The Idiot Delivery Guy vs FedEx vs the Idiot Customer

I was doing some searching for FedEx Home Delivery Sucks in google and have been reading horror stories from some disgruntled customers. I sympathize, I really do. I've heard some really good stories about some of the guys that operate out of the terminal. I've also heard some stories about how some packages become nightmare packages.

People shouldn't jump to blame the "messenger". Sure, as a customer I expect and deserve efficient and courteous service. Sometimes it IS the guy's fault, sometimes its the terminal's fault and sometimes its the customers fault (and yes, it can be).

Some Complaints I've read.

THEY CAN'T CALL THE DRIVER!?!:
If you ever call FedEx to locate a missing package, and you're told that its FedEx Home and you hear the "story" that they can't get in touch with the driver, it is most likely FACT. FedEx Home Delivery does not supply radios or phones to them though it would be in their best interest to do so. If the driver doesn't "supply" a phone to the business (most do carry a personal phone for emergencies only - He carries one because its worth the expense to him), then they are out of touch. And, if you only get around $1.17 to make a stop and around another $.22 for a single package (any size, no matter what the customer pays for the weight/size - a % would be more equitable but that is another issue) you try to make sure your cost to deliver the package stays minimal. Go over your minutes on a cell plan, call a customer and the earnings on the package goes down to nothing. FHD likes it this way. Cost savings to them.

THEY CAN'T FIND MY ADDRESS - OR WON'T:
The structure is as an Owner Operator contract. This gives FHD the opportunity to pass off most responsibilities and costs to the drivers.

The guys supply a vehicle, fuel, a body and anything else they feel they need and can afford to get the package to the door. Fedex Home has "planning" software (drivers pay a fee for this "support package") that gives them the list of addresses with the package number, a probable most efficient sequence for delivery and a highly general map with turn by turn instructions that usually are wrong (and very often direct them the opposite way down one way streets).

The drivers have to supply their own street maps and don't have access to the same maps used by the US Postal Service (those are proprietary, highly accurate and not for sale). They don't have access to the "main" FedEx divisions mapping service, which is infinitely better and more expensive, because they are not the same company and don't share. If you live in a relatively new development, the planning software and maps that the guys use DO NOT have your address on them. These packages don't get sequenced and are listed separately. If a contractor has been doing the route for a while and/or they've found the street before, your address is most likely not a problem and they can put it in the sequence themselves. If they haven't been to the street, well, somehow it needs to be found - therein lies the challenge. Since FHD doesn't have good map resources, no internet stations at the terminal to try online maps and the packages usually don't have customer phone numbers on them - the driver is somewhat limited. Sometimes they can use the good old local phone book (kept on the dash of the truck) and if they find you listed or you are not strictly using a cellphone, the driver MAY be able to get you to give him/her instructions . If not, how does he/she find your house? Spend a 1/2 hour researching the company that shipped it to call them to find numbers to call you? Drive randomly around in an area that MAY be the right street? Bother the local police department? Flag down USPS drivers to ask? When I'm not at a client myself (I run my own business), I also try and track them down.

If its a normal day (about 100 stops) it takes about an hour to load the truck from their allotment, 1/2 hour - 1 hour to drive to stop 1 and, if driver can do 1 stop every 5-6 minutes, they may get lucky and have a 9-10 hour work day (without commute). They legally should only be actively driving/loading 12 hours per day and that clock starts ticking from the moment they scan the first package at loading to the minute they upload the scanner data at night. They have to try to get from stop to stop as quickly as possible. They only have limited time to look for mystery addresses. They don't necessarily even take lunch breaks or stop at restrooms for "bio breaks" (can you say "snapple bottle?")

Although all terminals may be different, it seems FHD really wants to put package location ownership on the driver although if they can't find the place, the task will finally fall on the QA department. You would think that the the QA department would automatically pitch in and locate places that the driver and the software that he/she pays for can't - to Assure Quality. Well, FHD would have to hire more people for that. So, it seems, if a driver cannot locate an address, the QA department has the following directives: 1. Blame the driver when talking to customers first and foremost 2. Criticize the driver to their face for not figuring it out in order to "convince" them that its their responsibility. The QA guy at my boyfriend's terminal sounds like he's got a power trip problem and gets really put out if he has to actually help. Some guys won't even talk to him and deal ONLY with the floor guy who does the route "planning".

SO, If their day is a very heavy one, some guys may not even bother to find the unlisted address so that QA HAS to deal with it when they return the package the next day. All and all, if the package is on the truck, they WANT to get it to you so they get paid and it doesn't keep taking up space.

Some other things that people overlook. DO YOU HAVE A NUMBER ON YOUR HOUSE OR MAILBOX? Numbers aren't always sequential so they WON'T play a guessing game. If they drop the package at the wrong address because they assume that the house they want, 404, is between 402 and 406 and it goes missing, they pay, out of pocket, the cost of the object. If they loose a $400 package, that means a few days earnings go out the window. Its not worth it to drop at "maybe" the right address.

If you order packages using ANY carrier, do everyone, including yourself, a favor and make sure you include instructions if you are in a new/odd area, make sure you have a house number and try and always include a cross street.

THEY LEFT AND I WAS HOME!!!
As I mentioned above, to even remotely have a normal day, the drivers have got to move at a steady pace between stops. FHD even encourages them to move "briskly" during training and it is a "rating" point. They want to see hustle and they want maximum volume from each contractor. They have to pay a per day fee for the truck -- so cost wise its better to have 4 trucks do 10 hours worth than 5 trucks doing 8 hours. Although they can just drop some packages in "hidden" ways, there are certain packages which require signatures or hand delivery (like apartments, bad neighborhoods). They will only wait so long, ring so many times and leave. They have to keep moving. And people can get aggravating to the point where I can see these guys getting pretty intolerant of waiting.

One day, in a "no drop zone", my boyfriend (BF) was sure that there was someone home. It was summer, the doors and windows were open and he could hear music downstairs and a guy talking on the phone upstairs. He knocked once and nothing. Tried the bell - broken. Knocked again by punching hard on the door and got the person's attention. The guy looked out the window and yelled, "what the F**^ do you want?" BF replied, "FedEx, I have a package for you." "Umph" replied the guy and continued his conversation. This went on for a bit. He knocked again and the guy continued the conversation. Finally BF yells "FINE, YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T WANT THIS, I'M GOING", he got in the truck and the guy finally came running down to stop him from leaving.

Clearly this isn't the typical customer but people taking their sweet time coming to the door happens a lot and so do broken doorbells and people being in the bathroom when the driver knocks. They WILL stay longer to wait for you if they really think you are home and they don't have an overload of packages, but again their time is LIMITED. Logically, if the driver was there and you see them pulling out, they made an attempt. It costs them GAS money to get to you and they really don't want to waste a trip.

THEY JUST KEEP COMING BUT DON'T LEAVE THE PACKAGE.
FedEx Home Delivery has a program called the Driver Release Program. It states that they can leave a package if they can place it somewhere not visible from the street or traffic (foot or otherwise). If they give it to a neighbor, they have to get the neighbor to sign and leave you a sticky on the door. Seems like no one wants to take that responsibility though so they don't try very hard to find a neighbor. If they hide it they leave a sticky on the door telling you where it is but that is not very foolproof so if they don't feel safe leaving the package, they will leave you a note giving you an approximate time that they will come back (they can only estimate, from day to day the route CHANGES, unlike the USPS.) They try 3 times.

The drivers are charged for stolen/missing packages so they are very diligent about not leaving things laying around. If a worker is at your house and you aren't home, chances are they won't drop a package either. Sometimes they might get the person to sign for it but overall, what's to stop that person from taking the package and the sticky off the door. What's to stop a neigboor or anyone else for that matter from seeing the note on the door and taking the package themselves? Its a very flawed system.

They are supposed to be getting cameras on their scanners evidently (though we keep hearing that story so I'm starting to believe its a story) to help stop fraudulent claims. They happen. BF left an expensive package at a pretty nice house in a very rich neighborhood once. He put it in an enclosed back porch. It was a large item, wrapped in plastic and he could see what it looked like. A few days after he got a "claim" in his inbox that said "the household had checked the fedex site, saw the package delivered but it wasn't there". He checked and there were no other packages listed for the house. Whenever there is a claim, the driver has to investigate in case he made a mistake. He called them to explain that it was on the back porch, to double check the shipping number and had them tell him, "no, it never came". That same morning he stopped at the address to check and see if it was correct - and the package was no longer on the porch. Since the household kept their garbage cans on the side of the house, he decided to take a peek. Sure enough, the wrapping from the package was in the top of can with the FedEx label still attached. He got the evidence and turned it in. Had he not found it, it could have been an $1200 claim. His contract says he's liable for the first $500. Imagine if you lost a full week's earnings over someone trying to rip off FedEx?

They have to be cautious, really they do.

SO, there are reasons of self protection that the Idiot FedEx Guys do what they do. If FedEx Home Delivery had a better sense of customer support and didn't cut corners on everything and paid a % share on the cost of package shipping, the drivers' would find it easier to take the extra time, all of the time. They sometimes just can't.