The World On Time*
On October 10th I ordered something online from a store in Watsonville, CA, less than 120 miles away. Their system notified me that it shipped via FedEx ground on October 11th. Late in the afternoon on Thursday the 12th I checked the status at fedex.com, which told me:
Oct 12, 2006 12:50 AM Arrived at FedEx location Sacramento, CA
Oct 11, 2006 7:21 PM Package data transmitted to FedEx Watsonville, CA
4:39 PM Arrived at FedEx location Watsonville, CA
and also that the estimated delivery date was the 13th. So I figured that although they'd created the shipping request on the 11th, maybe it didn't really get into the system until the 12th, so it would show up on Friday. No problem.
After most of Friday came and went, and still no package, I went to fedex.com again. Not only was there no new status line showing it moving closer to me, but the "estimated delivery" field was ominously missing entirely from the output. I called FedEx, navigated the IVR system, managed to locate a human, and explained the situation. The rep I spoke to was frank and honest that the package was probably lost, but suggested I give it another 48 hours just in case, and then report it to the shipper to have them claim it as a loss.
This morning I got a phone call from another FedEx rep saying they were still working on locating the package and promising to keep me updated if they learned anything. "So at this point it's not considered lost?" "No, we're confident we can track it down." Shrug.
On a lark, I decided to check the web site again this afternoon. There is a new status line:
Oct 16, 2006 2:13 PM Arrived at FedEx location Ellenwood, GA
Well, that certainly explains why the package looked like it was missing for two days. However the estimated delivery date is now October 20th. I called FedEx again, got momentarily hung up the IVR (after I said "Oh, for fuck's sake" my office mate wondered aloud how long it would be until that phrase got recognized as a request for a human) but finally reached another human. They confirmed they were aware it was in Georgia and had been marked to be routed back to California. They said it probably just got loaded onto the wrong truck.
I asked why the delivery date said October 20th. "That's how long it will take for it to come back on the trailer to California." I said, basically, since this was a FedEx error, couldn't they send it back overnight to make up for it? "No, it's in the system as a Ground package." "OK, but since you guys misdirected it, it seems to me you should try to get it to me overnight." "The original shipper didn't request overnight shipping." "Yes, I understand that, but since it was FedEx's error it seems to me you ought to change it in the interest of good customer relations." "We can't change it, once it's in the system as Ground, it has to go Ground." "So what you're telling me is that FedEx is unable to do anything to make up for its mistake." "I can flag your request if you want." Oh, goody. "OK, fine."
She took my name down and said she'd made a note on the record. I'm sure my package will now get routed through Guam or something and show up kicked in and waterlogged.
Oct 12, 2006 12:50 AM Arrived at FedEx location Sacramento, CA
Oct 11, 2006 7:21 PM Package data transmitted to FedEx Watsonville, CA
4:39 PM Arrived at FedEx location Watsonville, CA
and also that the estimated delivery date was the 13th. So I figured that although they'd created the shipping request on the 11th, maybe it didn't really get into the system until the 12th, so it would show up on Friday. No problem.
After most of Friday came and went, and still no package, I went to fedex.com again. Not only was there no new status line showing it moving closer to me, but the "estimated delivery" field was ominously missing entirely from the output. I called FedEx, navigated the IVR system, managed to locate a human, and explained the situation. The rep I spoke to was frank and honest that the package was probably lost, but suggested I give it another 48 hours just in case, and then report it to the shipper to have them claim it as a loss.
This morning I got a phone call from another FedEx rep saying they were still working on locating the package and promising to keep me updated if they learned anything. "So at this point it's not considered lost?" "No, we're confident we can track it down." Shrug.
On a lark, I decided to check the web site again this afternoon. There is a new status line:
Oct 16, 2006 2:13 PM Arrived at FedEx location Ellenwood, GA
Well, that certainly explains why the package looked like it was missing for two days. However the estimated delivery date is now October 20th. I called FedEx again, got momentarily hung up the IVR (after I said "Oh, for fuck's sake" my office mate wondered aloud how long it would be until that phrase got recognized as a request for a human) but finally reached another human. They confirmed they were aware it was in Georgia and had been marked to be routed back to California. They said it probably just got loaded onto the wrong truck.
I asked why the delivery date said October 20th. "That's how long it will take for it to come back on the trailer to California." I said, basically, since this was a FedEx error, couldn't they send it back overnight to make up for it? "No, it's in the system as a Ground package." "OK, but since you guys misdirected it, it seems to me you should try to get it to me overnight." "The original shipper didn't request overnight shipping." "Yes, I understand that, but since it was FedEx's error it seems to me you ought to change it in the interest of good customer relations." "We can't change it, once it's in the system as Ground, it has to go Ground." "So what you're telling me is that FedEx is unable to do anything to make up for its mistake." "I can flag your request if you want." Oh, goody. "OK, fine."
She took my name down and said she'd made a note on the record. I'm sure my package will now get routed through Guam or something and show up kicked in and waterlogged.