[Cody Dawg]

Who do you use for shipping things?

What happens (or has happened) when you have a claim for something?

I use FedEx and FedEx Ground. I hate UPS. They take longer to ship things, rarely pay a claim for damage, and they cost more. At least that's my experience.

I have only had one claim with FedEx in 6 years and that was this morning. At first they wanted to deny the claim. I called the executive offices and explained why I was not happy with their decision to deny a claim and they decided to pay the claim after all. They were/are incredibly nice there. It was only a $100 claim, but it was the principle of the matter: They told me to box something a particular way, which I did right there in their shipping location, then it got damaged and they said they wouldn't cover a claim.

Anyway, I'd like to hear what your experiences are also.

[OldManMac]

What little shipping I do, I use FedEx, primarily because they're closer to me. I receive stuff from all three, and have never had to file a claim from any of them.

[turtle777]

I'm a Fedex guy.

I heard that DHL has really great customer service, but I never tried them.

-t

[Cody Dawg]

I used DHL once and it was incredibly cheap or inexpensive. It's just that they are 15 miles from me each way.

[Kevin Moon]

I use DHL, Fedex and Fedex ground and have had no problems with any of them. UPS seems to smash anything that I send or receive. I will pay extra or arrange special pickups just to avoid UPS.

[the_glassman]

dp. :/

[the_glassman]

DHL is owned by the Nazi's so I don't use them. UPS breaks everything. FedEx and FedEx ground are the only ones I use.
FedEx guy's are usually easier to deal with as well.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by the_glassman

DHL is owned by the Nazi's so I don't use them.

-t

[Cody Dawg]

I love that, turtle!

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I love that, turtle!

I wish I had a version with a turtle

-t

[PacHead]

The FedEx people must be fat, lazy bastards because in the building I live in, sometimes the lazy bastards just leave the package or letter downstairs in the lobby. Doesn't anybody even have to sign for it ?

[Cody Dawg]

No. They don't have to sign for it unless:

1. Signature required (as designated by the sender) for a letter
2. Unless the person has paid for Signature Home Delivery for ground items

Have a nice day.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by PacHead

The FedEx people must be fat, lazy bastards because in the building I live in, sometimes the lazy bastards just leave the package or letter downstairs in the lobby. Doesn't anybody even have to sign for it ?

Do you have a receptionist ? Maybe he / she signed ?

Hey, still better than USPS. They repeatedly leave notes at my downstairs mail box that I wasn't home, so I have to go and pick up the stuff from the post office. Darn lazy a$$es, just didn't want to walk up to the third floor...

-t

[RAILhead]

I like UPS and USPS. I've never had any problems with either, fro shipping $10 CDs to antiques worth over $175,000.

[Cody Dawg]

Yeah, my postal carrier does the same crap where she doesn't even try to knock on the door then leaves a slip to go and pick it up.

She's an a$$ and she's off the Christmas list for sure.

[the_glassman]

Originally Posted by turtle777

-t

Is there anything wrong with wanting to buy and support an american companies as opposed to one that's owned by the german government that leverages their current overseas monopoly to make their prices lower than their competitors. (Which also comes at expense of their underpaid workforce)

http://www.ups.com/content/hn/en/abo...eutsche_n.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/st...25/story6.html

So no, I don't use a company that used a loop hole to become a US carrier and treats it's workers they way it does.

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlan...02/story2.html

[Mastrap]

UPS, never again. They broke one too many parcels, then refused to pay for the damage until I threatened to o legal. Then all of a sudden it wasn't a problem anymore.

FedEx all the way.

[turtle777]

@ the_glassman ^^^ Blablabla

It's done on BOTH sides, and you know it.

What's wrong is pulling the Nazi card. I'm not refering to Americans as Negro-hating, native American genociding rednecks.

-t

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by turtle777

I'm not refering to Americans as Negro-hating, native American genociding rednecks.

More or less.

[rickey939]

DHL/Airborne Express rocks!

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

More or less.

Where ? Links, please !

-t

[the_glassman]

Originally Posted by turtle777

@ the_glassman ^^^ Blablabla

It's done on BOTH sides, and you know it.

What's wrong is pulling the Nazi card. I'm not refering to Americans as Negro-hating, native American genociding rednecks.

-t

You say it's done on both sides, but neither UPS nor FedEx is owned by our Government. Show me some proof where FedEx or UPS is doing anything close to what DHL is doing.
It's a joke howdy, a joke. You can refer to americans any way you please, but DHL is still owned by the german government.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by the_glassman

You say it's done on both sides, but neither UPS nor FedEx is owned by our Government. Show me some proof where FedEx or UPS is doing anything close to what DHL is doing.

It's done in the airline and steel industry, for example.

Originally Posted by the_glassman

You can refer to americans any way you please, but DHL is still owned by the german government.

You are ignorant.

DHL is owned by Deutsche Post AG, which is a public company listed at the German stock exchange. The German government owns only a minority share of 20%, and even this is going to be sold.

-t

[the_glassman]

Originally Posted by turtle777

It's done in the airline and steel industry, for example.

-t

What do either one of those examples have to do with FedEx or UPS? I mean that is what were are talking about in this thread, right? I asked for examples from FedEx or UPS not other industries. Nice try though.

Originally Posted by turtle777

DHL is owned by Deutsche Post AG, which is a public company listed at the German stock exchange. The German government owns only a minority share of 20%, and even this is going to be sold.
-t

They may be selling shares, but to me 20% of a business still counts for something. It wasn't long ago that they owned a much larger stake in the company.

[osiris]

I've never had any problems with either of the three. But I tend to favor FedEx and DHL for fragile stuff.

I've seen the UPS guys hurl boxes around like basketballs too many times to fully trust them.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by the_glassman

What do either one of those examples have to do with FedEx or UPS? I mean that is what were are talking about in this thread, right? I asked for examples from FedEx or UPS not other industries. Nice try though.

Attention span of a 5 year old, he ?

Originally Posted by the_glassman

Is there anything wrong with wanting to buy and support an american companies as opposed to one that's owned by the german government that leverages their current overseas monopoly to make their prices lower than their competitors. (Which also comes at expense of their underpaid workforce)

Originally Posted by turtle777

It's done on BOTH sides, and you know it.

Originally Posted by turtle777

It's done in the airline and steel industry, for example.

Get it ?

-t

[nerd]

Anything but UPS for me. I was partial with them until one day our daily UPS driver got moody because I asked him to wait 2 minutes while I printed out the shipping slip. Never again. When I get the option on how to ship from a merchant I choose FedEx or DHL, which ever is cheaper.

[KeriVit]

Sometimes threads sure do go strange directions....

I've had more stuff lost/damged by FedEx, but we use them more (6/10) than UPS.

[ghporter]

I like the three Cody listed in the order she listed them. FedEx people here have gone out of their way to help us out-including one driver who stopped back by because he'd missed us and wanted to deliver our iBook so we wouldn't have to wait another day.

For most things, UPS makes it convenient for us to not only receive but also send packages-there's a UPS store a short distance from where we live, so it's nice and easy.

I do NOT like Airborne Express, and the fact that DHL bought them out does not endear DHL to me. But the one recent DHL delivery we received made me feel that they're trying hard, though not quite hitting the mark... I would use USPS every day of the week to avoid using DHL, but if someone sends me something through DHL, I just know to pay attention and follow up if something's amis.

[nredman]

true - in my experience fedex is best - ups is good - and dhl is too new - no offense to them but all the delivery guys i see for them look scary - like young punks - not all are like that i'm sure. what about airborne???

[Lateralus]

UPS is the most convenient, least expensive and they're easier to get insurance money from. But they make up for it with fairly craptastic package handling and customer support.

FedEx isn't as convenient to ship with because they have fewer drop off locations, they charge more and they're hell to get insurance money from. But they make up for it with better package handling and better customer support.

I have yet to try DHL, they're next.

UPS has yet to do me wrong and I ship more packages than I can count, so my loyalties are with UPS.

That all said, I think I'm done with FedEx. I had a nice little odyssey with them that lasted a few months and ended with me getting nothing as far as insurance. So, they can bite me. And it'll hurt them more than it hurt me in the end because I do quite a bit of shipping and they wont be seeing any of it.

[anthonyvthc]

I was a fan of Fedex until they screwed me over. I paid $130 to ship a guitar amplifier cross country (including $1,000 insurance). When it arrived it powered on, but was completely silent. Took it to the repair shop 3 days after it arrived. They took three weeks repairing it (don't ask me why). They said a bunch of solder joints had broken, probably because the box had been dropped a number of times. $195 to fix. Called Fedex the as soon as I got the amp back to file a claim and I was flat out denied because they only allow 3 weeks to file. Since I had waited 24 days, the woman told me that they would not even consider paying me. Give me a break. She also said that even if they were going to consider it, I would still have to have the original packaging, which they would collect along with my amp, take them to some place where these things are investigated, and then ship it back to the originating location. Last time I will willingly use them.

[Railroader]

USPS, Airborn Express, UPS.

In that order.

[iT4c0]

I don't like UPS. We use UPS at work and they lost our boxes to clients every often. They once deliver an 10,000 dollar (6 boxes) job to a wrong address. I did not know what happen after that but i heard they were not very helpful on covering all those shipping cost.

[ReggieX]

So, Lateralus, mods are now exempt from the signature rules?

[frankie tot]

I've run a business on eBay for a long time now and I used to use FedEx Ground for most of my shipments... but then they tried to double charge me for $100+! I got my credit card bill and paid it just as usual, but then those jerks at FedEx claimed that I didn't pay so when I provided them with writeen proof they "denied" my claim and threatened to sick a collection agent on me. I told them to screw off and that they just lost a lot of business. I've been using UPS ever since thanks to their beligerent fools working for them!

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ReggieX

So, Lateralus, mods are now exempt from the signature rules?

I don't think he's aware what happened, and you are neither.

This pic is a generic pic from his hoster, because he has used up all his bandwidth.

-t

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by ReggieX

So, Lateralus, mods are now exempt from the signature rules?

Don't be a 'tard.

Originally Posted by turtle777

I don't think he's aware what happened, and you are neither.

This pic is a generic pic from his hoster, because he has used up all his bandwidth.

-t

[JHromadka]

FedEx is my preferred carrier. Just today I had to ship a package and went online and requested a pickup. Literally THREE minutes later someone showed up.

[SuvsareRetarded]

AVOID FEDEX GROUND. They are awful. Dunno if you remember, but there was a shipping company called 'rapid' something or other...that's what FEDEX ground is. The FEDEX ground trucks are personally owned, not fleet vehicles, and the problem is that a driver doesn't drive from the pickup to the delivery, he trades off to another driver, and on and on and on. There's no 'check in', so nobody is responsible for the condition of the package. I shipped a fairly expensive item with them once, and they totally ****ing destroyed it. He called FEDEX, they came and wrapped it up in a plastic bag and some cardboard. Then they took it back to their place, and realize that the plastic bag and cardboard provided insufficient packaging to avoid damage... NO **** IT WASNT THE PACKAGING YOU ASSHATS! Then they claimed it wasn't their fault, and the guy who it was delivered to had to take them to court to get his money back.

AVOID FEDEX GROUND. Do a google search on them, and you'll find TONS of horror stories.

For big items, use UPS if you can. For smaller lightweight items, use the post office. For things that need to be delivered quick, use FEDEX.

The end.

- Rob

[olePigeon]

When I have the money, FedEx. I've never had a problem with sending or receiving through FedEx. When I'm on a budget or I have to deliver on a weekend, I use good ol' US Postal Service. Free weekend and holiday shipping is hard to beat. FedEx and UPS charge an arm and a leg for weekend and especially holiday shipping.

I avoid UPS at all costs.

I haven't used DHL except when dealing with Apple or Dell. They seem to work pretty well, but their tracking service isn't very accurate.

[baw]

Based on what I know about DHL, I would not recommend them to anyone.

This article released today says a lot.

Occasionally, Gail Vorhees, DHL's national account manager, has resorted to sarcasm when responding to the barrage of complaints.

"Yet another state of Ohio blunder!" she wrote. "I think their employees might very well be hiding under rocks!"

Full article below.

DHL fails to deliver the goods, agencies say
Ohio's courier draws complaints but says contract provisions met
Monday, November 21, 2005
Ted Wendling
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus - Nearly a year after Gov. Bob Taft helped DHL land exclusive rights to provide express-delivery services for the state government, officials at several agencies are complaining that the contract has been a disaster.

Agency officials accuse DHL of a wide array of delivery problems, including losing State Highway Patrol paychecks; routing Health Department vaccine shipments to the wrong cities; overweighing Department of Transportation packages; overcharging the Department of Natural Resources thousands of dollars; and mistakenly turning over agency accounts to bill collectors.

"There is not a week that goes by that DHL does not mess something up," an Agriculture Department official grumbled in a Sept. 9 e-mail after the shipper destroyed water-quality samples mailed by an agency microbiologist.

"I received more calls than I can count from the DHL collections department," a Division of Wildlife employee fumed in a Sept. 28 e-mail. "Rest assured, we have not used DHL since February. From my perspective, DHL is a mess."

Those complaints are among dozens that state agencies have made since Jan. 1, when Ohio awarded DHL a $4.4 million contract to replace UPS as the state's exclusive courier. They contrast sharply with the German-owned shipper's current national ad campaign, which emphasizes customer service. In one TV spot, set to the music of "What the World Needs Now is Love," a series of vignettes features a delivery man crushing a package in an elevator door and a ham-handed bagger mashing the week's groceries with a half-gallon jug of milk.

"Whatever happened to customer service?" the ad says. "At DHL, it's alive and well."

DHL officials declined to answer questions, releasing a statement through Robert Mintz, the firm's public relations manager. The statement said Ohio was required by law to award the contract to DHL because the company was the lowest bidder.

It also said DHL has met a contract requirement that 98 percent of deliveries be on time - a statistic that state officials rely on the contractor to monitor and report.

The billing issues, the statement said, "were quickly remedied and resolved. In addition, some service issues are unavoidable when a change in vendor takes place."

DHL won contract

after moving to Ohio

DHL was awarded the contract shortly after Ohio won a bidding war with Kentucky for a new DHL air cargo hub. The company agreed to move its hub from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky., to Wilmington, Ohio, in exchange for $122 million in tax breaks and incentives.

DHL was not considered for the state's delivery business until DHL officials complained to Taft's office that they had not been treated well when they had asked about reopening the contract. Records show that this was after the Department of Administrative Services had already asked UPS to renew the courier contract.

"By going directly to the governor's office, they bypassed standard business channels in an attempt to politically influence a procurement decision," DAS procurement supervisor Jeff Westhoven wrote to his boss, Richard Hickman, on Aug. 6, 2004. But Westhoven wrote that it could have been "simply a company being aggressive about competing for the state's business."

Taft spokesman Mark Rickel said the governor gave DHL a crack at the contract out of gratitude for DHL's decision to relocate its hub to Wilmington and create 900 more full- and part-time jobs.

"We had aggressively fought for DHL to select an Ohio site for its consolidated air and ground hub," Rickel said. "It was our position that if it made good business sense, the contract should be rebid."

DHL's $4.4 million bid was $170,000 less than UPS' bid. FedEx's bid was $4.7 million.

As for DHL's service problems, Rickel said: "We've recently become aware that some agencies are not happy with DHL's service. We expect DAS to rigorously enforce the contract with DHL."

Mintz's statement said DHL appealed to Taft's office "to ensure that the state of Ohio provided an opportunity for DHL to bid fairly on this contract."

A spokesman for UPS declined to comment.

Both Westhoven and Hickman, who is now executive director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission, said they don't recall any disputes with DHL officials over the courier contract. Westhoven also retreated on his claim that DHL used political influence to acquire the contract, saying simply, "They were obviously pushing for the opportunity to compete for the state's business."

Westhoven acknowledged that the state has threatened several times to cancel DHL's contract, but he said most of the problems have been resolved.

"Certainly, we would always like vendors to be perfect, and perfect is the goal, but perfection is not the requirement in the contract," he said.

Similarly, Mintz's statement said DHL "has still met and in many cases exceeds" the contract requirements.

DHL's record pales

next to UPS'

Despite those statements, DAS records show that problems have persisted. The Department of Health and the Department of Public Safety got waivers from DAS to use other couriers for special deliveries. DAS has denied waiver requests from three other agencies, and LeeAnne Mizer, a spokeswoman for a fourth agency, the Department of Agriculture, said her agency is dissatisfied, too.

"We've taken our concerns to the Department of Administrative Services," she said. "There's not a whole lot more we can do at this time. It's still a problem."

DHL's record looks particularly bad when compared with that of UPS. In the six years that UPS had the contract - from October 1998 to December 2004 - agencies filed 16 "complaint to vendor" reports after being unable to resolve their disputes with UPS, requiring mediation by DAS. The reports typically involve multiple service complaints.

In comparison, agencies filed 15 complaint-to-vendor reports in the first 10 months of the contract with DHL.

A sampling:

After DHL repeatedly lost paychecks and other mail at the Ohio River Valley Juvenile Correctional Facility in southern Ohio, angry officials at the Department of Youth Services wrote, "It is unacceptable for us to continue to operate this way when we are talking about employees' paychecks and, therefore, we are officially requesting a waiver from utilizing DHL." The waiver was denied.

DHL lost three boxes of brochures that the state development department sent to Hanover, Germany. Then, development officials learned that a DHL driver was having an affair with a development employee and that the two were using drugs together on state time. DHL assigned another driver to the development account.

Informed that DHL had put a hold on the Mount Vernon Developmental Center's account due to an unpaid bill of $12.63, the center's business manager raged in an e-mail that DHL was, once again, wrong: "This morning at 8:23 a.m., I had the pleasure of receiving a call from . . . the credit collection agency hired by DHL. This is just classic. . . . I find this utterly ridiculous, especially in light of the fact that we have never received a statement of account NOR has anyone contacted me to discuss any outstanding invoices!"

DHL has fought back by blaming agencies for providing inaccurate addresses and ZIP codes. Its statement said "more than half of the complaints . . . were due to customer error," including unpaid invoices, wrong addresses and "improper documentation."

Occasionally, Gail Vorhees, DHL's national account manager, has resorted to sarcasm when responding to the barrage of complaints.

"Yet another state of Ohio blunder!" she wrote. "I think their employees might very well be hiding under rocks!"

DHL's statement said the disputes are temporary. DHL, the statement said, "looks forward to a long, superior service commitment to provide express delivery services to the state."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 1-800-228-8272

[AppleJockey]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Who do you use for shipping things?

What happens (or has happened) when you have a claim for something?

I use FedEx and FedEx Ground. I hate UPS. They take longer to ship things, rarely pay a claim for damage, and they cost more. At least that's my experience.

I have only had one claim with FedEx in 6 years and that was this morning. At first they wanted to deny the claim. I called the executive offices and explained why I was not happy with their decision to deny a claim and they decided to pay the claim after all. They were/are incredibly nice there. It was only a $100 claim, but it was the principle of the matter: They told me to box something a particular way, which I did right there in their shipping location, then it got damaged and they said they wouldn't cover a claim.

Anyway, I'd like to hear what your experiences are also.

USPS(postal)-sucks.Bigtime.
their online tracking DOES NOT work for the life of them.
They have taken over one month to deliver packages to me.by they time I got it I had already bought a replacement and ended up with 2 of the same item.
another time they left a notice for me to pick up my package at the station
the notice said they close at 5:30
I got there at 5:10 they would not let me in they said they were closed.
I showed him the note left that said 5:30.
he said "oh thats a typo we didnt bother to reprint it would cost too much andbe too much work"
.they suck
they only good side to them is
1. if you have a po box and the item is small you dont have to be home for them to deliver it(unless its certified of course)
2.Saturday delivery


UPS:garbage.I missed a package from them and asked them to keep it at the station so i can pick it up the following day.The closest station to my place is 20 miles and I must fight traffic to get there.
When I went the following day to get my package and the woman said its on the truck.
then she said "ooops looks like he just mae a delivery attempt" AS I WAS STANDING IN THE STATION.I was livid

also ups says they will deliver anytime between7am and 7pm. most people who are home all day like that are either jobless work 3rd shift or work from home. 80% of people (IMO) are not hangind home all day.
to add insult to injury they DO NOT deliver on saturday when people are home.


Fed EX-Wonderful never a problem fast & efficient they let you know your package will be there BEFORE 10am....
their online system works!customer service one of the best
and guess what they deliver on SaturdayTo be honest they could deliver only
MON WED and FRi and I would still prefer them to UPS or USPS
no joke



DHL/Airborne do not deserve mention

[driven]

UPS breaks EVERYTHING and always has a reason to not pay a claim. (I swear they must TRY to break things!) <-- There is a strange lab somewhere that has gadgets to destroy boxes and their contents.

FedEx air is fine. (So long as you happen to be home if you need a signature ... otherwise you are trucking to their office). <-- That's fine.

FedEx ground ... you'll get the package when their franchise driver is good and ready to bring it to you. If I REALLY want something in a reasonable amount of time I won't use this option.

DHL ... I've had great service with them, but I have not used them enough times yet to endorse them.

USPS ... Great service / cheap rates, so long as you don't try to ship around Christmas time. Then everything goes glacial.

[wdlove]

Originally Posted by turtle777

-t

Thanks turtle777. It brings a nice big smile to the face.

[teney7]

DHL is what Apple uses to ship iPod repairs back and forth.. at least that's what they did for me. I was very pleased with the speed of DHL, only 2 days from CA to NY.

[driven]

That's where I remember DHL from! They are the ones that transported my G4 Cube to the repair shop and back. It was amazingly fast. (2 days back and forth ... ATL to CA)

Thanks for the reminder Teney.