Well....things have definitely gone down-hill with FedEx shipping the last couple of months. I used to ship 90% of my packages using FedEx until recently. I have received five orders of wine from a California company and all were valued over $100.00. On each delivery, I received a notification via text saying a delivery was going to be made that day and an adult signature was required. NONE OF THOSE DELIVERIES EVER RECEIVED MY SIGNATURE, NOR DID THE DRIVERS ATTEMPT TO GET A SIGNATURE!! This is clearly not smart on FedEx's part as delivering alcoholic beverages and just dropping the package at a doorstep is tempting fate. If minors were to get the alcohol, there would be a lawsuit for sure. On the last delivery of wine, I decided to wait and watch for the driver, and sure enough, he dropped the package and was heading back to his truck when I caught him. I asked him why I did not have to sign for the package, especially since it was alcohol, and he told me that FedEx was leaving it up to the drivers if they wanted to get a physical signature!!! WHAT????? This driver told me they just initial it themselves. Not one of the drivers even bothered to ring my doorbell and I have it on video via my Ring doorbell that they just dropped and took off. SO -- they want to charge sellers $6.00 for an adult signature when you purchase your labels and if you don't, THEY WILL NOT COVER THE LOSS OF YOUR PACKAGE. Doesn't matter if it's porch pirates or miss-deliveries on the driver's part. If you didn't purchase the extra $$ to cover your butt, you are just out of luck. Their "insurance" means nothing unless the package is delivered and there is considerable damage caused by them. I have recently had two packages that were never delivered as the tracking reported (both out of a California FedEx hub). I filed a claim even though the website states they are not responsible for packages when the tracking shows it was delivered. I see messages almost on a daily basis here in my Texas city stating that FedEx tracking shows a delivery and the homeowner has video and no delivery was made. This is just blatently WRONG and poor business practice. Drivers are hard to come by, but if FedEx doesn't institute better practices (like taking photographs of the door/delivery area), they are going to lose a lot of eBay sellers. I switched to UPS because to-date, they have not miss-delivered a package. I am certain it will eventually happen, but for now, FedEx lost my business which was a sizeable amount over the year and my busiest season is coming up.
