I ordered an XL H1 from B&H and 3 HDV tapes from Buy.com. Both packages arrived the same day, same truck. I wasn't home. They have my signature on file, so they left the camera at my front door, but they did not leave the $15 tapes because they needed that signature in person. :)

Best,
Christopher

Yikes. Glad it made it. I recently had an Apple Quad 2.5 sitting under my carport for 4 days while I was on vacation many states away. Got back and tracked it and it said delivered. Sure enough...$4,000 sitting there all week. Crazy...Fed Ex is lucky I'm honest.

KW

yeah this week UPS wouldn't drop off some $16 reflectors at my door but they did leave my $1000 color meter on my step in clear view from the street!

About 20 years ago a new export customer from Spain started buying music gear from me.He said he was sending me a bank check or cashiers check. When I came home from work, there was a big fed ex( i think it was fed ex) pouch leaning up against my front door. When I opened the pouch. there was about $15000 in travelers checks (100's) signed by the guy, with the 'pay to" left open....
True story.
Bruce Yarock

Gah?!!! I just ordered my new Sony A1 from Melbourne and it ships into sydney where I live within 3 days.... I work 10am-6pm for the next 3 days.... I'm really scared now.

When I bought my cameras a few years ago, they had the GL1 in stock, and were going to have the XL1s delivered to my house. They said it would be delivered either Friday or Saturday. Well, Friday wasn't a problem, but I was going to be gone all day Saturday. So, thinking ahaead, I asked them not to ship until the next week when I would be home, and make it so I needed to sign for it.

Saturday rolls around, and I just happen to stop by the house, in between things. Sure enough, sitting on my porchstep, was my new XL1. That driver is lucky it was still there.

When I bought my DVX along with other things... Fed Ex left it at the door... their excuse was that the old owner of the house add put a waiver on the address to just leave things... totally ignoring the request from EVS to make sure that I sign for it... which was my request...

I can not believe al the stories! Am I glad that here in the Netherlands the standard procedure is that if you're not at home they deliver it at your neighbour and put a message in your mailbox. If that's not working (no neighbours or not at home as well) then you can pick it up at the depot.

They used to do that here in the US too (maybe some areas still do), but nowadays, they might just ring the doorbell -- or not -- as they drop off the package and then dash back to the truck.

Same story as everyone else -- despite "signature required" FedEx routinely just "dumps and dashes" my shipments. I just happened to look out the front door one day and saw a box with an XL-H1 inside sitting on my doorstep (this was a unit that was supposed to have been returned to the retailer due to a previous shipping snafu, so I was totally NOT expecting it).

For those of us old enough to remember the days before iPods, cell phones, personal computers, and FedEx, the overnight shipping industry is truly an amazing phenomenon and service. Still, FedEx has a precise system solidly in place, and that leaves little excuse for these kind of problems.

PS: Since this thread really isn't about the XL-H1 per se, I'm going to move it for now to the Totem Pole (maybe one of the other moderators will find a better home for it, but this'll do for now).

That cracks me up, guys! Because I've had similar things happen. A gigantic box with an XL1 was delivered to me, but at least they had the decency to make sure someone was home. Unfortunately, 1 month later I ordered a deck and it was left on the front porch.

The most idiotic for me was when I ordered a PowerBook recently and I wanted to make sure I was home for it. But I had to run to the store for 10 minutes. I got back and there it was, in front of my door. Best part? All over the box it said SIGNATURE REQUIRED. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I bought it around Christmas...Fed Ex did that and another when my newest copy of Final Cut (Studio) was left in front of my door with the SIGNATURE REQUIRED stamped all over it.

I've heard horror stories of those computers, etc. being stolen from nice neighborhoods because the thieves probably saw the computer boxes in the garbage throughout the month.

heath

It's good you can track your shipment now so you have a idea where it is.

i've had so much equipment delivered that the UPS guy, who i love, gave me a copy of his schedule, so that if i miss him, i can chase down his truck later. he's the best! his son is going to film school.....

Meryem,

That's awesome!

heath

I hope nobody's computer or camera was on this plane that landed in Philadelphia yesterday. On the news they pointed out that only part of the shipment was destined for the Philadelphia area, and the majority of packages were headed to different locations through their hub....

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/13825239.htm

Anyone expecting a package that was on a UPS flight that caught fire on its approach to Philadelphia International Airport early yesterday is likely to have a long wait - if the package arrives at all.

United Parcel Service Inc. officials must wait until federal investigators give permission to board the plane before checking on the condition of the packages, said Mark Guiffre, a company spokesman.

For what it's worth, the $15 HDV tapes are arguably unnecessary. That's a decision you have to make for yourself, but I've shot many hours of HDV footage on standard miniDV tapes and had fewer problems with dropouts than I did with the same tapes in my DV cameras. I ran a few HDV tapes when I first bought my FX1 and then thought better of it: if I had it to do over again I'd skip that step.

This sounds like a totally ridiculous thing for these companies to do, but there is a very simple explanation why they leave the package.

I have talked to drivers etc. many times over the years, especially when I was in business. If these companies, FedEx, UPS etc. had to actually follow their own rules and procedures, they could not deliver all of the packages they do. It is more cost effective to replace lost goods than to slow the drivers down getting signatures and redelivering packages another day.

One benefit we as customers get out of this practice is that losses and damages are more likely to get paid to us, without much hassle. Technically, all boxes should be opened and the contents examined before the driver leaves. Just can’t happen! So they tend to assume the customer is almost always right! :)

Mike

P.S.: I write this while I sit here and wait for my latest package from B&H. :)

Mike

That's funny

When my DVX100 was delivered back in 2003 FED EX merely left it on the doorstep. $4000.00 just sitting there all friggin day. My wife was home; the story is they rolled up, dropped it off and bailed, not even bothering to see if anyone was home.

After few minutes my wife went to see what she thought was a noise out front in the driveway and door and sure enough my camera was there but no signature required apparently.

I find UPS and FEDEX to be too big for their brithces (and their drivers have the customer service skills of an android)

I bought a gun off the internet one time and had it shipped to my brother who is an FFL (Federal Firearms License) holder with signature required obviously.

UPS left it on his door.

I just remembered quite possibly the strangest thing--a company left a $30,000 199-something DVCPro camera in front of my friend's business (this was in 1997 or 1998, I can't remember). It wasn't there when they showed up (they didn't even know it had been left) and their neighbor, another company, brought it over. I bet he had a heart attack, because he never would've had known it was stolen, if that was the case, until he called the delivery company.

heath

A few months back I found a parcel in my back garden, soaking wet. Apparently, the delivery guy, when he found no one home, had gone round the side of the house and just thrown the parcel over the wall into my garden. Best thing was, the parcel wasn't even for me - it was for a similar address several miles away. Thats why I don't buy things off the internet - it may be the 21st century way to shop but its still delivered as if it was the 19th century

<snip>Am I glad that here in the Netherlands the standard procedure is that if you're not at home they deliver it at your neighbour..<snkp>

Would be nice if they did that here too. Right now its just so much hassle to steal the neighbor's packages :)

Haha, Well they do have to sign for it as well so you and the postal service have proof the they got it... ;-)

There seems no limit to horror stories about deliveries. Did anyone say that they'd actually lost something big that was left unguarded? Maybe the thieves that might break into a house, see the package sitting out there and figure it's a trap?

I've solved my insecurities about deliveries by posting a large message on the front door, telling them not to leave any packages, but to return them to their depot, where I'll pick them up after hours.

My own best story is when I was expecting a $3,000. camcorder. I instructed the dealer to send it to my place of work, which was open for business 18 hrs. a day. When it didn't show up on the scheduled date, I thought little of it, as I rarely get anything on time. I almost never used my front door at home, as I parked around back and used that door. Two days later, a neighbor phoned and told me a package had been sitting on my front porch all that time. So, I opened the door and found the camcorder still there, but no thanks to the delivery company. Even though the shipping order had my work address on it for delivery, they brought it to my home (the billing address) and dumped it.

I have similar trouble with my bank. Whenever I need to order new blank checks, I instruct the bank to have them sent to the nearest branch, where I will pick them up. Every time, they send them to my home mailbox, despite my request, which they say they will follow. Imagine the misery you'd have if thieves got a box of 200 personalized blank checks. When this bunch of checks runs out, a new bank will be found.

Sometimes it's not people that you have to worry about, but the neighborhood dogs that like to carry your stuff off. When I went inside to get something, the dog from next door came down and actually swallowed one of the sockets from my socket set. He ate rocks too because of a mineral deficiency. I recovered my socket shortly after it went through his system. Anyway, FedEx left my $1500 Denecke slate on the front door step that is rarely if ever used. I just happened to see it. So, if it had been there too long the dog could have gotten it.

i've had so much equipment delivered that the UPS guy, who i love, gave me a copy of his schedule, so that if i miss him, i can chase down his truck later. he's the best! his son is going to film school.....
Yep. I occasionally intercept the UPS truck when I absolutely, positively cannot wait!