FedEx UPS issues for Christmas?

[Niel]

My dad and I went in on a fairly nice Christmas present for my mom. On Sunday it got overnighted to our address via fedex. It was not here by Christmas morning.

As it was expensive it was the only real present we got her, so she didn't open much. I felt terrible.

Did anyone else have this issue? I was reading an article that thousands of packages from FedEx and UPS were not delivered on time. Someone at UPS put out a statement saying they were not prepared for the volume of packages.

Part of the article I read said the drivers were working 60 hours days.

I'm a little annoyed at the fact it was late. I mean I get that customer service is hard and you can only do so much, but I just wish they would have said from the start it wouldn't be delivered on time. I work right next to the sorting facility. I could have picked it up! But I no word it would be late. I even called an asked if it was on time and I was told it was. Lame.


Anyone else have these issues??

 

[luv2sparkle]

That is so frustrating Niel. We didn't end up having any issues, but one gift I ordered just made it under the wire and arrived Christmas Eve. The funny thing is, I ordered it Dec 11. That seems really long to me. I ordered so many gifts this year from Amazon with Prime. I was hesitant to spend the money but I think it really saved me in the long run.

Do you have any idea when your mom's gift will arrive? I think that is everyone's Christmas nightmare. Especially when it is one really special gift. I hope it arrives soon!

 

[missy]

Niel, I'm sorry about the delay of your mom's gift. I had a delivery delayed as well but not a gift (well, a gift to me from me lol). I broke down and ordered the 5050 Stuart Weitzman boot and overnighted it last Thursday. It showed up Monday night which might not seem too bad except I ordered overnight delivery so it was supposed to be here last Friday.And I actually placed my order last wednesday but too late for overnighting it to Thurs. It was sent via UPS.

Hopefully your mom's gift comes today and I am sure she'll love it.


ETA: I also ordered a macbook Air but with 8 ram so not an in stock item. Anyway Apple got it to me 2 days after I placed the order. So I was pleasantly surprised even though the apple cs said it would come fast. I never believe what customer service says anymore. Worked out in this case.

 

[junebug17]

Aw, I'm sorry Niel, I didn't have any delays but according to the article I guess you're not alone…I guess these companies were just swamped with high volume and just couldn't keep up. I shouldn't speak for your mom, but I'm guessing I'm around her age, and to be honest at this point my favorite part of Christmas is just spending some quality time with my family, the pressies are kind of secondary…not to say she won't be thrilled with her gift, and I don't mean to minimize how you feel, just saying you probably feel worse than she does! - Hopefully it will arrive soon!

 

[movie zombie]

storm in Dallas that closed the airport and more than anticipated late shoppers contributed to the problem.......

hubby ordered something for me and it won't be here until Monday. I'm ok with that.

the way I figure it the People working for UPS did their best with what they were dealt and I'm hoping they had time to celebrate Christmas with their own families. I'm sure they are under a lot of pressure to "perform" right now which seems a bit odd to me because this is supposed to be the season of "goodwill towards men". the lack of planning on my husband's part is not the problem of UPS.

I saw a sign at a local church and it just resonated so much with me: 'Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store?" very few words and yet conveys so very much.

I'm sure there are many very disappointed recipients but at the end of the day and in 20 years time will it really make a difference in someone's life? I don't think so.

sorry for the long opinion piece and not meant to minimalize the feelings of those that did not receive packages as expected but just another point of view.

 

[Niel]

Yes yes everyone is right Christmas doesn't come from a store

And I'm sure she doesn't care but I care. I wanted to do something nice for her.


And I'm not mad at the drivers like I said I know how hard it is to work in customer service.

I'm just annoyed that I wasn't notified earlier it would come. I'd have been happy to pick it up. But by the time I was aware it wasn't coming it was too late.

She'll be thrilled in sure. I just wanted her to be able to open it with us all there.

 

[Sparklelu]

We spotted a fed ex truck in our neighborhood on Christmas Eve pulling a U-Haul trailer! Pretty sure it was loaded with packages not being delivered!

With all the online shopping done this year I'm sure they are all overwhelmed.
We ordered a techy gadget for DS from Best Buy that was due by the 24th, he never got it.
Sad cause it was our first Christmas he couldn't come home, sniff sniff.
He did get the box I shipped up earlier so he had gifts.

He did point out I could have arranged for him to pick up the item at the Best Buy a few blocks away from his apartment!!! Duh!
It's always disappointing when it doesn't go according to plan,

 

[movie zombie]

Niel, can someone take pictures while she's opening the package and send the pictures to you?

how about Skype? you could still watch while she opens it.....but if she's like my parents, well, no computer in that household!

I have become a firm believer in tracking numbers and going online and doing so. however, not all vendors provide one. wish they did........especially with UPS and FedEx. it would seem it would be a no brainer to do so.

 

[ruby59]

UPS is not that great with packages they do deliver, imo. They left one item out in the rain. And to be clear, this was that torrential rain the Northeast got a couple of weeks ago and it was well forecasted. All he had to do was bring it around back, and put it on our covered deck. By the time I got back home, the box had fallen apart, and the gift was ruined. Threw another one in our back yard (just tossed it over the fence) when he could clearly see our dogs were outside. I did not realize it until I saw them fighting over it and dragging it around. It was damaged as well. I would never use UPS again.

 

[Niel]

Niel, can someone take pictures while she's opening the package and send the pictures to you?

how about Skype? you could still watch while she opens it.....but if she's like my parents, well, no computer in that household!

I have become a firm believer in tracking numbers and going online and doing so. however, not all vendors provide one. wish they did........especially with UPS and FedEx. it would seem it would be a no brainer to do so.

It had a tracking number. I watched it all day it said "delivered by 8" all day till 8 when it changed to n/a

 

[movie zombie]

I wonder if they even had the office staff to keep up on everything.

our issue is with Netflix.........sigh.

 

[momhappy]

While I can appreciate bad weather causing delays, I don't think that it was a fair excuse to say that they were "overwhelmed." There are tons of people looking for work and I can't imagine that they would be short-staffed during their busiest times a year. Lame excuse in my opinion and I feel bad for those who were promised shipping deadlines and their packages arrived late. A friend of mine purchased one, large, main gift (from Santa) for her kids this year and she was told (on Christmas Eve) that it would not arrive in time for Christmas. How do you explain to your kids that Santa is running late? Unless there was inclement weather conditions, I'd be furious with FedEx/UPS for late deliveries.

 

[Niel]

While I can appreciate bad weather causing delays, I don't think that it was a fair excuse to say that they were "overwhelmed." There are tons of people looking for work and I can't imagine that they would be short-staffed during their busiest times a year. Lame excuse in my opinion and I feel bad for those who were promised shipping deadlines and their packages arrived late. A friend of mine purchased one, large, main gift (from Santa) for her kids this year and she was told (on Christmas Eve) that it would not arrive in time for Christmas. How do you explain to your kids that Santa is running late? Unless there was inclement weather conditions, I'd be furious with FedEx/UPS for late deliveries.

We have had terrible weather for weeks. Though it was fine the last few days heading up to Christmas. I guess it could have been a snowball effect (pun intended. ) that they are later and later each day. But I agree it's annoying. Tell me you're having delays before I would make accommodations. Do tell me when it's too late and I'm stuck. And my mom knows and understands. Poor kinda like your story don't get that same luxury.

 

[E B]

I paid two-day shipping for FedEx (from Amazon) on the 21st, and it said delivery expected on the 24th. It arrived here, in my city, on the 23rd at 5:30 am and sat in some warehouse until today, the 26th. When I spoke to a woman at FedEx on the 24th, she promised me it would arrive the day it was expected to. It wasn't a 'big' present, but I was still irritated since I might have been able to go pick it up. It was probably less than 30 minutes away!

Amazon did refund me the shipping, however. No issues with their customer service.

 

[Autumnovember]

I may get flamed for this but here goes:

Honestly, big deal that something didn't arrive on for Christmas exactly on time. I was watching the news and a lot of people sure are pissed off about it. And not just you know, slightly peeved, but PISSED OFF. Really? I mentioned in another thread why I disliked Christmas and this is part of the reason. Christmas seems like its really turned into a huge, money-making business holiday. Presents, presents, presents.

If you paid extra for some kind of shipping, then yes, I hope you're able to get some money back.

I have the same FedEx guy come deliver medications to our office everyday and the poor guy is just completely DRAINED. Exhausted from the last 3 weeks of work. I asked him how he was doing today and he said he felt like he was barely making it, tired.

If a Christmas gift arrived late, so be it. Still getting it, right? There are a lot of people out there getting absolutely nothing at all.


This isn't towards anyone either. I haven't read any responses yet. I just think there are so many more things to be annoyed about.

Niel, I hope your package arrives soon and she is able to enjoy the gift you've bought for her. It will be special regardless!

 

[distracts]

Most of my packages arrived on time.

Except one. According to tracking, that one (ordered in November, arrived a week ago) came to my city, sat in the warehouse for a few days (when normally it is on the truck for delivery within one day), flew to Illinois, flew back here, flew to Illinois, flew back here, flew to Illinois, flew back here, finally got loaded on a truck and delivered. Dunno what the heck was going on with that one.

 

[Niel]

I may get flamed for this but here goes:

Honestly, big deal that something didn't arrive on for Christmas exactly on time. I was watching the news and a lot of people sure are pissed off about it. And not just you know, slightly peeved, but PISSED OFF. Really? I mentioned in another thread why I disliked Christmas and this is part of the reason. Christmas seems like its really turned into a huge, money-making business holiday. Presents, presents, presents.

If you paid extra for some kind of shipping, then yes, I hope you're able to get some money back.

I have the same FedEx guy come deliver medications to our office everyday and the poor guy is just completely DRAINED. Exhausted from the last 3 weeks of work. I asked him how he was doing today and he said he felt like he was barely making it, tired.

If a Christmas gift arrived late, so be it. Still getting it, right? There are a lot of people out there getting absolutely nothing at all.


This isn't towards anyone either. I haven't read any responses yet. I just think there are so many more things to be annoyed about.

Niel, I hope your package arrives soon and she is able to enjoy the gift you've bought for her. It will be special regardless!

The thing is we don't do presents presents presents for Christmas. My mom got pretty much one. And it was important to ME that I got to give it to her.


And I've said and I couldn't agree more- I'm not angry at the poor drivers. I'm angry at the executives who decided to keep company failures a secret until it was too late. Tell me to pick it up. I'll do that. I'd have happily if I knew it wasn't going to be there otherwise.


My mom will be happy. I just like the act of giving. Plus as a someone who works with customer service I find it annoying how thy dealt with it. Should have gotten ahead of the storm, so to speak.

 

[Autumnovember]

I may get flamed for this but here goes:

Honestly, big deal that something didn't arrive on for Christmas exactly on time. I was watching the news and a lot of people sure are pissed off about it. And not just you know, slightly peeved, but PISSED OFF. Really? I mentioned in another thread why I disliked Christmas and this is part of the reason. Christmas seems like its really turned into a huge, money-making business holiday. Presents, presents, presents.

If you paid extra for some kind of shipping, then yes, I hope you're able to get some money back.

I have the same FedEx guy come deliver medications to our office everyday and the poor guy is just completely DRAINED. Exhausted from the last 3 weeks of work. I asked him how he was doing today and he said he felt like he was barely making it, tired.

If a Christmas gift arrived late, so be it. Still getting it, right? There are a lot of people out there getting absolutely nothing at all.


This isn't towards anyone either. I haven't read any responses yet. I just think there are so many more things to be annoyed about.

Niel, I hope your package arrives soon and she is able to enjoy the gift you've bought for her. It will be special regardless!

The thing is we don't do presents presents presents for Christmas. My mom got pretty much one. And it was important to ME that I got to give it to her.


And I've said and I couldn't agree more- I'm not angry at the poor drivers. I'm angry at the executives who decided to keep company failures a secret until it was too late. Tell me to pick it up. I'll do that. I'd have happily if I knew it wasn't going to be there otherwise.


My mom will be happy. I just like the act of giving. Plus as a someone who works with customer service I find it annoying how thy dealt with it. Should have gotten ahead of the storm, so to speak.

Right, I understand what you're saying. Does mom live far? Is it possible to see her again soon so you can give it to her and be able to see her reaction?

And trust me, I totally get how frustrating it can be when customer service sucks - I just try not to stress over that stuff because I usually always get let down anyways!

 

[JulieN]

Sorry about that. Let that be a reminder to not do last minute shopping.

I luckily did not have problems with Christmas, but my packages were delayed. One package was stuck when there was a big storm somewhere in the midwest. The second package was delayed by a day when it got misrouted.

 

[Gypsy]

UPS caused me significant issues for Christmas. I sold something on ebay and thanks to their delays Buyer wanted a refund on a no-refunds listing. Wasn't my fault, I shipped it on time. Wasn't theirs, they paid on time. Wasn't ebays (though their estimate of when it was going to arrive caused problems too) Oy. What a headache. I wish there was ONE service for mail that was reliable. None of them are.

Stinks to be on both ends of the problem. Both the shipper and the receiver.

 

[momhappy]

I may get flamed for this but here goes:

Honestly, big deal that something didn't arrive on for Christmas exactly on time. I was watching the news and a lot of people sure are pissed off about it. And not just you know, slightly peeved, but PISSED OFF. Really? I mentioned in another thread why I disliked Christmas and this is part of the reason. Christmas seems like its really turned into a huge, money-making business holiday. Presents, presents, presents.

If you paid extra for some kind of shipping, then yes, I hope you're able to get some money back.

I have the same FedEx guy come deliver medications to our office everyday and the poor guy is just completely DRAINED. Exhausted from the last 3 weeks of work. I asked him how he was doing today and he said he felt like he was barely making it, tired.

If a Christmas gift arrived late, so be it. Still getting it, right? There are a lot of people out there getting absolutely nothing at all.


This isn't towards anyone either. I haven't read any responses yet. I just think there are so many more things to be annoyed about.

Niel, I hope your package arrives soon and she is able to enjoy the gift you've bought for her. It will be special regardless!

It may not be a big deal to you, but it is to others and I don't think it's fair to minimize it simply because you don't like Christmas presents. I shop early and try to avoid these types of things, but I still feel bad for those who didn't get gifts on time as promised.

 

[Niel]

UPS caused me significant issues for Christmas. I sold something on ebay and thanks to their delays Buyer wanted a refund on a no-refunds listing. Wasn't my fault, I shipped it on time. Wasn't theirs, they paid on time. Wasn't ebays (though their estimate of when it was going to arrive caused problems too) Oy. What a headache. I wish there was ONE service for mail that was reliable. None of them are.

Stinks to be on both ends of the problem. Both the shipper and the receiver.

Oh that sucks!

 

[Autumnovember]

I may get flamed for this but here goes:

Honestly, big deal that something didn't arrive on for Christmas exactly on time. I was watching the news and a lot of people sure are pissed off about it. And not just you know, slightly peeved, but PISSED OFF. Really? I mentioned in another thread why I disliked Christmas and this is part of the reason. Christmas seems like its really turned into a huge, money-making business holiday. Presents, presents, presents.

If you paid extra for some kind of shipping, then yes, I hope you're able to get some money back.

I have the same FedEx guy come deliver medications to our office everyday and the poor guy is just completely DRAINED. Exhausted from the last 3 weeks of work. I asked him how he was doing today and he said he felt like he was barely making it, tired.

If a Christmas gift arrived late, so be it. Still getting it, right? There are a lot of people out there getting absolutely nothing at all.


This isn't towards anyone either. I haven't read any responses yet. I just think there are so many more things to be annoyed about.

Niel, I hope your package arrives soon and she is able to enjoy the gift you've bought for her. It will be special regardless!

It may not be a big deal to you, but it is to others and I don't think it's fair to minimize it simply because you don't like Christmas presents. I shop early and try to avoid these types of things, but I still feel bad for those who didn't get gifts on time as promised.

Difference of opinion.

 

[Eva17]

Niel, I had a delivery issue with Fed Ex. Ordered a gift for someone from a PS vendor to be delivered by 10:30 am on the 24th. All day computer said in transit. Called Fed ex six times. Each time they swore it would be there today! (24th). Package required a signature so I could not leave the house. I had places to go and a lot to do. I was unable to go to Christmas Eve service with my family because "it was definitely going to be delivered". After 8 pm package status went to N/A instead of in transit. I would have preferred to be told on one of my phone calls, your package will not be arriving today. Christmas Eve would have been WAY better. Package arrived today after 4.

P.s. It was not a last minute order.

 

[Niel]

Niel, I had a delivery issue with Fed Ex. Ordered a gift for someone from a PS vendor to be delivered by 10:30 am on the 24th. All day computer said in transit. Called Fed ex six times. Each time they swore it would be there today! (24th). Package required a signature so I could not leave the house. I had places to go and a lot to do. I was unable to go to Christmas Eve service with my family because "it was definitely going to be delivered". After 8 pm package status went to N/A instead of in transit. I would have preferred to be told on one of my phone calls, your package will not be arriving today. Christmas Eve would have been WAY better. Package arrived today after 4.

P.s. It was not a last minute order.

See shoot that must have been so frustrating! Hopefully it wasn't a large or really important gift.

And it gets to the root of my frustration. Don't make false promises. Tell me the truth and let me react as an adult. It's better to make plans accordingly than sit around waiting on nothing.

 

[FrekeChild]

I paid two-day shipping for FedEx (from Amazon) on the 21st, and it said delivery expected on the 24th. It arrived here, in my city, on the 23rd at 5:30 am and sat in some warehouse until today, the 26th. When I spoke to a woman at FedEx on the 24th, she promised me it would arrive the day it was expected to. It wasn't a 'big' present, but I was still irritated since I might have been able to go pick it up. It was probably less than 30 minutes away!

Amazon did refund me the shipping, however. No issues with their customer service.

This exact same thing happened to me. Ordered the 21st via Amazon Prime, was guaranteed to be at my house by 8pm on the 24th, so I sat around and waited for it to be delivered. It arrived today. I spent Christmas Eve night talking to some poor customer service agent for Amazon.

Amazon ended up refunding me $15 as a good will gesture. I wasn't really expecting that, but it was awesome of them to do that for Fed-Ex's epic fail.

USPS is my mail delivery entity of choice, but I've had my issues with them too!

 

[Laila619]

That's really nice of Amazon! Their customer service is among the best anywhere. Why are they compensating folks for FedEx's failures though? That's a lot of money if they do that for thousands of customers!

FedEx and UPS both suck IMO. I've been burned too many times by both of them. I'm not sure why people are so pissed if they waited until the last minute though. I myself am a procrastinator so I do it too, but that's what can happen.

 

[Niel]

That's really nice of Amazon! Their customer service is among the best anywhere. Why are they compensating folks for FedEx's failures though? That's a lot of money if they do that for thousands of customers!

FedEx and UPS both suck IMO. I've been burned too many times by both of them. I'm not sure why people are so pissed if they waited until the last minute though. I myself am a procrastinator so I do it too, but that's what can happen.

You're right waiting till the last minute isn't ideal. But I think why people are pissed is because overnight or 2 day shipping is expensive. And to pay it for no reason on Christmas isn't ideal.

Or pissed like me an the others who were repeatedly given false info about FedExs abilities. But I've said that a number of times lol. I'll let it go. I just know we are avid online shoppers here, just wanted to know if anyone else had this issue.

 

[Laila619]

Are FedEx and UPS not offering refunds?

I know my Mom sent my son a birthday present in December and paid for 2 day shipping. It did not arrive in time, she complained to FedEx, and they refunded her money as far as I know. It still sucks that it didn't get there on time, but at least she got her money back for the 2 day fee.

 

[FrekeChild]

That's really nice of Amazon! Their customer service is among the best anywhere. Why are they compensating folks for FedEx's failures though? That's a lot of money if they do that for thousands of customers!

FedEx and UPS both suck IMO. I've been burned too many times by both of them. I'm not sure why people are so pissed if they waited until the last minute though. I myself am a procrastinator so I do it too, but that's what can happen.

Yes it was. To be honest, we spend a LOT of money at Amazon, so really, it's a drop in the bucket compared to how much we have spent with them. The order I got a $15 refund on was for about $275 worth of goods (only a small portion of it was in the shipment that did not arrive on time) so it really ended up being a pretty small percentage off.

Between Amazon Prime, Amazon Mom, Subscribe and Save, and all of the random shopping we do on Amazon, we really should buy stock in the company. Just in diapers and wipes alone through Amazon Mom, in a month we spend about $80 or so...