When a Long Island collectibles seller heard reports from customers that items were arriving damaged, he became a one-man investigative reporting team and decided to watch workers in action at the local FedEx store. He was surprised to watch an employee picking up packages and flinging them onto a truck. Yes, even packages labeled “fragile.” [More]
packages
Hilton’s DoubleTree Hotel Now Offering Fee Packages For Extras Like WiFi, Drink Service
By 12.28.15
Just like airlines, hotels charge customers an array of fees for everything from WiFi access, minibar usage, premium coffee, and other little extras. Instead of surprising guests with these costs when they check in (or, even worse, when they go to pay their bill at checkout), one hotel company is experimenting with packages of add-ons that customers can select when they check in. [More]
UPS Having Trouble Handling Holiday Avalanche Of Online Orders
By 12.11.15
We already know UPS is renting additional vehicles to help with the onslaught of holiday deliveries, but it seems that’s not enough to help the company stay ahead of the avalanche of online orders this time of year. [More]
FedEx Expects To Handle A Record 317 Million Packages Between Black Friday And Christmas
By 10.26.15
As consumers continue to rely on online retailers to fill their holiday shopping needs, FedEx says this year will be busier than ever before: between Black Friday and Christmas, the company says it expects to handle 317 million packages. Which is a pretty impressive number — but what’s FedEx going to do to make sure those packages actually reach their destinations in time? [More]
USPS Denies It Has Missing Damaged Package, Still Turns Down Customer’s Insurance Claim After Finding It
By 10.23.15
It’s always a good idea to purchase insurance for your packages, especially if you’re mailing something valuable. But even having that protection didn’t keep one USPS customer from ending up with broken equipment and no insurance payment to cover the cost of replacing or fixing it. [More]
Police: If You’re Waiting On Packages Filled With Marijuana, Feel Free To Come Pick It Up
By 10.23.15
We know how annoying it is when a package you’re expecting gets lost in the mail, and so do police in Hazlet, N.J. That’s why they want the public to know that they’ve got boxes filled with around 50 pounds of marijuana that was delivered to the wrong person just waiting for its rightful owner to claim it. [More]
UPS Increasing Fees, Fuel Surcharges For Larger, Oversized Packages — Just In Time For The Holidays
By 10.16.15
Shipping that new bike to your niece this holiday season will cost more than it did last year if you’re using UPS: the company announced that it’s upping the fees it charges customers to ship large, oversized packages as well as raising fuel surcharges on those items. [More]
Amazon Prime Packages Reportedly Overwhelming College Campuses
By 10.6.15
If you think Amazon Prime is a reasonable deal at $99/year, imagine being a college student who only has to pay half that amount. Apparently, so many college students are using the service that school mailrooms are being overwhelmed with smiling cardboard boxes. [More]
Amazon Flex Launches In Seattle, Allows Regular Joes To Earn Money Delivering Prime Now Packages
By 9.29.15
Amazon’s latest attempt to quickly and cheaply deliver packages got underway in Seattle on Tuesday with the launch of the company’s consumer-turned-courier program, Amazon Flex. [More]
USPS Says It Tried To Deliver My Package, But Home Security Video Shows Otherwise
By 9.29.15 — Updated: 5.25.17
UPDATE: Tony says his local postmaster arrived on his doorstep the day after his story was posted on Consumerist, to personally apologize and get more information about his situation. [More]
Target To Test Program That Gives More Specific Delivery Window For Online Orders
By 8.19.15
Back in February, Target upped its shipping game by reducing the amount of money consumers had to spend to qualify for free shipping from $50 to $25. Now the big box retailer is taking its quest to attract more online shoppers a step farther, by testing a system that better pinpoints just when customers can expect deliveries to appear at their doorstep. [More]
Amazon’s New Seattle Facility Reportedly Set To Test “Amazon Flex” Package Pickup Service
By 8.19.15
When making a purchase through Amazon there are several options for delivery, depending on where you live: free-two day shipping with a Prime membership, Sunday delivery via USPS, Prime Now one-hour delivery, drop-offs at an Amazon Locker, and, of course, traditional several-day delivery. Now, it appears the e-commerce giant is working on another, secret, service at a soon-to-open facility near Seattle. [More]
Mail Carrier Wedges Package in Box, Doesn’t Have To Leave Vehicle
By 8.13.15
The weather in Alabama, where reader Alison lives, has been extremely warm lately. If she lived in an old cartoon, mercury would be bursting out of the top of the thermometers. With temperatures of about one hundred degrees every day, she doesn’t really blame her mail carrier for not wanting to get up. However, what takes more work: walking to the porch, or shoving a package in the mailbox so firmly that the customer can’t get it out? [More]
Postal Worker Accused Of Delivering 22,000 Pieces Of Mail Straight To His Garage
By 7.23.15
Tempting though it may be for a postal worker to swipe any of the millions of pieces of mail flying around the country, most refrain, and our packages and letters get where they’re supposed to go. But every once in a while, we have the misfortune to hear about a mail carrier gone rogue. Like a Philadelphia postal worker who authorities say squirreled away tens of thousands of pieces of mail. [More]
Bubble Wrap: Now With Less Pop
By 7.2.15
We’ve all been there: You receive a fragile packaged carefully wrapped in Bubble Wrap that’s just begging for you to start pinching the plastic between your fingers to create that joyous popping sound. The days of that sweet sound may be over as the biggest company in the Bubble Wrap game is revamping its signature product by removing its popping possibility. [More]
Are Your Packages Really More Secure With UPS’ New Access Point Service?
By 5.22.15
Last October, United Parcel Service announced it would attempt to cut down on delivery stops and protect consumers’ packages from sticky fingers with its Access Point service that drops off packages at local businesses where you can pick them up at your convenience. While the idea seems great in theory – who doesn’t want to protect their unattended packages? – in practice, it appears there are still a few kinks to work out: Mainly that people aren’t aware of the service, and the packages may not be as secure as we’d hoped. [More]
USPS Driver Shows Off Athleticism By Throwing Package, Running Lap Around Delivery Van
By 3.26.15
Wait a minute — are the Delivery Driver Games coming up and no one warned us? Why else would a United States Postal Service worker appear to be fine-tuning her athletic prowess by chucking a delicate package onto a porch before a quick lap around her delivery van? [More]
Waffle House Teams Up With App That Recruits Travelers To Deliver Packages
By 2.24.15
The next time you go to Waffle House, you could pick up more than a stack of syrup-covered breakfast delight: The restaurant chain has teamed up with a startup company to work with college students and other road trippers willing to ferry packages around the country on their travels. [More]
