What is Your Shipping and Handling Nightmare Story?

Tell me if this rings true for you...

Hyper-extended manufacturing lead times, missing pieces from merchandise and, in particular, handling. All under the over-arching guise of "COVID-19".

Thankfully, having worked in a warehouse for years, I learned to never trust a box: open those suckers before signing, people! I've declined delivery on about six things, some of those *re-shipments of the same part*, due to damage, open boxes, etc. Heck, even Amazon's been a mess lately. The cynical part of me suspects workers in these industries are caring less and less as COVID trudges on, but I also know logistics can be a grueling industry.

Everything's treated like a special order, where you have to pay ahead of time and wait months for merchandise.

So... I'm whining a bit here, and I recognize these are first world problems, but I wonder... do you s'pose we're getting the dregs of the warehouses and, as Tundra owners in a Ford-Chevy-Dodge-dominated truck market, is it more acute for us than others?

 

I suspect it's just that everyone in the shipping industry is almost as overworked as everyone in the healthcare industry what with all the online shopping folks are doing. I don't really see what your truck brand has to do with it, though.

 

You sign for deliveries? Due to covid, some carriers are foregoing the necessity to sign for a package. Less people are given the option to refuse a package. I've never had the opportunity to refuse a package that was sent to me (and I've received merchandise that came in a box that was bashed to hell), so I'm kind of curious... Are you refusing packages delivered to a business? Or are you having the delivery company wait at your home while you open and inspect the contents of your deliveries?

I would say if you get damaged goods, and you are dealing with a reputable company (or any company with a good return policy), then you have little to worry about. Carriers are not likely to accept responsibility for any damage or theft.

 

I can attest that 110% of the time when UPS drops of a damaged box at work .....UPS blames it on poor packaging by the sender. The only time UPS takes blame is when they lose something. I've seen boxes fall out of the UPS truck, get kicked around like a football, you name it but never is their fault.

 

I really do sympathize with the people in those industries... just trying to understand. I was thinking since there are so many more of the big three brand trucks (e.g., trending on goodcarbadcar.net shows 8 F-150s sold in the US for every Tundra) out there, there would be more back inventory during the COVID upset and their experiences might differ from ours.

 

I guess it depends on what type of merchandise you're talking about. Sure, a manufacturer will probably have way more bumpers that fit an F150 than fit a Tundra, for example. However, if they can't supply the bumper you ordered in a timely manner, the only reason that would be specific to your truck is if they don't have enough tundra bumpers in stock or if they can't manufacture them fast enough. That may be a side effect of the pandemic but doesn't have anything to do with the shipping itself.

 

I always sign for freight, even at my house. I have yet to have a successful freight delivery after two bent up tubular grill guards. Just curious if you guys have had numerous unsuccessful ones as well lately.
Refunds with three vendors have taken two additional weeks after delivery being refused at my door.

 

I should have prefaced the S&H part has mainly been freight - or at least I think - UPS has been the only consistently good part of this process for me. I guess damage could gave occurred at the manufacturing/warehousing, but that would be rare, right? I've opened more used Amazon box with no packing material, so who knows?

 

Since you mentioned Amazon in your OP, comparable carriers for consumers would be UPS, FedEx, DHL. Freight is a different story.

 

Had a nightmare with generator delivery. FedEx just don’t have the right equipment for 120 pound items.

Delivered by one guy in a truck with no lift. Was dump and go. Frame was a twisted mess. Got the replacement and Waited for and helped the driver or would have been the same outcome.

 

I have a Theory: Work Related Mandatory Mask Wearing is causing tiny amounts of slow drain bramage in many people. This may be why things are the way they are. In essence, its oxygen deprivation.

Observations per yours: Seeing longer lead times, critical items being broken, and this is rubbing off negatively into businesses that rely on shipping being prompt and effective. Business Costs go up when this condition needs to be hedged. Service suffers.

Time to get back to business as usual. Enough excuses already as I’ve heard them all.

 

LOL, ordered a new front door for the house. The new single door has two side windows and replaces two front doors. The delivery company was supposed to call me when they arrived, didn't call and left a 500lb door at the end of my 200' downslope driveway leaning against a tree. I paid extra to have it dropped at my garage door. How in the he!! am I supposed to get it to the house??? I called the retailer that sold me the door, they actually sent 2 guys out at 900 pm at night and helped me carry the door up to the garage. I tipped em $20 a piece and thanked em. That is the worst shipping story, but not the only one when you live in the mtns.

 

Got a $1500 laptop delivered to my door in the summer when we wouldn’t be home for another week. Beforehand I specifically messaged and spoke to both the company and UPS to hold it at the nearest depot. Luckily my neighbor picked it up before it started to rain or pirated.

 

Not so much a fail, but I got in a Stanford Research Systems DSG345 Function Generator dropped off at the lab by UPS today. A very decent $6K piece of test equipment. The client makes compressors. The DSG345 is about 4" high, maybe 10" wide, and 17" deep. Apparently the client didn't have "normal" packaging materials. It arrived in a wooden box made out of 3/4" plywood! It was around 12" high as in too big and the packing "material" to "protect it" was some random sized 2X4's stuffed strategically around the DSG to "protect" it.....
What the F**K??? Even the UPS guy couldn't f**k it up. I didn't take a pic. Should have.