• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Anyone work for FedEx ?

lowplaces

lowplaces

Supporting Member
Dec 20, 2015
4,001
1
8,552
Kentucky
#1
This isn't any sort of rant but just a question regarding a shipment I'm waiting on. I ordered two bass cabinets and this morning I found out they are in Independence Kentucky which is a suburb of Cincinnati.

They went from Memphis to Nashville and then to Cincinnati. I'm in Louisville.

I know stuff happens but unless the truck my cabs were on went to Knoxville before they wound up in Cincinnati, the truck would have went through Louisville to get to Cincinnati.

Seems crazy.
 
#2
Standard methodology - I don't know what your local setup looks like, nor do I work for FedEx, but in general, they put it on a little truck, take it to a hub, put it on a big truck (or plane), take it to another hub, put it on a little truck, take it to your house. There may be multiple planes and big trucks involved, depending on routing.

Now, sometimes stuff does get on the wrong truck and take a trip around Robin Hood's barn. But even when things are working "perfectly" this can mean that if the local truck for you comes from the opposite direction, stuff will get shipped right past your house, because it's in a tractor trailer and they usually keep those out of the residential delivery market.

Regular FedEx for here gets dropped at a hub to the west of me, and usually arrives promptly and in good shape. FedEx SmartPost (which they bought, and seem to have failed to fix, so I call it stupid-post) goes far to the east, before either being stolen by the workers or delivered in battered condition to my local post office for final delivery. You could say I don't think much of that "service" - it sucked before they bought it and they don't appear to have done a darn thing with it but tarnish their name... In any case, due to the differing locations, stuff going via stupid-post usually takes several days longer, having passed by my house days before.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmattbassplaya, GregC and lowplaces
#4
FedEx SmartPost

That's how they shipped it. Oh well it'll get here sooner or later.

They originally said it would be here Wednesday then after it got up there by Cincinnati they said Friday. I'm okay with that. I just checked and it did leave up there, hopefully in this direction:cool:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom Bomb
#5
Ha, just got a tracking update. Now the are in Indianapolis with a projected delivery date of next Tuesday.

Game over. Just talked to the vendor and told them to just have the cabinets sent back and refund my money. They wanted me to wait and see if the delivery date updated. Nope. I told them I understand it's late in the day and all but if I didn't receive confirmation that they started the process of refunding my money by noon tomorrow I just do a chargeback.

They reluctantly agreed of course lol.

Perhaps if they get enough complaints and canceled orders they'll quit using SmartPost.
 
Last edited:
#6
lowplaces said:
This isn't any sort of rant but just a question regarding a shipment I'm waiting on. I ordered two bass cabinets and this morning I found out they are in Independence Kentucky which is a suburb of Cincinnati.

They went from Memphis to Nashville and then to Cincinnati. I'm in Louisville.

I know stuff happens but unless the truck my cabs were on went to Knoxville before they wound up in Cincinnati, the truck would have went through Louisville to get to Cincinnati.

Seems crazy.
Click to expand...
Yeah! You sure showed FedEx a thing or two.
Guess who got paid?
Guess who didn't?
Guess who ain't gettin' new cabs next Tuesday?

Can you request UPS next time?
If that don't pan out, you'll really be FedUP. :smug:
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlc1976, S-Bigbottom and Killed_by_Death
#11
lowplaces said:
FedEx SmartPost
Click to expand...

That's the cheapest and slowest possible method. I've been stuck with that level of service before. So lame.
They coordinate delivery with USPS.
I had a package from Spartanburg, SC take 11 days to get to me with SmartPost.

I would have done the same thing you did and cancel the order.

-Mike
 
  • Like
Reactions: lowplaces
#12
MJ5150 said:
That's the cheapest and slowest possible method. I've been stuck with that level of service before. So lame.
They coordinate delivery with USPS.
I had a package from Spartanburg, SC take 11 days to get to me with SmartPost.

I would have done the same thing you did and cancel the order.

-Mike
Click to expand...

I've never heard of SmartPost before I ordered. I'm getting the impression that they're just going to let it sit till they have room for it on a truck. And with Thanksgiving week coming up and the Black Friday sales starting earlier and earlier, I just couldn't let it ride any longer. First it's Wednesday then it's Friday and then it's next Tuesday.

Get to the point you just have to draw the line.

Last time I cancelled an order because of this delay business, the other vendor I went with, I wound up saving 142 bucks. So that was kind of a blessing.
 
#14
MJ5150 said:
That's the cheapest and slowest possible method. I've been stuck with that level of service before. So lame.
They coordinate delivery with USPS.
I had a package from Spartanburg, SC take 11 days to get to me with SmartPost.
Click to expand...

I used to work for FedEx as a courier, but services like Ground and SmartPost didn't exist back then. But in any case, routing is often dependent on day to day space availability, and it's not exactly unknown for packages with a later or no delivery date commitment to sit for a while. "You get what you pay for" comes to mind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lowplaces, MJ5150 and Killed_by_Death
#15
I never heard of Smartpost either. I know anything Fedex in the last year or so has been dumped to the local post office for delivery, but I thought that was just their new way of doing things. Fedex not screwing around with local deliveries, but leaving it up to the mail carriers who know the area and are running the route anyway. Just sets delivery back another day.

Did you need the bass cabs earlier? With the years of use I'd plan to get from them, I'd not even miss the extra bit of wait after awhile. But that's just me.

Yes it has go to through hubs, it's more efficient as a whole. Imagine being on the other end, "oh sorry most of the shipments will be delayed because instead of going straight to the hub, we spent all day making deliveries that happened to be along the way, including bass cabs for someone in Louisville".

I'm actually surprised that having ordered them this morning, they already were on their way within a few hours. And this isn't just some small package you can throw in the mailbag. Very good logistics from wherever you bought them from, better than most of what I've experienced.

I like tracking updates but only so I can have a good idea of the delivery date. And there's only 1 way things come here, so I know when it's near. Basically so I can be on the lookout for it, and get it out of the weather asap, or whatever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lowplaces
#16
tlc1976 said:
I never heard of Smartpost either. I know anything Fedex in the last year or so has been dumped to the local post office for delivery, but I thought that was just their new way of doing things. Fedex not screwing around with local deliveries, but leaving it up to the mail carriers who know the area and are running the route anyway. Just sets delivery back another day.

Did you need the bass cabs earlier? With the years of use I'd plan to get from them, I'd not even miss the extra bit of wait after awhile. But that's just me.

Yes it has go to through hubs, it's more efficient as a whole. Imagine being on the other end, "oh sorry most of the shipments will be delayed because instead of going straight to the hub, we spent all day making deliveries that happened to be along the way, including bass cabs for someone in Louisville".

I'm actually surprised that having ordered them this morning, they already were on their way within a few hours. And this isn't just some small package you can throw in the mailbag. Very good logistics from wherever you bought them from, better than most of what I've experienced.

I like tracking updates but only so I can have a good idea of the delivery date. And there's only 1 way things come here, so I know when it's near. Basically so I can be on the lookout for it, and get it out of the weather asap, or whatever.
Click to expand...

I ordered them Monday morning. I honestly didn't expect them to be here before Thursday anyhow.

I could have gotten by without them, but if I knew they weren't going to get here until Tuesday and was not mislead, I would not have ordered them. Defeated the whole purpose of ordering them early before the Thanksgiving/Black Friday Rush.

I'll be out of town Wednesday and Thursday and have to work Tuesday when they say it was going to finally get here. Then Friday and Saturday and Sunday I have to work a long shifts. So the cabs I ordered on the 13th, I wouldn't even get to enjoy until Monday the 27th.

That's two weeks from the day I ordered them... Actually 15 days.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back