Fedex
Even a well oiled organisation like Fedex grinds to a halt, when it crosses into Italian territory. I am not surprised but it doesn’t stop me from crying into my cappuccino.
I ordered two small parts from Taiwan to be delivered by Fedex. It is interesting to see how efficient Fedex is.
Elvis in Taiwan (yes that is his real name, and he is alive and kicking) despatched the parcel Friday 5.58 pm January 18th 2013
Fedex Taiwan all good so far
The little parcel winged it’s way to China and arrived the very next day, Saturday 1.23 am January 19th 2013.
Fedex China
Leaving China behind my little but very urgent parts flew to Germany and arrived the same day at 3.08 PM January 2013
Fedex Germany (very efficient)
The Germans didn’t mess around they grabbed the little parcel and with German efficiency they stuck it on a plane to France. Where it arrived later that day 11.30pm January 19th 2013.
Fedex France (No time to stop for onions or garlic)
The French, looked at the parcel, realising that it was of no value agreed to send it to Italy where it arrived the following day at 8.54am January 20th 2013
And then unfortunately the Italians got involved.
Fedex Italy (All the time in the world – Italy mini tour)
As you can see Fedex Italy like my parcel, they are running it around Italy and showing it to everyone. Franco sent the parcel to Vito in Alessandria (which is half an hour from me) and Vito decided to send it back to Franco because Marco and Maria hadn’t seen it.
Franco then sent the parcel back to Vito in Alessandria (Which I hasten to point out is very close to me) but the bu&%er won’t answer his phone.
My little but very urgent parcel has spent more time in Italy than it spent travelling the world. But “ma” this is Italy.
Maybe it might turn up tomorrow, or more probable, Vito in his infinite wisdom will send it back to Elvis.
Englishman in Italy 
Love it! You’re lucky, the French obviously had an off-day and didn’t mess up for once. Hope they are not important parts for your fusebox or heating equipment, or the neighbours are going to see you outside in skimpy attire again.
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I think the French let the parts through, because they thought they were going to an Italian. Had they know they were destined for this crazy Englishman I am sure they would be touring France just like Lance Armstrong did, but without the dope.
Unfortunately they are for a company in Germany. But hey had to go to France and tour Italy before I can send them.
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Thats nothing. My parcel from John Lewis left Northahmpton on 15 December. It then spent three weeks in a CityLInk depot in Epsom. The online tracker said it was ‘In Our System’ which I have decided is a euphamism for ‘Up My Arse’. Then they said they had lost it on the 14 Jan. Then they delivered it the next day. But not before John Lewis had reordered the item. I’ve just left them to it.
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Is City Link owned by an Italian… Isn’t is my good friend Giuseppe Garibaldi…
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It is 4.19pm and Fedex has just arrived… Hurrah.. but no, wait, is my pack amongst the delivery????…
No !!!
Back to crying in my Cappuccino..
Domani è un altro giorno
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sorry Pecora Nera for your troubles, but I never trust an American (Fedex) and we always use DHL (owned by German Deutsche Post)… Franco is probably asking Vito who is consulting with Maria and Alfredo and Giuseppe Garibaldi, as how much import duty to charge you as the parcel is from China…. The Chinese should have said “item of no value as it’s going to Pecora Nera”. Gift!
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Hi my friend from Croatia, this parcel was free of charge and the invoice that came with it said so very clearly. The first two parts that Elvis sent me arrived a week ago… but were wrong, so these are FOC replacements. The parcel turned up just before I left the office. A little battered but here at last.
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hurray!!! all well then!! Elvis has left the building! ciao, bloody freezing in London tonight!
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It’s not that warm here. I thought Italy was always hot.
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This is so (not) awesome! Great post!
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It is very normal for Italy.
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I was a little bored this morning so I did a couple of sums…. My parcel took 39 hours to travel from Taiwan to Italy, it visited mainland China, Germany, France and then Italy. 11678 Kilometres = 299 kilometres an hour
In Italy it took 92 hours to travel from the airport to my office =1 kilometre an hour.
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that’s about the speed of shuffle. try homing pigeon next time.
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To be honest, nobody in the Italian office was surprised. It is Italy what do you expect!!!
I like the idea of homing pigeon, perhaps we could strap 2 or 3 together so that they could carry the weight.
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That Is efficient!
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It seems to me that the Italians relish swimming in bureaucratic paperwork. This applies to the consulates and embassies around the world too. My husband had all the documentation to get his Italian citizenship. How do we know he had everything? His sister had just finished the process the year before and had sent Nick all the forms. How long did it take his sister to get it starting from scratch? 18 months. How long did it take Nick to get it starting with all the correct paperwork? 28 months. Can you figure out that one?
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I see you are another lover of the Italian postal service!!!
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LOL!!! I work in exhibition design and construction. I travel for work with truckloads, containers shipping my stands around the world. I deal with transport companies all the time. I find that most of the time the problem is not them, it is usually the Italian Customs holding the package up, deciding whether to charge you €300+ in tax for USD600 personalised company keychains and then proceed to take 10 days to process that. All I can say is, been there, done that, got the T-shirt and ripped out half my head of hair the last 7 years. 😛
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Ahh, you understand Italian customs so well.
I track my parcels and I can see how swiftly they move around the world, until they arrive in Italy and then I reach for my cappuccino 🙂
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At least you have good coffee while waiting! 🙂
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I’m living in Mexico, and I’ve found that outside the UK you just cant trust any delivery or postal service – its like a game of roulette here. you just never know if things will arrive or not. My latest fed ex package from the UK turned up a week late and then they delivery guy asked me if I was going to leave him a tip for delivering my package!!
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ha ha ha, a tip:)
The worst one here is poste italia, things just disappear. My father in law says they open interesting boxes and keep the contents…
He has sent 2 parcels to friends in the UK and neither of them arrived, even though he used the full address and post codes
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I might have known the Germans wouldn’t screw around 🙂
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The Germans are super efficient, just no sense of humour
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They do have a sense of humour! I love them 🙂
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Your parcel gets to see the world and meet new and interesting people. 🙂
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Fedex and TNT are both as bad as each other. TNT won’t answer e mails and their facebook page has just told me my parcel is in Belgium!!!!!
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That is bad news. Hope you get your parcel before it dies of old age or the expiration date says, best used by this date” or something such as those possibilities. 🙂
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I am sending them messages on their twitter feed
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