FedEx...again

[Jenise]

Bought two $200 bottles of champagne, paid $30 extra for overnight delivery. Was home all day. Garage doors were open and both cars visible. Put off taking a shower so I couldn't possibly miss the delivery. Yada yada. It's just me and a cat here, no TV, no radio, no noise. Many windows open. Around 3:45 I heard the beep beep beep of truck in reverse. I was in my upstairs office,. Didn't neccessarily have to be at my house or FedEx, my street's a dead end two houses beyond mine and not a culdesac, so we get a lot of turn-arounds. But I thought I better check.

Oh, and I have a doorbell. A loud one that plays the whole Westminster Chimes. My neighbors can hear it. From the outside it's a very-visible rectangular gold bezel with a lit button against gray shingles. There's nothing hanging or obstructing the view of it.

But nonetheless the doorbell never rang, and there was a FedEx drop tag on my front door. I ran upstairs and checked emails. At 3:47, my pkg was declared undeliverable, and the next delivery attempt would be Monday. Meaning it might sit in a hot truck all weekend.

So I grabbed my purse and took off for the airport, about half an hour away. I got there at 4:30. Miraculously, the truck beat me to the airport by 15 minutes and I was able to retrieve my box.

But once again, my long nightmare with FedEx continues.

That sucks! But at least you rescued the wine at the last minute. I remember those days in North Carolina, playing all sorts of games with tracking the deliveries.

A bit less hectic in Nyc, because the doorman/mailroom staff always accept packages. But I nonetheless try to pick up ASAP on multiple general principles.

That sounds like laziness on the part of the driver (maybe getting an adult signature would slow them down too much). I'd register a complaint if I were you.

[David M. Bueker]

I was home for a delivery last week. As the FedEx driver pulled up and I saw him. Opened the garage door. He came out of his truck with the door tag. He wasn’t even planning on trying.

I subscribe to Chateau Montelena's wine club and receive several wine shipments a year. I live alone and before my retirement staying at home to sign for the package was not an option. So I have the packages delivered to the FedEx customer facility at Manchester NH airport, to be held there for pickup. I pick up the packages at my convenience and there is no playing door tag with a delivery driver.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

It's still driver dependent. I've done delivery redirects to the local Walgreens, and still had them do the unable to deliver game.

I have the package held at the FedEx Express shipping office itself, not a FedEx office at a third party such as Walgreen's.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

I have the package held at the FedEx Express shipping office itself, not a FedEx office at a third party such as Walgreen's.

-Paul W.

All well and good if you have one in a 30 minute driving area. I do not. Closest is about 40 minutes and paid parking. NFW.

Here in B.C. we have a service that was established to deliver medical supplies ATS Healthcare - an arm of UPS, it runs refrigerated trucks delivering medical supplies and some bright light figured out that if they delivered wine from the wineries to the consumers, along routes they were using anyway for medical supplies it would increase their business substantially. Excellent service and you can track deliveries so you know when they will be by. Way better than the old days when we made do with unreliable delivery services that were hit and miss - you can track the ATS system on line. I've even called the courier when I was delayed away from home to tell them I'd be late ad they rearranged their schedule to deliver after I returned.

I miss the old days. Dobbs Ferry used to have one UPS guy and one FedEx guy, both knew my home and if they missed me at office (rare), they would just bring to house. Now seldom the same guy if you get 2 deliveries in a week, and they often attempt deliveries to my office at 7 or 8 PM (or later). But I've never had the missed delivery note when I thought we were there (office or home).

[Jenise]

Doorbell.jpg

Dale, you had it good! We've had drivers both good and bad. Currently, Kaylee who takes care of Ground in my area is fantastic--best I've ever had.

Like David, no FedEx Express office for me to deal with. The only actual FedEx office is at the airport but only for FedEx Overnight. FedEx Ground either drops at your house or Walgreen's, and I happily do redirects there if I'm not going to be home. But obviously, for this particularly special shipment, I was all about being home and available.

Btw, here's a shot of my front door with the Door Tag and plainly obvious doorbell. I need to train my guardcat to bite. I'm going to drop this off at the airport office to show the manager there just how inexcusable this was.

FedEx is a holding company. Their original businesses are FedEx Freight and FedEx express. They bought Kinko's, which became FedEx Office. FedEx Ground used to be a separate company until they were bought by FedEx and they still are run as a separate operation, although they're slowly becoming more integrated with FedEx Express.

I've had a couple of cases where wine shipments were sent via FedEx Ground rather than the FedEx Express that I specified. It used to be that FedEx Ground would not deliver packages to a FedEx Express office. Fortunately that has changed in the past year or two. These days FedEx Ground will deliver a package that says "hold at FedEx Express office" to the FedEx Express office. And they don't just leave a tag on the FedEx Express door and run away.

Wine shipping in the US always has been a chaotic adventure. I used to receive my Montelena shipments via DHL (who were very good) until they decided to stop carrying alcohol. UPS has been on again and off again regarding booze shipments.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

UPS has always been more reliable for me.

[Jenise]

UPS--yes, same here David. And they give you a delivery window and actually deliver within it--or let you know they're running late. FedEx gives initial windows--or did, can't swear if they still do, but if they do they're meaningless. "Between 10: a.m. and 2 p.m." will probably be 5 p.m. I get all my deliveries closer to 5 p.m. no matter what they say, and it's not the driver's fault. It's the way their system predicts distances, and apparently it doesn't learn.

Paul, I have no idea what your FedEx Express is. It's nonexistent where I live. There's only Air and Ground. And the Ground hub is 60 miles away, with no in-person pickup.

FedEx Air's official name is FedEx Express. Their specialty is next-day and 2-day delivery but they also offer slower service.

Does UPS deliver wine these days? About 20 years ago I had to switch to FedEx Express because UPS got out of the booze-shipping business.

-Paul W.

UPS delivered Tarragon wine vinegar to my front porch yesterday, and put the mail in envelopes on top of the box. Not a wine delivery, can't recall the last time I bought wine, as my son brings up a bottle when he visits. I cook with it mostly.

Does UPS deliver wine these days?

Yes.

Just got a shipment last week.

[David M. Bueker]

FedEx Air's official name is FedEx Express. Their specialty is next-day and 2-day delivery but they also offer slower service.

Does UPS deliver wine these days? About 20 years ago I had to switch to FedEx Express because UPS got out of the booze-shipping business.

-Paul W.

Maybe they got out of the business of shipping to where you are. I have been successfully using UPS since the early 2000s.

I have wine sent directly to my storage; their door is always open. Once in a great while, I'll have wine delivered to their storefront. Perqs of a service contract. And once in a great, great while, I'll have wine delivered to my office.

Delivery persons, if they keep a route for a while, can be very reliable. At my previous address we knew the UPS guy so well he received Xmas gifts (cash).

But if the business keeps shuckling them around, well, then the behavior is hit or miss. At my current address I have an app on my phone that connects to the front door system. I can see through both cameras and unlock both doors. And yet... sometimes I get called and sometimes I don't. Eh.

Here in B.C. we have a service that was established to deliver medical supplies ATS Healthcare - an arm of UPS, it runs refrigerated trucks delivering medical supplies and some bright light figured out that if they delivered wine from the wineries to the consumers, along routes they were using anyway for medical supplies it would increase their business substantially. Excellent service and you can track deliveries so you know when they will be by. Way better than the old days when we made do with unreliable delivery services that were hit and miss - you can track the ATS system on line. I've even called the courier when I was delayed away from home to tell them I'd be late ad they rearranged their schedule to deliver after I returned.

Only tangentially related... Your story reminds me of one online-only shop that sent a bottle to my office and it arrived in perfect shape and still cool to the touch. When I called them up to praise their work the owner said he just imagines he's shipping a kidney and goes from there.

Maybe they got out of the business of shipping to where you are. I have been successfully using UPS since the early 2000s.

That could well be the case. New Hampshire is one of those states where the government (in this case the NH State Liquor Commission) controls wine and spirits. Wine (up to and including fortified wines such as Sherry and Port) and beer can be sold in supermarkets and other private stores. Hard liquor is only sold in the state liquor stores. Out-of-state wineries and/or distributors have to apply to the Liquor Commission to get approval to bring in particular wines. I think members of the general public can also apply to the Commission to get their blessing for a particular wine. I've never looked into the details of the process.

I don't remember now when it was that UPS told me they would no longer do my wine shipments. When I asked why they told me that the company found keeping track of the widely varying state regulations too burdensome. It may well have been a NH-specific problem. I think the NH liquor regulations have relaxed a bit over time. NH has a small wine industry and most of the big wine-producing states such as CA demand reciprocity arrangements: if you want us to let your state's wine in, you have to let in ours.

Some years back (before they sold the winery) I placed an online order for some of Gruet's top end offerings. NH was one of the states where they would not ship directly to customers. NH does carry Gruet's low-end offerings. I wound up having Gruet ship the wine to my mother, who lives in Connecticut. I then drove down for a visit and picked up the wine.

Anyway, it's good to hear that UPS is an option for you.

-Paul W.

About 10-15 years ago there was a severe crackdown by UPS on shipments, at least in NY. It didn't last long but I remember several out of state retailers switching to FedEx. Maybe not in CT.

About 10-15 years ago there was a severe crackdown by UPS on shipments, at least in NY. It didn't last long but I remember several out of state retailers switching to FedEx. Maybe not in CT.

Yeah, that would have been about the time that CSW announced they could no longer ship out of state (a temporary state of affairs, it turned out). IIRC, it was some butt-hurt retailer who proved to be annoyingly litigious.

[Jenise]

About 10-15 years ago there was a severe crackdown by UPS on shipments, at least in NY. It didn't last long but I remember several out of state retailers switching to FedEx. Maybe not in CT.

We had that problem in WA as well. But not now.