Tracking Shopsmith Shipments Online

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Wed May 14, 2008 7:04 pm

Given recent discussions regarding Fed Ex Ground and numerous concerns raised by others I gave a good deal consideration to posting todays experience. Let me begin by saying I am not unhappy with either Shopsmith or Fed Ex.

Last night I became concerned that an order shipped by Shopsmith last Thursday had not yet arrived. It generally takes 3 business days for me to receive an order via Fed Ex Ground. I went online and review the tracking entries. I discovered the package had bounced back and forth between two points repeatedly prior to being returned to Shopsmith. A call to Fed Ex this morning netted me the satisfaction of having their customer service folks scratching their heads trying to figure out what was going on. The Local distrubition lady called me mid morning and explained she was baffled. She also explained that both she and my local driver were shocked and surproised. Both explained that if a package from shopsmith had arrived in their hands with my name on it, even if addressed to an incorrect address I would have received it in a timely fashion. I asked how that could happen and she laughed that my shipments from Shopsmith are so frequent they know me.

I don't dare share that tid bit with my wife. She would just spend more on quilters sewing machines. The good news is that they were to make changes in order to insure this situation would not repeat itself.

The most important part of my tirade is the realization that I need to track a package daily on the internet. That way if I see unusaly patterns in shipping I can call and likley short circuit a problem.

Then a call to Jan at Shopsmith confirmed that in fact my package had arrived at Shopsmith this AM and would be double checked for accuracy of the address and reshipped yet today. I love friendly folks who make stuff right. Thanks Jan, Fed Ex Ground and Shopsmith.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Wed May 14, 2008 10:43 pm

Jim,
I can't believe that your not unhappy with FedUp. My last Shopsmith order was broken into two shipments because of availability at SS. The first shipment went from Ohio to Kentucky, then California, before finally making it back to Missouri. My latest shipment, which I am still waiting on went from Ohio to Kentucky to Lenexa, KS and then on to Wichita, KS. I emailed FedUp and they said the package was routed to the wrong distribution center. DUH! You think? Therefore, I am not at all happy with FedUp. I'll take UPS any day over FedUp.

Bruce

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Thu May 15, 2008 12:16 am

Well, with these two stories by Jim and Bruce, it seems that my experience is not an isolated case. (see: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=1153&highlight=FedUp ) It seems that FedUp has a recurring problem, one that, according to Jim, was fixed for future shipments, for him. Well Jim, for your sake, I hope you are right. In the mean time, if SS gave more shipping options (read that as UPS), I wood not be able to complain about MY choice of shippers.

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Thu May 15, 2008 5:29 pm

My worst fear is realized. My desire in posting was to outline thaat online searches done in a timely fashion just might short circuit a problem and offer my own satisfaction, Fed Ex (or any other shipper) an opportunity to get a grasp on a problem as it occures and for shopsmith to have a chance to see in real time what could be creating an issue. With all of the searches and phone calls just maybe someone somewher can receive the necessary training to make the system work. Anger does notheung but raise my blood pressure. Working toward a solution lowers it. Jim

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:52 pm

fjimp wrote:My worst fear is realized. My desire in posting was to outline thaat online searches done in a timely fashion just might short circuit a problem and offer my own satisfaction, Fed Ex (or any other shipper) an opportunity to get a grasp on a problem as it occures and for shopsmith to have a chance to see in real time what could be creating an issue. With all of the searches and phone calls just maybe someone somewher can receive the necessary training to make the system work. Anger does notheung but raise my blood pressure. Working toward a solution lowers it. Jim

Hi Jim,
I can appreciate your reason for starting this thread, but, I do use the tracking systems available, and I did call FedUp on the very day that they posted the...shall we say, interesting route, that my shipment had taken. They could not explain it. I do not know what else I could have done to "short circuit" the problem. I am not using your thread to complain about FedUp, rather, like you, I am continuing to try to solve the problem: I think that SS should offer UPS as a shipping method.

I worked for a company for a 12 year period, selling tools and supplies for the automotive industry. We used every shipping method available to us. We did not limit ourselves or our customers choices. I think that SS could do the same thing.