Courier post by FedEx

I never use courier post although in the past I have had things sent to me by courier. I don't really know the reason to use a courier as it is expensive, but assume it is for speed and a quick service. And nowadays the item can be tracked.

So I was quite surprised last week to receive an email from FedEx saying an item was on its way to me. It was the first I knew about it, as the sender hadn't told me anything was coming.

Having never used the tracking service before, I had a look to see progress. The item was sent to FedEx on 6th Nov, and the estimate arrival at Kota Damansara, KL, was 11th by 4.30pm. That didn't seem especially fast to me. Then on 8th, I had an email to say expected arrival would be 13th, not 11th. The service type was FedEx International Priority.

It was quite fascinating to see the tracking updates, these are what came by email -

6th - item registered to FedEx
7th - the shipment was tendered to FedEx Express
8th - item left France in the evening and now expected arrival 13th

But when I looked at FedEx tracking info online, it changed every time I logged in, which seems very odd and unreliable -

The item went from Jersey - Stansted - Charles de Gaulle France - Guangzhou China - Sepang - Kota Damansara.

It left Jersey on 6th and arrived at Sepang on 9th.

6th morning  - item information sent to FedEx (it had originated in Channel Islands)
7th                - item arrived and left Stansted
8th morning  - item arrived Charles de Gaulle France,
8th evening - item arrived and left Guangzhou, China
9th morning - item arrived Sepang , was released by customs
9th morning - item reaches Kota Damansara.  It then sat there over the weekend, 9/10th.

When I got home on the 11th afternoon, I found it under my door. Thankfully it had been left without a signature, which saves me the hassle of arranging another delivery time.