FedEx computer system break-down - questions

[Skogsgurra]

I could not find a forum where this probem seems to fit. But, since I am an EE and this is "Another topic" I try to get some answers here.

This is the problem: I ordered a score of Circuit boards for a Project I do for a major customer. The boards were delivered to FedEx somewhere in Tennesee on Tuesday July 7th with destination Granbergsdal, Sweden. I expected to have the boards Thursday or, latest, Friday. I did not get any.

I am a patient guy and waited all Monday before I phoned FedEx. A lady said that everything was OK, I just had to wait a little more. I phoned Tuesday and got the same message. The tracking number wasn't of any help. The packet seemed to have hit a black hole somewhere on Arlanda air port. No trace other than that it had arrived on Thursday 06.30 AM.

So, I phoned again today, Wednesday, at around 2 PM and a lady that couldn't hear what I said answered. Phoned again and a guy that could hear me answered. He told me that there was a major computer system break-down and that he had no possibility to help me get my package.

I was surprised to hear myself deliver such a superb collection of bad words and at so many dB. He got the message but couldn't do anything except sending a "HiLite" to someone. If that would help, he couldn't say.

Questions:
1. Is FedEx known for not caring about their customers? I got that feeling - the ladies never mentioned that there was a problem that had been going on for a few weeks already.
2. Is there any way to get hold of a packet that has got lost in transport? Send a dog that has been trained to recognize packets from this manufacturer? Or is there a better way?
3. This non-delivery creates a problem with my schedule and also my deadline. In addition, I have to post-pone (or skip) another job. Is it possible to get a compnsation for this? It is about 10 kUSD in all.
4. Is this something one should expect from FedEx in the future? From US Mail - yes. I have bad experience there. Schenker, also. But FedEx has been quite reliable so far. Has that changed?
5. Why doesn't customer service tell the truth first time I phone them? Are they stupid enough to think that they can get away with it?





Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

We have had boards go "missing", a new batch manufactured and shipped/arrived, only to have the original batch show up a month later. It happens. And we probably get batches of various boards in once or twice a week.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[itsmoked]

Very annoying Gunnar. I feel for you.

I have been seriously screwed by the ever greedy UPS and their hoggish union behavior. Four week days to deliver a box from one side of Silicon Valley to the other side of Silicon Valley - 23 measly miles.

I have been screwed by DHL for failing to abide by a signed agreement - adding 6 days to the first so-called "attempt to deliver". "So called", because as I sat 30 feet from the gate expecting the delivery with the door open he quietly hung the 'attempt tag' on the gate. He then didn't manage to re-attempt delivery for 2 days due to the so called 8pm cut-off time. And, added in a three day holiday weekend, all this starting with a Thursday "first attempt".

I have been burned by the US Postal service on a delivery from Silicon Valley to Australia. Priority Air, they took the first package there in a stunning 3 days. Wow! They took the next package there..... I watched in horror as it cleared SF customs then Los Angeles customs, then SF customs, taking 3 days to go 400 miles between them each way. The final butcher's bill was three weeks.

I have never had an issue with FedEx. I use them whenever I can.



Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[VEBill]

"...I sat 30 feet from the gate expecting the delivery with the door open he quietly hung the 'attempt tag' on the gate."

OMG. I thought that that was just a legend.

Usually it's UPS. He shows up in a little car, walks past you in the yard and says "Howdi" to you, and then hangs an 'attempted delivery' tag on the door that reads, "Sorry we missed you...".

 

[mcgyvr]

1. Isn't every larger company like that? Customer service is a "smaller" company thing now..
2. No
3. No
4. No not really.. We ship thousands of packages.. Its very rare that we have problems
5. Who's to say they told you the truth the second time?

EVERY time I've had problems with packages like that it will show up a few days late taped/bagged up in another box.. It got "damaged" then set to the side.. Then when they get around to it they fix it/tape it up and send it on its way.. Sometimes the shipping label is lost and then it just sits in limbo for ever..

As for the "attempt tag" I've been sitting on the dock waiting for the part at the exact time the driver "said" they left the tag.. No driver was seen.. No tag ever found.. Customer service said "It must have been windy and blown away"
Sometimes the drivers just run out of time that day due to a heavier workload and will skip stops that might be a bit out of their way and just claim missed delivery..

 

[jraef]

In Portland, Oregon, there are two FedEx airport offices; one for small packages, one for large. I had some parts shipped to me for will call at the airport, knowing that my job site was too remote to expect next day delivery. So I arranged to stay at a hotel next to the airport to get them as soon as they arrived.

The next day I got the call at 7:00AM telling me they had arrived, I went down the street to pick them up at the small parts office, they were PC boards and SCRs, about a 10" cube box. Their computer showed they had arrived, but nobody could find them, anywhere (they claimed). I suggested, REPEATEDLY and eventually at high volume, that they check the large package office down the street, they kept telling me they did, over and over. Eventually I gave up and had to have replacements flown out again, which meant another night in the hotel and a VERY angry customer. The replacements arrived and I got them the next day, fixed the system and returned to Portland for my flight out. I got a call from FedEx telling me that if I didn't come and pick up my package immediately, they were going to send it back and charge me freight both ways, plus a handling fee. Needless to say, the box WAS at the large package facility, and I blew my top. I swore at that time to NEVER use FedUpEx again. That turned out to be an empty threat....


"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington

 

[Skogsgurra]

What makes me mad is that they never seem to REALLY understand the implications.
The missed deadlines, the problems it causes your customer and his customers, the compensation you have to pay your customer, the missed other job (in my case a pump station in Namibia) and the extra travel and other expenses all this causes.
To FedUpEx*, it is just another delivery of potatoes or onion or whatever. YOU raised your voice, Jeff? Guess what I did. I have it recorded and I am amazed at how timid and placid me turned into a roaring invective producing piece of cold steel.

*Love that. Will use it henceforth.If you allow.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[jraef]

Wish I could have witnessed that...


"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington

 

[itsmoked]

Skoggs; Maybe you should include in your contracts, "I cannot be held responsible for delays that are out of my control". There is no reason you should ever have to pay for a job held up by something abnormal and completely out of your control.

Let them eat SCRs.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[Skogsgurra]

Breaking News!

My fifth phone call (yes, I am a PITA) and the sixth person, obviously a manager, that I talked to resulted in a promise that I shall have my boards delivered to Granbergsdal this afternoon. A special delivery will be arranged and if FedUpEx is planning to bill us for that (500 km/310 miles), it will be with great pleasure that I shall go to their office together with a few journalists and reduce that bill to confetti.

Not so sure what to do if the bill is in pdf, though

But, before I start worrying about that, I need to see the boards in our office. To be continued...

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[racookpe1978]

Overseas is often a problem: We have had tools shipments from US-Spain get "stuck" in customs 4-5-6 days plus the overseas shipment time itself; but have had Amazon.UK overnight deliveries come right through to the hotel overnight.

 

[btrueblood]

A colleague once employed a local "expeditor" to move parcels about within the USA. This young person (occasionally assisted by his wife) would drive up to 1500 miles to pick up or deliver parcels, or for longer distances board aircraft (checking parcels as luggage) and fly with parcels to destinations, rent a vehicle and make delivery, etc. etc. Expensive? Yes, but not as bad as you might think, and when schedules are really tight, this can be a project saver.

I don't like any of the parcel delivery services much - they have all failed me at one point or another - it is pretty much Hobson's choice anymore.

 

[itsmoked]

Great.

Now I'm having a skoggs experience!

Sunday I ordered a bunch of components for a job from Digikey in Northern Minnesota. They were mailed USPS Priority on Monday. I should have received them NO LATER than Wednesday here in Silicon Valley. This is what I see on Thursday:

This is what still appears in tracking! Nothing is happening.

Now they've had another whole delivery period to have gotten them back on track and delivered but still no sign of them... Sigh.


Carping to a buddy he told me his bride-to-be ordered a tiara and they watched as it went "out for delivery" in the neighboring big city, never showing up. They called and after the USPS researched it it was found to be sitting at the counter "waiting for pickup" in the neighboring city!?!?! The motto being if there is a problem developing call immediately as otherwise your package may just be sitting somewhere waiting for pick-up or attention.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com