Yes, this is a rant post- after the experience I've had with fedex, I'm outright done with them. Read bellow and you'll find my experience in an email I sent to them to explain why I'm peeved off. First though- I need to give compliments to Kris/AlphaCorals. Been trying to ship him a few things now for several weeks, and have had a few problems, and he's been nothing but calm/cool/understanding throughout. So cheers to him for being a swell guy!
So the email I sent them:
I used three rubber bands on the top of the bags- and they popped the bags, not the rubber bands off. So whatever they did, was pretty dang rough! I've shipped now half a dozen packages through USPS with ZERO issues (as well as 100+ packages of non-coral stuff, again with ZERO issues.) So yea, FEDEX has lost my business permanently, and I'm sorry, but any of the sponsors on here who use Fedex? I won't be buying from you unless you can ship with a different company or unless there's a REALLY good reason to use such a cruddy service.
So the email I sent them:
Comments: This was all at store #2700, located in Hazard Center, Mission Valley, San Diego- California
So a couple weeks ago, tried to send out a shipment. Walked into fedex, after being ignored for ten minutes, finally got some help. Guy told me the rate for overnight shipping, found out it was $40 higher than USPS. Asked why the significant price difference- person responded with nothing more than a shrug. I decided to not ship and walked out based on the total indifference from the service rep.
Person I was shipping to really wanted fedex and sent me some money to compensate for the higher rate.
Today I went back and tried to ship again- packed up my live corals real tight, triple bagged in thick bags and sealed up tight in a styrofoam box, surrounded by a cardboard container. Standard shipping for live corals and often done by a number of business's that use your service.
Got a call later in the day that they couldn't ship as the box was leaking. Assumed it was my fault (even after the employee had told me when I paid that they didn't care if things were marked fragile, this side up, etc- they treated everything the same and I should expect them to be dropped up to 40 ft) so went to pick it up. Well, the box was sitting upside down on the table, and a few dribbles of water were indeed coming out. Besides being upside down, again assumed it was my fault, so no muss no fuss picked up the box. After being ignored for a good five minutes by the employee who was obviously too busy to help, I asked if I could get a refund. Without putting down the bag of envelopes he was working with, he punched in a few things on the register and gave me a receipt showing the
shipment was stopped.
Again, I waited a few moments (I try and be polite) before asking if I could actually get my money back. Seems I had messed up by paying in actual cash. 20 minutes later, after which the employee and the apparent manager talked to each other, ignoring me (not even a "please excuse the wait while we figure this out real quick") and joking between each other, I was led over to some other desk where they could actually get my refund.
5 minutes go by with the employee punching away on the computer, another customer actually comes in and plops her package down next to me, clearly hoping to ship it. Not a single employee mentions to her she's in the wrong place, the manager just stands behind one of the counters half-hidden from view by a shelf drinking a soda while chatting with another employee. The employee working on my refund doesn't acknowledge her one bit, nor simply point her towards the other employees who could help her out.
After another five minutes, I point out to the employee that I can just give him back the difference in change and get the $100 in bills he has laying out (which my refund is $94.07 of) so I can get on with my day while he figures out the computer.
So after 30 minutes of absolutely horrid customer service, I leave with my package and find out why it's leaking- they applied enough force to cause one of the items to rupture through it's 3 6mL thick polyurethane bags- a force that must have been either very pointed, or incredibly heavy.
Conclusion: I will never be using Fedex again, I am filing a report with the BBB, and am posting on several internet forums that deal with live corals (and a combined excess of 15,000 daily unique hits) about this experience and how I will never use Fedex, nor deal with any company that ships via Fedex.
It is incredibly apparent that only larger business's are worth your companies time, so it seems only fair to educate the other consumers I know not to deal with a company that does not value our money.
Cheers,
=Brian
I used three rubber bands on the top of the bags- and they popped the bags, not the rubber bands off. So whatever they did, was pretty dang rough! I've shipped now half a dozen packages through USPS with ZERO issues (as well as 100+ packages of non-coral stuff, again with ZERO issues.) So yea, FEDEX has lost my business permanently, and I'm sorry, but any of the sponsors on here who use Fedex? I won't be buying from you unless you can ship with a different company or unless there's a REALLY good reason to use such a cruddy service.