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fed ex sucks bigtime!!!!

update: got a claim rejection letter today. since it was sent through a mail box center, the claim has to be filed by them. they couldnt have told me that two weeks ago? they had all the info, but it seems it is in separate places. claims has no idea what is happening in shipping has no idea what is happening anwhere else.

i still get complete indifference. appears there will be no attempt to hold the driver accountable.
 
My Dad works at a FedEx warehouse. He was telling me that FedEx drivers are not actual FedEx employees. They're subcontractors for the company and either purchase their own vehicles or lease them. He says he will NEVER ship anything FedEx ever again after working there. I wish you luck on your claim :(
 
After shipping countless packages by various shippers I've determined that quality/reliability is a very "regional" thing. In my area UPS is a train wreck. USPS is reliable leaving the Southeast but terrible within the Southeast. Fed Ex in my area is amazing,,you could eat off the floors in the place and for the most part are very reliable.
Bottom line,,you're rolling the dice, whoever you go with. For individuals selling/trading,,I strongly recommend asking the other party who does a good job in their area and go with 'em.

Phillip :)
 
MORIMOTOM said:
update: got a claim rejection letter today. since it was sent through a mail box center, the claim has to be filed by them. they couldnt have told me that two weeks ago? they had all the info, but it seems it is in separate places. claims has no idea what is happening in shipping has no idea what is happening anwhere else.

i still get complete indifference. appears there will be no attempt to hold the driver accountable.
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Man just reading this thread brings back horrible memories of an experience I had with FedEx. Bought a $3,330 amp off of Ebay and it was shipped to me via FedEx. The box arrived and it looked like it went through a meat grinder. Of course I submitted a claim to no avail. The poor guy who sent it to me (stand up individual) sent me a check to cover the damage. And FedEx denied the claim...

I hope that you fair better than I did.
 
aaronjayl said:
My Dad works at a FedEx warehouse. He was telling me that FedEx drivers are not actual FedEx employees. They're subcontractors for the company and either purchase their own vehicles or lease them. He says he will NEVER ship anything FedEx ever again after working there. I wish you luck on your claim :(
Click to expand...

it would seem to me that fedex, being such a large and successful company would be aware that hiring second hand help to represent them is inherently damaging. the impression i have gotten is that they are well aware of the flaws in their system, but choose to leave everything status quo.

these subcontractors deploy from a fedex hub, in fedex marked vehicles, and wear fedex uniforms. doesnt matter that they are separate from other fedex employees, they are still representatives of the larger entity.
 
Houston Tactical said:
Man just reading this thread brings back horrible memories of an experience I had with FedEx. Bought a $3,330 amp off of Ebay and it was shipped to me via FedEx. The box arrived and it looked like it went through a meat grinder. Of course I submitted a claim to no avail. The poor guy who sent it to me (stand up individual) sent me a check to cover the damage. And FedEx denied the claim...

I hope that you fair better than I did.
Click to expand...

interesting, the guy at my mailbox center told me a similar story of an expensive amp that ups 'lost' and refused to look for. it had been recorded at being at a particular warehouse, but the employee only said 'its a really big warehouse, and we have miles of packages lined up.' they were essentially saying its here somewhere, but im sitting down now, and dont feel like looking.
ups recently 'lost' a 3000.00 wilson combat 1911 pistol my friend ordered. just gone. now some knucklehead has the best 1911 money can buy and is pointing it gangster style at his tv.
 
You could contact your local news station. Here in Charlotte on channel nine eyewitness news there is a guy called Don Griffin who handles problems just like yours.
 
aaronjayl said:
My Dad works at a FedEx warehouse. He was telling me that FedEx drivers are not actual FedEx employees. They're subcontractors for the company and either purchase their own vehicles or lease them.
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As already discussed: That would be true of FedEx Ground. See: FedEx (Wikipedia). "Real" FedEx uses drivers employed by FedEx.

Something I didn't note when I originally brought this up is that one time, when I had a package being delivered to me by FedEx Ground, it was scheduled for delivery on Christmas Eve. It got late, and, around 6 p.m., and knowing they delivered late at that time of the year, I called FedEx to try to determine if it was likely to be delivered yet that evening. Answer: "There's no way to tell. It's up to the driver." Me: "What do you mean ``Up to the driver''? Don't you have policies for this kind of a thing?" That's when I found out the difference between FedEx and FedEx Ground. I told them to hold it at the local distribution location for pickup. I told the FedEx employee I talked to "You know, FedEx Ground is indistinguishable to most people from the Real Thing, and this kind of ``service'' can't be doing your reputation any good." "We know," she replied, "we're trying to do something about it."

Looks like they haven't done anything about it. I've avoided FedEx Ground, whenever possible, ever since that incident.

Unfortunately, one can't always do that. My latest FedEx Ground incident was just a few months ago. I'd ordered a roof-top antenna from a very reputable on-line vendor. When it arrived two of the antenna elements were actually poking out of one end of the box by several inches! Luckily the damage wasn't so great that I couldn't easly bend things back into shape.

If the real FedEx' motto is still "When it absolutely, positively must be delivered overnight," I'd say FedEx Ground's motto must be "You pays your nickel and you takes your chances."
 
notdos said:
After shipping countless packages by various shippers I've determined that quality/reliability is a very "regional" thing.
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Not even "regional," but sometimes "neighbourhood." In my neighbourhood, FedEx Ground and UPS have both proven unreliable in my experience. DHL, I've only had one experience with, so I'll reserve judgement. USPS has been very reliable. Real FedEx has been utterly reliable. At work, they're all good, except that incident with FedEx Ground delivering a blatantly obviously damaged package.

So, if I'm going to be at work, I almost always have stuff shipped there. Regardless of whether I ship to work or home, I always try to avoid FedEx Ground. If it's of any significant value, I usually specify the equivalent of "2nd day air." Particularly FedEx 2nd Day Air. I don't do this purely because I want it faster. I do this because I want it period. Preferably undamaged.
 
Triton said:
Never mind that it was not delivered to the buyer, and never mind that the signature was not that of the buyer. Since the post office had delivered it to SOMEONE they were washing their hands of the matter.

As it turned out this story had a happy ending for me (the sword magically appeared shortly after I got the letter), but I have come to the conclusion that USPS will never pay on an insurance claim so you use them at your own risk.

Perhaps this is different for some of their other services. I would rather not find out. :)
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This is pretty blatant. So the carrier that admitted to what is essentially mail fraud, has no role in this? I suppose if you went to far as to sue and put the carrier on the stand, you'd likely prevail on your claim. Chances are they would have paid off way before that though. Glad this one turned out OK. I wonder who actually had the sword ...

Razz
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned but USPS Priority Mail actually travels on FedEx airplanes!
I exclusively ship USPS with no problems.
Very underrated! Cheap, quick. $5.50 to ship a knife Global Priority Mail overseas! You can't track or insure it but if it's not an expensive knife, it's worth the risk.
Have had problems with UPS, Ground is extremely slow. And they typically leave it on your porch if you're not home. Under the mat of course where it looks like, well, a package underneath your mat. Duh! Why use that when you can ship Priority Mail and have it there in half the time for half the price. Yes you can't track on USPS (only confirmation), but who cares I don't need to watch it going across the country like Santa Claus, I never had anything take more than 2 days shipping across the country with Priority Mail.
Anyway, my cents, good luck with FedEx, stay on them, don't go away.
 
The first thing that suprised me when I started working for fedex ground was the frequency and kind of packages that get ripped open, destroyed, and smashed. It dosen't really matter how securely you pack something, anything can break open.

putting small boxes, into bigger boxes is not a generally good idea, unless the smaller box fills the width and hight of the bigger box. empty space in a sealed box is not a good thing

for loss prevention, this is one case where smaller can be better. small boxes are easy to grab and toss on the truck they also are more likely to fit in the small crevices, If the label is clear and the package scans, it's on the truck, out of sight, and out of mind. and of course, don't put any clue of what's inside on the outside.

best bet with a chris reeve box, which is already a heavy cardboard, is to make sure the knife dosen't rattle inside, take off or completely obliterate the chris reeve sticker, tape the box shut, wrap the box in a paper bag, tape that up with heavy duty packing tape and ship that. since there is no insurance tag on the outside, you do not need to worry about having size be a deterrent.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
interesting,
ups recently 'lost' a 3000.00 wilson combat 1911 pistol my friend ordered. just gone. now some knucklehead has the best 1911 money can buy and is pointing it gangster style at his tv.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting your experience, and others for joining in.

I only have shipped USPS, mostly Priority, and have not had any problems so far. I did as an experiment ship a large knife via DHL last week. We"ll see how that goes. Have received packages from various shippers, including Fedex, and only had a damaged shipment from UPS once over 20+ years. The seller filed a claim and then shipped me a replacement. The only other time I had a problem with UPS was when they left a box in the rain. Fortunately, nothing was damaged and I called it in to complain. Most large packages have overwhelmingly come to me shipped UPS. My overall experience is that USPS, aka the U.S. Postal Service, handles and ships packages the most carefully. Consider that they work for a government agency, even though it is supposed to be self-supporting.

It comes down to the honesty of the individuals handling your package. Yes, the crooks are out there, and obviously on your route. It takes only one. I lost a camera at the airport a few months ago, and I figured it was some sticky fingered individual handling baggage. I had made the mistake of leaving it in my checked baggage, and nowadays almost everyone leaves their suitcases unlocked because the TSA wants it that way.

Anyway, good luck with your claim and I would not use the same method of shipment the next time. Being extra paranoid, I would even take pics of the box after it was wrapped and ready to go.
 
FedEx Ground, amongst many others (such as Custom Critical) is an OP-CO of FedEx. RPS (Roadway Package Systems/Service) was bought out and they became Ground, to compete with UPS Ground service. There are many other companies that were bought and are now part of the ever expanding FedEx companies. Caliber Trucking was another. Yes, many of the RPS drivers, who were owner-operators, were retained and stay on as FedEx employees. Some have been hired as hourly employees and do not own the trucks as the former RPS drivers.

As another poster has astutely written, MANY pkgs break apart from improper pkging by the shipper. Read my commment below about making sure you provide shipping/airbill info on the box (aside from the actual airbill) and inside the box on the actual item. This will ensure customer service agents will be able to figure out where the pkg is to be shipped to if the items are separated.

Shipping with FedEx Express via overnight or standard overnight for weekday delivery (no over the weekend) is your best bet for reliability and speed. Expensive, yes. Reliable, yes. Ability to be tracked, the best in the business.

Moritomo, good luck. Keep it going. Don't; however, assume that any particular person within the system was at fault. It could've happened many places along the way, including accidentally. Pieces of shipments become separated from packages due to faulty packaging (it is one of tens of thousands of pkgs within the system) and become displaced. Make certain you've given a good description of what was lost to the cust. service agent so they know what they're looking for.



----------------------------------------------------
EricO said:
Question for you Morimotom - Did anything in your shppr. or recip. address make it obvious that this was a knife or anything similar? Such as, for example: To: John Doe, Dover Knife Co.

I always recommend that everyone avoid this like the plague. Use an acronym if you need to, such as John Doe, DKC for the above.

* Also, for the FedEX boxes, tape over the easy peel strip, tape the airbill pouch down even though it has adhesive, and write the airbill number on the box separate from the airbill itself, with the date shipped next to it. With this, even if the airbill and pouch get separated from the box they can find the needed info from the a/b # written on the box.

Your packaging sounds more than adequate and is what I recommend also. Try if possible, to use boxes that are at least the size of the small FedEX box. Avoid the real small usps priority mail ones that'll fit a vhs tape in.

Avoid shipping on Fri for Mon or later delivery. Ship Thursday for Fri delivery or wait until Mon.

Good luck with your claim,
EricO
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if the package somehow 'opened' accidentally, then where are the contents? i find it very hard to believe that the outer box, opened, the inner packing unraveled, the inner box opened, and that inner packing unraveled and the knife fell into a crevasse. c'mon!!!! i hear far fetched stories every day, and that is the most ridiculous i have heard yet, and this was from a fedex employee.
the system IS at fault, and no one seems to be accountable. it was lost within 36 hours of leaving my hands. some employee should have seen the contents or part of the contents. since they have pics of the actual item, shouldnt be that hard to identify, assuming someone actually looked in the lost property bin or wherever those morons store stuff.
 
something else to think about.

i suggest everyone have a photo record of all knives and firearms in their possession, for a number of reasons, ie theft, fire, insurance, etc.

lately i have been doing this as i post them as trades on the forums or just to 'show off'.
 
Houston Tactical said:
Man just reading this thread brings back horrible memories of an experience I had with FedEx. Bought a $3,330 amp off of Ebay and it was shipped to me via FedEx. The box arrived and it looked like it went through a meat grinder. Of course I submitted a claim to no avail. The poor guy who sent it to me (stand up individual) sent me a check to cover the damage. And FedEx denied the claim...

I hope that you fair better than I did.
Click to expand...

On what grounds did they deny the claim? Seems like an open and shut case...
 
Razzierb said:
This is pretty blatant. So the carrier that admitted to what is essentially mail fraud, has no role in this? I suppose if you went to far as to sue and put the carrier on the stand, you'd likely prevail on your claim. Chances are they would have paid off way before that though. Glad this one turned out OK. I wonder who actually had the sword ...

Razz
Click to expand...


Yeah that's what I thought too. If the sword had not shown up you can bet that I would have been on the phone to the mail inspector that sent me the letter raising holy heck. I have my suspicions about who actually had the sword, the timing of its return was just a little too convenient. :mad:
 
Triton said:
On what grounds did they deny the claim? Seems like an open and shut case...
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They felt that their end of the bargin was taken care of, delivery of the package. I fought this thing for some time and kept getting the run around. It became such a sad joke that I finally gave up. I've got a friend who was able to repair the amp, which cost me even more money but at least it's fixed.

And you are right it was an open and shut case. I forgot to mention that I even had insurance which did not matter...
 
Sorry for the trouble. I've had problems with UPS and, unless under extreme circumstances, I will never use them again. Awful customer service, too. :thumbdn: :thumbdn: :thumbdn: I've never used FED-EX, and probably never will.

Thanks for the post!:thumbup:
 
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