WARNING: Endless ranting ahead.
I am not sure if any body’s noticed the deterioration in service from providers like FedEx and UPS in recent years. Ironically the USPS has become more and more reliable in comparison. I remember the days when it was just so easy to blame the USPS for everything…
But now, almost every other package I send and receive through those “premium carriers” is in danger of being lost. Not too long ago, drivers used to ring the bell and wait for someone to answer before leaving a notice on the door. And they almost never left anything of value by default unless explicitly asked to. However, it seems like both FedEx and UPS “conveniently” altered their policies, at about the same time, and decided that waiting for customers to answer the door takes too damn long. So now everything is assumed “signature not required” and can be left by the door. Some drivers don’t even bother to knock on the door or ring the bell to at least acknowledge the recipient that a package has arrived.
Technology is supposed to improve things, but as a customer, sometimes it seems to only make things more stressful when working with FedEx or UPS on package tracking. By far, in my experience, FedEx has been the absolute worst nightmare. To date, my record with them is: one lost package, one lost-scare and one missing package (as of today, they have NO idea where it is). Everybody just assumes that if something is not in “the system”, it doesn’t exist (much like if you can’t Google it, it’s not there).
I printed a shipping label using FedEx’s own online software (which is buggy; what kind of stupid email notification system assumes no dash exists in domain names?), and I dropped the package off at a local FedEx sorting center myself. But soon it became suspicious to me that the tracking number that FedEx had generated doesn’t seem to be valid for tracking. So I called customer service, whose system showed no record of such package (even though it is showing under my tracking history under my FedEx account on FedEx’s own freaking website). Then customer service transferred me to Internet department where they were supposed to know more about web-based tracking: Nothing there either. Then Internet services transferred me again to Billing, whose system, clearly pulling data from the same source, was also not showing the package being available. He then transferred me, guess where…., BACK TO customer service.
Again, no luck. So now I have a package that part of FedEx’s giant computer system knows about but is unable to find its whereabouts. Can they still be held responsible if the package was lost under such circumstance? Unlikely. Now, I haven’t read the fine prints in those long-ass end user agreements; but I have a feeling it’s written against me, the customer who’s paying for their very existence.
Then there are all kinds of different surcharges they add on to maximize their profits. For example, what the hell is a “fuel surcharge”? I mean, the freaking premium I am paying them to delivery my packages, isn’t that, in part, paying for their labor, time, expertise, and, oh, FUEL? And then they charge small businesses for using their website to print labels — HELLO? Isn’t that making everyone’s lives easier if their ground personnel don’t need to manually process each package? Shouldn’t all this be SAVING them money? So why are small businesses charged $11.50 for every week (or was it month?) that the online shipping label system is used? It’s just insane!
Now coming back to USPS, its website is not as fancy, and tracking information sometimes takes days to appear. But as soon as one gets used to those facts, the site is easy to use, reliable and has never failed me (yet). On top of that, USPS gets it — if I print a shipping label and ship via its online system, I actually get a small discount! Considering how much mail USPS processes, how much lower its fees are, and how much nicer its employees are (they always knock, ring and wait), it’s amazing UPS and FedEx are still making so much profit every year as much as they abuse and mistreat their customers.
Forget it… enough rant for today. The lesson here is: Multi-national corporations are inherently evil given enough market share, cash and power. Which is why publicly mandated systems that deliver services to the public under the law should always have a place in humanity — education, postal services, health care… etc. Anyone who’s trying to privatize them just aren’t thinking long term. Remember, corporations answer to investors and maximize profits, not to do what’s good for the general public, and certainly not to do what’s good for humanity.
Aw, damn it… I’ve got to end this here….
