Are Airborne total flakes?

[Muse]

I bought a CRT monitor from Dell in January and there was a dead pixel (black spot), and I called Dell and they set up an RMA. They had me make an "appointment" for Airborne Express to come and leave a tag and/or pick up the monitor. I picked out my day but they never came. I don't mean they didn't come that day, no, they didn't come at all. Meantime I came to realize that others were having far worse problems with my monitor (NEC FP2141), so I decided to keep it and that was the end of that.

9 days ago on Wednesday 08/20, I ordered another monitor (Planar LCD) from Dell and checked out my shipping status and it said that shipment would be by FedEx Ground and they gave the tracking number. It was supposed to have shipped Saturday morning, 08/23. For several days after that FedEx online tracking said the tracking number was invalid and I called Dell, I emailed Dell, and finally I got an email saying that the shipper was actually Airborne, "sorry," and that shipment would be by today (Friday, 08/29) or sooner. Airborne's site, all day today, said it was on the truck, "out for delivery." I stayed home all day today waiting for my new monitor, which was supposedly shipped from Portland, a scant 600 miles, I suppose, from me in Berkeley, CA. It never came. I figured, then, that I wouldn't get it until Tuesday, 13 days after I ordered. I called Airborne at 7:30 PM and complained. The woman said it had been returned to their office. I said "why? Because it was shipped Ground and the driver thought he better deliver the 2 day and overnight stuff first?", I said. She said they could deliver it to me tomorrow. I said I can't wait around all day again, I have things to do in the afternoon. She said I'd get a call in the morning and they would tell me when they could deliver it. I have to think they are pretty flaky. UPS and FedEx never pulled stuff like that with me. I've yet to see Airborne's face at my door. If I hadn't seen their trucks around town I'd think they were a myth.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Why don't you just have AE hold the monitor for pickup? I pick up parts at AE every morning.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Why don't you just have AE hold the monitor for pickup? I pick up parts at AE every morning.

It's an idea. They are supposed to call me before 10:00 tomorrow morning when the trucks go out. I will ask them if I can pick it up instead. The woman I talked to didn't mention that possibility. It will depend on how far it is and when they say they can deliver it. Truly, I can't stay home all day tomorrow and wait for it.

 

[Imported]

Airborne delivered my PL201M in 3 days.. 🙂

 

[Zenmervolt]

I've had great luck with Airborne. Honestly, they've done better for me than either FedEx or UPS.

ZV

 

[MangoTBG]

I can't stand paying for overnight w/ FedEx because they often don't guarantee it until delivery "by 3pm"or often 5pm. That's crap. I could get NextDay from UPS and no mater what, NextDay is guaranteed by like 10 or 11am. Dammit. If I'm going to pay your as$ $40-60 for something to get here the next day, it must beimportant enough for those few hours to mean something. "Oh, that's because you have STANDARD overnight...Oh? Am I not paying enough?


Airborne has been decent to me. I just can't stand paying for one shipping method and getting another. (I've had UPS and USPS take my package back to headquarters even though they CLEARLY saw a sign posted on my door to leave with the front office (Apt.). So I end up getting 2day server for 1day price....as$munches.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Imported
Airborne delivered my PL201M in 3 days.. 🙂

IF they get it to me today, it will be 7 days. If I hadn't complained it would have been (assuming they got it to me Tuesday), 10 days. That's 625 miles in 10 days, 63 miles/day. Whoopie. And they call themselves "Airborne?"

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Why don't you just have AE hold the monitor for pickup? I pick up parts at AE every morning.

I don't know it for a fact but odds are 10 to 1 that they are located next to the Oakland Airport. That's a 25 minute drive in good conditions but on Labor Day Weekend, I'd have to think it would take me an hour and a half to pick it up from their offices and even that may be optimistic. If they can't get it to me this morning I'll have them deliver it Tuesday. I'm not in a hurry to get it but this is ridiculous. When it said online it was out for delivery yesterday I had to assume they would deliver. I attribute the fact they didn't to their wanting to get the one and two day stuff delivered and they just said "screw this guy, he's only Ground." "They'll walk all over you if you let them," is the saying, and I decided to call up and complain. I was ticked off. They know damn well people plan their schedules around thier tracking.

 

[Muse]

Airborne was supposed to call me around 10:00 AM, the time when the trucks go out and tell me approximately when they would deliver, hopefully in the morning. I got a call at 7:56 AM from the same woman I had talked to at 7:30 PM the previous evening and she told me they would call me around 10:00 AM and tell me when in the morning they would deliver. Never got that call. About 2:00 PM I called them and they said they would call the driver and find out what was up, if they could deliver after 6:00 PM when I would get back home. They had me on hold, interminable classical music chopped up and repeated. This went on for maybe 20 minutes and I called them on my cell phone to ask them to call me back on the cell since I had to leave. I got dropped off the line and I called them back and got a person. I was explaining to her when the truck pulled up. I say to the guy "it was supposed to come yesterday and I stayed home all day waiting." He says I should take that up with the "business folks." They are a relatively unprofessional organization compared to UPS and FedEx, and that's an understatement.