Which delivery service do you prefer? (United States)

[3Simon7]

I like FedEx Home service.

The guy has a small cube truck, possibly leased from FedEx.
He is always friendly and treats people like they're his friend.

The other regular FedEx drivers are also friendly.

UPS is usually my least favorite, although our regular driver
give us EXCELLENT service!

I'll add this..... Service from UPS seems to be better than it used to be.

Something I hate is the partnership-delivery between USPS and DHL.
DHL picks up the item, takes it to the Post-Office, and then
the Post Office delivers it to my house. That takes 1 to 2 days longer.

[Conquest10]

FedEx is garbage. Deliver whenever they feel like it and their Customer Service doesn't give a damn about it.

Prefer UPS. I've had the same driver since I've lived at this address. Always delivers around the same time.

I've only had DHL deliver once. It was around 9:30PM when they delivered it.

[SquirrelDip]

From US to Canada US Post is best. It may take a little longer but no surprises with brokerage fees at the border - at most it will be $5 and my experience has been free if item is less than $100 value.

[LSchafroth]

UPS puts the items under my garage door for me or just inside my screen door if small enough.

FEDEx makes you sign for everything and doesn't give a shit whether their pickup location is 32 miles from me. So I never get the item.

UPS will come back by later if they don't want to leave it and make sure you get it in hand.

Never had to deal with DHL yet.

LS

[gadgetguy]

I've never had a bad experience with either UPS or DHL so I don't have a favorite. I'm not a fan of FedEx or USPS but I use them both when I have to.

[rallynavvie]

UPS puts the items under my garage door for me or just inside my screen door if small enough.

FEDEx makes you sign for everything and doesn't give a shit whether their pickup location is 32 miles from me. So I never get the item.

And if you live in a bad area where even a seemingly secure location can be picked up by local kids who case the delivery trucks you would be glad they didn't just leave the package.

I'm somewhat biased since I work for an operating company of one of the above so I generally tend to use one since my discount makes it easily cheaper than any other option. However I usually don't have trouble with any of them other than when they overstep their authority, which all have done. Your preference is simply going to come down to how nice your local driver/station is rather than the quality of service.

FWIW FedEx Home is simply the residential variant of FedEx Ground, though depending on the options chosen and the routes you may never see a FedEx Home truck.

[budz]

My first choice is USPS then FedEx and lastly UPS.

I'm lucky that my USPS carrier is my classmate so she puts the packages in a closet for me & has a key. It's when there's a relief carrier that I end up having to pickup my packages at the post office. I have had better experiences with FedEx than UPS. The FedEx driver in my area knows to come after 5:00 p.m. UPS has left packages at my door when a signature was needed. It pisses me off that they think no one will steal the package.

[zzyzzx]

The preffered answer often depends upon where you live since the level of service depends upon the local delivery people.

[thecoalman]

My Own!...

[ViRaL1]

For most things I have delivered, I choose UPS ground. My carrier is usually pretty good about knowing whether or not to leave the package at my apartment or keeping it. If I see that a delivery has been attempted for something I've been waiting on, they always let me come by the depot after work and pick it up. Also, since I'm at work from 9-6 every weekday, I like being able to have my package redirected to the office if I miss it at home the day before. From a cost standpoint, UPS ground usually gets me better rates than FedEx and to top it all off, my 'local' FedEx office is 40+ miles away, so if I miss something and it requires a signature, I need to call FedEx go through their voice prompts so I can tell someone I want it delivered to the office. I know I should probably add my office as a shipping address so I don't have that headache and can usually be around to receive the packages, but at the same time, I don't need my boss knowing all the tech stuff I buy, he'll just want to borrow it.

[hech54]

DHL here in Europe...
In the U.S.....the USPS has never lost a package of mine within the borders of the U.S.

[LSchafroth]

[quote="rallynavvieAnd if you live in a bad area where even a seemingly secure location can be picked up by local kids who case the delivery trucks you would be glad they didn't just leave the package.[/quote]

Luckily I live in a decent town. I don;t think I've locked my doors to my house in 20 years. Oh, crap did I just say that outloud? Guys, don't tell anyone.

My neighbor comes home during the day. She is a teacher and works 1 block away. She checks for stuff like that for me and will take them into her house or take it inside for me. They have full access to our house and visa versa.

LS

[LSchafroth]

FEDEx makes you sign for everything and doesn't give a shit whether their pickup location is 32 miles from me. So I never get the item.

I just had a FedEx delivery to me on a Saturday and I did not have to sign and it was unusually warm and the chick was HOT with tight shorts, so I must change my vote.

LS

[Mylan23]

I always go to the post office. It's really convenient for me. I have used other means of delivery transportation and they are fine too.

[Mr. Dweezel]

In my area most of them are okay.
It's just some of the employees sometimes that mess things up.

That doesn't really apply to the companies altogether because I think
most of the people try to give decent service.

[Faustus]

So many problems with UPS. I'll stick with FedEx any day

[hech54]

My question is:
Why do all of the UPS drivers look like 70's porn stars with their Village People mustaches and sunglasses?

[lordsmurf]

USPS covers most of my needs.

UPS always seems to hire dumbfucks that drop my packages in the muddy flower bed, thereby ruining my package AND my flowers. They also do not understand the concept of waiting 30 seconds for me to walk to the front door, before driving off and leaving me a stupid pink slip that says I was not home. Also, UPS does not own the UPS Store locations, so you can have a hell of a time claiming insurance, as they are 3rd-party!

Fedex is good for ground or overnight both.

DHL and RPS are mostly useless to me, not easy to use.

[AlecWest]

I buy local if at all possible, even if it ends up being more expensive. There's a certain comfort in having a human face you can "get into" if things don't work right. And generally when buying local, you see what you're getting. Online and catalog retailers usually have a provision in their company policy statements giving them the right to substitute an item for an item that they feel is of equal or greater value.

But, if I have to have something delivered, I've never had any problems with any delivery service - except UPS. One day, I was sitting on my sofa that is right next to the front door. The doorbell rang. And in the 3 seconds it took me to get up, turn, and open the door, I found a yellow UPS slip taped to it ... and the UPS driver with one foot inside his truck. And when I yelled to him, "Hey, I'm home!" he brought me the package ... but had a surly expression on his face like I was "putting him out."

Two doors down from me, a guy ordered a Dell monitor. It never came and UPS said they delivered it. He was still hassling with Dell to get his monitor when, a day later, he got a knock at his door. A kid who lived across the street from him had his Dell monitor in a wheelbarrow (grin). UPS had delivered it to his house and he just put it in the garage. He then told his parents about the package arrival, the parents looked at the box and saw it was for their neighbor ... and asked the kid to put it in a wheelbarrow and take it to him.

The problem with all delivery services is that the "drivers" don't make the timeliness rules. I suspect pointy-headed managers at all delivery services give their delivery people schedules and timelines that are unreasonable except in perfect traffic situations where everyone is home and answers on the first knock/ring. And delivery people make up for these unrealistic timeline expectations the only way they can - by cutting as many corners as possible, usually at the expense of the customer.

[lordsmurf]

There's a certain comfort in having a human face you can "get into" if things don't work right.

A-freaking-men! I wholeheartedly agree!

[Ron B]

I ship expensive camera gear all over the world and receive camera and computer gear on a regular basis as well, so I'm very familiar with all types of shipping.
First off, I will say that the price of shipping has gone through the roof in the past few years. International shipping is a real job, lots of paperwork and plenty of delays.
USPS is the cheapest, but they are the worst of the bunch. They do OK with letters, but packages are regularly lost or damaged. Insurance with them is worthless. They won't say so, but the USPS is part of the US government, you can't sue them for damages. No self respecting business ships anything of value with the US Post Office.
UPS used to be the best service and value. Like some of the others here, my UPS driver was a friend of mine for many years. During this time, I recieved UPS packages with only my name and the city on it from overseas customers who did not have my address. To be fair, this part of San Diego County was much smaller then, there's two million more people here now. Recently, UPS seems to have gone downhill a bit. Packages often come damaged, their rates have gone up(way up at the "UPS Stores" which charge more than if you take a package to a UPS terminal), so I don't use them much anymore.
Winner by semi-default is FedEx. FedEx Air has always been the best choice for international shipping, now I use them almost all the time. FedEx Ground rates are often lower than UPS and you can drop packages off at numerous Kinkos-FedEx locations where the rates are the same as taking the package to a FedEx terminal.

[rallynavvie]

The UPS Stores are franchises and don't get much commission from UPS so they often tack on a fee to supplement their commission. I'd heard they stopped this practice though? If so I hope UPS raised their package commissions.

FedEx Kinko's is an operating company of FedEx and are all corporate-managed in the US so are essentially just FedEx ship terminals with copy services. In fact I think Kinko's took over all the customer interaction at the ship centers as well.

[Faustus]

The UPS Stores are franchises and don't get much commission from UPS so they often tack on a fee to supplement their commission. I'd heard they stopped this practice though? If so I hope UPS raised their package commissions.

They were Mailboxs Etc. I think and there was ZERO change other then a marketing deal and overnight rebranding.