In some cases, residents have to pay for this service they say is quite literally not delivering.
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"It's deplorable. Like there has been no resolution or step up in services. You go to your phone, you look at it, and you're like, 'Okay, reschedule it.' In hopes that it will be there, but knowing there's no guarantee," John Lohmann explained.
Lohmann said he had experienced packages being delayed for days, lost, and delivered to the wrong address.
His apartment complex, Crosley Tanglewood, is one of the around 200 complexes in the Houston area that have a contract with Fetch, and he has to use the service to get a package delivered to his address.
Fetch is touted as an amenity to renters and a time-saver for apartment management. They serve as a middleman, accepting people's packages at their warehouse.
Residents can schedule when they would like their package delivered, but according to John and other apartment residents ABC13 has heard from, that is not happening. There are hardly any solutions from Fetch customer service.
"It's always like, 'We're sorry about the inconvenience. Your ticket has been pushed on. We're trying to resolve the issue.' But otherwise, no other information,'" Lohmann said.
Fetch is an Austin-based company with more than 200 complaints filed against them with Better Business Bureau within the last year and currently has an F rating.
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We reached out to Fetch about the problems John and others are having. They sent the following statement:
We understand some residents have shared that they have experienced unsatisfactory service levels. We do not take this lightly and are always looking for ways to improve our protocols and business practices to optimize our services. Our warehouses are staffed to align with inbound delivery times. We work with all major carriers to ensure that large drop-offs occur early in the day to allow time to process resident packages and dispatch for same-day delivery
Apartment renters want convenience and the highest service level possible. We believe Fetch is the package management amenity that meets both of these renter expectations. We enable residents to receive their packages directly at their door at the most convenient time. Our Houston-area service levels have consistently been in the high 90%s over the past few months, with resident CSAT ratings averaging in the high 90s as well.
eCommerce is increasing at an alarming rate and doesn't show signs of stopping. In Houston, on average, an apartment community receives between 75-150 packages a day. These need to be managed in some way, and that responsibility usually falls on the onsite team. If you can imagine it, with 100 packages coming to your community on a daily basis, and you combine that with all the other duties onsite teams are expected to manage, the process is a massive undertaking. And let's not forget perishables and oversized packages. Many communities don't have the space or manpower to accept the volume and size of packages arriving constantly. When you add in the labor shortage the multifamily industry is experiencing, you can see the problem grows exponentially.
Even if a community has package management processes in place - like a concierge service, package lockers, or a package room, those solutions are not without issue. For instance, often delivery drivers will simply leave packages outside the front doors of the apartment community or in front of package rooms or package lockers rather than using the actual locker system.
We work closely with each resident to rectify any delivery issues or delays. In the event that Fetch does not fulfill our service correctly, we work with residents to process a reimbursement pursuant to our terms and conditions.
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So what can you do if you feel Fetch is not delivering? Attorney Ernie Garcia said while the opportunity to terminate the lease over this, especially if you agreed to use Fetch, probably doesn't exist, you should still speak up.
"The best thing they can do is they can voice their concerns to all of the parties who are involved. That includes the third-party that is handling packages, but it also includes the landlord because if the landlord has an out in this contract and they hear enough complaints for their own tenants, they are going to exercise that out," Garcia said.
The Better Business Bureau said Fetch has reached out to them within the past few weeks wanting to discuss the complaint issues and understand reporting process.
The bureau said that's a good sign and perhaps these problems people are having are a result of the company's growing pains.
If you have a concern about where you live that you'd like us to look into, head to ABC13.com/RentersRights and fill out the form with as much detail as possible.
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