FedEx Foul-up (it turned out okay in the end)

jsheffield

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I'd worked with a breeder to get a live animal shipment via the FedEx Priority Overnight, which twice in the past has worked brilliantly, having the animals dropped off at the breeder's end in the afternoon and arriving to me in NH by about 10am in the morning.

The shipping manifest email said it was guaranteed before noon, which was fine as I didn't have an offsite meeting until 2:30... you can see where I'm going with this, I bet.

10am came and went, but I didn't worry. When noon passed, I logged into FedEx and noted that they had altered the prediction from "before noon" to "by end of day"... I was unhappy about this for what I imagine are obvious reasons.

I'm just starting a new job, and being late or ghosting my first meeting seemed like a poor way to begin... letting the animals spend another night in the hands of FedEx seemed worse.

As I was stewing about what to do I got an email confirming delivery, except they hadn't delivered it to me. I logged in and saw that the driver had left the package on my porch... I don't have a porch.

I headed out and drove past all of my neighbors' houses, looking on their porches for the box... it was on a guy down the road's porch.

I live at #496, he lives at #469... I'm not impressed with FedEx as regards this delivery.

That being said, they've been great the other times, there's no other easy and reliable alternative for shipping live animals, and they're sort of the industry standard.

I assume their answer would be something along the lines of, "Covid... nobody wants to work... please file form #97b"

Jamie
 

Krista S

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That is just ridiculous and could have had a disastrous outcome. Thank goodness you were on the ball watching the tracking and were home, able to go hunt the package down. I’m sorry this happened, but I’m so glad the contents of the box were unharmed. Congratulations on the new job, by the way!
 

ZenHerper

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FedEx had been using sub-contractors...they are not individually accountable to FedEx corporate and they don't know neighborhoods (they are in different territories every day).

UPS is better here, but might not keep their Morning delivery schedule at all (so critters bounce around in the truck all day long).

I always have live packages delivered in care of the nearest FedEx hub so I can go to the location first thing when they open and finish the delivery myself. lol
 

Tom

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What Zen said. Never have them deliver to your house anymore. Shipper takes it to their hub, and receiver picks it up at their own hub the next day at 9 am. Fewer hands on your box and fewer opportunities for incompetent, thoughtless, or careless people to mess things up.

I deviated from this policy recently, at the receiver's insistence that it would be okay and they didi it all the time. Box was two days late and left unannounced in full sun on the porch in FL. I ship with little digital thermometers in my boxes that record the highs and lows. It got up to 121 F. All the babies survived but one almost didn't. That's the last time for me. Hub to hub for me from now on, or I don't ship. Not worth the risk.

Also, to reduce the risk of problems, only ship on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
 
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Maro2Bear

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I'm in the shipping business and FedEx has been absolutely ridiculous lately. If you have a choice, always go with UPS over FedEx.

We just had a similar incident here last week, but with UPS. Problem is that UPS handed said package over to USPS. Harder to track once the handover happens.

Watching, tracking, watching. Email comes saying delivered. Nope.

Wife drives to US post office, clerk calls the driver…..says the box was placed in our mail box. (Nope…we have a locked mail box).

Calls to vendor, UPS & FEDEX….everyone says wait. Wait for what?

A few hours later, box shows up on our porch. No one claims to have delivered it? ?‍♂️ It was a large box, it wouldnt fit in any ones box.

Luckily - no live animals involved.
 

wellington

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I just shipped out a live animal next day priority. Suppose to arrive by 10 AM to receivers work. Luckily the weather was not a problem so all turned out okay. But when they say 10AM they should do it by that time. Not change it to end of day. Luckily it was only a couple hours late and all is well.
Luckily I have no more to sell. If I did though, it would be a hub, like Tom said.
 

Jan A

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I will second all @Tom suggests. I ship and receive a lot. I ONLY ship hub to hub. I only ship Tues or Wed. Dozens of shipments, never an issue.
Maggie & I survived shipping Houdini from Oregon to Oklahoma via Federal Express. We shipped hub to hub. So I was up that night tracking where Houdini was according to Fed Ex. Houdini got in early but you wouldn't know that from their online tracking system. Since i've moved to Oklahoma, I've had nothing but trouble with Fed Ex delivering to my house.
 

Markw84

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Maggie & I survived shipping Houdini from Oregon to Oklahoma via Federal Express. We shipped hub to hub. So I was up that night tracking where Houdini was according to Fed Ex. Houdini got in early but you wouldn't know that from their online tracking system. Since i've moved to Oklahoma, I've had nothing but trouble with Fed Ex delivering to my house.
Perhaps it is that I have got to know the folks normally at the local hub counter... but I don't wait for the FedEx notice that it is ready for pickup. I go there between 8 and 8:30 and ask for my package. I have had someone I shipped to go to his hub and they were real jerks about not wanting to look for a package that hadn't been "fully processed".
 

Kipley

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Fed Ex has been horrible lately.
i'm about to call them about a pkg that their tracking shows it to be setting at the distribution center 2 miles from my house for the past 5 days...

A couple of years ago I ordered a RF Hatchling from Southern Reptiles. The usual "overnight delivery" situation. I'm in Seattle and it was in March. The hatchling spent 2 nights in Memphis due to weather, finally arrived on my porch on a cold morning 3 days after shipping. The little guy was cold, his shell temp was 62, and he looked lifeless. 5 minutes into a warm soak he was acting as though he just woke up, and after 10 minutes he was eating like he was starving. Resilient little things, aren't they. I named him Memphis.
 

MenagerieGrl

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Be happy it was on the same street. Often my packages get delivered to my neighbors on the other streets with the same number! That is pretty low mental acuity I am surprised they now how to use an am/fm radio
Oh, and USPS is doing a BIG hiring event...more folks who want a job, but couldn't care less about your parcels....
 

Markw84

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Fed Ex has been horrible lately.
i'm about to call them about a pkg that their tracking shows it to be setting at the distribution center 2 miles from my house for the past 5 days...

A couple of years ago I ordered a RF Hatchling from Southern Reptiles. The usual "overnight delivery" situation. I'm in Seattle and it was in March. The hatchling spent 2 nights in Memphis due to weather, finally arrived on my porch on a cold morning 3 days after shipping. The little guy was cold, his shell temp was 62, and he looked lifeless. 5 minutes into a warm soak he was acting as though he just woke up, and after 10 minutes he was eating like he was starving. Resilient little things, aren't they. I named him Memphis.
I should also add for those interested about shipping... I always check the weather forcast for the main transfer hub that my shipment will be going through. Most of the time for me it is Memphis. If severe thunderstorms are forecast for that night in Memphis, and I see a front approaching, I do not ship that day. Extreme temps on either end - I will not ship.
 

Blackdog1714

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Mark the hub is the way to go! Two torts shipped an no problems. The clerks even asked to see and I gladly showed both!
 

Quixx66

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A couple of years ago when I lived in an apartment, FedEx left my betta downstairs on the other side of the building. No way could he have mixed up the numbers. The neighbor arrived at my door the next morning. It was her birthday, and she had assumed it was a gift until she found a live fish inside and then looked at the label. She told me that the driver was known to be lazy and often left packages just anywhere, including in front of her door. I did complain but FedEx didn’t give a flip.
 

MenagerieGrl

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A couple of years ago when I lived in an apartment, FedEx left my betta downstairs on the other side of the building. No way could he have mixed up the numbers. The neighbor arrived at my door the next morning. It was her birthday, and she had assumed it was a gift until she found a live fish inside and then looked at the label. She told me that the driver was known to be lazy and often left packages just anywhere, including in front of her door. I did complain but FedEx didn’t give a flip.
Sadly, but Honestly, I'm NOT surprised...!
 

Maggie3fan

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@Jan A and I used a company called shipyourreptiles.co I think...but it was the easiest shipping I was ever involved in. Hey @Jan A why don't ya post the link...please
 

Jan A

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@Jan A and I used a company called shipyourreptiles.co I think...but it was the easiest shipping I was ever involved in. Hey @Jan A why don't ya post the link...please
I'm on my phone & haven't a clue how to do links. ShipYourReptiles is a great service. I probably caused them at least twice as much aggravation as they thought was necessary. Unfortunately, they do use FedEx. It is DEFINITELY worth it to ship hub to hub, & ShipYourReptiles does help run interference & help track down any time delays or missing packages. Houdini was none the worse for wear when he was unboxed, especially since he didn't have to go for a long truck ride on someone's route. SYR returns phone calls & emails. They even listened to me ***** about FedEx.
 
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