Dec. 22Nd Delivery Kinda Missed

[Becca_in_MD]

Grrr. Here I go with a vent.My Dec. 14 show, submitted on the 15th, got delivered on the 22nd. BUT, I don't know what FedEx did. Per the tracking details, at 6pm on the 22nd, it says "delivery exception - local weather delay, delivery not attempted." Mind you, it had stopped snowing 48 hours earlier. My host checked the tracking right after this update and it said delivery would be on the 23rd. Then at 7pm it says "delivery exception - delivered to address other than recipient." There is a signature name, but my host doesn't know who that is. It may be a doorman. She did not check the tracking again on the 22nd. She got to work on the 23rd and e-mailed me saying she didn't get the delivery, she was leaving town right from work and was wondering if PC would pay to ship the gift items to recipients b/c people at her show had purchased gifts to take out of town with them. I really wish she would have contacted me on the 22nd so I would have seen that it was later signed for and she could have tried tracking it down in her building. Or, I wish she would have gone home on her lunch hour to try to find it but she said it was too far from work to home (work and home are within the city and in my mind not too far; it's not like some people in my area with an hour's commute one way; plus it was right before Xmas when no one is doing much work anyway, at least not back when I worked in an office). Perhaps because none of her items were gifts she didn't care as much. Two people from the show did do direct ship. My host is not returning home until the 3rd so I really don't know where the boxes are. I called HO (yeah, yeah, yeah, it took me a while to call but I wasn't in a hurry b/c she's not getting back until the 3rd). The rep said basically b/c it was delivered on the 22nd that PC won't do anything about paying for shipping. I think she thought I was asking HO to direct ship out the items. The rep is putting in a request for FedEx to contact the driver to see where the boxes are. I feel like I'm being a lawyer, but it says "delivered to address other than recipient." To me that means PC did not meet it's commitment to deliver the show by the 22nd. Now I'm stuck with deciding what to do from a customer care perspective. Do I pay for shipping? I'm not sure how many people we're talking about. I don't think any of the items are very heavy, but it's really not something I want to handle. If I were to pay for shipping, I would want to ship it myself so I could do it as cheaply as possible, which would mean getting the products (they're 30-40 minutes away from me). I'm not making a special trip. It would be a few weeks at least until I'm back in that area. I did get one firm booking from the show (thankfully one of the people who did direct ship), but there are other booking leads. I don't want to leave a sour note with these customers. I don't want to bad-mouth the host by saying "your co-worker could have put a little more effort into this for you." I had no idea when I was discussing shipping with everyone at the show that she was leaving town on the 23rd. It really left us no room for error, so of course we had an error. Somehow sending them a SB doesn't seem adequate. Maybe I'll send her a few rubs to give them. Does the fact that I think these people are all in their 20s make a difference? Thanks for reading.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I had that same "delivered to address other..." junk on a direct ship. It was delivered to the Dairy Queen down the street. Why? No one knows...not even Fed-Ex had an explanation for it. File a complaint with PC....I did.

 

[Becca_in_MD]

Did you get a response on your complaint or is it still being "processed?" I think I'm going to e-mail HO as well. I do a lot better putting things in writing rather than in person. And as I said, I think the HO rep thought I was asking for them to direct ship things. I may not have emphasized that guests want to be reimbursed for shipping. She may have been in the mode that they were in on the 23rd. I guess they did do direct ships if orders didn't arrive on the 22nd.

I also felt it was one of those conversations where I should have said "can I speak to a manager?"

 

[wadesgirl]

What ever you do DO NOT PAY FOR ANY SHIPPING! This is an issue HO needs to handle with FedEx. I would call back and ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Did you get a response on your complaint or is it still being "processed?" I think I'm going to e-mail HO as well. I do a lot better putting things in writing rather than in person. And as I said, I think the HO rep thought I was asking for them to direct ship things. I may not have emphasized that guests want to be reimbursed for shipping. She may have been in the mode that they were in on the 23rd. I guess they did do direct ships if orders didn't arrive on the 22nd.

I also felt it was one of those conversations where I should have said "can I speak to a manager?"

Well, first of all, my issue was with a direct ship order - a lady had ordered it at a show here in MI, but had it shipped to her daughter in FL.

And then, secondly, I think it's just the luck of the draw on who you speak with at the help desk. The lady I spoke with was very concerned (this was on the 21st) and researched it, and called me back, and let me know that she had talked to FedEx, and that they were reshipping the product, and expediting it so that it arrived by the 24th. She was wonderful - and I wish that all of my phone calls to HO could be handled by her!


I was still very frustrated with Fed-Ex though. Seriously....for what reason would you take it upon yourself to deliver an addressed package to a different location? The DQ where it was delivered had no connection to the person who was supposed to receive the package. That is insanity!

 

[JAE]

You shouldn't have to do anything for the customers. Wait until you've figured things out before you offer anyone anything. There is nothing wrong with telling the guests that the host didn't let you know in time to do anything about it, and the guests may all be fine with the orders being late. Get going on talking to HO and finding the boxes. You could start calling the guests to check on them, as in customer care calls, and let them know what you know which is only that you found out on such and such a date that the show was delivered to an alternate address. You're waiting to hear from the host. All true. Don't take the blame, just state the facts, and don't bad mouth anyone.

JAE

 

[Becca_in_MD]

There is nothing wrong with telling the guests that the host didn't let you know in time to do anything about it,JAE

I like that.

 

[raebates]

This is also one of the reasons I remind people that "delivered by December 22" is dependent on items being in stock and weather conditions permitting delivery. (Though, it sounds like weather shouldn't have been a problem for your host, Becca.) I'm not at a ll a fan of FedEx. I've had my share of issues.

 

[pclinskie]

I had this problem last year. I my opinion things are still not resolved. Hostess was going out of town on the 23rd with gifts ( deep covered baker) showed up the 24th.
Show was in earlier than should have been,.

 

[almondfarm]

We all need to be sure that if we truely have an issue that we file a complaint for Fed Ex - they actually get a fine for each complaint files, I think it is like $250 the first time. So enough of those for a driver and I would think something would improve.

 

[esavvymom]

I feel like I'm being a lawyer, but it says "delivered to address other than recipient." To me that means PC did not meet it's commitment to deliver the show by the 22nd.

I don't think it's PC's fault that FedEx didn't do their job. Once it leaves PC, and obviously it left in a timely fashion, no one can control the weather. Even if the snow had stopped long before, you know the backup that was caused- it was the week before Christmas...but as far as dropping off at a different address?? There is no excuse for FedEx to do that. I'd file the complaint with HO AND with FedEx locally.

 

[laurichef]

My frustration with Fed Ex is only this time of year. I had 4 deliveries to my house this past month, and each were from a Budget rental truck with an unknown driver. Not even a Fed Ex uniform. My regular guy was finally back this past week, but I missed him, and could not ask him what was going on. I am thinking Fed Ex hires extra people who just don't care where the packages end up, let alone by a certain date.
Nothing beats my $1200+ show in Dec 2007 that was delivered to the wrong block- same house number. The 9 boxes - stainless cookware and all -- sat on this person's driveway for almost a month. She was away, and finally opened a box in January to call me to ask what it was all about.