Flying Dutchman Delivery Service

[ionbeam]

We have had a fortunate fall here in New England with temperatures a tad above normal and minimal rain. My Diablos with a bit over 12k miles are down to the last few miles and have already cost me a trip to Stowe Vt due to a rubber outage. As much as I hate to spend the money now for perhaps only another week or two of riding I chose to tie up money I can't afford anyway. I found a decent deal at South West Moto; did the transaction on 11/12 in hopes of having new shoes installed no later than 11/19. The very next day FedEx dispatched a truck with my tires and -- has never been heard from since. FedEx sent me a tracking email which stated that the expected delivery date was 11/18 but that has now been removed from the tracking page.

I'm getting the feeling that this truck may in fact be the land version of the Flying Dutchman. In the past I have had FedEx send me a notice that a work ticket had been issued for a truck that contained my parts. They waited two weeks to tell me that the truck had broken down within miles of the terminal from where it was dispatched, then it was another week to fix the truck and another week for the truck to arrive. I'm afeared that this is about to happen again. Time to put out an APB seeking the whereabouts of the Dis-Oriented Express. If anyone sees a FedEx tractor trailer looking lost, please let me know, I really want my tires before Christmas. Here is the score card on the late afternoon of 11/22:

 

[Geezer]

FedEx tracking is not nearly as accurate or current as UPS. I have had packages in hand for a day or two while the tracking still says they are in some place half way across the country. Did you check in your garage? Or perhaps Mrs. beam has stashed them away until 12/25?

 

[BkrK12]

And, sometimes you have to take a poll of your neighbors to find out if the package was left at one of their houses. Fedex seems to feel the street is important - that actual house, not so much.

 

[airboss]

I have had FedEx send me a notice that a work ticket had been issued for a truck that contained my parts. They waited two weeks to tell me that the truck had broken down within miles of the terminal from where it was dispatched,

Gee and all this time I thought FedEx had more than one truck, and some airplanes too.

 

[vabrzn]

This is timely.... I ordered some touch up paint for the FJR. It was delivered according to the tracking site, but I never got it. Apparently the driver left it at some other house.... Fed Ex covered the replacement paint and i received it one month after the initial order. Customer service was not so good IMO.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Well that thing says you picked them up. WTF?? I'll keep my eyes open.

 

[beemerdons]

Well that thing says you picked them up. WTF?? I'll keep my eyes open.

Alan, they are here at my house in Chandler, AZ! Can I just hand them to you when I see you at CFR 2011? Or drop them off at Bustanut *******'s Owosso, MI house?

 

[wfooshee]

I had a letter from a place I ordered a jacket and boots from back in '07 tell me that the truck burned to the ground! Don't know if it was FedEx or UPS, but I was told that because the jacket was clearance I might not get one. That was an empty feeling, 'cause it was an awesome deal!!! Turns out they had another one or two, and I did get it, but 3 weeks after I should have.

Damn shippers, carelessly burning stuff all the time!!!!

 

[FJRBluesman]

No ransom notes....

 

[1FJR]

The driver refused his tsa body scan and now they have to find somebody willing to do a hand search on a trucker.

 

[bramfrank]

Fedex ground doesn't update while on route . . . the next update will be when they arrive at a trans-shipment terminal, depending on where you are it could be Boston, Syracuse or some other point not that far from where you are. I've had stuff for me (I ship to a on the border place south of Montreal) also be trans-shipped at places like Chicago, Detroit and so on Then it will be a day or two from that point.

10 days for this type of shipment , especially when there's an exception isn't atypical - and if you needed it quickly, is not the way to go.

 

[ionbeam]

Day #10 of the 4 day journey has arrived with no update to the tracking page. It's time to call FedEx :assassin:

We are sure that the tires were not delivered and are not languishing unnoticed someplace on our property. We are on good terms with our nearby neighbors, they have always let us know when they accepted a delivery for us.

I have ordered 1-2 sets of tires every year from SW Moto for over a decade. Unfortunately, they ship via FedEx. FedEx does indeed do a below industry standard job with their tracking page. I have been fortunate that I have always received my tires in 4-5 days. Usually the tracking will show the package arriving to distribution and then leaving for delivery all at once. Occasionally I will receive the tires a few hours before the tracking site updates.

My sister-in-law works for UPS and she says that once a trailer is loaded the contents will stay with that trailer until it burns, crashes or gets delivered.

Even if I get my tires this week it will be next week before I can get them mounted. I'm watching the long range weather forecast with my fingers crossed.

 

[beemerdons]

https://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USAZ0034?par=aolsvc&site=aolservicewx&promo=0&cm_ven=AOLSvc&cm_cat=AOLServiceWx&cm_pla=WxPage&cm_ite=Map Jeez Marie ionbeam, weather forecast looks good to me: 65F and partly cloudy, perfect for FJR riding! 70F and sunny on Sunday.

 

[Geezer]

57 degrees F with a slight chance of showers here today. Too bad I won't have time to get out for a ride. The white stuff is coming later in the week.

I try to order a new set of tires as soon as I mount the ones I have so that I always have some in the garage ready to go when needed. In fact I have a fresh pair of Angels in the garage right now that you are welcome to use if you want to come and get them. I have tools to mount and balance and I might even give you a hand. Just send me some new ones before spring.

 

[ionbeam]

... In fact I have a fresh pair of Angels in the garage right now that you are welcome to use if you want to come and get them. I have tools to mount and balance and I might even give you a hand. Just send me some new ones before spring.

Thank you for the very kind and generous offer Greg. Be careful about what you offer...

I called FedEx and now I'm clear on the next step :trinibob:

FedEx says that my tracking number has been closed for several days. Since my tires were not scanned in at the Massachusetts distribution center they should be considered lost and I should contact the seller to have them open a loss claim. :angry03: So I have written a letter SW Moto and I'm on my way to call them right now. This isn't their fault but it leaves me phucked. I have asked SW Moto for some specific remediation so it will be interesting to see what happens. I don't know if I can drink enough to deal with this situation.

One thing I've learned -- if a package is a day or two late, don't trust, CALL, wade through 50 automated menus, get a real person and get answers. Besides, it's much more satisfying to castigate a real person than hang up on a machine.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Make sure you also file a claim with the Fed Ex Loss Prevention guys. We all know your tires didn't just evaporate, so one of only a couple things happened: They are genuinly lost, or someone at one of the facilities is a thief and is now either sporting your tires on their bike, or selling them for pennies on the dollar. Fed Ex has way more information on the whereabouts of the tires than they are giving you, and the loss prevention guys can track them down...Maybe even fire somebody if they were stolen.

 

[Geezer]

... In fact I have a fresh pair of Angels in the garage right now that you are welcome to use if you want to come and get them. I have tools to mount and balance and I might even give you a hand. Just send me some new ones before spring.

Thank you for the very kind and generous offer Greg. Be careful about what you offer...

I'll be home all day Wednesday catching up on some work stuff and baking pies for Thanksgiving. Come on down.

 

[ionbeam]

Update: On 11/23 I notified South West Moto that my tire shipment was lost. Today, 11/30, the replacement tires showed up at my door. SWMoto was very good to work with and they were good to their word and got my replacement tires shipped the same day that I notified them my tires were lost. I'm still not done with FedEx but I have time to deal with them. SWMoto -- 10 green buttons. FedEx -- how many red buttons are the maximum?

Now to get them mounted up and scrubbed in. Hopefully the weather gods will cooperate and give me a few more nice rides and let me continue to commute to work.

Thanks for listening while I blew my cool! Greg, thanks again for the way kind offer. Thanks for the advice HotRodZilla, I'll follow up as you advise :assassin:

 

[FJReady]

Alan,

My offer is still good if you want to mount and balance them at my place. Glad you got them finally. Bring pizza and beer. (helps to lubricate the tire beads)