Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

I hate having to use FedEx. Last fall I ordered a part for a fireplace from Atlanta and took the fireplace apart to be ready. After a week with still no package I called the supplier who referred me to FedEx because tracking showed they picked up the package on the ordered date. FedEx said it was shipped and told me to order another part and return the first one when delivered. I ended up calling FedEx lost package service and they opened an investigation. Two days later they found it still on the truck that picked it up from the supplier.

tomcat

It all depends on two things: your shipper and your location. Your shipper can designate the priority when they pay for the pickup. If it's not designed priority, then it can take several days and go a circuitous route. In 20 years of being at this location, FedEx has become our exclusive carrier. Never, ever lost a package or mis-delivered one. UPS on the other hand, is great at crushing boxes and damaging contents.
We'll never use anyone other than FedEx.

Tex-s

Thanks for the responses everyone. I anticipated I'd hear conflicting stories and I certainly have.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Wallmart now uses someone called Lasership, They laserlost the first package they were supposed to deliver to me. Probably were having growing pains, as Walmart immediate replaced the package for free. USPS works very well here, UPS works very well, Fedex, is down a wrung, but the packages do show up.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

My big complaint with UPS is that their drivers drop high value packages on my doorstep without even ringing the bell. By the time I get to the door, they are long gone. One time, a $3,000 camera sat on my stoop for hours until I got home. Anyone could have made off with it. When packages require a signature, they do not ring the bell, but they leave a card saying they will try the next day. The next day the same thing happens. In the end, I have to drive miles to pick up my package from their center in another county when their is a UPS facility literally one block from my house.

The government should end their association with private carriers and go back to the parcel post system where the USPS has control throughout the process. I always found that USPS did a much better job than outfits who's main motivation is to make a buck an cut costs at the customer's expense.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

I fully concur on the bulk mail issue. Were it not for Congress USPS could require bulk mail have First Class postage. There used to be a web page where you could order catalogs be ceased. The one sure way to guarantee you will get bulk garbage is to order anything over the Internet or the phone.

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

When you order online and pay for it will ask how you want it shipped, that is by ground, next day, 2 day, air, etc. shipping charges will be according to what is selected. If it is being shipped to me I am here will opt for ground as this is usually the cheapest. If I am shipping then I will do the two day since I get a discount from Fedex because I work for a major airline.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

Tell me about it. The wife phone orders things from time to time. I can't believe all the catalogs she receives from places she never ordered from or even heard of. I'm sure those places she orders from make a few bucks from the companies they sell her name to.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

Several years ago while living in Southern California I ordered an item from an outfit in Anaheim, CA, about a hundred miles away. I followed the tracking info and found the the package left Anaheim and was shipped to someplace on the east coast then back to San Diego for delivery to me. The item was shipped via FedEx with next day delivery. Even making that long round trip it still arrived the next day.

tomcat

Yeah, it's kinda nuts here too. FedEx flies into Raleigh on the eastern side of the center of the state and then unloads and trucks packages west near the western end of the state to Kernersville, where there is a big distribution center. Then they come back to the east the next day via truck to Raleigh, sigh. What a waste of fuel to go west and then back east. But it must be cheaper than building a facility in Raleigh.

blue-ultra Loc: New Hampshire

I too have had issues with FedEx. This past week I order 6 flash drives that were on sale (small package) I had to pay 6 dollars for shipping. It has been two weeks no package, and now when I go back to tracking it says it was delivered Monday. I still don't have it.

I really prefer USPO priority mail. One price regardless of weight. If it fits, it ships! No issue with them. UPS was always pretty good no so much lately... Sign of the times...

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Actually, there is logic to the “hub and spoke” model that Fred Smith basically invented when he started FedEx. Back then, if you used FedEx to send something from West Los Angeles to downtown LA that envelope was shipped to the Memphis hub (their only facility at first) and then flown back for delivery. And as stupid as that sounds logistically speaking it made sense.

Think of analog phone land line connections... you can call your neighbor or across the country from your house, and either way the call passed through a central switching office. To attempt I connect every house to every other directly would entail burying the neighborhood in 10 feet of copper wire!

So it is with shipping; trying to handle any potential point-to-point delivery as a direct delivery becomes massively expensive (just price out the cost of a city messenger service). So having a centralized hub is actually more cost effective, despite being counterintuitive.

Of course as FedEx grew it made sense to open other sorting hubs, so today there are a bunch of them. But the basic principle remains valid.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

The web site where you can cancel catalogs is catalogchoice.org. They are not 100% effective because catalog mailers are not obligated to comply. There is a dmachoice.com for junk mail, but it is not free.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

I have had bad experiences with both. On the other hand I've also had good results with both. Generally I've had better experiences and results with UPS.

krashdragon

A lot of FedEx delivery guys are contracted, not FedEx employees.
Dont know about UPS.

Although... some knitting kneedles I ordered from Reno, Nv sent to Ft Worth, Tx, were routed by way of Anchorage, Alaska!! USPS! The pissy part is they went to Alaska without me!

But since I've actually run USPS mail during Christmas (53' trailer from one hub to another) I'm pretty sure my package was simply tossed into the wrong shipping container.