Why does Fedex feel the need to lie about my package being delivered? Left at front door supposedly at a certain time. Nope, no package. Check camera. No , nobody there.

Sigh. It seems so unnecessary. I hope I get it for real tomorrow.

Holy crap! Today I got notified of an attempted delivery at my home that needed a signature. Not only were my wife and I both home, our front door was open. With the amount of Ring cameras these days, I can’t imagine why they would even attempt to lie. Makes no sense at all.

The driver probably never had it. Look at the time you got the notice, and the usual time the driver would be there. You can also ask look up the time and place it was attempted. Their GPS scanner will show exactly where it was when it was “attempted”. Probably a supervisor falsifying numbers.

FedEx has become a complete joke over the last year.

Had USPS tell me that my package..which was tracked...was delivered to my mail box and was confirmed by GPS. Well, it wasn't in the mail box and they denied the insurance claim. Hats off to a forum member (that sent me the item) who actually refunded what I had paid him. That's one of the great things about this forum. Standup members.

I had a package coming FedEx 10 days ago, it was ‘signature required’. Besides our barky shepherd, I was working.

I just had it held at Walgreens, got it on the way home from work.

I guess it depends on where one lives. If I sense a hiccup, I’ll have it held & pick it up when I can.

USPS are no better, they lie all the time. I asked the supervisor 10 days ago to have the local carrier mark where he (or she) would like me to place my new mailbox. No sign as of yesterday so I asked him again. For the second time he wrote down my information and promised to get it done - again. While I was there (at 1030am) I asked if I had any packages waiting since their shitty 'Informed Delivery" app said I did from last Friday. No, they said. Check the app today and Hey Presto! it tells me I had a package available for pick up that had been delivered to the Post Office at 9.47am Yesterday. Must have missed that one when you were checking for my missing package from Saturday's deliveries I guess.

I'm not sure who's the biggest idiot, me for believing their bullshit, or them for spouting it.

Had a package "delayed" at UPS facility 20 minutes from house. After a week I called and asked if I could pick it up there. "No - due to Covid protocol". Really? How do people drop off packages?

A few days later I open a claim with both the shipper and UPS. An investigator from UPS calls me the next day to inform me the package was lost and they are in touch with the shipper to rectify.

Two days later the package gets delivered by UPS.

They lie in order to meet metrics since they are tracked electronically.

Had a package coming in FedEx to the office, since he hadn't delivered it by 5 the driver went by, marked it office closed and drove off, watched him do it and it was important to have it that day.

Called fedex and told them I was there, and watched him drive by and watched as he made the status change from out for delivery to undeliverable.

They made the guy turn around and bring it back, guy lied big time and got caught..

Got notified by Fedex that my package was "on the truck for delivery (that) day." Four days in a row.

I've had much better luck with UPS, and the best luck when UPS hands off my package to my local mail carrier. She, and the staff at my local post office, go above and beyond in making sure our stuff gets to us. I realize that it's popular to rip on the post office, and I'm served by a semi-rural office, but I've had the postmaster deliver stuff personally after hours when it comes in late.

...but Fedex blows.

I can personally attest all delivery services are getting crushed right now. USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL, and yes, even Amazon no longer delivers in my area.

Add to the fact that there are PLENTY of jobs in this industry, nobody wants to work, when they can sit at home and get paid the same. Waiting on the next stimulus check, unemployment, and government assisted housing benefits.

People are buying furniture, rolls of carpet, bags of concrete, etc... that won’t fit in ordinary vehicles. I delivered office furniture to a vacant house that’s being renovated. It’s not uncommon to have to go back to the office to “reload” your truck.

Funniest thing I’ve seen was a water heater getting delivered to an apartment. It had to stand upright, and the customer was upset they had to come pick it up. Why are they ordering a water heater when they live in an apartment???

Covid has seriously impacted all delivery options, and given that people are quitting at a substantial amount, nobody wants to work, you may have to wait awhile for that 50lb bag of dog food and 12 liters of Ginger Ale.

I really really like it when my Amazon contractor takes a photo of the delivered package and sends it to me via text. It should be mandatory for ALL DELIVERIES.

First time I was outside when they delivered I took the package directly from them and commented "Thank you Sir!" A life long habit... thank you Sir / Ma'am. But after I said it I realized I had no Idea of their gender... loose fitted unisex uniform and dreadlocks... could have went either way. I hope she wasn't offended if I got it wrong because he/she always treats my packages with care... at least while in view of my security cameras.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
They lie in order to meet metrics since they are tracked electronically.

Setting unrealistic standards. A few years ago I did an in store pickup from Sears. You sign in at a kiosk and your name goes on a screen and a timer clock starts. There was something about getting your product in under 10 mins. At the 9:xx mark an employee comes out and marks my items as delivered. He said it would hurt their rating if it went over 10 mins. 5 mins later they bring out my box.

A few years ago, I ordered a rifle on-line and had it shipped to a FFL near my Dad a few weeks before Christmas. It was a brick & mortar gun store not just a kitchen table FFL.

I started getting "delivery attempted" notifications, but most were at goofy hours very few brick & mortar business would be open (e.g. 6 AM). I was in the area so I stopped by and talked to the FFL. He was beside himself as he had received nothing (FFL, gun parts, ammo, etc) from UPS in weeks, and every time he checked the security cameras on delivery attempted there were no UPS trucks passing by. What finally resolved the issue was he had some UPS employees waiting for ammo, and they looked into it and reported the lying turd at the UPS hub who was manipulating the records.

^
Tator, I'm friend's with my UPS driver, and he doesn't even live in my area. We both work in the "industry".

I was expecting a package, that required a signature. I asked him about it, and said to let him know, he'd drop it off next time he saw me. We both drive trucks for a living.

Sometimes it's nice to know people in high places.

quote:

Originally posted by EUROFAN:
Had USPS tell me that my package..which was tracked...was delivered to my mail box and was confirmed by GPS. Well, it wasn't in the mail box and they denied the insurance claim. Hats off to a forum member (that sent me the item) who actually refunded what I had paid him. That's one of the great things about this forum. Standup members.

I had a package a few years ago for a house that's on a busy street, shitty part of town, shitty people walk up and down this shitty street. As I walked up I thought to myself "I wonder if this will be here when she gets home?". Low and behold supervisor asks me about a package for this house said it was delivered in-between the houses or something...I scanned it as I walked up... Thought about it for a few seconds and absolutely knew that I had delivered it. I started taking her packages around to the back porch, which, with her shitty fence, was a challenge.
Wouldn't be a problem if we knocked on the door and handed things to people (this is a "time wasting practice" now), but then people complain when they're not home: "Why do I have to go to the Post Office to pick up my package?"

Seven, it’s a rough guesstimate, but I’m guessing 90% of all packages have a carrier release on them, basically stating to leave the item. And the point of delivery, is the mailbox.

I use to put packages behind storm doors in bad weather, but I gave up because 90% of them were locked.

The icing on the cake, and why I deliver everything to the mailbox. Customer accused me of stealing her package, and I said I left it in your front door, behind the storm door. She complained after a few weeks, and her exact words were, “We don’t use the front door”. So mail box is where I left it, but I always ensure it’s not blocking the driveway, if the customer backs out (I did have a customer complain about that, but she had a driveway, never shoveled, and it was all compacted ice. She never shoveled her steps, so I couldn’t just cut through her yard, to her mailbox. Up one driveway, down the other. We’d get written up for that in route inspection for a time wasting practice. But I’ve never been inspected anything outside of summer weather. Even had them canceled due to rain. Lol.)

A little while later, after a snow storm, the customer who complained I stole her package, complained because her husband ran over some medication with a snow blower. Ya’ know, I could have left it at your front door. If I’m a good customer basis, sometimes I will take it to the front door if they ask, especially it’s an older customer.

I have a current customer, in her 90’s, who asks I take her mail to her side door, and leave it on her stove in her kitchen. She leaves the door open, and just asks me to close it. Got an older vet, and I asked him if it would be easier for me to leave it at his front door. He doesn’t get around to well, and thanked me. It’s extremely impractical with record parcel volumes to take anything to the door.

My point as, as city carriers, we leave it at the mailbox. Rural carriers can’t leave things in the street, that won’t fit in their mailbox. But I’m not a rural carrier. And I’m starting to get customers who are installing secured package boxes by their mailbox. Even then, I had a complaint about that, package was extremely heavy, and barely would fit, so I left it outside the parcel box. Next day a note, “please place all items in parcel box”. Sorry pal, those 50lb bags of cat litter and 48 rolls of toilet paper ain’t gonna fit. And it’s a dead end street, with minimal traffic. But I put his car battery in it a few days later.

And now with a nationwide chlorine shortage, I imagine I’ll be getting customers ordering their pool supplies on line. I’ll put those by the mailbox...

Had another customer expecting a foreign express, it was her daughter’s birthday gift. I was on a first name basis with her, and said I didn’t have it. She got an “attempted” alert, it required a signature. I looked at my watch, and told her I wouldn’t even get to her house for about 3 hours. I was a few streets away. So I texted my supervisor, and he brought it out. I can guarantee it was “attempted” at the office. But in the end she was happy.

Most of my coworkers are hard workers, and contrary to popular believe, it is way more easier to deliver it, then bring it back. An empty truck at the end of the day, is a good truck.

I get that COVID, labor shortages, increased package volume, etc. are adding significantly to the problem. But it's been an ongoing issue since well before 2021.

Several years ago at my last house, there was a period of time where you could flip a coin as to whether a USPS package that was "Out for Delivery" would actually be delivered that day, or be marked as "Delivery Attempted - No access to delivery location" at end of shift at ~6:00 pm, and then delivered the following day.

Literally 50% of the time, my house would somehow be "inaccessible" on the scheduled day of delivery, yet magically "accessible" the next day, despite no changes on my end. And it was a normal suburban house in the middle of town, not anything weird like being way out in the boonies, or being surrounded by a giant fence, or having a pack of rabid hyenas that intermittently prowled the property, or whatever.

That postman or his supervisor were just cooking the books.

^
Rogue,

You are correct about covering their butts. The USPS is all about scan, scan, scan. Percentages have to be met. We use to have MSP’s (Managed Service Points), about 15 through out the route. If a carrier missed one, they would be questioned the next day. Even with the advent of GPS scanners, we still had to scan them, even if the customer had no mail. Finally the higher ups figured that was a “time wasting practice”.

We have to scan in with our Postal ID’s, so every package you scan will show who, when, and where the package was scanned. I’d say with 99% certainty, the carrier’s ID would not be associated with that scan. I’ve mentioned the “empty truck is a happy truck”, it doesn’t make sense to bring it back. It’s like taking your garbage can out on trash day, and right before the garbage truck comes, you bring your trash cans back, so you have more work to do next week.

There are some variables. I won’t deliver to any unsafe issues, generally dog issues, but it could be unshoveled steps, maybe a new roof getting put on and there are guys throwing things off the roof and nails all over the place. You get my point. But yes, I have been guilty of scanning packages attempted, when I get back to the office, and there are packages that just magically appeared at my case. But no supervisor would authorize overtime to have them delivered that day. Carriers do it most to CYA.

When we load our trucks in the morning, it’s not uncommon to find packages that aren’t for your route, and they are placed in a staging area for a supervisor, or anyone to see them delivered. Whether or not that happens, who knows, but I imagine most are scanned attempted.

Our new scanners have something called “package look ahead”, it will show all the packages you are supposed to have, in the sequence of delivery. I love it, it really prevents having to backtrack. But at the end of the day, I have a few packages that are “out for delivery”, but I don’t have them. They show up the next day.

Customers get texts and emails stating what day and approximate time a package will be delivered. It’s a frustrating conversation when you tell a customer waiting at their door you don’t have their package. “Well, I got a text...”

I’m not trying to start an argument, just the inner workings of the fine arts of package delivery.