I order a lot of stuff off the internet. Car parts, electronic parts, tools, etc. I have found in the last year or two that it is easier and sometimes cheaper to locate what I want, order it and have it delivered than to run all over Birmingham and find that everyone is out of what I need, doesn't stock what I need, or in some cases wants to argue with me and tell me that what I am asking for does not exist.
The bulk of the things I buy are shipped USPS, UPS Ground or Fedex Ground. They all seem to do a good job most of the time. I used to have a problem with UPS periodically loosing their way to my house. I live about 385 feet off the road down what my ladyfriend Linda refers to as a 'lane'. Its more of a bumpy, rutted dirt drive, but that is a story for another time. Back to UPS. They would deliver package after package with no problem and then I would get a post card in the mail saying they could not deliver a certain package because the address, which was the same as they had been delivering to, did not exist. I would call them, tell them that they had just delivered to that address a few days before. They would take down directions and next day the package would be delivered. That all stopped a couple of years ago. They assigned a driver to this route and he was the only one working it. Sometimes he would deliver 3 times in one week. He did get stuck a couple of times, my yard and drive are problematic when wet, but I managed to pull him out with my van and all was well with the world. A month or so ago, I started having a new driver, but still only the one. Apparently he had talked to the previous driver and knew where I was, although it should not be that much trouble to find as there is a big mailbox on the road with 640 in block letters on the side. All continued to be fine. That brings us up to this week. Tuesday a UPS truck pulls up with two people. I think they use a driver and a helper this time of year to expedite the increase in delivers. They delivered my package. I knew from an email notice that I had received that I had another package scheduled for Wednesday. It did not arrive. Yesterday afternoon (Thursday), I checked the UPS website and learned that my package "was undeliverable as addressed." I called their 1-800 number and was told that it was addressed to "640 Hwy 35" which was a non-existent address. I assured the guy I was talking to that it did exist and that UPS delivered here regularly. I gave him explicit directions as to where my house was located. He said the package would be rescheduled for delivery tomorrow (Friday). This morning I checked the UPS website and now my package has a note saying that "a delivery change has been requested" and that the "package will be delivered as requested." Of course the only change that I have requested is that they deliver the package as addressed. I suspect that this is the result of new drivers and the Christmas crush of packages, or at least I hope so. I really don't want things to go back to being like they were in the past.
As for the other two carriers, USPS is doing a good job. Occasionally they leave some thing in my mail box addressed to someone else, but not often. Fedex Ground? They have been good, but I have two packages coming in next week from CompGeeks in California and both were sent Fedex Ground, so we will see.
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