FedEx Frustration

Last week I ordered an Islander MST-4 - all mahogany - tenor. It was shipping on the 5th with a Monday, March 9 delivery day. The two day free shipping was included from Hawaii Music Supply.

The FedEx tracking page estimated delivery "before 8:00 PM" on Monday. Monday is my day off, except for a couple of students at home. I stayed home all day waiting for the FedEx truck. At 7:30 PM I called the FedEx number. Turns out my uke was still in Memphis where it had been all weekend. The woman said it would 'most likely' arrive Tuesday. I work Tuesdays, so I called Hawaii Music Supply and they waived the signature requirement with FedEx so it could be delivered while I was at work.

Today before work I checked the tracking page. It showed 'no estimated delivery date available' even though it is finally in Atlanta. (I'm in GA.) So I call again. All they could tell me is that it's in Atlanta but wouldn't go out today (Tuesday). "Most likely" it will be on a truck tomorrow, six days after shipping. I know the snow in Memphis on Thursday night and into Friday morning would have delayed things some, but surely not this much.

I emailed Hawaii Music Supply, first explaining that I know none of this is their fault. I thought they should know that the two day shipping they are paying for isn't, at least in this case, anywhere close to two day.

I guess this is just a venting post. I'm hoping by the time I get home from work tomorrow there will be a box on my porch with my Islander ukulele in it, safe and sound. Just very disappointed in FedEx.

Jody

Not to excuse them, but I know their Memphis hub was having a hard time with delays due to the weather.

Shipping has been slower than normal for the last few weeks with the all the record breaking snow and bad weather. There is a big backlog at one of the hubs

I was looking at a few different retail websites, and they all had notices posted that shipments may be slower than usual. One day of bad weather in Memphis can have a domino effect, slowing things down even in areas that aren't experiencing bad weather.

Yes, I was frustrated last week that an order I made was taking so long to arrive in Los Angeles, but had to resign myself to the fact that the weather created the delays. Actually went late last week to a store for a couple of items that I would normally mail order, just to avoid the added delay.

cpmusic said:

I was looking at a few different retail websites, and they all had notices posted that shipments may be slower than usual. One day of bad weather in Memphis can have a domino effect, slowing things down even in areas that aren't experiencing bad weather.

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This is the story I'm getting even though my Risa is being shipped from TEXAS and going only up to Oregon with 70 degree weather and my query as to where the hell my uke is was met with several possible excuses ( likely read off a cue card lol)

At Uke World they mailed it snail mail to save a few bucks. I wish I had paid better attention to that part and offered to pay for an upgrade. But we've been frustrated on both ends because we can't even track it atm. I'm not at all impressed with USPS tracking and on the phone they told me over and over things that they said in subsequent phone calls with other postal employees was just not true. It's been pretty much a mess all the way with USPS playing the part of "no clue but it's not our fault" and several stories depending on who has the phone. It's pretty sad really. I could never have stayed in business or thrived with these levels of customer service. And I'm not talking about the weather.

I feel you, but yeah, the weather has delayed EVERYBODY. I have a vintage bass coming my way that is two days late (shipped UPS), solely because of the weather. Nothing you can do, but just hope that everything gets there safely.

As frustrating as it is, let's remember these are First World problems. ;-)

UPS, the experts in "logistics". When they are good they're great. When they are bad, they're horrid.

I shipped a package on March 1. It appears as though it has been stuck at a hub in Greensboro since March 3. The recipient contacted me this morning to ask where the package is. You would think that these "logistics experts" would automatically start searching for any package that has not moved for 24 hours. Instead, UPS relies on the shipper or the recipient to make a complaint before they start "investigating".

I would like to chime in on this one. My son works at UPS at night and goes to college during the day to help pay his way through school. Two and three weeks ago when we were getting ice and snow everything was closing and companies were sending people home. This was afternoon. They would not let any shift leave early, they didnt provide even a floor in the heated iffices for these people to sleep so they would not have to be out on these roads. They had some employees get stranded because their vehicles went off the road. They still expected them back the next day with no way to get there. Where my son works he says the managers do nothing but yell at everyone all night. I guess that is they way they think you have to motivate people. Having a large hub being b acked up anyehere in the country can cause backups all over. Sorry to get on my siap box but i am so made at UPS. So what if my package takes a few extra days as long as other people are safe and sound.

Ukulele Eddie said:

As frustrating as it is, let's remember these are First World problems. ;-)

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Yes, I was ruminating on all that this morning but in relation to the issue of Dentists. My friend swears that all dentists are crooks nowadays. My response was well that may be somewhat true but in our brutal infancy huge numbers of humans died in extreme pain from dental problems. I'm sure this kind of thing would have driven many to suicide. So lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater. And on that note I'm off to my dental app in a few hours and deal with this bloody toothache.

My Islander arrived today! I did let The Ukulele Site know - NOT that I was blaming them in any way - and they gave me a $25. refund on shipping, even though I didn't pay for the shipping. I offered to send it back, as I honestly wasn't asking for anything, but they insisted. Now that is customer service! Love the uke!! Thanks for all the comments. I just found it hard to believe that in today's high tech world, they couldn't do a better job of tracking and estimating delivery. Nice to have it home, safe and sound!

Jody

JodyB said:

My Islander arrived today! I did let The Ukulele Site know - NOT that I was blaming them in any way - and they gave me a $25. refund on shipping, even though I didn't pay for the shipping. I offered to send it back, as I honestly wasn't asking for anything, but they insisted. Now that is customer service! Love the uke!! Thanks for all the comments. I just found it hard to believe that in today's high tech world, they couldn't do a better job of tracking and estimating delivery. Nice to have it home, safe and sound!

Jody

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wow beyond the call of duty....

Icelander53 said:

This is the story I'm getting even though my Risa is being shipped from TEXAS and going only up to Oregon with 70 degree weather and my query as to where the hell my uke is was met with several possible excuses ( likely read off a cue card lol)

At Uke World they mailed it snail mail to save a few bucks. I wish I had paid better attention to that part and offered to pay for an upgrade. But we've been frustrated on both ends because we can't even track it atm. I'm not at all impressed with USPS tracking and on the phone they told me over and over things that they said in subsequent phone calls with other postal employees was just not true. It's been pretty much a mess all the way with USPS playing the part of "no clue but it's not our fault" and several stories depending on who has the phone. It's pretty sad really. I could never have stayed in business or thrived with these levels of customer service. And I'm not talking about the weather.

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Just because it goes from TX to OR, it still has to go through a hub. Just like a snowstorm on the east coast can cancel your flight in TX because the plane is stuck out east.

Yeah our hub is up in Federal Way Washington and there is no cold weather there either but I take your point. It's all nice in the PNW down to Texas but of course the east is another matter. I talked to Roy at Ukulele world and he said they had missed some scans but he got me caught up on info. It's still going to take a day or three to get here but now it's coming down to Oregon instead of up. The post office said basically there current systems are in bad need of upgrading which they are in the process of doing. Roy gave me some details and it seems like they might actually be serious about becoming more competitive. Of course it's likely with better service you can expect to see some price increases. All I know is if it gets here and works right I'll not be complaining. My worry of course is the longer it floats around out there the more chance for something to go wrong.

Of the major shippers, I find FedEx to be the most responsive when it comes to customer service. When I have any kind of shipping issue, I can usually get someone on the phone quickly who actually knows where my package is and can find out the source of the issue and give me an reasonable estimation of what it will take to resolve it. In at least one case, I had a supervisor personally drive a package out to my house after the driver brought his truck back in without delivering it. They are by no means perfect, but I have found that they are willing to exert some real effort to resolve a customer problem.

By far the worst in customer service is the USPS. While their rates are very good, and their service generally reliable, it can be all but impossible to get customer service on the phone, and they will rarely do much more than read you the same computer tracking info that didn't help you when you read it online.

Agree about USPS. My Risa came today but I wasn't home because their website said that it was still in transit from Washington. So then I had to go stand in line for about 40 min to pick it up. There was a line of people out the door and only one service person. They have some serious work to do. It's a poor decision to have so many unhappy customers. About half the people in line were really unhappy about the long wait just to make it to the window. It's a shame really.

JodyB said:

My Islander arrived today! I did let The Ukulele Site know - NOT that I was blaming them in any way - and they gave me a $25. refund on shipping, even though I didn't pay for the shipping. I offered to send it back, as I honestly wasn't asking for anything, but they insisted. Now that is customer service!
Jody

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What a commendable online store! They really went the extra mile. Glad to hear your uke made it sound and safe to your place.

Every time I have a unhappy experience with buying ukes online I swear I'm going to only buy from HMS but they just don't seem to carry every uke I've got the hots for.

RichM said:

By far the worst in customer service is the USPS. .

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Agree with Rich. Will go further: Any government will run any large organization less efficiently and at higher expense than privately run businesses. iRS, VA Hospitals, Federal health insurance, state universities, and on and on.