Experiences with shippers seem to vary considerably depending on where you live. One thing is universal, if you watch the tracking info FedEx Ground is on the move 24/7, UPS comes to a screeching halt every Friday around 5pm or so. FedEx Ground delivers on Saturdays too! I find both FedEx Ground and USPS Priority Mail get to/from the left coast in 3 days max, (no, not you Max, as you were!) UPS takes 7 or 8 days. Some find the signature requirement bothersome with FedEx. I have a signature waiver on file with all the shippers so they'll just drop it on the porch.
As stated many times on the forum we use UPS, Fedex and US Mail, just put a note in the comments box on which you would prefer us to use. We will ship it with whichever one of those you like.
Meghan saw my grousing about UPS taking so long to get to me from Stuart so she sent a couple of test shipments. (naturally, she couldn't ship empty boxes. Thanks again, Meghan!
) FedEx Ground was here in two days, UPS took four. You wouldn't think it's a big deal but for whatever reason I frequently seem to place orders late on Thursday evenings. With FedEx I receive an end-of-week order the following Monday. With UPS I usually don't see it until the following Wednesday or Thursday.
UPS is the only carrier that has delivered damaged goods or notified me of damage in transit. I found a package waiting for me marked
THIS SIDE UP in bright red letters on all sides complete with arrows. You guessed it, it was upside down with gallons leaking out. Fortunately, the driver had just dumped it on my gravel driveway in front of the garage door instead of putting it on the porch as he usually does. Undiluted Wheel Brightener leaking on to the porch probably wouldn't have made me very happy. :bash:
If you've ever seen a sort in progress there's a marked difference in management styles between FedEx and UPS. A UPS sort is mayhem, the supervisors are slave drivers and always on someone's case and basically treat their employees like crap, IMO. They sound like SGT Carter screaming "MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT". Boxes are getting thrown all over the place. It's interesting watching the words "FRAGILE" go flying by on the sides of boxes.
A FedEx sort is a more controlled mayhem... yeah, they aren't wasting any time but it's more choreographed. I used to spend my nights flying FedEx freight to an Intrastate sort facility and returning with more goods in the morning. I never saw packages thrown around and anything marked FRAGILE got special treatment. The supervisors weren't above pitching in doing the work either. It's a much more cooperative effort between management and the drones at FedEx. I can only attribute the marked differences in my shipping experiences to the marked differences in the corporate cultures.
When I ship I usually use Priority Mail, it's fast and cheap and you can schedule a pickup online. They deliver free boxes and packing materials to your door and postage is discounted when you do it online. My rural mail carrier is the one I actually see most often and know by name after a 16+ year relationship. He takes excellent care of me! :dblthumb2: One drawback to USPS is their tracking sometimes doesn't produce results until the package is delivered. :::shrug::: If I'm sending that's about all I care about anyway.
The other universal truth related to all of this is AG's shipping and Customer Service is without peer! :dblthumb2:
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