CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[innof]

I too, like many others, got screwed by FedEx with a damaged package of lens' and then even further shafted again when the shipper (whom promised that full insurance had been purchased) refused to collaborate in resolving the matter because in reality no insurance had been purchased despite having paid for it in full; End result = No lens', lost my money, learned a salty lesson!

[oliverg]

If Fed-ex and UPS merged, would everyone become FedUp?

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[Juvental604]

I hate these big mail companies . Non of them care about the small guy and they all have horrible customer service. I had a problem with purolator and tried contacting the BBB but that was useless.

[ronholm]

All of my experiences with Fed Ex have been fantastic. A friend of mine worked his way through school working for Fedex. He really enjoyed the experience. The management on that side of things is superb.

Course of Fredrick Smith is a Marine so I do tend to be a little biased..

But really.. At the depots you have a bunch of 10 dollar per hour box throwers that don't typically stay around all that long. Due to the hours and the demands of the job I beleive it is among the highest turnover rates for any entry level position.

These are the guys handling all of your gear. Now all of these companies do what they can to control damage.. But really.. Chit happens..


Not to mention just how many of these claims do you think they have to deal with everyday... And how many of those claims are bogus...





Given that the amount of complaints seems pretty consistent across the board my suggestion is that if this really is that large of a problem you could make a ton of money by figuring out how to "properly" handle these types of problems.

[ecrabb]

[HaydnG90]

OK, so Fedex have now accepted liability. Problem is they are only offering $600 ie a 1/4 of the insurance coverage based on the 4 boxes that were shipped. The boxes each had their own tracking numbers but were shipped under a master tracking number. The entire shipment was insured for $2400.
So here is my question. If the contents of each box have different replacement values, in this case about $1300, am I obliged to accept this settlement. It's not exactly clear how the coverage should be distributed in the case of multiple boxes.

[jask]

Tell them to piss up a rope- the total shipment was insured for a total value-under one tracking number. Unless the policy the shipper signed stated this nonsense specifically-they need to pay up. I receive large shipments of multiple boxes under one waybill all the time,and I have never heard this line when we had a loss claim.

[ecrabb]

Good to see they're working with you at least.

I agree with Jask. I can't see how you're obliged to accept any settlement if it doesn't make you whole. That's why you bought the damn insurance to begin with! Tell them you're sorry, but the lost/damaged package was one of the more expensive items and that replacement is going to cost $1300 - not $600 - and that you can't accept anything less. You didn't damage or lose the item - they did - and the $1300 - no less - will make you whole again.

Might take some more bitching, but I bet they'll come around.

SC

[geisemann]

I use Fedex all the time and only once had a item been damaged and fedex paid right up.

To defend fedex I ship all over the world and there is nothing that comes close to fedex for international its always on time and never damaged.

Fedex Ground is not as good as express.

UPS over seas your package might or might not get there and so with USPS. Also Fedex has its own customs brokers so the value you put is the value your customer will pay . Other services they re-grade packages so it can be $$$ if you are shipping expensive items.


www.eisemann-theater.com

[JustGreg]

I have a different kind of FedEx story.
The engine in my tired 97 Lumina died so I found another Lumina a year newer owned by an elderly couple. The thing is immaculate, if you don't count the windshield washer hoses on the wiper arms hacked up by the old man and his ice scraper. (I yanked the parts off the dead car before selling it..and yes I told the buyer).

Anyway, I JUST got it Wednesday. I commute about 38 miles a day so yesterday I'm about 5 minutes into my half hour ride, in heavy traffic as usual, and stuck behind a FedEx tractor trailer which was about 150-ish feet in front of me. I can't go around to the right or left due to traffic so I'm keeping my distance until I can when I see a rock shoot out from under the rear wheels on the drivers side of his trailer.

I find it extremely interesting that time seems to slow down in situations like this because I watched that damn rock bounce once...not real high...about a foot or so, and bounce again a little higher. At this stage my mind is calculating where it's going to end up when it runs out of it's 55 MPH momentum and settles down. I quickly check all around me again and still have nowhere to go. I can't even slow down as there's a dickhead glued to my number plate. So I watch it bounce one more time and as MY luck would have it, it took an onside kick bounce up to about 4 feet. Right at the apex, we met. Right in the middle of the $%#^*&! windshield just slightly left of the mirror!

While still doing the subconscious driving thing I look at the area of the inury and sure e-f*cking-nuff, there's a three pointed star radiating out from a small divot of missing material in the center. It's the shape of a stick figure without a head. So what else could I do at this point except whip out a pen and paper and drive extremely erratically while jotting down the trailer number on the back doors. Even tho the windshield wound was only a few seconds old I found my eyes wandering to it as I chicken scratched the info on the front page of a contract I was taking home to read. Back and forth my eyes went from the crack to the truck.

As soon as I was done I made a silly erratically acquired hole in traffic to the left of me. I wasn't pissed off. It wasn't the drivers fault at all. Yet I put the entire car on the line just to get out there. It wasn't like he had a rock dispenser attached to the underside of his trailer and was waiting to deliver the coup de grace. I just wanted out and over so I could get along side him.

So here's where you have to ask yourself what YOU would do once you got along side the drivers door. What the hell can you do?
I chose to do this; which was to lean on the horn (it's friggin cold here and everybody's windows are slammed shut. WTF did I think I was going to accomplish!). The driver finally looks down at me <imagine a haugthy sniff of disdain> with an impassive look on his face. Not amused, not threatened, just simply passive and indifferent.
So I launch into a mime show jabbing my index finger at my windshield wound. That didn't change the look on his face one iota. So I mime something flying through the air and smacking into the windshield in a bizzare parody of matter meeting matter at high speeds. This time I get an ever-so-slight raising of an eyebrow...followed by the universal look reserved for crazy Aunt Doris.

I shifted my attention back to traffic for mere seconds, looked back over at the truck, just in time to see him merging into the lane to his right. Before I could fill his spot to maintain hailing distance, a small foreign car with blacked out windows squirted into the void. Luckily he didn't stay there long and passed me up with a loud BWAAAAAHHHHH eminating from a trashcan sized chrome resonator slung under the bumper.
Just when I could slide into the spot vacated by the weed whacker, I watched as my prey whisked away onto an offramp. I looked longingly in the mirror until he was out of sight and with a heavy sigh settled in for the remainded or my commute.

My commuting time is normally spent listening to NPR radio and performing subconscious driving. The remainer of this commute however was spent lost in thought; while rythmically shifting my attention from the road to the tiny crack. A crack that I'm positive will grow and mature as the weather grows warmer. Until that day comes, I have just enough OCD to commute like Rain Man; head cocked, vigilant, furtive, and ever wary that the tiny 3 sided crack will reach maturity.

I don't expect FedEx to do anything about this but I'll call them anyway. I have the trailer number, the time and the exit written down so we'll see what happens. I'm expecting the second half of the chorus emitted by the exhaust of the blacked out 4 banger racer that prevented me from stalking my prey. ('HAAAAAAAAAAA' for the confused)

Greg

[ecrabb]

Greg,

That sucks. I HATE getting stuck behind tractor-trailers and avoid it whenever possible for just that reason. A couple of years ago, I got stuck behind a gravel truck and got a big whack in the window. The name of the gravel hauling company? Bullseye. No sh*t.

Hey, if the runners aren't too long, that thing can be filled so it won't be so ugly and won't grow. Could save you from having to replace the entire windshield. Look in the yellow pages under glass repair and look for the "Novus Method". It's a really neat epoxy-based system with a syringe/vacuum that pulls air out of the void, then forces epoxy in under vacuum, which bonds the windshield back together and stops the cracks from growing. If you get it repaired before it gets a bunch of sh*t in it, the remains could even be pretty subtle - especially since it's not right in area you're looking through all the time.

http://www.novuswindshield.com/repair.htm

SC

[JustGreg]

Thanks SC. That's exactly what I had planned to do last night. (It bothered me the whole night so...I have more than just a touch of OCD it seems).
No NOVUS in my area but I'll find something close.

Bullseye...heh heh. Now that's good stuff.

SORRY OP! 'Sall yourn agin.

Greg

[papalek]

Legally they are not responsible. Trucks are not responsible for road debris kicked up by their tires. If they are hauling a load of rock and one falls off,then they are responsible. It has to be something that they are carrying that causes you harm or else it is considered a road hazard.

[ecrabb]

That's true, unless the trailer wasn't maintained - i.e. no mud flaps.

Just in case nobody believes my story (it IS pretty unbelievable), here's the local company:
http://www.bullseyetrucks.com/

Check out the logo:


I think that's my windshield in the logo.

OK, back to FedEx. They suck. So does UPS. Oh, and DHL sucks ass, too.

SC

[HaydnG90]

You guys crack ('scuse the pun) me up. Love that story Greg, just a shame you turned out to be the victim in that situation. This is one reason I can't understand fellow motorcyclists not wearing helmets and proper face protection. Imagine if that stone had hit an eye rather than the windshield.

So back to our regular programming.....

I've started to bitch and moan to Fedex, ever so slightly, in response to their proposed settlement. I'll hold off on the legal threats until later. The adjuster wants to talk on the phone and I told her to forget that. I want everything in writing, just in case it goes to small claims.

[ecrabb]

I always wear glasses, but not usually a helmet, and never a full-face even when I do. The worst that's happened to me was a pheasant right square in the middle of my chest on the highway... But, that was back when I rode a sport bike... fast. I was wearing a skid lid back then.

You could always talk to her on the phone, but then follow up in writing with whatever she says she'll do for you. I know you want a paper trail, but maybe actually talking to each other like human beings will help facilitate a positive resolution. Maybe she'll hear in your voice how deeply saddened you are by your loss.

SC

[Curt Palme]

[Curt Palme]

[Dave Lister]

[ecrabb]

Ohhhh, You guys are good... I mean... Bad.



SC