What do you guys think about Signature Confirmation on deliveries?

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BlueAqua

Gawd
Joined
Jul 24, 2004
Messages
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I bought a two things from Koolance and they shipped them with a signature required. I can understand their point of view but that is a major inconvenience to me, and will cost me more money and time to drive to the UPS distribution center to pick it up.

I've known Evga to require signature on delivery but no other retailer I've shopped at requires it. I avoid places that do and Koolance just made the list. Does delivery confirmation provide the same protection for them? There is some risk but they risk of losing business by requiring this damn signature.

I guess they expect you to take a day off of work so you can wait for the package to arrive safely, all while you are losing potential time/money. I was really looking forward to messing with that stuff tomorrow, but I won't be able to for a few days now, and it's going to cost me more time and money than I anticipated. It really pisses me off.

I'd probably pay just a bit extra not to have this inconvenience, like a personal package insurance policy.

What do you guys think? Does it affect your decision whether to buy from that retailer or not?
 
Word. I got signature confirmation from OCZ and Fedex 1. thought my house was an apartment and knocked on the wrong door, 2. Knocked when nobody was home.

Funny thing about it was that the person in customer support told me the Fedex hub was open on Saturday--so I drove the ~10 minutes to get to the place and of course it was closed.
 
potatorage said:
Can't you just sign the slip and leave it for the driver?
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I think most require a direct signature. This may be an option, but I surely won't get it the first delivery, maybe the 2nd attempt.

Menelmarar said:
Do you have a work place? I send most of my purchases here.
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I don't care for my personal life and business life to intermingle. It's not really a place that's good to recieve personal stuff, and not my place to expect people to waste their time to get it to me.
 
I've been noticing this more and more lately. Maybe I need to read the "shipping policies" b4 I buy because I never find out till I track the package that I need to be home to sign for it.

I'm with you in that I think it stinks. Waiting around the house and can't go anywhere, plus using up my personal/vacation days for no good reason. But much of the stuff is too big to fit in my car so I can't go get it anyway from the terminal.
 
W/O signature required they be out of business real quick, more so with the mentality that most people in today's world where honesty and responsibility has gone out the window.

I usually tell my customers to give me a Commercial Address to avoid the hassle of having to be home to sign for it but I rather loose the sale than loose the money because the package was deliver to the wrong address... allegedly :rolleyes:

So, +1 on give your work address when buying parts online. :D
 
fedex hubs are open on SAT just in the AM tho

get a mailbox at one of those shipping stores and let them sign for your stuff if its so inconvenient
 
Doesn't influence my decision to do business with a retailer if they send something signature required. Sometimes you can sign the delivery notice and they will leave it for you (but they have to make a delivery attempt first). Apple does this, for example. If it's more than about $50, I send it to either my office or my wife's. UPS is fantastic in my neighborhood - driver always leaves things in the back of my house, will take it to the neighbor across the street if I leave a note (we have an arrangement for packages requiring signature; she works from home), etc. USPS is pretty good too.

If someone uses FedEx, I'll buy somewhere else or spend the extra money to get it in a store locally. I will never ever do business with FedEx. I have had one package "misdelivered" and one stolen in the last year. I realize it's not the same for everyone in every neighborhood, but FedEx in the Portland, OR area is terrible.
 
Most companies require a signature if the item is over a specified dollar amount. I know Newegg does and I for one believe this is an excellent policy to have because it protects both the buyer and the seller.

All of the major delivery companies allow you to leave a signed slip on the door saying that you are fine with them leaving the package. It usually occurs after the first delivery attempt, but what is one extra day of waiting.

If you can't ship it to your workplace, then ship it to a family member or a friend who is home during the hours of delivery.

I personally would rather be slightly inconvenienced by having to drive to get my package then to just have it left on my doorstep if the value is over $100. Refusing to deal with companies that require signatures for delivery will quickly leave you out of purchasing items off of the Internet.
 
motolube said:
W/O signature required they be out of business real quick, more so with the mentality that most people in today's world where honesty and responsibility has gone out the window.

I usually tell my customers to give me a Commercial Address to avoid the hassle of having to be home to sign for it but I rather loose the sale than loose the money because the package was deliver to the wrong address... allegedly :rolleyes:

So, +1 on give your work address when buying parts online. :D
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Amazon and Newegg have never required a signature, and they're doing well. The only package that's ever been "lost" was delivered to the wrong address, and they signed for it, but Fedex mistakingly dropped it to the wrong address. I really don't think a signature adds that much value. My neighbor down the street did come by and drop it off the next day, so nothing was lost, except some respect for Fedex.

I ended up taking the day off today, just to nip this problem in the bud, but I won't buy anything else directly from Koolance. I don't hate them as a company but there are a plethora of other places I'd rather do business with. When competition is fierce, small details can make the difference.
 
BlueAqua said:
Amazon and Newegg have never required a signature, and they're doing well. The only package that's ever been "lost" was delivered to the wrong address, and they signed for it, but Fedex mistakingly dropped it to the wrong address. I really don't think a signature adds that much value. My neighbor down the street did come by and drop it off the next day, so nothing was lost, except some respect for Fedex.

I ended up taking the day off today, just to nip this problem in the bud, but I won't buy anything else directly from Koolance. I don't hate them as a company but there are a plethora of other places I'd rather do business with. When competition is fierce, small details can make the difference.
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I've had to sign for packages from both Amazon and Newegg. I don't know what the dollar threshold is, but they both require signatures after reaching a certain price point.
 
If I spend a lot of money on something I don't mind; if you if you pay attention to the date it is to be delivered you can call ahead to UPS and other big shipping companies and tell them to hold it for you. Usually if they require signature I will do this and just pick it up after work; about the same 'inconvenience' level as driving to a store. Also, to others it might be a 'godsend' dependent of their neighborhood, some don't like to leave high dollar equipment on their porch either. Such as the time UPS dropped 4 rims on my front porch I paid a couple thousand for...
 
man, you guys complain when they won't leave it at your door, and then you complain when they will leave it at your door.
 
BlueAqua said:
...was delivered to the wrong address, and they signed for it
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This exactly has happened to me before. That is when you realize that signature confirmation means crap.

The package was sent to my workplace, as is with most of my purchases. We have a regular driver that arrives daily. Yet, all FedEx could tell me was that the package was delivered and some guy named "John Doe" signed for it. Then they asked me if I KNEW who "John Doe" was. Ummmm, NO.

I asked the driver if he remembered the package. He was confident that it was never loaded onto his truck.

But, FedEx automatically assumed that the package was delivered to the correct address, and refused to admit that they might have screwed up... even though there was never any "John Doe" who worked here.

They had a signature, so their final decision was that it must have arrived here and was not their responsibility.
 
I work from home so this usually isn't a problem, the problem occurs when FedEx don't even knock on the door and just does a turn around in my driveway and won't wait the 45 secs for me to get there.
The idiot can see my truck there in the driveway, I've reported him multiple times for this crap.
 
Well, all are better than AudioAdvisor, whom I specifically specified USPS (since we have those little parcel lockers around here...), paid the extra 3usd or so for the service, and those idiots used FedEX instead...


I don't even know if it's possible to screw something like this up, so I'll never buy from those guys again.
 
I was thinking about this the other day as I signed the (never updated and out of date) UPS signature machine.

The machine just flatout sucks ass at recognizing signatures and I am 99.9999% sure UPS knows about that. It skips and misses at least 25% of my signature always, and the last time I used it AS HARD AS POSSIBLE it still skipped and totally funked up my signature to where it was not recognizable at all as mine. Of course the UPS guy always says to me "Don't worry about it" when I ask to reset and try again to get it right (more than 1 UPS guy has told me that).... :rolleyes:

I can't complain, my shipping costs nothing usually though.... UPS needs serious help with customer care. I realize its a pain and you're in a hurry but some of the guys just don't do their job...... A LOT!
 
Ezteh said:
I work from home so this usually isn't a problem, the problem occurs when FedEx don't even knock on the door and just does a turn around in my driveway and won't wait the 45 secs for me to get there.
The idiot can see my truck there in the driveway, I've reported him multiple times for this crap.
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I've had this problem with the UPS guy lately... he is supposed to come pick up packages and I have sent multiple tags out. He says he has come over 3 times yet I don't think he knows I was here every day he suposedly said he came..... and he came and left ONE UPS note so I think I am going to take that advice and report the guy for not doing his job right. I am waiting again today and he has yet to come (for the 5th time, no joke he only came the first time)
 
Doesn't bother me one way or the other. I work from home. Even when I didn't, if I wasn't home when the delivery came, they would leave the packages at my complex's office who is authorized to sign on my behalf.
 
Signature confirmation is the bane of my existence at times. Brands always want to ship shit with signature confirmation for reviews even when I tell them not to because there is no way to get their packages if they do. Then they do and wonder why I tell UPS to send it back and tell them to send another one and yes your review will be delayed now.


weuntouchable said:
I've had to sign for packages from both Amazon and Newegg. I don't know what the dollar threshold is, but they both require signatures after reaching a certain price point.
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For Amazon it must be more than a couple thousand dollars.
 
It's a bit of a pain but I understand. After two and a half weeks I finally received the Lenovo remote I ordered, I'm never around when he is in our neighborhood. He finally caught my fiance, I'm just glad he didn't send it back.
 
Signature confirmation = no good.

I'm a college student. My schedule varies by the day & there is no way I can accommodate the often-random times the delivery gets here at, especially if I have no idea in advance when they'll be around.
 
BlueAqua, let me break it down for you... w/o trying to insult you in any way shape or form.

BlueAqua said:
Amazon and Newegg have never required a signature, and they're doing well.
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I do business with both, matter of fact, I just made a purchase from Newegg yesterday and Amazon today, I already got an invoice and a tracking number and I am sure that UPS will make me sign for the packages when they come to my shop, to wich... I will gladly do so.

Base on this little tid bit, I can safely say that signature is required but, I could be wrong.

BlueAqua said:
The only package that's ever been "lost" was delivered to the wrong address, and they signed for it, but Fedex mistakingly dropped it to the wrong address.
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Therein lies the key word... someone had to sign for it.

It boils down to this... had you not gotten your package, Fedex was going to pay Newegg the lost item so Newegg does not loose in any way, shape or form... any other way, Newegg not only lost money on the lost item but now, it has to ship you another one so... total items lost = 2 (twice the money lost.

BlueAqua said:
I really don't think a signature adds that much value. My neighbor down the street did come by and drop it off the next day, so nothing was lost, except some respect for Fedex.
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WHAT??? Do you not see the whole picture here? Somebody DID sign for that Package? worse comes to worse, Fedex is liable for the package and not the sender...

BlueAqua said:
I ended up taking the day off today, just to nip this problem in the bud, but I won't buy anything else directly from Koolance. I don't hate them as a company but there are a plethora of other places I'd rather do business with. When competition is fierce, small details can make the difference.
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And that is your prerogative, unfortunate, due to the economy and the nature of some people out there, I still maintain that if you don't require a signature, you are just asking for trouble... now a days, honesty has gone out the window for the most part.
AVT said:
Signature confirmation = no good.

I'm a college student. My schedule varies by the day & there is no way I can accommodate the often-random times the delivery gets here at, especially if I have no idea in advance when they'll be around.
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The signature can only make sense if they also verified the ID of the person who made the signature and took a copy of the ID. It's a total scam designed to shift responsibility around between the players in the chain, and guess who's left holding the bag? Yup, you.

It's no different than how the airports don't let you into the boarding area unless you have an ID and its name matches the name printed on an e-ticket...that you printed out at home on your own computer on regular paper. Without verifying the ticket information against the airline's ticket database, the only thing that system tests is if you know how to print.

There's a word for it, it's called Security Theater, and it's for chumps.
 
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