FedEx: They Absolutely, Positively Should Have Gotten it Right the First Time
by Randy Cassingham
I just about tore out most of my hair trying to ship a package via FedEx, and it should have been a piece of cake.
First, since the last time I logged in to my account, they changed something and wanted me to add some information. No problem: I did that. Then I had to "confirm" my address. It showed me the address it had on file. It was correct, so I clicked "Continue". Bzzzt! "Information doesn't match what we have on file." Huh? And it wouldn't let me "update" my address info without typing in what they had! How can I possibly do that if they have an error and won't show me what the erroneous info was!
I couldn't go forward and thus had to call FedEx. The agent who answered couldn't help and I was transferred to "tech support". But they couldn't figure it out either! So I was transferred to the billing department. After I explained the problem for the third time, the clerk there found the problem: they had my Zip Code wrong in their system -- they had the Zip for the local FedEx office, which is in the next town (and the next county), rather than mine.
Yeah, whatever. "That's not correct, and here's the right one," I said. She typed that in, but her system kicked it out: the Postal Service, she said, couldn't verify that Zip Code for that address. Well so what?! They're not the Post Office! But, she explained, they match everything with the Post Office data base for address verification, and that's the way it is. "But," I counter-explained, I don't get mail delivery here! There is no mailbox at my rural location; I have a PO Box in town to get mail. "Since the Post Office doesn't deliver here, they can hardly be considered the authority for what my address is, can they?" Plus, I pointed out, FedEx delivers packages to my address all the time, with the Zip Code on the package being right for my town, not the town in the next county!
Yet she wouldn't budge: that's the way her system works. The only thing she could do, she said, was call the Post Office and see if she could get that corrected. Gaa! She put me on hold -- and astoundingly was back with me within two minutes, saying my Zip Code was fixed. I was suspicious that anyone at the Post Office could do anything that fast, but I went back online and was able to get my packaged "shipped". Next step: drop it off to the nearest FedEx pickup spot. I went to their "Find a Location" screen and typed in -- yes -- my Zip Code.
No locations found. It did show places in three other towns, but I thought it was rather odd that they wouldn't have a pickup spot here. Surely I didn't have to drive an extra 20 minutes!
I was pretty sure there was a pickup spot close by, so I went there and, sure enough, there was a drop box, pretty much smack dab in the middle of my Zip Code. When I got back home I went back to FedEx.com and again checked my Zip Code for a pickup location. None found. So I went to their support page and informed them that their system shows no location in my Zip Code, but there most definitely is one, and I provided the exact location and asked them, "Please update your system!"
I quickly got a reply:
Re: FedEx Express [Incident: 060821-002376]
Thank you for your inquiry.
We received your message and are routing it to the person at FedEx who is most qualified to answer. We hope to be back with you shortly.
They "hope" to be back with me shortly? Sheesh! I hope so too! But at least they'll route it "to the person at FedEx who is most qualified to answer." Sure enough, just 17 minutes later, I got my reply from that "qualified person":
FedEx provides thousands of convenient locations, staffed and unstaffed, where you can handle your shipping business. To find the nearest locations and check detailed maps showing how to get there, use our online drop-off locator.
We hope this information is helpful. Thank you for shipping with FedEx.
Elaine A.
FedEx Customer Service
Elaine is the "most qualified" person to answer? Quick: sell your FedEx stock! If Elaine is an example of someone who's "qualified" within FedEx, she and everyone with similar "qualifications" will take the company down for sure! I had just made it clear their "online drop-off locator" had erroneous information. Hello?
By now I had spent over an hour online and with their phone support to ship one package, and this is what I get for helping them improve customer service to make it easier for people in my area to use them next time? I was now officially a Cranky Customer. "It's obvious you didn't actually READ my message," I replied. "Please do so, and don't send me a canned response again."
Just 28 minutes later, "Kristine C" did a much better job:
We appreciate you taking the time to advise us of your concerns as it only through our customer's feedback that we may make improvements in our services. I have alerted the appropriate FedEx personnel for corrective action needed.
Elaine blew it, and needs remedial training. Kristine should get a raise so she doesn't get FedUp with her job and leave it to the Elaines of the world. The question is, will FedEx do either one?
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One-Month Update: It could well be true that "Elaine" and "Kristine" are not real people, as several of the comments suggested (see all comments). Either way, the bottom line is that after a full month nothing has changed on the FedEx web site: it still shows no drop-off location for my area, advising customers still need to drive to the next town (10 miles) for a simple drop-off box, or to the next county (35 miles) for a staffed location. Shame on FedEx for not getting it right, and double shame on them for not getting it right even when they've been told of the problem!
>:-(
Randy Cassingham is the author of This is True and the True Stella Awards, and is the founder of Cranky Customer.
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Comments
My daughter placed an on-line order. Normally everything goes well. This time after receiving her FED-EX tracking number, she discovered that, after the package got into FED-EX "possession", her package was being sent to Tennessee. Then her package was signed by a strange person. So she contacted the on-line company. They stated FED-EX made a mistake and diverted the package.
After 10 days, her package arrived on our doorstep, mauled, damaged - 10 days from California to Arizona. Then, towards the evening, someone was pounding on my front door. It was the FED-EX delivery man. He said, "I have to have that package back that I delivered. It does not belong to you, It belongs to a person in Tennessee". Then he got forceful. "I have to have that package back!!"
I tried to explain everything, but it was useless. So my daughter brought him the receipt. He went back to his truck and then tried to convince his boss or dispatch person that it was our package. Nobody would believe us. But, I was not about to give him or anyone a package I had paid for. He sped off without once apologizing, but did tell me "the company you ordered this from made the mistake".
So I tried calling their customer service. I got this strange condescending woman automated voice that I had to yell at like a hard of hearing person. Finally I got a real person. He could barely speak English. He told me "the company you ordered from made the mistake".
Nice - never want to order online with FED EX as the carrier. Too much grief and incompetence and arrogance. Brown does a lot for me! :)
Posted by: Tommie | November 27, 2007 2:49 PM
Wish I'd seen some of these comments a month ago. Twice in the past three weeks I've had major problems with FedEx, starting with shippers who insist on a personal sign off for delivery. I travel often and am in a rural, crime free area. So never a problem with packages in general - just leave 'em inside the garage and all is OK. (Or have the local store in town sign for them if needed.)
First FedEx delivery we went round and round - I'd cancel business appointments and stay home all day only to find no package on the promised delivery day. Calls to FedEx would be responded with - "Gee, we don't know what happened we'll try tomorrow." I'd ask for an approximate time frame and be told, "Could be any time. We don't know." So, you guessed it - I'd be gone for an hour or two in the AM to find a missed delivery. Next day I'd stay home morning and take off late PM only to get back and find another missed delivery. That episode took a week of tries to resolve. (They DID kindly offer to let me pick it up at their terminal - a round trip of 135 miles...)
Most recently the same thing happened with an Amazon order - had to sign for it in person - no exceptions. Home on promised delivery day and no delivery for two days in a row no less. Gone for an hour the next day and that was the time frame FedEx happened by. This time they said - "We don't deliver on Mondays". You guessed it - I was away from the house for two hours Monday afternoon only to find a "Delivery Attempt" notice on the door when I returned. FedEx promised, "Delivery for sure on Tuesday". So again I cancelled appointments, only to find an email saying "sorry, no delivery scheduled today". FedEx was unable to explain just why there were all these missed deliveries other than, "Well, it's a rural area and we don't go there all that often." Bah! I just cancelled my Amazon order, asked for a refund, and told FedEx to send the package back - almost two weeks after it was delivered to FedEx.
I'll re-order from another vendor who's willing to ship via UPS.
Posted by: Chip, Kansan | June 3, 2008 2:39 PM
Randy, you chewed out Mark on April 15th for being part of the problem. However, there is only so much that employees can do when the real problems are up above, in management, which is what Mark seems to be implying. If you're going to chew him out, you should provide him with some *constructive* criticism, if possible. If the company happens to be rotten all the way up, there's not much he can do. If mid-management tattles to lower management, he could be simply signing his own pink slip by complaining. I don't know what kind of constructive criticism you could offer in that case. Mark should try to get promoted, and fix things himself, but if he's not management material (my impression is that few people really are), then that's not an option for him.
One thing that many businesses probably should have is a customer satisfaction office or something like that, responsible for identifying negative trends both within and outside the company, and possessing the authority to actually fix them.
---
Mark is/was an asshole: it doesn't matter whether management is good or bad if the carriers use customer packages "for batting practice" -- which is what Mark said that I reacted to. Couriers don't know what they're carrying: it could be one-of-a-kind art, it could be medical supplies, it could be junk. But someone paid a fair amount of money for it to be delivered with reasonable care and speed. If they can't do that, then they need to find more honest work -- and that's my "constructive" advice. -rc
Posted by: Scott, in Killeen, TX | June 14, 2008 9:10 PM