UPS or FedEx?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I'm tired of the way FedEx bills us. The kicker was an overnight envelope with 2 sheets of paper in it from Boston to NY. Online estimator was $14.50 after our discount. Hit us today with $17.73. And we get hit with $2 to $4 "corrections" on everything we ship even though we use standard boxes and weigh everything.

that said, service is stellar. If it's shipped, I know it's going to get there ground or overnight.

Any experience with UPS?

[frogger]

I have had better service from UPS than from FedUp.

[Danny_Ocean]

They both suck donkey balls (at least in this region - SoFLA). I would go with whomever is less expensive, because you'll get the same crappy service regardless of the color of the uniform.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

They both suck donkey balls (at least in this region - SoFLA). I would go with whomever is less expensive, because you'll get the same crappy service regardless of the color of the uniform.

Agreed. Doesn't DHL undercut both?

[RickM]

I personally like Fedex much better.

Sounds like the corrections are from a miscalculated weight. Perhaps you can go to one of their offices with a pre-weighed package and compare numbers.

You can also speak to your rep and ask for a better discount as you're thinking of switching.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

We get good discounts from FedEx, 20% overnight, 10% Ground. Even with those, they are more expensive than the Post Office. The envelope overnight for me was the killer, there was no way it should have costed out differently than the courtesy rate.

I don't like DHL because of service. I may ship 2 identical boxes UPS and FedEx and see what's what, as well as call UPS and see what they can do for rates.

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by RickM

I personally like Fedex much better.

Sounds like the corrections are from a miscalculated weight. Perhaps you can go to one of their offices with a pre-weighed package and compare numbers.

You can also speak to your rep and ask for a better discount as you're thinking of switching.

We ship a lot with FedEx, $250 to $300k a year, they do screw something up once in a while but all in all, I think they work the best for us. We do use DHL for some stuff we send to Mexico but just because their route seems to work better for us. We use a system called Cal Overnight for some things but not much. DHL and UPS are always here trying but I don't think we will switch.
We use the FedEx computer, printer and scale. It is wired direct to FedEx and like I said, it seems to work well for us.

[frogger]

Why is this so hard, errr, difficult?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Can I handle her box?

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Can I handle her box?

Huge surcharge for that...

[gprsh924]

hahaha

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Agreed. Doesn't DHL undercut both?

DHL is great unless you actually expect or want your package to get there.

Shaun,

Tip on FEDEX. They ship by zones. Boston and NY are in the same zone. So if you send 2 day it'll still get there next day.

They basically try to deliver everything within a zone next day whether you request it or not.

Scott

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

DHL is great unless you actually expect or want your package to get there.

Kind of like the USPS then? I swear to God, even if the USPS was free, I don't think I would use them for anything of importance.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

DHL is great unless you actually expect or want your package to get there.

Shaun,

Tip on FEDEX. They ship by zones. Boston and NY are in the same zone. So if you send 2 day it'll still get there next day.

They basically try to deliver everything within a zone next day whether you request it or not.

Scott

That is a good tip, thanks, and fully exploit it. There are few occasions I use overnight, and mostly to demonstrate "importance" to the recipient.

best case in point: our best customer, Chasing Fireflies catalog. Most of our collection wasn't in our West Coast showroom when they went down to buy and were very disappointed, but at least in a nice way.

Solution: as soon as it came in, I overnighted the entire collection to them, cost us over $100. But if I have to spend $100 for them to spend $30K, I have no problem with that!

[Joeaksa]

Just never use FedEx ground. They are cheap and for a reason... the service and quality sucks.

[Chuck Moreland]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

I'm tired of the way FedEx bills us. The kicker was an overnight envelope with 2 sheets of paper in it from Boston to NY. Online estimator was $14.50 after our discount. Hit us today with $17.73. And we get hit with $2 to $4 "corrections" on everything we ship even though we use standard boxes and weigh everything.

that said, service is stellar. If it's shipped, I know it's going to get there ground or overnight.

Any experience with UPS?

I've used both, extensively.

Fedex almost always hits you with a surcharge that shows up on the invoice, often significant. Here is the part that gets really shady:

They often put surcharges on subsequent invoices. In other words you get billed for the shipment on invoice A, then a couple weeks later an upcharge appears on invoice B. The upcharge might look small, say $7, so it doesn't flag your attention. But add it back to the original charge and you might be getting hosed.

I've actually had them hit me with charges spread over 3 (yes 3!) invoices for the same waybill number. This is usually for oversize packages, but the correct package dimensions and weight were always entered at the time of shipment. I'm sure big companies pay these charges without question, because the accounting dept issuing the check has no idea about the box size or package contained.

This billing practice smells bad to me, it makes it very challenging to figure out what you actually got charged for a package. Each of several small charges slides through without raising your attention.

There is no excuse for anything other than putting all charges for a given package on 1 invoice. Period.

They also frequently mis-bill for dimensional weight - small boxes get reported as oversize packages. They explain that two boxes must have been scanned together on their conveyor. Fine excuse but it happens way too frequently, and if you don't catch it, you get hosed.

Basically you need to carefully inspect every charge on every invoice, or you are going to get hosed. This is painful and time consuming.

Final gripe - they don't send credit memos or any other documentation advising you have a refund or credit to your account. How the hell are you supposed to keep your books straight? Failing to provide the customer a document advising of a credit is the same as not issuing a credit. They don't send statements, so you never know your running balance. They just keep sending new invoices, and you keep paying, unaware that you are carrying a credit balance.

These three billing practices smell bad to me. While perhaps not illegal, they appear to be crafted to make it difficult for you the customer to detect billing errors (always in fedex favor), overcharges, and recognition of account credits.

WTF!

My primary gripe with UPS is they don't pay out on damage claims. Their standard answer on damaged shipments - "not packed adequately". I've had them give this reply without even inspecting the product and packaging.

[Tervuren]

Fed Ex never fails us really, and our rep is on top of things the few times we've ever had a problem. Communication helps, might want to find out why exactly things are changing.

UPS beats our stuff up, sometimes loses it, and hasn't always got the accounting straight. Trying to talk to them is near impossible about problems.

I say if your Fed Ex rep can't support you, and UPS can, switch to what works for you. We ship tons of metal, and Fed Ex gives us a great rate as our box size to density is perfect for them.

[Ronbo]

I've had several problems with UPS but none with FedEx. Probably just dumb luck, but that's been my experience.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Chuck Moreland

I've used both, extensively.

Fedex always hits you with a surcharge that shows up on the invoice, often significant. Here is the part that gets really shady:

They often put surcharges on subsequent invoices. In other words you get billed for the shipment on invoice A, then a couple weeks later an upcharge appears on invoice B. The upcharge might look small, say $7, so it doesn't flag your attention. But add it back to the original charge and you might be getting hosed.

I've actually had them hit me with charges spread over 3 (yes 3!) invoices for the same waybill number. This is usually for oversize packages, but the correct package dimensions and weight were always entered at the time of shipment. I'm sure big companies pay these charges without question, because the accounting dept issuing the check has no idea about the box size or package contained.

It smells like a scam to me, it makes it very challenging to figure out what you actually got charged for a package. Each of several small charges slides through without raising your attention.

There is no excuse for anything other than putting all charges for a given package on 1 invoice. Period.

They also frequently mis-bill for dimensional weight - small boxes get reported as oversize packages. They explain that two boxes must have been scanned together on their conveyor. Fine excuse but it happens way to frequently, and if you don't catch it, you get hosed.

Basically you need to carefully inspect every charge on every invoice, or you are going to get hosed. This is painfull and time consuming.

Final gripe - they don't send credit memos or any other documentation advising you have a refund or credit to your account. How the hell are you supposed to keep your books straight? Failing to provide the customer a document advising of a credit is the same as not issuing a credit. They don't send statements, so you never know your running balance. They just keep sending new invoices, and you keep paying, unaware that you are carrying a credit balance.

These three practices smell of scam to me. While perhaps not illegal, they appear to be crafted to make it difficult for you the customer to detect billing errors (always in fedex favor), overcharges, and recognition of account credits.

WTF!

My primary gripe with UPS is they don't pay out on damage claims. Their standard answer on damaged shipments - "not packed adequately". I've had them give this reply without even inspecting the product and packaging.

Chuck, you've EXACTLY stated what I've been feeling, and seeing on our CC billing, for some time. I just wrote to my rep and said that we are no longer shipping FedEx for anything, including all our overseas stuff. We'll see what she says in the morning. I don't think she'll be down on her knees, but I feel better already.

thanks for confirming what I've been feeling and seeing all along.

[DaveE]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Just never use FedEx ground. They are cheap and for a reason... the service and quality sucks.

Second that! FedEx Ground in my area won't deliver my packages! Twice I had to go out there and get them myself on a Friday afternoon because I wanted to work on my car over the weekend. I worked from home and watched the tracking screen, the packages were there, out for delivery, then reported 'attempted delivery'. Bastards!. Never had that trouble with UPS or FedEx next day.