And FedEx drops the ball!

Big surprise! FedEx used to be so good about deliveries. These days, not so much.

I guess the universe may not hate me, but it sure does enjoy kicking me! I guess I twitch really good or something.

The saga so far.

I ordered a computer. I got the computer. The computer was defective. I make arrangements to return the computer. I drop the computer off at a FedEx location and have the human being scan the label.

I’m told that a receipt will be texted to me, even though I specifically ask for a printed receipt… The text never came, (Big Surprise!) and the person said they didn’t print receipts. Uh Huh…

I saw the person scan the package so Fine! I’m not going to fight about it. It’s been so long since I dealt with FedEx For all I know they’ve changed their rules.

Subsequently, I cancelled the Apple order entirely.

I check on the package via the FedEx website on Wednesday. Its status is unchanged. Hmm…

This is not unusual, FedEx has on more than one occasion in the past 5 years actually delivered something to my door but their site says it’s across the country.

That’s what I mean by FedEx isn’t what it once was.

Thursday I check again. The FedEx web site says that the package is estimated to arrive at its destination by 4PM. But the movement status still hasn’t changed.

I call FedEx to ask them what’s going on. They have no idea… They can’t locate the package.

Great! So I start an escalation. I get a call back from a nice FedEx lady who really does go the extra mile to figure out what is going on. She comes up empty. The package appears to have been scanned, but doesn’t appear in the system.

Wonderful!

SO NOW I have billing for a computer that was defective and that I no longer have possession of, I have no receipt showing that I gave the package to the designated carrier, and no-one seems to know where the package is.

I’m told by FedEx that the package may mysteriously appear at some random time in the future.

Yeah… I believe that, uh huh.

This morning I call Apple.

I explain what’s going on, and tell Apple that FedEx isn’t going to give a crap about me. But FedEx will listen to Apple.

I give the Apple rep all the information. The Tracking Number, The Escalation Number, and the Serial Number of the computer. I suggest that they list that serial number as stolen and should it pop up on the internet or at one of their stores perhaps they can arrest the person in possession of the machine.

I’m beyond pissed off at FedEx!

Apple has created an investigation case as well. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here, but I can say I’ve done due diligence.

A company I worked for stopped using FedEx precisely because of this kind of thing. They got tired of having $4K shipments of medical equipment disappear randomly all over the country. They also got tired of having to make 2 or 3 replacement shipments for those same random orders.

In some of the cases I worked on, FedEx told me that the shipment had been delivered and then I’d get a call from some completely different individual, sometimes in another town, asking my company to stop delivering stuff to their door.

FedEx investigations rarely located the lost packages. In the case of Medical supplies, even if FedEx found the package a couple of weeks later and returned it to my company. By law, we had to destroy it.

I’m hoping that Apple sees the light and pulls their contracts from FedEx soon. I’m sure I’m not the only one experiencing this kind of thing.

Come to think of it, I haven’t been seeing FedEx deliveries here in town nearly as much as I used to. But the UPS guy is in the neighborhood every single day.

FedEx may end up going the way of DHL… I can’t remember the last time I saw one of those trucks!