Delivery problems at UPS, FedEx

[Hum]

 It wasn't a problem at Santa's workshop that held up Christmas presents for some this year, but rather, shipping problems at UPS and FedEx.

The delays were blamed on poor weather earlier this week in parts of the country as well as overloaded systems. The holiday shopping period this year was shorter than usual, more buying was done online and Americans' tendency to wait until the last possible second to shop probably didn't help either.

Neither company said how many packages were delayed but noted it was a small share of overall holiday shipments. While the bulk of consumers' holiday spending remains at physical stores, shopping online is increasingly popular and outstripping spending growth in stores at the mall.

The problems appear to have affected many parts of the country. The Associated Press spoke to people in Alabama, California, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia who didn't receive presents in time for Christmas.

Many gifts didn't arrive.

 

Some FedEx customers are able to pick up packages Christmas Day at their local FedEx Express centers.

 

FedEx said deliveries to their homes were attempted but failed because "the business was closed." During follow-up calls with customer service, they said they learned that the local depot was overwhelmed and didn't attempt delivery.

 

Amazon.com has been notifying some customers affected by the UPS delays that it will refund any shipping charges and is giving them a $20 credit toward a future purchase.

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[DocM]

Amazon has said they're going to "review" the performance of the delivery companies. Makes one think of their drone delivery plans, which could cover 80% of their orders, and possibly AmazonFresh, their grocery delivery service, expanding into a new shipping company.

[Shadier]

Both UPS and Fedex get rid of their date guarantees during the holiday season for all ground shipments. The only thing they guarantee is Next day, Second day, and 3 day select. The problem is that Amazon gave customers a "Before Christmas" guarantee, while the shipping companies they used did not have such a guarantee. Fedex and UPS can only handle so much, I think the majority of the blame lies on Amazon for guaranteeing something that wasn't necessarily guaranteed, and the consumers for waiting until December 22nd to buy their gifts online. 

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Both UPS and Fedex get rid of their date guarantees during the holiday season for all ground shipments. The only thing they guarantee is Next day, Second day, and 3 day select. The problem is that Amazon gave customers a "Before Christmas" guarantee, while the shipping companies they used did not have such a guarantee. Fedex and UPS can only handle so much, I think the majority of the blame lies on Amazon for guaranteeing something that wasn't necessarily guaranteed, and the consumers for waiting until December 22nd to buy their gifts online. 

I'm sure Amazon has delivery guarantees in place with UPS and FedEx. Keep in mind that these shipping agreements are worked out in private... UPS and FedEx published shipping rules only apply to small shippers (the same is true for price).

 

Although UPS/FedEx may have included some provision to get them out of this they will still get a hard squeeze from Amazon (which is probably a very sizable chunk of business). One such squeeze could be Amazon relying more on regional shippers like LaserShip during the holiday season next year (as they may be able to squeeze deeper concessions out of them). Any decent decline from Amazon during the peak holiday shipping season would have a very big impact on their bottom line. Expect some point here for UPS and FedEx even if they have an out contract wise.

[xendrome]

while the shipping companies they used did not have such a guarantee. Fedex and UPS can only handle so much, I think the majority of the blame lies on Amazon for guaranteeing something that wasn't necessarily guaranteed, and the consumers for waiting until December 22nd to buy their gifts online. 

 

UPS - http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/next_day_saver.html

 

Residental: Next business day delivery by end of day

and -

 

Benefits: Guaranteed next-day delivery for peace of mind

 

FedEx - They have commitments posted also - http://images.fedex.com/us/services/pdf/Express_US_Commitments.pdf

 

If the packages are in the carriers system by the cut off time, which MOST of them were, they should be delivered. Example of one of my packages what was delivered today, 1 day late.

 

It was at the local facility at 11am on the 24th, instead of them loading it onto another truck to deliver it, since the first truck had already left, they decided to just *wait* until today. That wasn't the deal. If I owned a parcel company and someone came into my shop and I charged them money with an understanding it would be at it's recipient the next day as agreed upon with the shipper, and I just decided to sit on it a day... then I wouldn't own a parcel company very long.

 

Point being, UPS should have done whatever they could to get the job done, it sounds like they ran their normal routes and just went home. Last year I clearly remember receiving a package around midnight from them... I knew it was coming and I just figured it would be late, magically at almost midnight I heard a truck rumble outside, they left it at the door step.

 

Their only function/job is to deliver things and they should have been better prepared or even have stepped up and asked drivers to make triple-overtime and work on Christmas if they choose to... Now shippers are going to request refunds on the price of the shipping and UPS/FedEx will end up losing even more money because of it.

 

EDIT: And now Amazon is going to pay money also because of it - https://www.neowin.net/news/amazon-to-offer-20-gift-cards-to-people-that-didnt-get-packages-by-christmas

[Hum]

I noticed a lot of teasing on Amazon -- order within X hours, to get it by Xmas Eve ...

[xendrome]

I noticed a lot of teasing on Amazon -- order within X hours, to get it by Xmas Eve ...

 

That's normal it always shows "order within the next X hours to get it by Friday" etc.. and it's typically 100% accurate.. I'd venture to say ALL of the packages left the Amazon warehouses, the problem was UPS/FedEx

 

Edit:

 

As I suspected - http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/12/amazon_sorry_about_the_late_package_heres_a_20_gift_card.html

 

The company also said that it did its part to ensure that orders would be delivered on time, saying in a statement that its "fulfillment centers processed and tendered customer orders to delivery carriers on time for holiday delivery."

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

I'm sure a lot of people were Fed-up! .. .Get it? :laugh:

[Hum]

As I suspected - http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/12/amazon_sorry_about_the_late_package_heres_a_20_gift_card.html

posted in story:

 

Amazon.com has been notifying some customers affected by the UPS delays that it will refund any shipping charges and is giving them a $20 credit toward a future purchase.

 

[morebaker]

I order lots of stuff online but if i needed before Christmas i would not take the chance

Sometimes you get off your butt and get it yourself

[Brandon]

Don't forget that a decent amount of this is also dependent on logistics and weather (especially weather). 

 

I'm in Chicago. There are many times (like yesterday) where I order something with normal prime shipping and I'll have it next day, even though I only selected the normal 2 day prime

[Brian M. Veteran]

Amazon has said they're going to "review" the performance of the delivery companies. Makes one think of their drone delivery plans, which could cover 80% of their orders, and possibly AmazonFresh, their grocery delivery service, expanding into a new shipping company.

I really hope not! Amazon have started their own courier company in London - Amazon Logistics. It's a nightmare. One delivery was lost completely, several have arrived late. For another one the driver turned up and said "I should have a parcel for you, but it's not on the van" - turned out it was on the floor outside the depot - nobody noticed it had fallen off when loading the van.

They often deliver things by posting them through the door - one through my Neighbours door without informing me or asking my neighbour (I just got an "it's been delivered" email).

An example of Amazon's fantastic delivery service (no attempts were made :p):

[compl3x]

 

 

Americans' tendency to wait until the last possible second to shop probably didn't help either.

 

 

Well there's your problem.

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

I'm sure a lot of people were Fed-up! .. .Get it? :laugh:

You beat me to it.

"Did you hear FedEx and UPS are merging?  They're going to be called FedUp!"

/joke

 

But I think the problem here is, like the article says, people like to wait till the last minute.  As a general rule, I know to have my online shopping done by December 1st to ensure it'll be here for Christmas, and even then, it's not 100%.  The week before December starts is the safest bet.

[Mr. Gibs]

People really need to get some perspective. One of my friends works at FedEx and for the past month he has had to put in nearly 80 hours a week and barely gets to see his family in December. In other parts of the country where ice storms hit I'm sure it was even worse. FedEx and UPS only have so many planes and everything usually goes through Memphis. So id bad weather shuts down several airports on the east coast, you will get backlogs and then those backlogs will have a domino effect on the next day of deliveries and so on.

I mean seriously, you get 364 days out of the year to shop for Christmas presents and you wait until the last day? Especially if it's something online that takes no effort to purchase at all. Do it in November or something, stop waiting until the week before Christmas to buy your presents.

[ATLien_0]

I posted this earlier. 

The simple fact is that, UPS was backed up pretty bad from the winter storms in certain areas as well as a larger than projected number of packages sent. They had to clear that back log first. I know for a fact that UPS was hiring extra subcontractors along with more seasonal staff. Our UPS driver for the neighborhood showed up in a Uhaul truck last week and had mentioned the company rented extra trucks and even air cargo. He mentioned that just about everyone was working 10-12 hour shifts. I do feel for the drivers and warehouse workers, because of how hard they work during the holidays. 
Now, the problem is the fact that UPS probably wasn't transparent enough with retailers like Amazon in regards to the backups. Amazon can only do so much, even with a guarantee. Its not like you are paying for 2 day or overnight and Amazon is sending it ground. What needs to happen is that the logistics side need to be improved on UPSs part, at least so it can be communicated to retailers and consumers. Those online timetables and guarantees are written way before the backups start and are usually estimates, If there were updates from Amazon and UPS when people order about backups in regions it would help greatly. 

 

Also, I worked at a small retail shop before, now I'm sure Amazon is given more info than we were, but UPS would send us a general time table prior to the holiday of when stuff needs to be sent out by a certain time. We usually would offer free ground, once the timetable for ground ran out we switched to free 2 day and all the way up to free overnight to in theory get to you by Christmas. However UPS wouldn't send much else as far as backups, sometime we would have to call to check but thats about it. When you are dealing with hundreds of packages a day, its impossible to call and check if each package with be hit with a backup

[LaP]

Both UPS and Fedex get rid of their date guarantees during the holiday season for all ground shipments. The only thing they guarantee is Next day, Second day, and 3 day select. The problem is that Amazon gave customers a "Before Christmas" guarantee, while the shipping companies they used did not have such a guarantee. Fedex and UPS can only handle so much, I think the majority of the blame lies on Amazon for guaranteeing something that wasn't necessarily guaranteed, and the consumers for waiting until December 22nd to buy their gifts online.

I ordered a gift on amazon.ca 4 days before christmas (not including weekend). It shipped the same day. I did pay a really high shipping price for 2 days shipping considering how small and light the item is (40% of the item cost). It took 3 days for my item to arrive from ontario (to quebec city). So i got it one day before chritmas. Honestly i can make with my car the distance between Toronto and Quebec City in less than 3 days easily.

Really poor performance by UPS.

[ATLien_0]

The thing is, people say poor performance by UPS, but also don't realize how much is actually going on behind the scenes, the backlogs, weather etc. The biggest thing would be that if UPS had a cut off for guaranteed shipping. 2 day right before Christmas isn't really two day and neither is overnight there is just no way. If UPS had more realtime transparency letting people or retailers know of backups before people ship or purchase it would help some what, but thats a huge undertaking,

[LaP]

People really need to get some perspective. One of my friends works at FedEx and for the past month he has had to put in nearly 80 hours a week and barely gets to see his family in December. In other parts of the country where ice storms hit I'm sure it was even worse. FedEx and UPS only have so many planes and everything usually goes through Memphis. So id bad weather shuts down several airports on the east coast, you will get backlogs and then those backlogs will have a domino effect on the next day of deliveries and so on.

I mean seriously, you get 364 days out of the year to shop for Christmas presents and you wait until the last day? Especially if it's something online that takes no effort to purchase at all. Do it in November or something, stop waiting until the week before Christmas to buy your presents.

It's all great but if FedEx and UPS can't deliver then they just have to simply not offer the service. I'm sorry but when someone pay a premium price for express delivery then UPS must deliver it faster then usual unless something un-expected happens. Christmas is not something un-expected.

If they can't honor express delivery past a certain date then just stop to offer the service past this date. If you offer it then you must deliver.

If the premium price of the famous 2/3 days delivery offered by the store at christmas goes in the bank account of the store only and the item is shipped using standard delivery then UPS and Fedex should make something about it legally cause it's really bad for their reputation.

[Mr. Gibs]

It's all great but if FedEx and UPS can't deliver then they just have to simply not offer the service. I'm sorry but when someone pay a premium price for 2 days delivery then UPS must deliver in 2 days unless something un-expected happens. Christmas is not something un-expected.

If they can't honor 2 days delivery past a certain date then just stop to offer the service past this date. If you offer it then you must deliver.

FedEx and UPS dont control the weather. The massive ice storm that hit the northeast was unexpected.

They had people in Oregon that wasn't affected by anything except delayed incoming planes due to the ice storms working over 80 hours a week. Why don't you try getting up every morning at 3am and working until after 3pm?

Or maybe, just maybe you can buy your presents earlier? Like you said Christmas isnt unexpected so why the ###### do people feel the need to wait until the last day? I live near a mall and for the past week trying to go anywhere has been an absolute nightmare thanks to the giant traffic jam caused by morons who waited until the last week. A drive that usually takes 10mins took me an hour thanks to the backup.

[LaP]

FedEx and UPS dont control the weather. The massive ice storm that hit the northeast was unexpected.

...

Or maybe, just maybe you can buy your presents earlier?

I do not control when people from my family are making new boyfriend ... he was not supposed to be at the party.

The weather was not all that bad here. I've seen a lot worse. Had the package been stuck at the airport in ontario it would be fine but it was stuck 2 days in montreal according to the tracking information. My sister had no problem driving from montreal to quebec. Took her a little bit longer than usual but nothing too bad. I mean it's the province of quebec we have a blizzard every week. Blizzard is something you must expect in the province of quebec. It must be part of any planning you make. If you need to go from montreal to quebec you need to take into account that a blizzard might hit the day you must go.

[Mr. Gibs]

I do not control when people from my family are making new boyfriend ... he was not supposed to be at the party.

The weather was not all that bad here. I've seen a lot worse. Had the package been stuck at the airport in ontario it would be fine but it was stuck 2 days in montreal according to the tracking information. My sister had no problem driving from montreal to quebec. Took her a little bit longer than usual but nothing too bad. I mean it's the province of quebec we have a blizzard every week. Blizzard is something you must expect in the province of quebec. It must be part of any planning you make. If you need to go from montreal to quebec you need to take into account that a blizzard might hit the day you must go.

Except UPS and FedEx's main sorting hub is in Memphis TN. Now imagine that you have a ton of planes coming in from the north east that were all delayed. All it does it create a massive domino effect because now you have planes coming in late, delaying pickups at other locations, delayed shipping etc.

Rather than complaining how you / your family couldn't open their ######ing gift on Christmas day (because it makes such a big difference if you get it two days later, I'm sure everything has been ruined), how about you think of the people who didn't have Christmas because they were working 13 hour shifts at UPS/USPS/Fedex or they work in jobs that mean they have to be away from their families on holidays (like UPS/fedex pilots) to make sure YOU get to be with your family and get some if not all gifts.

[LaP]

Except UPS and FedEx's main sorting hub is in Memphis TN. Now imagine that you have a ton of planes coming in from the north east that were all delayed. All it does it create a massive domino effect because now you have planes coming in late, delaying pickups at other locations, delayed shipping etc.

Rather than complaining how you / your family couldn't open their ****ing gift on Christmas day (because it makes such a big difference if you get it two days later, I'm sure everything has been ruined), how about you think of the people who didn't have Christmas because they were working 13 hour shifts at UPS/USPS/Fedex or they work in jobs that mean they have to be away from their families on holidays (like UPS/fedex pilots)?

I did not complain that i did not get it i actually got it but thanks for reading my posts. I just said that 3 days (not including weekend) from toronto to quebec for express delivery at a prenimum price is a bad performance. Turn it and spin it the way you want i dont give a **** it is a bad performance period. I did not said our christmas would have be ruined if i did not get it in time but thanks to assume that we can't enjoy christmas without gifts it's nice of you. Thanks to assume i don't think about the guys who work hard at christmas. BTW i actually had to do overtime december 19, 20, 22 and 23 because we had to deliver a product to a client before january 6 and i had to go to Rimouski for christmas and to Bauceville for new year's eve so it had to be done before december 24.

And before you assume that i can't spell because i'm 12 years old i would like to let you know that i'm french and i apologize for the spelling mistakes in all my posts in this thread.

[Dot Matrix]

I don't get it. You wait to the last minute to send items, and then get mad when [REDACTED] hits the fan...? What do you expect? These companies employ people who do the best they can, they're not miracle workers. 

[Hum]

I trust USPS the most. :laugh: