25 May
2006
25 May
'06
5:11 p.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 5/25/2006 at 9:04 AM Joe R. wrote:
Yup.
FedEx Ground is often a little cheaper than UPS or USPS.
But, I haven't found any of them to be particularly
"exemplary".
I ship a lot of cookies (!). Much more fragile than
most electronic things (e.g., pizzelles break if you LOOK
at them funny!) What I have learned with all of the
carriers is that you REALLY have to pack things well.
And, have to *expect* the package to be manhandled by
800 pound gorillas. If you cringe when you accidentally
drop the package on your way out to the car, then you
*know* you haven't packed it well!
I am trying to find a urethane foam that I can use
to "conformal pack" electronic devices (wrap object
in lightweight plastic then fill the box with
foam and let it expand to fill all voids). But, the
only material I have found tends to get expensive
(many dollars per package) and isn't dense enough
for really heavy items.
I beg to differ. I use FedEx ground almost
everyday and I've never seen
them pick up or deliver ANYTHING in a RPS truck.
That's because FedEx bought RPS, and retired the aging fleet. On the matter of the destroyed tuba (it had to have been
dropped from quite a
distance to sustain the damage it did)--they essentially gave me the
run-around for almost a year (while keeping the damaged goods and further
damaging it). When confronted about the delaying tactics, they pleaded
organizational problems (we closed the customer service office in your area
and the records are a mess). Maybe they've improved since that time, but
the only way I got my money back was to file a small-claims action against
the packaging outfit. I don't know if Fedex ever paid the claim.
Now Fedex express service (not the green logo trucks, but the blue logo
trucks) is exemplary. They've always paid off on claims promptly, are
courteous, and appear to handle things carefully. I'm a loyal customer
there. But for bulk packages, I don't see a lot of difference between
Fedex Green and UPS. In my area, I actually get better service from the
UPS personnel.