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View Full Version : Why I hate couriers (or Castlegar)


ctmagnus
07-26-2003, 05:41 AM
This is a fairly "remote" location. As such, it takes stuff a little longer to get here than to other places. But it sometimes gets out of hand.

Case in point #1: iPaq warranty return. Usually takes two days here, two days back. However, this latest one shipped thru Castlegar (use a map if necessary) and took seven fricking days to get here. Courier was Purolator.

Case in point #2: New iPaq shipped to me. Supposed to be 24 hour shipping. This one also went through Castlegar. Was supposed to see it yesterday. They "missed" it and realised it 27 hours later. Will now take a full seven days to get here. Courier was UPS.

Incidentally, you can drive from here to almost anywhere (inhabited) in this province (or the next) in two days or less, easily.

Anyone else have courier problems?

Dave Beauvais
07-26-2003, 05:56 AM
That does suck, but at least your stuff probably gets to you in one piece. I've had Airborne Express actually destroy two separate shipments by throwing them -- not tossing -- throwing them at my house from about the middle of the yard. In both cases, the driver pulled up in front of the house in the street, walked about halfway across the yard, threw the package the rest of the way, ran back to his van, and sped away. The first time, the package hit the front door and the second time, it hit the brick path leading to the front door. I witnessed this twice, but was only able to get to the door in time to see him speeding away.

The first shipment was a replacement LCD for a laptop that I'd paid to have shipped overnight for an emergency repair for a client. It was shattered by the impact with the door despite being well padded. The second shipment -- also shipped overnight -- was a 35 mm telephoto camera lens for my mother's camera which was damaged enough that it would not focus.

I called Airborne Express both times to express my outrage at this behavior by their driver and was basically told they were not responsible for any damage which occurs during shipping unless the shipper insures the package. When asked if the boxes were marked "fragile," I asked why should that matter? Does the lack of the word "fragile" on the package give your drivers permission to throw it like a damn baseball?

In the end, my shipping fee was refunded for one of the packages, but they would not refund for the other. They also paid to replace the LCD, but only after I threatened legal action against them. Now, whenever I have a vendor or store ship something overnight, I specifically request that they not use Airborne Express, and I will personally never use them for anything as long as I live.

--Dave

Janak Parekh
07-26-2003, 06:08 AM
I specifically request that they not use Airborne Express, and I will personally never use them for anything as long as I live.
I'm sorry to hear your problems, but I have to tell you, all shippers are quite difficult. If anything, I've had the fewest problems with Airborne in Manhattan of all the shippers. It's a matter of the local combination of people more than anything else, I think.

--janak

Dave Beauvais
07-26-2003, 06:13 AM
It's gotten to the point that I often pay extra for faster shipping of certain types of items not so it gets to me faster, but so it's in the hands of the shipping company for less time. The more days they have to toss my package around inside their trucks, or drop them while unloading one truck just to throw it into another, the more likely it is to get damaged. I've even had DVDs destroyed during shipping because they were tossed around so much, the disc popped off its spindle and was then scratched by it multiple times as it slid around feely inside the case.

Actually, UPS has improved dramatically in the last couple years. FedEx isn't too bad, either, but I prefer UPS when shipping things.

--Dave

ctmagnus
07-26-2003, 07:00 AM
Actually, UPS has improved dramatically in the last couple years. FedEx isn't too bad, either, but I prefer UPS when shipping things.

--Dave

Whoops, that was supposed to be Purolator instead of Fedex. :oops: Post edited.

I actually enjoy dealing with the local Purolator guy. It's the not-so-local counterparts that I dislike. In the case I mentioned, all but one item in the address indicated it was suppose to come here. But some genious in another office sent it to the address indicated by the one anomoly.

I honestly think that people between here and the US border, and ~the Coquihalla and the AB border, make far too liberal use of our wonderful government's new marijuana laws.

ECOslin
07-26-2003, 07:38 AM
I've been changing and adding hard drives to older computers recently.

The hard drives usually show up with the fedex guy tossing the box from hand to hand. I asked the shipper to add fragile stickers to my orders, basically, they said they couldn't adjust their shipping methods to my needs and would rather have an return/exchange.

Wasn't til the third try on a western digital thru warranty to get a good drive.
Wasn't til the second try on a Maxtor thru rma with the shipper for a good drive.

I've considered ordering a hard drive and a 30 pound weight added to the same box for shipping.

Edward

ctmagnus
07-26-2003, 11:51 PM
In the cases mentioned here, I have to wonder how much some couriers know about technology. The fact that I always have such a good experience with the local Purolator guy may stem from the fact that he delivered to one of the local computer stores when I worked there.