Frustration is mounting over FedEx deliveries that have been delayed days or weeks in the Toledo area — or never show up at all.
The delays involve items of all types and sizes: license plates, dog food, phones, a mattress. But many of the shipment woes appear to have FedEx's Perrysburg facility in common. After moving normally through other regional hubs, residents said their packages often arrive in Perrysburg and stall out.
"That place is like package purgatory," said Toledo resident Seth Seamon.
Mr. Seamon said two consecutive food subscription orders recently sat for days at the facility and both boxes spoiled. And a video game controller he ordered more than two weeks ago only arrived Tuesday after similar Perrysburg problems.
The sprawling property was filled with dozens of semitrailers on Tuesday afternoon as more trucks arrived at the gate. Signs along the road advertised package handler openings earning up to $20 an hour to start, plus up to $840 monthly bonuses and $5,250 annual tuition reimbursement.
A FedEx spokesman, Dana Hardek, attributed the problems generally to the "explosive growth of e-commerce" during the pandemic coupled with a "severe ongoing industry workforce shortage."
"We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused by delays in the Toledo area and appreciate our customers’ patience as we implement contingencies, including securing additional package handler resources, to restore service levels," Ms. Hardek wrote in an email.
FedEx is competing for employees with companies like UPS and Amazon, which are also offering generous pay and perks for package handlers and similar roles. UPS package-handler openings in Maumee, for instance, were listed this week at $21 an hour for day shifts and $26 at night. A similar Amazon fulfillment center gig in Rossford was listed at about $18 an hour plus a $2,000 sign-on bonus.
The complaints about FedEx's Perrysburg hub were multiplying quickly in Google reviews and on social media in recent days. Many one-star reviewers on Google appeared perplexed about why their package had seemingly disappeared at the facility. Others, getting no answers elsewhere, turned to tweeting at the company's @FedExHelp account on Twitter.
"What the heck is going on in Perrysburg, Ohio? I've had 2 packages just sitting there since Friday," wrote one man. Another user asked: "Can someone please tell me what's going on and why nothing makes it out of there?"
Mr. Seamon said a lack of answers from FedEx's customer service was more frustrating than the delays. One customer service rep sent him a link to tracking information he already had.
"It's not the delay, it's the fact that nobody can do anything," he said.
Perrysburg resident Tim Goligoski said he ran into similar dead-ends with FedEx customer service. Eventually, he said, a customer service rep told him his package — which included car license plates and registration — had not been unloaded and was still sitting in a truck at the facility several days after arriving.
Mr. Goligoski said he finally got the package Wednesday — 16 days late.
Toledo resident Deanna Nagengast said two of her recent orders — prescription dog food for her Chesapeake Bay Retriever — haven't showed up, and she's out about $200. She went on Twitter and realized lots of people were "losing it" just like her due to frustrations over the delays and no updated delivery dates.
"Once it gets to the Perrysburg hub," Ms. Nagengast said, "it just vanishes."
Several Toledo-area residents said they had not encountered similar problems recently with their UPS and Amazon orders. Stephanie Solheim, owner of Toledo Web Designers & Digital Marketing, said FedEx's shipment problems had become "kind of a running joke" among some of her Facebook friends in recent weeks.
Ms. Solheim has run into problems herself. She recently ordered a rowing machine that was supposed to arrive via FedEx in three different boxes, but only one showed up. She contacted the company, Ergatta, which sent out the missing equipment. But then the original boxes also arrived, after apparently taking a detour to Michigan, according to her tracking information.
Now, she has five large boxes of rowing equipment.
"Something has happened with FedEx in the last few months, where people are just not getting their stuff," Ms. Solheim said.
The problem may not improve locally until the company can fill some more positions.
FedEx’s Ms. Hardek urged people to apply, saying the company has "a number of open positions that feature competitive wages, incentives and enhanced benefits" in the Toledo area.
First Published September 15, 2021, 9:46 p.m.