I mentioned a while back that Fedex was on my Crappy Company list and that I’d explain why later. Now that the whole situation is resolved and I’m not as angry as I was before, I thought it would be fun to fill you in.
The Item
In early April my in-laws asked if I could find a specific porcelain statue for them on Ebay. They do not have their own Ebay account and I had done this for them before a few times, so I found the statue they requested and made our bid. We won the statue and I paid $848 on April 13.
The Delivery Hassles
On April 20, we received a Fedex door tag that said that we weren’t home and they would try again tomorrow. I called to explain that we work until 5pm. The rep said that since it was Fedex Ground, we couldn’t schedule a delivery time but we could have the package re-routed. I agreed and gave them my work address. After typing all of that into the ticket, the rep paused and then simply said that my address wouldn’t work since my name wasn’t the one on the package – my husband was the listed recipient. I asked if I could provide my driver’s license to verify the same address, but she said no. I had to call back with my husband’s work address.
The next day, April 21, we had another door tag on our house. I called and asked why the package wasn’t re-routed to my husband and they said that a signature-required package couldn’t be re-routed at all. I asked why I had spent 45 minutes on the phone the day before if it wasn’t possible. I was then placed on hold. When the guy finally came back, he apologized that I was misinformed and said they’d stick to their word and re-route the package to my husband.
The Return Hassles
My husband received the statue the next day, April 22, and dropped it off at his parent’s house on his way home. When his parents opened it, the statue was missing part of its head and hand…they were shattered. I emailed the Ebay seller and he responded that he’d get the claim number from Fedex since it was insured and I’d need that number to have it shipped back.
I finally received that claim number on April 26 and called Fedex to have the package picked up. The guy on the other end of the phone walked me through all the info they needed including my in-laws address and then asked me how we were going to pay for the pickup! I asked why we’d need to pay since the package was insured and they told the seller that they’d pick it up. He responded that all pickups required payment. I asked what our free option would be and he gave me an address close to my in-laws home.
On April 27 my in-laws took the package to the address we were given and were told that the Fedex Express office could not take a Fedex Ground package. My mother in-law asked why the rep gave us this address and she responded that she didn’t know. She then pointed to a phone on the wall and told my MIL to call and ask. After talking to another guy, my MIL was told that the package would have been picked up for free and asked why we didn’t do that!!! She told them what I was told and they apologized and arranged a pick up time.
The package was finally picked up on April 28 and Fedex still had not refunded the seller’s money when I inquired about it on April 29, May 3, and May 4. Ebay refunded my $848 on May 18 after the seller refused for several weeks - he wanted to wait for his reimbursement even though he still had my cash in his Paypal account.
The Result
To summarize, I ordered this stupid statue on April 13 and didn’t receive my refund until May 18. I spent at least 2 hours on the phone with Fedex and another hour on the phone with Ebay. All of this could have been avoided if Fedex had paid attention to the box that said “This Side Up” or even if they had given a refund faster. They “misinformed” me about package re-routing policy, the package pickup policy, and even the address for the location they wanted us to go to instead!
As I do when I am super unhappy about an experience, I filed complaints with Fedex, the Better Business Bureau, and Consumer Affairs. My Fedex complaint came back with a form letter apology email. My BBB complaint got published. Last Friday, I received an official letter of apology from Fedex saying that they saw my BBB complaint and they enclosed a $100 American Express Gift Check for my inconvenience! When I first wrote this post, I couldn’t imagine anything they could do to make me happy, but a $100 gift check seemed to fit the bill! I’m still not sure if I’ll ever use them intentionally again, but it was a much better resolution than I was expecting.
Have you had any super fun dealings with Fedex? Would you like to vent too? Did you come to a satisfactory resolution?
BBB is a waste of time. so is the FTC
FedX hires lots of minorities. and not many white people. I dont use them, they are racist
I have actually had good experiences with Fedex, but I sure can see why you were frustrated.
My most hated delivery company is BAX Global. They are a smaller company and I can tell you that customer service is not their middle name. They even justified their cruddy service by saying ‘well it isn’t like we are UPS or Fedex’. Great.
Everyday Tips´s last blog ..Thoughts for Thursday – When Ridiculous Rules Make Life Much Harder
dkkd, I didn’t have high hopes for my BBB complaint, but it did net me the $100 Amex Gift Check, so it didn’t seem like a waste of time.
I don’t know about their hiring policies, but I might avoid them just because of the three awful reps that were involved.
Everyday Tips, yeah, I don’t think I’d ever use BAX Global after that…I hate it when companies use bigger companies as an excuse.
I’ve had a pretty bad time with Fedex before. The driver delivered my package to the WRONG house. The people in that house refused to give up my blender, which made me so angry because I had planned a barbeque that weekend which I needed the blender for!! (margaritas)
At first, Fedex tried to act like it wasn’t their fault because the package wasn’t insured. Hello? They sent it to the wrong house. I mean, it wasn’t even close. After the police and Fedex recovery agents got involved, I finally got my blender back.
Julie, that’s awful! What kind of people refuse to give up other people’s stuff?! I get our neighbor’s mail sometimes and I walk it over personally (even to the neighbors I don’t know yet). Jerks. Fedex sucked too…”not insured” should not equal “we can give your stuff away”.
Wow Horrible! I haven’t had too many problems with Fedex, or really hardly any shipping company… My problems have been mainly with Ebay buyers. I don’t sell as much as I use to now though.
You story sounds like the Fedex out where you live don’t know what they are doing! Fedex should jump all over them!
At least you got $100 out of it
Money Reasons, yeah, I don’t think they know what they’re doing either…but $100 will get me to shut up about it a lot faster, lol.
I think the gift card is incredible–I think it suggests good customer service.
I know you probably don’t want to say…but what kind of statue was it?
frugalscholar, oh no prob, it was a Lladro Statue of Liberty.
Yeah, the $100 gift check was unexpected and literally changed my mindset in a matter of seconds (this post was a little more venty beforehand, lol).
Wow that was an intense story. I’m glad that it worked out for you but I can totally understand why you aren’t to keen on the company anymore. I had a similar situation with the “free pick up” option. I was returning something I bought from Amazon and had to drive it to a location. When I asked why they couldn’t pick up they gave me the same run around they gave your MIL BFS…not fun, or super fun – either way it was frustrating to me too. I wish their communication and protocols were a little clearer.
Nunzio Bruno´s last blog ..Want to make more money, give it away!
Nunzio, yeah, their misinformation is just awesome *heavy sarcasm*. I’m surprised that multiple agents play the same “not free pick up” game. Did they at least give you the right info for the drop-off site?
I got a collection call for supposedly non-payment to Fed-Ex. It was laughable since they make you pre-pay….
I am like you, don’t use them unless no other option…
I should of fussed, but sometimes it is just not worth the time
Dr Dean´s last blog ..Give a Gift That Can Keep on Giving-Stock Shares!
Dr Dean…wow, a collection call for something that shouldn’t even exist…you win the award for weirdest Fedex experience ever!
Yeah, sometimes is really isn’t worth it. I’m blessed with more time than most people and an Irish stubborness that helps to make me pretty annoying, lol.
I’ve never had any problems with FedEx. Sounds like you must have run into some former employees of Qwest.
Nice that they gave you a hundred bucks. Are they going to give a lagniappe to the seller, who lost eight times that much and the statue, too?
Funny about Money´s last blog ..Arboricide
Funny about Money, the statue was insured, so the seller received his money for the statue back. He could have given me my refund (Ebay froze the money when I reported a problem), but he wanted to wait until the insurance claim went through out of stubborness. The seller was a jerk to me on the phone so the vengeful side of me hopes they made him squirm for a while before giving him his $850…
Ugh. I had pretty much the same kind of experience when dealing with a misrouted book ordered from Amazon. All KINDS of headaches. Honestly, I’ll just stick to USPS from now on, thanks!
Revanche´s last blog ..Adventures. We had ‘em.
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