Aliexpress courier "FastHorse Express"  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2024, 07:04:52 am
content: Isuspectthat FastHorse Express is a shell company (to limit liability) operated in Australia by Aliexpress. They employ deliver drivers through an app (gig-style), they deliver at odd hours and the only customer support they have is automated.Question:Has anyone seen this company deliver orders from companies other than Aliexpress?Experience 1:Received 2/3 packages one week. I didn't notice the third package was missing until too late, it turns out they tried delivering it at 7PM (business address was closed), then tried again the next day during hours and failed (not certain why).I tried calling the company: their phone menu has two options, both of which tell you to use another method of contacting them and then hang up on you. There is no point to having this phone number other than for ticking boxes.I tried using the support chat on the website: it told me to email them.I tried emailing them: I received auto-replies asking for the tracking number. Kept retrying, it became clear the system was automated. I eventually found the correct format of number (not the same as what Aliexpress provides as the shipping tracking number), at which point they told me "sorry" and that it has been sent back to the sender. Several further email enquiries instantly yielded identical responses.(I tried asking them if there were any other options, if I could pick it up myself, etc, but everything was ignored. I suspect the package would have been discarded or stolen rather than been sent back to China, but IDK).Experience 2:Package was delivered just now to my home address, left at the front of my garden in the rain, only 10m away from my front door where it's safe and under cover. Their own photos in the tracking (taken by the driver) even show my front steps in the background.I tried contacting them about this. An hour or so later I get an email back:QuoteWat.I believe this is called "customer deflection". You don't have to employ support staff if you automate the job of deflecting & wearing people down.Message received loud and clear, FastHorse does not give a shit, I am not the customer.FWIW I feel awful for the people working for these companies, there is no way the pay or conditions are anything but exploitative. My Auspost guy used to deliver these packages, but seemingly not any more.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2024, 11:10:33 am
content: In Experience 1, did you get a refund or new shipment?In Experience 2, was the product in the wet box OK?In the US, real customer service is disappearing. It does not seem to affect business. Until it does, customer service will be considered just a cost center and will be minimized or eliminated. As just one American example, Grainger is a large and successful industrial supply company. It does have customer service. It was noted for having a catalog with inflated prices and giving discounts to business customers. That model apparently doesn't' work as it did in the past, and several years ago it created a second company, "Zoro.com," to compete in the modern consumer market. Zoro has also been successful, but it has no customer service you can actually contact. BBB (Better Business Bureau) rating is A+ (which means it pays its dues), but consumer ratings hover around 1-star. I simply stopped buying from it, regardless of price. Others still seem to appreciate the immediate joy of a lower price and take a chance the product will be OK.

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2024, 10:06:13 pm
content: Experience 1: Got refunds, minus approximately tax (GST). This is illegal, but it was such an ordeal and it was for work (who asked me to write it off and not spend more time chasing them, not worth it for a big company like Alix that won't change its ways for future dealings).Experience 2: Picked up the parcel about a minute after it was delivered, so everything was still OK.QuoteI think it's more than that. If the customer service is bad then less people will succeed at lodging refund requests and returns, a second saving for the company.QuoteI wish there was more flexibility.For Aliexpress my options are: cheap/free shipping through their channels (FastHorse), or 2-4x the cost of the item itself with a traditional courier like DHL. Nothing inbetween.(I ended up using the expensive courier this time, I found the seller on Alibaba and went that route for some samples instead. I will see how this goes.)

author: johnh
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2024, 06:18:59 am
content: I wish they would have an option to use the postal system.it might cost little bit more but. i liked it when I could get stuff delivered to a postal locker

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2024, 06:42:29 am
content: Quote from: Whales on November 11, 2024, 07:04:52 amThat's pretty much it, Fast Horse a.k.a. Lame Ass is, as a friend of mine pointed out, "some rando with a car". It's cheap, it mostly works, and they'll often deliver on weekends rather than weekdays only. Downside is there's no real support if you run into problems... it's actually almost like Aramex, only a bit faster.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2024, 10:05:26 am
content: Quote from: 5U4GB on November 12, 2024, 06:42:29 amIt probably is, but the name could be a play on the "Pony Express" of American history and lore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express).For a short period, it carried mail from St. Joseph, Missouri (just North of Kansas City), which was a Gateway to the American West, to Sacramento, California. That's about 2000 miles, and it promised 10 days or less. The American USPS today can take just 14 days to get from Indianapolis, Indiana to Cleveland, Ohio, a distance of about 300 miles. That's considered by some to be an improvement,