Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

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RobertOToole
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Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by RobertOToole »

An inspec.x L Float lens was drop shipped via Standard overnight Fedex last Friday from the Excelitas distributor.

Easy right? No, but hopefully my poor experience with Fedex might help others here on the forum so here are the facts.

_PM-Linos-Inspec.x-Float-Lens.jpg

The shipment was scheduled for delivery Tuesday.

Box sat at the TN hub for 5 days, Sat-Wed.

Called Fedex, they blamed it on ice. :shock:

Called this morning. Box is now in Hawthrone CA at the hub. Delivery date pending. No scheduled delivery. Rep says not today, the system says tomorrow Friday by 8PM.

12:31 Filed a claim for $3800 with Fedex. Apparently you can file a claim with the delivery still pending.

12:41: tracking info updated =D> Box is now scheduled for delivery today.

Did the complaint trigger this?

7 days to deliver an overnight box. That must have been a lot of ice =D> Meanwhile Fedex profits soar but customer service plummets. Is this a new Fedex?

FedEx profit soars with pandemic-fueled delivery demand
By Reuters Staff
.....Revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 28 grew 23% to $21.5 billion.
......FedEx profits nearly triple amid online shopping spike in its third quarter, the company announced, reporting net income of $892 million for the three months ending Feb. 28!

Lou Jost
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by Lou Jost »

That looks like an interesting lens. So you can order things direct from them? There doesn't seem to be any clear price list on their website.

chris_ma
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by chris_ma »

I tried to send something back by fedex recently - gave up after two weeks and decided live is too short for dealing with them.
might be different if you are a business customer I expect.

what are you planning to do with the inspec.x float?
from the datasheet it looks that it will only reach diffraction limited performance by F8, which for mag larger then 0.5x seems pretty poor.
maybe as a tube lens with variable magnification?
chris

RobertOToole
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by RobertOToole »

Lou Jost wrote:
Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:32 pm
That looks like an interesting lens. So you can order things direct from them? There doesn't seem to be any clear price list on their website.
Hi Lou,

You can buy directly at the Qioptiq store: https://www.qioptiq-shop.com/en/Precision-Optics/

The Qioptiq distributor is usually cheaper, at least with shipping, and much cheaper than eBay, especially with optics and adapters, mounts etc. I use: https://www.digikey.com/

Best,

RobertOToole
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by RobertOToole »

chris_ma wrote:
Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:46 pm
I tried to send something back by fedex recently - gave up after two weeks and decided live is too short for dealing with them.
might be different if you are a business customer I expect.
When I tried to return that mag.8x to Germany, Fedex wanted almost $400, so I ended up using DHL for $190. :shock:
what are you planning to do with the inspec.x float?
from the datasheet it looks that it will only reach diffraction limited performance by F8, which for mag larger then 0.5x seems pretty poor.
maybe as a tube lens with variable magnification?

The inspec. x L Float is a loaner unit so I'm looking forward to testing it but that is exactly right about the limitations.

I do plan to test it as a tubes lens at some point also.

Someone is at the door :shock:

RobertOToole
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by RobertOToole »

Good news.

This just arrived.

_PM-Linos-Inspec.x-Float-Lens-box.jpg

Not the most greatest looking packaging for shipping optics!

_PM-Linos-Inspec.x-Float-Lens-boxed.jpg

RobertOToole
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by RobertOToole »

Just realized that Fedex dropped the lens off, no signature! :shock:

Scarodactyl
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by Scarodactyl »

I had a custom adapter machined for my microscope a month or so back. It was shipped slow via fedex and was almost a week late when it was marked as delivered--but when I went out there was no package. I checked my security camera and saw the fedex guy had driven down my street, turned around and driven back out. I had them open an investigation which didn't seem to go anywhere, until it showed up on my front porch unannounced a week after it was marked delivered. Normally fedex has been great here. Maybe they're having more trouble recently.

RobertOToole
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by RobertOToole »

Scarodactyl wrote:
Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:40 pm
I had a custom adapter machined for my microscope a month or so back. It was shipped slow via fedex and was almost a week late when it was marked as delivered--but when I went out there was no package. I checked my security camera and saw the fedex guy had driven down my street, turned around and driven back out. I had them open an investigation which didn't seem to go anywhere, until it showed up on my front porch unannounced a week after it was marked delivered. Normally fedex has been great here. Maybe they're having more trouble recently.
What an experience, sorry to hear that, hope you didn't have to reorder and get stuck with 2 adapters!

Best,

Scarodactyl
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by Scarodactyl »

Fortunately not, though Xometry did offer to replace it--unlike nice optics it wasn't too worrying since I knew a solid chunk of aluminum wouldn't care much about humidity or shock or temperature even if it took the long routr. But it was a funny situation and points to some weird trouble at fedex.

dolmadis
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by dolmadis »

Hi Guys

Fedex in the UK is just as frustrating. Last Monday 29 March I purchased a part from Thorlabs UK. I double checked beforehand. Yes in stock ready to go. Total cost equ USD 138. Paid for 2 day Fedex expecting fast UK delivery. Two days nothing. Asked Thorlabs Customer Service. Here is Fedex Tracking Number. Ok now we see. Shipped from Germany, EU not UK. UK not in EU now. Now "Held up in Import Clearance" for several days. Alarm bells ring. Customs Duties when I thought it was a UK purchase? No said Thorlabs. Finally cleared Customs (no duty remember but how from EU) but still stuck in Fedex and Pending Delivery Scheduling. Not cheap. Shipping and Handling 2 days delivery equ USD 20. Might arrive next week?

USPS a nightmare. Item arrived in UK. So then tracking shows it was sent to Japan and then tracking showed that it left both USA and Japan after it arrived in the UK.

John

ray_parkhurst
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by ray_parkhurst »

I haven't used FedEx for many years for similar reasons quoted here. Unfortunately shippers still use them, so I often have no choice on the receiving side. I cringe when I get tracking info with a Fedex number. Sounds like they've gotten worse recently.

UPS has always been annoying as well, mostly because they refuse to beat their shipping estimates. I had a package with a 1 week estimate that made it to my local hub in 2 days, then sat there for 5 days waiting to be delivered. They delivered on-time, which is apparently what they are paid to do. You have to be careful how you measure performance

I look forward to the float lens results. It's doubtful I'd buy one but I am curious how it performs vs the fixed mag versions.

leonsit
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by leonsit »

I just bought something on eBay from the UK. Seller has to fill a form to put his passport number and my social on it. The seller understandably left it black at my request. Now I had to get through ups useless automated phone system which had no way to get to the international brokerage service and 3 department transfer to pay my trump tax. The package is now sitting at some Pittsburg warehouse. Let see how far more it has to go before arriving Chicago.

chris_ma
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by chris_ma »

ray_parkhurst wrote:
Fri Apr 02, 2021 6:30 am
I look forward to the float lens results. It's doubtful I'd buy one but I am curious how it performs vs the fixed mag versions.
the data sheets are pretty clear about this - the fixed mag versions will perform quite a bit better.

how much difference can be seen in real world will obviously depend on other factors, I'm pretty sure on pixel shift captures there will be a clearly visible difference, while on normal bayer sensors with medium or large photo sites it might be rather insignificant.

but more often then expected, practical results are different from theory, so I'm curious as well :)
chris

Ichthyophthirius
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Re: Fedex and the Lost Inspec.x L Float Lens Saga

Post by Ichthyophthirius »

RobertOToole wrote:
Thu Apr 01, 2021 2:51 pm
Meanwhile Fedex profits soar but customer service plummets. Is this a new Fedex?

FedEx profit soars with pandemic-fueled delivery demand
By Reuters Staff
.....Revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 28 grew 23% to $21.5 billion.
......FedEx profits nearly triple amid online shopping spike in its third quarter, the company announced, reporting net income of $892 million for the three months ending Feb. 28!
They also paid -12.8 % effective US federal tax (that's minus 12.8 %) over the last 3 years as we learned today, so you're paying them twice over :wink: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/busi ... e-tax.html Glad to hear that they are re-investing this into customer service.

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