn't and there is a separate zip for the PO boxes at that PO)

That address will just look like an office suite or apt number as far as the seller is concerned.

I have street addressing addresses in my PayPal address list along with home, office, and regular PO box addresses, and pick the appropriate one depending on the seller, what the item is, and where I think I'll be when delivery occurs, etc.

The above is a lot easier if the seller discloses exactly what shipping service is to be used (I do that on all my listings, but most don't).