UPS vs FedEx. The rant continues....

[Panama Red]

Just thought I'd post a more recent specific comparison of the two carriers. UPS is the default carrier for Newegg and FedEx is the default carrier for Zip Zoom Fly. On Friday, Feb 10, I ordered a 19" lcd monitor from ZZF and a dvi cable from Newegg. Both were picked up by the respective carriers on Friday afternoon and both were scanned in that evening at their California depots. The monitor arrived yesterday afternoon, Mon. Feb 13, at 4pm. The cable is scheduled for delivery tomorrow, Wed the 15th.

Also worthy of mention is the difference in price for the monitor. ZZF had this monitor for $288 with free shipping while Newegg's price was $279.99 plus $14.50 for freight ($294.49 total).

From now on ZZF gets the nod for my business unless there is a substantial savings from Newegg on an item - and I can wait and extra 1 - 2 days!

[ktkendall]

What I've also noticed is that UPS doesn't even try for a signature verifying delivery anymore. They just placed my new,($2800),bicycle in front of the garage door last year whan no-one was home, but even if I am home, and doors are open, so it is pretty obvious someone is home, I've noticed they still just drop the package on my doorstep and run. I also ordered all my latest computer parts from ZZF and Fed Ex would not leave them without a signature, which is a bit of an inconvenience but I'll vote for the added security. I wonder what would have transpired if I claimed that my new bicycle never arrived...

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by ktkendall I also ordered all my latest computer parts from ZZF and Fed Ex would not leave them without a signature..

I signed an agreement with my FedEx guy so he has authorization to leave my parts without a signature. I leave the garage door unlocked when I know he's coming or, if I forget, he leaves items on the front porch. My regular UPS guy will try the garage door too and leave items inside if possible but his substitutes will drop, ring and run.

[Miz]

Then there's DHL which doesn't deliver to rural areas. Better yet, they don't tell the shipper they don't deliver to rural areas. They transport the package as far as they want to...seem to be arbitrary...and then mail it at the post office.

I've had DHL-shipped packages from the same source ending up being mailed by DHL from Wichita and Kansas City. The one mailed in KC took about 10 days to get here since it was around Christmas.

When I ask shippers not to use DHL and why, they say DHL has assured them they deliver to my area. When I called DHL, they insisted they deliver to my area.

Best of all, when I checked the DHL website, it lists a drop-off location in "Dichita, KS" with 67801 area code...which is Dodge City.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by Panama Red ... Also worthy of mention is the difference in price for the monitor. ZZF had this monitor for $288 with free shipping while Newegg's price was $279.99 plus $14.50 for freight ($294.49 total). ...

Ya, when I first checked out ZZF (however long ago that was...) they had higher prices than Newegg on the things I compared. Now, it seem the opposite. I'll be looking a lot harder at ZZF now-a-days.

[digitalfreedom64]

Last something was shipped to me thru UPs it looked like someone has stomped the corner of the box when it go here.

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by ktkendall ................. I wonder what would have transpired if I claimed that my new bicycle never arrived...

Same thing that would have happened when they claimed to have left a RMA hard drive at my door.... I said prove it.. where's my signature.. they ended up paying for a new one under the insurance.

[Nav_functions]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Just thought I'd post a more recent specific comparison of the two carriers. UPS is the default carrier for Newegg and FedEx is the default carrier for Zip Zoom Fly. On Friday, Feb 10, I ordered a 19" lcd monitor from ZZF and a dvi cable from Newegg. Both were picked up by the respective carriers on Friday afternoon and both were scanned in that evening at their California depots. The monitor arrived yesterday afternoon, Mon. Feb 13, at 4pm. The cable is scheduled for delivery tomorrow, Wed the 15th.

The location of the warehouse can be a factor when the package is 'slower' than other. The more warehouses the company have, the faster the package get deliver because they don't have a wait for a specific day of the week to transfer all the packages to the same location.

--I like the signature security because I don't want 'stranger' to pick up my package and it get mysteriously disappear.

[mairving]

The problem that I have always had with ZZF was that they don't process the order right away. I ordered some parts from them last Wednesday. Thursday they sent me a tracking number. It hasn't been delivered yet although it is on the truck for delivery. Using NewEgg and FedEx I would have almost always had it on Friday although they tend to take a day later for residential delivery. The ZZF order is going to my house but it shouldn't matter since it is 2nd day not saver.

P.S. I ordered from ZZF because they don't charge me sales tax.

[HAL9000]

Pros and cons... use whatever works best for you until they tick you off, then go to the competition until they tick you off then go back to the first and repeat.

[flawedreality5]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Pros and cons... use whatever works best for you until they tick you off, then go to the competition until they tick you off then go back to the first and repeat.

Haha. That's my way of thinking. Although, another UPS story. One of my managers ordered about $3000 worth of Volkswagen performance parts for his old Jetta. UPS did not deliver in the time he expected and he went on vacation for a week. He came home to find his HUGE box sitting on his porch with VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT largely printed across it. The package was soaking wet from rain and anyone that drove by his house daily would realize that he was away because of this. Not to mention anyone could walk up to his porch and just take it. I was shocked when he told me.

[kstatefan40]

See http://www.pcmech.com/show/kudos/895/

[Stuey]

I ordered RAM from newegg a while back and since nobody was home to accept the package, they took it back to the UPS center. Since this was a friday and I was going away on monday, I needed the ram asap so I had to drive to the warehouse to get the ram.

Is it that UPS doesn't require signatures, or do they drivers leave it when they're not supposed to?

For low-cost shipments, I love having priority mail as an option. I order from 3dcool.com using priority mail, and some parts arrive within a day and others take slightly longer (they ship from NY and california). I like the option of having free 2nd day on some products from zzf, but to be honest, I don't trust them as much as I trust Newegg. Even if I have to pay slightly more at newegg (which I do sometimes) it's worth it for the extra peace of mind.

[flawedreality5]

Is it the shipper that requests the "signature requirement" for the packages?

[jerkstore]

i used to work the load wall at UPS and all i can say is ship fedex or dhl. UPS treats their employees worse than any of the others. just from my experience, boxes there were never loaded with care. and also the ones that say "fragile" on them are more prone to being thrown and kicked and stepped on. just my .02 as i dont ship ups anymore

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by Stuey83 ... Is it that UPS doesn't require signatures, or do they drivers leave it when they're not supposed to? ...

If a sig is required, they (all companies) will take it back. If a sig is not required, then it is usually up to the driver's discretion as to leave it or not. Some times the weather could be too bad, some times they don't like the neighborhood, or just the folks seeing him/her possibly leaving the package.

[blue60007]

I don't mind either one leaving packages at the door (and I don't think the driver would worry about it either) because the house is back a 1/4 mile road and enclosed on all sides by woods. You can't even see it from the road, and the fact that you'd have to go past the neighbor's house on either side (one house being less than 100 ft from the driveway) would probably deter potential robbers... So, if we had strangers going back our drive, we'd have other problems to worry about it.... Anyways, I've never had problems with either one. If I order something from Newegg with UPS, even if it comes from accross the country, it gets here by their guaranteed 3 day delivery (2 days from the NJ and TN warehouse) and in one piece (although, once a package was delayed by a "late train" - but that wasn't their fault). Although I've seen smashed packages from both UPS and Fedex (but not too often). I suppose the regional center here is pretty nice to the packages. Now don't even get me started on the USPS here - they like to grind up mail and small packages in a blender, then stick a sticker on that reads "oops! we're sorry!" on it. My dad got something in the mail that was smashed beyond recongnition, can't remember what though, but that's not important; it had that sticker on it - "yeah, oops is right".

[scomac]

Last week I had a need to replace the video card in my other computer. I ordered it from Newegg on Thursday, it was processed and shipped on Friday and it was delivered Wednesday afternoon. The driver pulled up in front of my place and set the package on my front steps. Mind you, my front door was open and he walked right past a window that he could see us standing in the kitchen. Needless to say, I never signed for the package...

As for the service from Newegg? I have no complaints.

Scomac

[FireByyrd]

I just ordered an BENQ FP91G+ 19" 8MS monitor from NewEgg, it provided me with free 3rd Day UPS shipping. Living in PA... Newegg processed the order the day I ordered, and shipped out that day Monday. I use UPS tracking, and guess what, they got to me the next day at 3:00 PM. I however live in PA and newegg shipped from NJ, but still thats less than 24 hours, amazing job done by UPS in my opinion and Newegg is very fast in processing. So IMHO I don't see a problem with UPS, used them for other shipments of my own, to mycustomers in Ebay, and they recieved products safely/quickly also.