just another example i think of yet another american company that will be wondering "where did we go wrong?" a few years from now kind of like the car companies...of course its all my opinion!

today i called fedex to get my passport picked up from an embassy, i called, got it all arranged and they said they will be there sometime this afternoon, the only hassle was they "needed" a contact name, which i didn't have one, so after a little debate about it, all was well.

then i realized no one asked for my credit card info and i called back because the embassy will not pay for shipping, so i called back to fedex, and then they proceeded to tell me that i had to give the embassy my cc info to pay, i told them i am not going to give them it because i don't trust them, so fedex told me there is no way they can pick up my package and have me pay for it by cc on the fone.

they said the only way to pay was to mail a prepaid bill to the embassy or to set up a ground service account with fedex (i already had an account, just not ground service on it) which they said it would take 24 hours to take effect.

so, i called dhl, i in about 5 minutes, i arranged for them to go to the embassy to pick up my passport, the driver will charge me for it when he delivers it to me, and all for $3 less! and when i called the embassy 10 minutes later to tell them dhl, not fedex was picking it up....the dhl driver was already there! and picked it up!

now....one would say this is a one time experience...but....i have used dhl only one other time while i lived in england, they got my wife's new passport from kyrgyzstan to my flat in about a day and a half, pretty good.

fedex on the other hand, lets see, i received my security clearance and medical paperwork to fill out for a job with the government about 2 weeks late, it was marked overnite, but since the apartment number was smudged on it, they never bothered to call the number listed on the package until 2 weeks later. same thing happened again, except they actually called this time and it got here only 3 days late.

and for the fact that fedex was going to charge $3 more for the same 2 day service dhl does leaves me wondering.

if lots of people are having these kinds and other kinds of troubles with fedex, in a few years is this going to be another one of those american companies that seem to be in need of help?

fyi, i used fedex because i beleive in trying american companies first, and also the customer service people were always nice, never rude.

 

Here in norhtern ohio, if you want to recieve a package undamaged and on time you DON'T use DHL. The toledo hub IS just that bad. Now in the columbus oh area, DHL is the only way to go. Great service from that hub. It's all in the driver and hub manager attitude.

 

I was going to say- if I ever need anything over-nighted from kyrgyzstan to here, I'll be sure to use DHL. From here, though, Fed-Ex rules.

 

My experiences place FedEx well ahead of DHL in overall performance.

 

We no longer use DHL. Their first attempt they said that our address "does not exist", but somehow UPS can find it, and so can the post office. It's not difficult if your not dumb. Second attempt they said they delivered the package, left at front door. It wasn't delivered to our house. They said they delivered it to 417 instead of 1417. Well 417 doesn't exist along any stretch of the road. Then we called back and they said "even if they we knew where the driver delivered it, we wouldn't tell you", but you told us 417, and that doesn't exist. "only the driver knows where she delivered it". Finally a week later the package showed up all mangled with a note on the door "could not deliver 10/24 due to SIGNATURE REQUIRED" so they never delivered it on 10/24 it just rode around in the van for a few weeks. DHL has no business here anymore, hopefully the word will spead about how pathetic they are.

 

Yeah, but they are DYNAMITE for packages coming from former SSRs.

 

in college, A buddy and I ordered laptops.... FEDEX delivered them to my neighbor...

as far as freight companies go.... NEVER USE CENTRAL TRANSPORT... I think the play soccer with the pallets in thier trucks...

 

Whenever UPS is delivering a package to my house and it shows obvious signs of mistreatment, it will be silently left in front of the door but the bell isn't rung -- when it is in good condition they knock or ring. Hmmmm. Assume the ding the driver somehow for damage caused by unknown apes somewhere in transit, but if it is left with the customer then there is some ambiguity and ability to deny.

 

well, i will still use fedex, even after this, i just know now that if i need to do it the way i wanted to, i have to use DHL.

heck, even on wednesday i am fedexing something.

i wrote to fedex a cordial letter about it, hopefully i get a response!

 

Last summer i sold a bumper to a guy on ebay i don't remember in which state but it was towards the west cost, they made an delivery attempt but they said they needed a signature and nobody had been home, the tracking showed it was on its way back so i called them and they told me they did 3 delivery attempts and after that they charged extra, so i asked why it was on its way back after the first delivery attempt, he told me he would call the next hub where it was going to and tell the to send back for delivery. After acouple of days i got and e-mail from the buyer complaining i just told him to track the package and call fedex, so then i went to track it agian and it showed that it was an the way to east caost i think it was in illinios or indiana. Then i went to call fedex again and asked why it was going i the wrong direction they just told me they didn't know what was going on and after over 2 weeks of cruising across the states it was deliverd which originally was scheduled for 5 day.
All of this happened when i was on holidays in mexico with limited internet acces and.

Besides this theres was two other bumers that got cracked they where the abs plastic bumbers like the cars have now a days and one of them was crunched pretty good and the just told me it was my fault because of improper packaging and they wouldn' t refund me. On the way back the tried charging me duty for crossing the border so i called why i had to pay duty if i was the shipper once they canceled the bill and once they charged the credit card.

After that i have used UPS without problems except for a little higher cost but their transit times are shorter too.

 

well, i guess hubs play a big part, everyone of course will have some bad experience with something, no matter what it is.

its just good to hear that i, besides a few others of course, just had a run in of bad luck with them and the company is still solid and good.

 

I've had excellent service from Fed Ex, shipping packages all over the US. I've never used DHL.

I refuse to use UPS...here in SoCal...they drop off packages outside the gate...without bothering to ring a well located door bell.

Outside the gate is 30 feet from the front door, and close to the street, where anyone can grab and run. They've even done this when packages required a signature.

 

yyea, but isnt fedex based in tn?

 

DHL runs by here every day, since I live just off a major road, but they won't deliver it on any day but Thursday... They claim that we are out of their way to get to, and only deliver there once a week, even though they got paid to do it in 2 days, and if they can't figure out how to get to us, then it ends up waiting another weeek. For delivery here, we cringe when we find out it is DHL, because we won't see it for a week or so. Then my wife calls them, and rips into the people at DHL for their apparent incompetence, as UPS and FEDEX both find us fine, and get it delivered in the time given. Thing is, they NEVER tell the shippers about the fact they won't deliver it but one day a week... they take the higher premium, and deliver it when the please. At least USPS tells you when it won't make it there in time...

 

they are in west tn, in memphis. east tn is different!