Shipping Nightmare! FedEx SmartPost Is The Worst Shipping Company An Ebay Seller Can Use

[futurespast1113]

A little over 2 weeks ago I ordered an antique glass item. My seller accepted an offer I sent her. I almost always look at the shipping method being offered but for some strange reason I didn't notice until after I bought the item that she was using FedEx SmartPost. As soon as I saw that I internally groaned because FedEx SmartPost is the world's slowest shipping method. The Pony Express would have been a better shipping method.

I'm in New York and my seller is in Oregon. It has been exactly 13 days since my item shipped and my item still has not arrived and the tracking shows it is bouncing from state to state. My expected date of arrival according to Ebay, was the 15th and today is the 18th. It was not a free shipping listing, and I paid $9 for the shipping. So far my package has been to Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio.

The messed up part was 3 days ago when it was supposedly in New Jersey, it was at a distribution center that was only about an hour away from my house. Then there was no tracking info or movement for 2 days. Then it ended up in Michigan!! Why would they send it all the way to Michigan when it was only an hour away from me in nearby New Jersey?

I checked the tracking on my Informed Delivery account that the USPS has which tells you what day your packages are going to arrive, and next to this tracking number it says Delivery Date Unknown. Every other package that is on it's way to me has an estimated delivery date. FedEx SmartPost is a trash service. It says it was already handed over to USPS days ago. It is now in Ohio, so this means it might take at least another 3-7 business days for it to arrive.

I contacted the seller and she apologized and said she is never going to use FedEx SmartPost again. She said several other buyers have recently contacted her to complain about late shipments because she used FedEx SmartPost for other recent orders too. She admitted that she tried to save money by offering it. I would have paid more if there was a better shipping method. Some sellers think that by offering cheaper, slower shipping methods, that is what most buyers want. This is not the type of experience or service that is going to get sellers 5 star feedback. 

Does it look like my package may be missing? It should have been here in NY by now. Should I file an item not received yet claim against my seller or should I try to be a little more patient? I don't want to be mean to the seller because she made this mistake not on purpose, but as a buyer I am perturbed by having to wait so long for my package to arrive. Since it has been handled so much and is hopping from state to state I bet a million dollars that this very fragile antique piece of glass will be arriving broken if it even arrives at all.

If you are a seller and thinking of using FedEx SmartPost, think again because you will have very unhappy buyers on your hands. FedEx SmartPost should rename their service to FedEx SnailPost.

[this*old*attic]

You have 30 days to file INR.

 I understand that you are frustrated by the CARRIER, but why take that out on your “nice” seller?

Perhaps you should ask FEDEX for a discount or freebie refund, while you keep the item. Hmmmmm?

[this*old*attic]

And let’s not forget you AGREED to the method when you bought and paid. Perhaps accepting some responsibility is appropriate?

[futurespast1113]

Why would you suggest she file an INR at any point prior to 30 days, when the package is visible in the system.... and rely on the seller to know they can ask for an extension.... yet even then they can’t control the package’s movement?

I will not be doing that to this seller and definitely not going to be one of those customers. If it doesn't arrive by the 29th day, then I will do an INR.

[futurespast1113]

Perhaps you should ask FEDEX for a discount or freebie refund, while you keep the item. Hmmmmm?

Why are you implying that I am looking for a freebie?! I do not like those implications. She already offered me a refund for the shipping costs because she is a nice person and I told her no thanks. I thought that was quite kind of her but would never take advantage of her.

Why the anger issues towards me? I did not come here to trash my seller or do her any harm. I am not a lowlife buyer and trust me there are a lot of sketchy buyers out there on ebay who would have already given her a big fat red donut and filed an INR. I just wanted to vent a little and share my frustration about FedEx's slow service. I am not anti seller.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

If this is simply a warning to sellers that you feel this shipping service is too slow, fair enough, it is very slow. I don't use it. I can understand being annoyed. However when you use the words "it is a problem" I wonder how you intend to reconcile that problem? 

Again, I understand being annoyed. I just couldn't tell from your words where your actions were going, and what you intend to do to rectify this slow shipping. I certainly hope the situation stays status quo as long as the package shows movement and the seller is not penalized. 

You might or might not be surprised just how many buyers try to get the seller to absorb the shipping costs, include notes on wanting faster shipping after purchasing, or blame the seller when ebay puts guaranteed shipping times on their listings. Sellers really do try to accommodate buyer's wishes for inexpensive shipping, which is probably what this seller was trying to do. We just can't make what isn't free become free, and we can't ship very fast on heavy glass with inexpensive shipping, something's gotta give. Your seller chose to ship more slowly in order to keep the cost down.  

[futurespast1113]

Here is what I am noticing. Ebay has caused an atmosphere or feelings of seller versus buyer. Sometimes I see it in the tones of the replies on the ebay seller forum and it saddens me. I am a former powerseller that was here during the reign of that horrible former CEO Donohoe. Back then seller's basically had no rights, but now sellers even have more grief to deal with as the tables are heavily weighted in favor of the buyer. I am not a seller's worst enemy and won't be filing any claims against her unless my package isn't here within 30 days.

Ebay is a scary place for sellers and I feel bad for you all. What if I was one of those buyer's that were quick to pull the INR trigger or give a negative for slow shipping? This is why I made this thread to basically warn other seller's against using FedEx SmartPost. My 1st post's tone sounded like I was anti-seller and I am sorry if I got off to a bad start. If any of you had a trigger happy buyer, you could really get dinged hard or have an INR claim on your hands. That is why I hope many of you avoid using FedEx SmartPost.

[futurespast1113]

I can see how you may have thought my tone was implying that I was going to go after the poor seller. I think she is not to blame here actually. She used a trashy shipping service thinking she was saving her buyers money and she really meant well. I used to be a powerseller here during the horrible reign of Donohoe and I really feel sorry for what ebay sellers go through. I would have to take pills for stress if I still sold things here. I give all you ebay sellers credit where credit is due. It is not easy to be an ebay seller. I wish you all much luck and success.

[this*old*attic]

Ditto.

 And I’m sorry, OP, but your tone and words don’t sound like a mere vent. Rather, what should I do about this problem (seller)?

[m60driver]

I use SmartPost as a last choice for non-fragile heavy items.  Yes, it is slower.  But for some items it is the only option to sell a widget at a price that someone is willing to pay.  On cross country shipments the cost can be $10 less than USPS.  The biggest issue is when the price quoted online is different than what they actually charge.   It is best to verify the cost at the FedEx  shop.  And the clerks at some of the FedEx shops are most often useless.

[futurespast1113]

What I meant to say was what should I do about the situation with the package that seems to be bouncing around from state to state? I know that it is out of the seller's hands but I was wondering if there was a way to find out if the package is really moving because it has been two days since it was scanned manually by a postal worker.

Usually packages have an estimated delivery date especially since it was handed over to the USPS which is usually good about giving estimates. I have never seen a package in my USPS Informed Delivery dashboard that says "Delivery Date Unknown". I've had Informed Delivery for close to a year now and hundreds of packages have been sent and not one of them ever said "Delivery Date Unknown". To me that sounds ominous.

The last two scans were automated and says "In transit and on it's way to the next destination" which is usually a generic auto generated scan that gets placed on a tracking number when it hasn't been scanned physically by a postal worker for 24 hours. The last auto generated scan was yesterday and 2 days ago it was in Ohio before those two generated scans were done. I guess I will give it until Wednesday before I start panicking more.

Generally I wouldn't care if it was a low value item, but this item is valuable and hard to come by.

[lightlily_arts]

On some of my listings I have given buyers the option of choosing the method of shipping and they always choose the cheapest method.  I only use Fedex for large and heavy packages as the shipping can be cheaper by 40% over USPS.    For example, I have an item that if I ship my package via USPS  it would be $40.94 yet with Fedex Ground it's $20.58  and with Fedex Smartpost it will be $16.38.    They choose the cheapest method.   Also be aware that eBay will hide  some methods.  I had a listing  where if they chose First Class Mail it was free, but if they wanted Priority there was a $3.50 charge.  Ebay would not show the Priority Mail option. You need to consider that eBay is notorious for providing inaccurate delivery dates.   On the other hand  I have noticed that Fedex Smartpost packages sometimes have these ridiculous circuitous routes that I have yet to understand and it always seems to be the New England states.  Unfortunately sellers don't have any control over how the carriers transport their packages.  Nonetheless,  I have never had any problem getting my packages delivered safely as I pack carefully.  Only timeliness can be an issue. It doesn't seem like the item you ordered is anything critical and warrants a bit of patience.  I don't feel that the seller has done anything wrong and attempted to save you money on the shipping by offering economy shipping.

[futurespast1113]

Hi and thanks for your reply. I had no idea that ebay was hiding some of the seller's shipping options. I wonder why they would do that? Maybe to compete with Amazon they show only the cheapest shipping options in their listings and block out the more expensive options.  In my instance, I would gladly pay more for shipping on certain items in order to upgrade my shipping speed for fragile, antique or rarer items. Certain things should not be sent via SnailPost.

As far as Parcel Select, did you know that you can actually get a huge discount by choosing USPS Retail Ground? Both services are the same, but if you go inside the post office and buy Retail Ground shipping instead of printing and paying for your label online, it is way cheaper. For example, I sell larger sized antiques on another venue and there was a huge difference in price recently for one of the items I sold. Online, USPS Parcel Select would have cost my customer $49 to ship something. I bought my label at the post office and Retail Ground and it was only $28! That is a big difference and my customer was glad to save a lot of money. If you are shipping to zones 1-4, it has to be hazardous or live animals though. A way to get around it, is by putting something cheap in the box like a packaged alcohol wipe and if they ask, you can say yes, my package contains something that is hazardous. Then you don't have to get stuck with a **bleep** shipping company like FedEx SmartPost. While it is not quick like Priority Mail, it travels way faster and is more dependable than FedEx SmartPost. 

I do agree that a lot of buyers do not want to pay high shipping costs, so I understand that too. The only issue is many buyers are not as understanding as people like me and if a package is taking more than 2 weeks to arrive, they might flip out on the seller. In my case, I am not mad at my seller. I feel it is not her fault, but I do have contempt for FedEx SmartPost. I cannot understand why my package is taking a tour of the US circling all over the place when last week it was one hour away from me in New Jersey. I think it is really crazy that instead of getting it to me in the neighboring state, it is still taking a tour of the US. In my opinion FedEx is really not using any logic or sense at all.

FedEx is not the only one that I've seen packages circling around and taking a tour of the US. Sometimes it baffles my mind why shipping companies do what they do.

[vintagecraze50]

Fed ex the cheap way is always slow as molasses. But, the buyers got the item at a better price for the inconvenience of the turtle slow delivery while it visits various parts of the country. I love Priority Mail flat rate it is inexpensive and fast as a stallion.

[vintagecraze50]

Adding Fed Ex the expensive fast way is crazy expensive.

[dtexley3]

I ship from Oregon as well.  Buyer's frequently pick FedEx SmartPost (or Ground) because of the savings in shipping cost. 

Personally I've rarely had any issues with SmartPost.  I don't know why your package went on a "walkabout", but in my experience that's not the norm.  I can't remember the last time that I've had a SmartPost package miss the estimated delivery date even to the East Coast.

I understand your frustration but wanted to share that in my experience it's not a normal occurrence.