FedEx canceled their money back guarantee

[Hermit]

I mailed a letter to my son for overnight delivery. The letter is stuck in Memphis. They don't have a date for delivery. They said they had severe thunderstorms and cancelled their money back guarantee. So I'm out $44.47 and my letter is stuck until who-knows-when before it gets delivered, if ever. Obviously it was important. I'm sure if I had sent the letter today, it would make it just fine tomorrow morning, but because they have an excuse to not deliver mine anytime soon, it will just sit around in Memphis until they have nothing better to do and then they may deliver my letter.

I obviously won't be doing business with FedEx again. And I thought the USPS was bad. At least they don't charge that kind of money and then tell you to take a hike.

 

[REWahoo]

Unfortunately that's not unusual behavior for them. The company I w*orked for once did millions in business with FedEx annually but cut them off completely after it was clear they weren't really interested in honoring agreements with their customers.

 

[meierlde]

A quote from their service guide on when they don't assume liabilitiy for refunds "Perils of the air, public enemies, criminal acts of any person(s) or entities, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism, public authorities acting with actual or apparent authority, authority of law, local disputes, civil commotion, hazards incident to a state of war, local or national weather conditions, national or local disruptions in air or ground transportation networks (as determined solely by us), strikes or anticipated strikes (of any entity, including, but not limited to, other carriers, vendors or suppliers), labor disruptions or shortages caused by pandemic conditions or other public health event or circumstances, natural disasters (earthquakes, floods and hurricanes are examples of natural disasters), conditions that present a danger to our personnel, and disruption or failure of communication and information systems (including, but not limited to, our systems)." Note the line about weather. If it is not safe to fly due to weather they will cancel.

 

[samclem]

Note the line about weather. If it is not safe to fly due to weather they will cancel.

That seems pretty weak. No one wants or expects them to fly when the weather is unsafe--but it's not unreasonable to ask for a refund of he "next day" delivery price if the promised speed of delivery isn't actually accomplished.
And from a practical standpoint--how is a customer ever going to be able to dispute a FEDEX claim that the weather was not safe for flight?

 

[skipro33]

Seems they collected a fee to perform a service of which they are unable to meet their contractual obligation and thereby owe a refund. The article being shipped should have also been ensured.

First, I'd stop payment on the charge if a credit card was used. Next I'd file a claim on the insurance total I had on the package.

Recently we had a problem with DHL and shipping my DIL's medication from New Zealand to California where they are visiting. Nothing 'hot', just some thyroid meds. We paid for 3 day shipping. It's now been 3 weeks. The Department of Homeland Security is now involved, now that I informed them that I think DHL has absconded with the drugs and are now in illegal possession of them. Let's see how DHL is able to account for a controlled substance...

 

[meierlde]

That seems pretty weak. No one wants or expects them to fly when the weather is unsafe--but it's not unreasonable to ask for a refund of he "next day" delivery price if the promised speed of delivery isn't actually accomplished.
And from a practical standpoint--how is a customer ever going to be able to dispute a FEDEX claim that the weather was not safe for flight?

The Ts&Cs define the detail. So essentially the guarantee would work if they lost track of the package. I went to the UPS site and they say basically the same thing in their terms and conditions that weather voids the guarantee. The post office does not offer a money back guarantee either on express mail next day delivery.

 

[bUU]

And the key is whether this makes FedEx worse than the alternatives. A quick look at the Ts&Cs for other carriers will almost surely convince everyone that this is the industry standard rather than notably sub-standard customer service.

Better than forswearing a service provider because of such situations, I find it better to complain to them politely, advocate for the speedy resolution of my concern, taking names and direct-dial telephone numbers along the way. That way, if this rare occurrence should happen to me again, I have a chance of jumping up the ladder a bit.

 

[MichaelB]

I mailed a letter to my son for overnight delivery. The letter is stuck in Memphis. They don't have a date for delivery. They said they had severe thunderstorms and cancelled their money back guarantee.

I can understand a weather interruption but not the refusal to refund the money. Did you pay with credit card? There is no cost to dispute the charge, they may still get their money but at least you can make them work for it.

 

[Car-Guy]

Not surprising to me. Over the years I have used both FedX and UPS. I've had numerous problems with Fed X. We can't find your address, the weather has delayed everything, we had a problem with the deliver vehicle, etc. "So far" I have not had a single problem or excuse from UPS and I've found their package tracking to be very reliable/accurate. I've also had pretty good luck with USPS although they are not as fast as UPS.

 

[Big_Hitter]

one of my gof buddies is a pilot for fedex - I'll ask him about this

 

[Hermit]

Thanks for the help on this. I will ask about it at the place I dropped the document. I'm sure they will say they have nothing to do with it. It would be nice if they gave some notice of their conditions at the drop-off place. I will let you know when DS gets the document and what the final resolution is.

 

[DEC-1982]

I was watching the posting on the fedex site yesterday about weather making delivery late.

I won't comment on the money back part, but my 2 day FedEx delivery package (out from GA Wed afternoon) which went through Memphis yesterday, made it into Wayne PA this morning and delivered around 9:30 AM, hours ahead of the scheduled delivery before 4:30 PM today. Better service than expected. Hopefully your package has been delivered by now, or at the very least gotten out of Memphis.

 

[REWahoo]

I'm an Amazon Prime and we avoid ordering anything on Thursday expecting two-day delivery since Amazon always uses FedEx for Saturday delivery. Our experience hasn't been all that great on Saturday delivery packages actually arriving prior to Monday. We've also had a couple of Amazon orders shipped via FedEx that were lost and one returned to Amazon because our address supposedly didn't exist...

 

[alistair]

can't say I'm impressed with any of the local delivery peeps in my area; they drop the box off at the door, rarely ring the door bell (mailman tends to be better about this) and don't care if it is raining (door has no overhang to protect from rain). Knock on wood, nothing has been damaged or stolen, so far.

 

[karen1972]

Seems to me the only real fair compromise is to give you the difference between overnight to 2 day delivery. Its kind of the same issue as airlines.. my honey was flying into Atlanta and lightning was striking the field so no flights in/out. ie so by they time his plane re-fueled in Montgomery Alabama, they were like the last plane in for the night and so he was stuck 28 hours in Atlanta before being able to depart.. he was on the hook for all costs during those 28 hours as "act of god". ie so they had to put him on the next available flight, not their issue it was 28 hours later...not sure your mail would get higher priority than people.

 

[Hermit]

Good news. DS got the document one day late.

I wouldn't have been so upset if they would have said it would be delivered on the second day instead of saying they couldn't estimate when it would be delivered. Anyway, it got to him in time so I am somewhat happy.

 

[samclem]

. . . my honey was flying into Atlanta and lightning was striking the field so no flights in/out. ie so by they time his plane re-fueled in Montgomery Alabama, they were like the last plane in for the night and so he was stuck 28 hours in Atlanta before being able to depart.

It's just 120 miles, they didn't offer to bus them to ATL? They probably would have done that if the cause had been mechanical/crew and they would have been on the hook for the cost of rooms. I had something like this happen and just rented a car one-way to my destination. It was a long drive, but I knew I'd get where I was going (instead of being on standby for a plane seat) and it was cheaper than paying for a room (I ended up money ahead after getting a refund for the unused flight leg). It was surprising how few people were at the car rental counter, I figured a lot of folks would be doing what I did.

 

[Koolau]

I hope I don't jinx myself here, but I've had very good service with USPS but less so with the other carriers. True, USPS is rarely as fast, but their accuracy and followup is better IMO. Considering that you can actually get to know your USPS carrier, they often go above and beyond the call for special issues such as our current situation - being on the mainland and wanting to forward important stuff. Our mail carrier has looked out for us to be sure stuff that would normally have been returned gets forward to us. Wonderful (yes, we do give her a nice X-mas gift each year, but...) As always, YMMV.

 

[iac1003]

I mailed a USPS Priority Mail envelope to my DS in LA from Austin TX. It turns out that the USPS clerk inputted the wrong zip code on their bar coding so the envelope ended up in Atlanta unbeknownst to me. I thought it suspicious when I tried to track the letter via the website and saw it was on the wrong coast.

Despite my speaking with USPS several times and their attempts to intercept it, this envelope went back and forth from LA to ATL 3 round-trips. I thought I had worked it out with USPS to send it back to me, the original sender, but to my surprise it ended up in LA again and was delivered to DS. About 3 weeks after I sent this 2 day priority.

Since then I only use the self-service machines in the post office so I make sure the zip code is correct.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[EastWest Gal]

Seems they collected a fee to perform a service of which they are unable to meet their contractual obligation and thereby owe a refund. The article being shipped should have also been ensured.

First, I'd stop payment on the charge if a credit card was used. Next I'd file a claim on the insurance total I had on the package.

Recently we had a problem with DHL and shipping my DIL's medication from New Zealand to California where they are visiting. Nothing 'hot', just some thyroid meds. We paid for 3 day shipping. It's now been 3 weeks. The Department of Homeland Security is now involved, now that I informed them that I think DHL has absconded with the drugs and are now in illegal possession of them. Let's see how DHL is able to account for a controlled substance...

Off topic but thyroid med isn't controlled substance. OxyContin and a few others are.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[DEC-1982]

A little off the topic ...

It's just 120 miles, they didn't offer to bus them to ATL?

No, they never do that, the shareholders wouldn't approve of it, and the shareholders are definitely more important than the passengers in the flying cattle truck. and they would probably have to take the plane empty from Montgomery to ATL.

If the problem is equipment failure, you get a coupon for a rotten airport meal (and hopefully the vendor is actually open late night in a small airport). If it is an "act of God", then nothing, it's not their fault. This delay was mid-flight, but for most delays, I understand the pilot doesn't get paid, the steward/stewardess don't get paid till they board the flight.

 

[soupcxan]

Dispute the credit card charge. You paid for overnight delivery, you didn't get it, regardless of any "guarantee" or fine print in the T&Cs that may or may not exist.


At a minimum FedEx will spend at least $50 worth of someone's time to deal with the dispute.

 

[Hermit]

Dispute the credit card charge. You paid for overnight delivery, you didn't get it, regardless of any "guarantee" or fine print in the T&Cs that may or may not exist.


At a minimum FedEx will spend at least $50 worth of someone's time to deal with the dispute.

That would be good if I had the time to mess with them. I have been busier in retirement than I ever was while w*rking. I will have to save this kind of entertainment for cold, dark winter days after I have finished building my house.

 

[REWahoo]

Hermit, it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to dispute a CC charge. You can do everything online using your CC website. Surely you aren't THAT busy...

 

[ziggy29]

All carriers have clauses in their carriage contracts that can exclude delays due to "acts of God" including severe weather making overnight air delivery practically impossible. That said, some of them are more hardliners about denying a refund under those circumstances than others.