CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[HaydnG90]

I remember there was a recent thread about Fedex and their appalling claims service. I have my own story that is slowly developing.
I bought a set of speakers and against my better judgement had to have them shipped Fedex Ground. The speakers were insured for the full amount. The four boxes arrived and one in particular had a couple of punctures. The damage to the box was noted underneath my signature at the time of delivery.
I checked the speaker inside and low and behold there was some damage corresponding exactly to one of the puncture holes. I took pics of the box and damage.
I immediately contacted Fedex to start the claims process and arranged to have the speaker inspected. They said this could not be done on site and had to be taken away to the depot. The claim would also have to submitted by the shipper and not me, the recipient. I provided the shipper with all the photographic evidence and documentation I had.
According to the inspection call-tag the speaker was inspected and returned and left at 'my backdoor". This is impossible as the backdoor can only be accessed through an 8 foot fence that surrounds the property and the door is always kept locked. There is no delivery signature either.
We both thought the case was very straightforward and would be settled quickly without much delay. WRONG! They are denying the claim saying there was no damage. At this point I'm out a $1300 speaker and it appears Fedex is not willing to honor a total loss claim even though neither I, nor the shipper, have received the speaker after it was inspected which was 1 month ago.
Anyone been in this situation and can suggest what our next step should be? Is there a dept in Fedex that should be contacted, as the customer service reps are clueless. What avenues are open to us?
A word of advice, after my experience here and reading those of others, I'll NOT be using Fedex Ground service EVER again. I suggest you think twice too.

[Curt Palme]

We really need to band together one day and file a massive class action suit against these courier companies. I've had the same with UPS. In your case though, why not file in small claims? Up here it's about $200 to file. Since the inspections were local, I think it could be argued that the 'damage' (loss) was local.

Take pix of your fenced in area, take notes, heck, tap your phone and tape the conversation with Fed Ex. (it's legal, I've actually won a small claims suit due to a taped conversation that I submitted and played in court, much to the chagrin of the other party).

I'll bet Fed Ex will settle before it hits court. If it goes to court, inform all of the local papers, I'll bet there's some reporter that will take pity on you, and make it a page 2 article..

[Curt Palme]

We really need to band together one day and file a massive class action suit against these courier companies. I've had the same with UPS. In your case though, why not file in small claims? Up here it's about $200 to file. Since the inspections were local, I think it could be argued that the 'damage' (loss) was local.

Take pix of your fenced in area, take notes, heck, tap your phone and tape the conversation with Fed Ex. (it's legal, I've actually won a small claims suit due to a taped conversation that I submitted and played in court, much to the chagrin of the other party).

I'll bet Fed Ex will settle before it hits court. If it goes to court, inform all of the local papers, I'll bet there's some reporter that will take pity on you, and make it a page 2 article..

[Tinman]

I second that class action lawsuit. These companies are costing 'US" too much money in losses and damages.

Marc

[jask]

Good luck,there seem to be far to many of these stories in the last little while.For that sort of loss I would document everything and go to court, but since you are not the shipper you are in a tough spot. Fedex has a process for unattended drop offs for commercial clients, with a bar code sticker they scan at the location, how is it that they can just say they dropped a package at a residential address? as a shipper I would demand proof that the package was delivered. I think another class action is in the future for Fedex.

[ecrabb]

I'm kind of getting tired of people ripping on FedEx all the time here. I've sent dozens of packages via FedEx Ground over the last few years and I've had nothing but excellent results. It's always been there exactly when they say, the rates usually smoke UPS, and I've rarely had any damage. In fact, the few things I've received with damage were because of sh*tty packing - not because of anything the shipper did.

Obviously, with millions of packages moving around every day, there are bound to be some damaged shipments. Clearly, the claims and customer service could be better at both FedEx and UPS, but I just don't see how FedEx is any worse than UPS - they're both a pain in the ass. For Pete's sake, we referred to UPS as "United Projector Smashers" over at AVS for years.

In this case, it sounds like somebody certainly dropped the ball and that sucks. But, this is BY FAR a rare exception - not the rule. Further, I'd say given the dollar amount involved, they're up sh*t creek if they don't have any proof of delivery. I have a feeling the mere mention of small claims lawsuit in the amount of the loss will rectify the situation.

Also, I'd like to see the pictures of the damage and how a $1500 speaker was packed for shipping. I constantly see completely inadequate and amateur packing - especially on valuable and heavier items. Predictably, then people bitch because something got damaged.

SC

[Curt Palme]

[Curt Palme]

[HaydnG90]

[Curt Palme]

[Curt Palme]

[voodoo7869]

like i said you will not be filing against fedex you will be filing against the driver so it would be local. fedex and dhl are independant contractors. they license a rout from fedex and run their own company usually an s corp. just so you are aware of what they do.

[rabies_70]

Did not know they were independent contractors. Good info

If you are in California, DO NOT tap the phone line without informing them the phone call is being recorded. Not only will it be inadmissible, but the state can come after you for recording a conversation without consent and from what I've read the bastards will do it.

Good luck with your claim.

[voodoo7869]

I used to be a fedex contractor the best way to get a claim resolved is to talk to the local hub personelle they can work with the contractor much better than the fedex corporate reps. any and all claims for lost packages come out of the contractors pocket damage is evaluated and the claim is split between the appropriate parties. if you have any other questions fee free to ask

[ecrabb]

[voodoo7869]

[draganm]

Any item insured for $1k or more HAS to be direct signature only, that's fedex policy. So for a $1300. item to be left at the "back door" means they broke their own rules.

[ecrabb]

[Moose]

The last time I shipped an item via UPS that was insured for over $1,000, the clerk opened the package to approve the packing. This, I was told, was company policy. Thus, I would expect that UPS would not be able to deny a claim due to improper packing on items insured for $1,000 or more. See if Fedex has such a policy.

[stefuel]

[Phil Smith]

Sorry for FedEx experience HaydnG90! That sux. I had a recent bad experience with them (not my first). Still not resolved.

[Tinman]

[JustGreg]