Friends don't let friends use Fedex

[GermanCdn]

It's been one of those days/months, and I need to vent....

So, about a month ago, I bought a very limited edition guitar off a bricks and mortar guitar store on ebay.  Specifics aren't important, suffice to say it's almost impossible to find and if you do, there's a waitlist.

So buddy packs up and ships the guitar Fedex.  He's in the States, I'm in Canada.  The date would be September 26th I believe.  Paid $150 for shipping.

Now, to qualify this rant, in the last 10 years, I have probably bought/sold 100 guitars from and to the States.  I never use Fedex when it's my choice, and the now two times I've had someone else ship Fedex, I've had nothing but problems.  So, it's fair to say I have a pretty good handle on international shipping times and procedures.

Oct 2 the package enters customs.  Unlike EVERY SINGLE OTHER shipping company in the world, Fedex decides that they won't be my default broker, and wait 5 days before sending me the paperwork to authorize them to be my default shipping broker.  In that time, UPS or USPS would have already delivered the package.

So, I fill out the bs paperwork and fire it back to them.  Another week passes, nothing happens.  Start calling them.  Abysmal customer service (did I mention that the only other time I've used them, they delivered the guitar to my neighbors house, and accepted her signature under the DIRECT SIGNATURE REQUIRED box).  Claim they can't do anything about it as it's being held for inspection (no guitar I have ever bought or sold has spent more than four days total in customs review, and that was over Christmas). Another week passes, still no movement, start calling every second day, same bs story. 

Finally the package gets released on the 21st (they keep blaming customs, though I highly suspect either customs has an equivalent hate on for Fedex as I do or Fedex screwed something up along the way, as I had a similar package delivered by both UPS and USPS inside of the time frame that things sat through the same port of entry).  The same day they release the package (it still 800 miles away), they call the guy who sold it to me to tell him they've tried to deliver the package three times WHEN IT HASN'T EVEN GOT TO THE LOCAL DEPOT.

So then, of course, they try and deliver to my house.  Now I have a job, and can't be sitting at home in that lovely ETA window they give of 8 - 6.  Give me two hours, and I can swing it, but a whole day's vacation to wait for you - not going to happen.  So I call their wonderful customer service department yet again, and make the kind request that they route the package to their local authorized representative, which is about 10 minutes from my house as opposed to the hour and a half round trip I'm going to have to make if they re-route back to the main facility.  Nope, sorry, can't do that.  But we can redirect to your office.  Not ideal to be getting a guitar delivered to my office as walking home with a four foot 26 lb box is not great, but I could use the exercise.  They then proceed to enter in the wrong address, and another day burned.

Finally it arrives today.  All is good, right?  Nope.  And here's the lesson to anyone who sells high end gear - take pictures of your packing before you ship it.  The seller packed the guitar properly, he sent me pics.  I get the package, and the case is banging around in the box like a golfball in a rail car.  No problems, it's in an OHSC, not ideal, but that's what cases are for.  Except that the case wasn't latched after clearing customs, and the guitar body was now halfway out of the case.  And the packing materials were never replaced in the box, so it had been banging around like that for at least three days.  And the trem arm was missing.

Now, the seller's been a standup guy and he's taken care of his end of things, but what a complete clusterf**k.  Guitar appears to be OK, but I'm going to have to pull it completely apart to make sure nothing unforseen has happened.

Rant over.  I know, first world problems, but what a runaround.

[jkokura]

I dislike UPS for similar reasons.

USPS is the only way to go for over the border stuff in and out of Canada.

Jacob

[gordo]

So you're saying you don't Fedex

[timbo_93631]

We have a 4 foot gate on out front porch and the delivery methods by company are:
USPS: Leave package on the table just inside the gate and ring the doorbell
UPS: Leave package outside of gate and drive away
FedEx: Throw package at doorbell button or the front door over the gate unless it is heavy, then a straight down 4 foot drop over the gate is mandatory.

Sorry to hear about your troubles...

[gordo]

For me it's the opposite.  UPS mails me a notice from time to time that they can't find my house, even though they've been here a 100 times.  I usually just call and tell them I'll send Fedex over to pick it up...

[GrindCustoms]

Well...that's funny....i've always had good experience with cross borders shipping using FedEx....

I've couple time got big batch of enclosures sent to me via FedEx from Rnagoda, guitars sent to me by CJ aswell.....all my Mouser orders.....everything always came in perfect conditions...no additionnal cost of brokerage or custom fees....

Sorry to hear about that bro.

[aballen]

UPS has been pretty good to me.  The guys know my place and my name... Constantly getting packages from the Far East.

My wife swears I'm on an FBI watch list for all the strange packages of parts constantly coming in,  but my stuff usually arrives on time.