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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Sat 24 Jul, 2010 6:45 pm    Post subject: My Missing Dane, And why I'll never use Fedex again:         Reply with quote

Title pretty much says it all. I'm ticked with them right now because of multiple errors in the delivery process, and the fact they cant seem to find my package in their system at all at this point. Still, my purpose in posting this thread is more in the interest of getting information than emotional comiseration.

My Limitations:
1) I recently started two new jobs at the hospital where I work, and my schedule is tough. I have already taken some time away from work to wait for the package (almost 2 days) and cant take any more time away. Job would be in jeopardy.
2) My work hours conflict with the available times to pick up the package (if they ever find it) at the drop off center in Chicago.
3) My neighborhood is nice in many ways, but in this urban area packages disappear off porches fairly quickly. I'm also concerned about liability if any young person takes a pointy off my porch, then uses it badly.

What I have done:
1) Lodged a formal complaint against Fedex in their system. I also told them I'd never use them again.
2) Told them that once they locate the package, I want them to ship it to the sender so I can go with a different shipper.

What else would the rest of you suggest? I have had a lot of swords sent to me over the years, but luckily only a few delayed in shipping, and never has one been lost. Fedex has lost other types of packages for me in the last couple of years, so I was already pretty displeased with them.

Anyone have any constructive ideas? Has anyone ever had to file a claim with Fedex? I spent months getting reimbursed for a lost UPS package several years ago, but that is where my experience ends. I'd appreciate any suggestions.


Michael
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Michael Edelson




Location: New York
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PostPosted: Sat 24 Jul, 2010 8:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Have Albion ship it USPS, if they are willing, and specify post office pickup. Odds are you have a post office close enough to you that you can pick it up on a lunch break or on your way to or from work. Priority Mail is quick and cheap, and I've never had a problem.
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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Sat 24 Jul, 2010 9:10 pm    Post subject: USPS might be good.         Reply with quote

I might go that route in the future. Might be safest.

I should clarify the sword was not shipped from Albion, but had been sent to a very reputable artist, whom I've had a good business relationship with, for some custom work. It was then supposed to be shipped from there to me, but had problems along the way. Fortunately, that artist is very responsible, and I have full confidence they would make good on any problems in a transaction.

I'm just anxious about Fedex, and whether they tend to be difficult in reimbursement/compensation when something is lost or damaged. I'll contact them directly if things continue to go wrong, but I thought other members here might have had direct experience.

Any ideas?

Michael
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P. Cha




PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 2:05 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

If it's truely no longer in their system, the sender needs to find the insurance slip so you can start the claim process. While your suppose to have 30 days, I have had fedex try to cheat me and count from the day it ships, so when they told me on day 31 that they could not find the package, they also tried to claim that they didn't have to honor the insurance as it was past the 30 day mark and I haven't started the process yet. Course my workplace corporate lawyer made them change their tune in a hurry, but unless you have one of those of your own (along with taped conversations), fedex is pretty bad about reimbustment of lost packages and will try to cheat you any which way they can. They hope the headache they cause will make you give up.
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Craig Peters




PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 3:33 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Michael Edelson wrote:
Have Albion ship it USPS, if they are willing, and specify post office pickup. Odds are you have a post office close enough to you that you can pick it up on a lunch break or on your way to or from work. Priority Mail is quick and cheap, and I've never had a problem.


Mike Sigman told me about a month back that Albion does not ship with USPS. Or at least, they wouldn't ship to Canada. From the way Mike said it though, it sounded like they don't use USPS any more- period.
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David Sutton




Location: Bolton, UK
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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 3:55 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig Peters wrote:
Mike Sigman told me about a month back that Albion does not ship with USPS. Or at least, they wouldn't ship to Canada. From the way Mike said it though, it sounded like they don't use USPS any more- period.


Yes, I was told the same thing when I enquired about costs for shipping moat sale blades to the UK. I suggested USPS as its considerably cheaper than UPS and Mike stated that Albion only uses UPS. He said that Albion doesn't have a pick up point for USPS.

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Marcos Cantu





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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 4:50 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

did it get lost on its way to you or did they leave at your door and it was taken? to prevent the latter you can have a package shipped to any Kinkos Printing (now called FedEx Kinkos). all you have to do is find the closest one to you (there should be dozens in Chicago) and have the package shipped to its address under your name. that way you can pick it up at your convenience. they have very long hours and many are open 24/7
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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 5:50 am    Post subject: Kinkos         Reply with quote

It has been misplaced/untrackable on the way to me. Did not make it to my door.

That sounds like it would have been a good option, since kinkos has hours that I could manage around my work schedule.I wonder why none of the representatives I dealt with at Fedex on the phone suggested it. Maybe because my package is signature only?
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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 5:56 am    Post subject: attorny? Oh No!         Reply with quote

P. Cha-I'm not sure whether it is out of their system for good, or if someone failed to scan it before putting it on a truck, or if it was mistakenly left at a holding zone, then never put on the truck. Will hopefully know more in the next day or two.

Your story about them taking over 30 days, then being sneaky sounds like a nightmare. How much time did it take for your attorney to straighten it out? verbal on the phone or with written letter?

Michael
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JE Sarge
Industry Professional



PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 3:06 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Sorry to hear about the bad experience. I had one of those:

I remember I had UPS lose a package of mine several years ago - it was an irreplacable 9th century Mississippian effigy statue for a Native American history museum valued at $6000. They did not get it for weeks - so I called and called to no avail. I kept getting the run around from UPS customer service. As a last resort, I got in my car and drive 70 miles to their headquarters in Atlanta. After waiting about 10 minutes, I spoke with the regional vice president of the company and had a check within an hour.

Now, I have a UPS business account and things seem to run much smoother. But, if something gets lost, keeping going up the food chain until someone can help you and NEVER accept no for an answer. Everyone in a company has a supervisor you can speak to. Happy

J.E. Sarge
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"But lack of documentation, especially for such early times, is not to be considered as evidence of non-existance." - Ewart Oakeshott
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Tim Lison




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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 3:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wow. I hate hearing about stuff like this. I guess it's a risk we take whenever we get a nice new shiny sent through the mail but it sure sucks to hear about it going wrong. I can't offer much in the way of advice but I hope things get fixed for you. Fingers crossed...
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David Teague




Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 3:19 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Michael Edelson wrote:
Have Albion ship it USPS, if they are willing, and specify post office pickup. Odds are you have a post office close enough to you that you can pick it up on a lunch break or on your way to or from work. Priority Mail is quick and cheap, and I've never had a problem.


Here's a little something you may not know, the USPS doesn't ship their own airmail anymore. They contracted it out to a vendor called FedEx.

FYI

DT

This you shall know, that all things have length and measure.

Free Scholar/ Instructor Selohaar Fechtschule
The Historic Recrudescence Guild

"Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou's sword art is with me; Thy poleaxe and Thy quarterstaff they comfort me."
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Karl Randall




Location: South Korea
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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 6:38 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

To avoid the situation in the future, you might want to consider having select packages sent directly to your place of work, rather than your place of residence. I would approach your supervisor about this first, to see what the general policy is. I presume that you would then take the package home before opening it so as not to look like a maniac about to go on a rampage. Then again, I keep a disassembled traction trebuchet in the office, people at my place of work *know* I'm nuts, and generally are unconcerned regardless.

I live in South Korea, and depending on the delivery service used, sometimes they will simply NOT leave a package unattended, even though it would be perfectly safe. Since there would never be anyone at the house/apartment when they would normally deliver, I just have things sent to me, care of the university where I work. Someone is always there to accept delivery, and while it might get shuffled across campus a bit at times, it always finds me within a day of delivery to the school. Never any problems, although most of the time I can honestly claim that they are either work-related or for professional development anyway.

Good luck!
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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 7:03 pm    Post subject: Work is a no-go         Reply with quote

I work in psychiatric settings at a hospital. The no-weapons on premises rules, decentralized organization across multiple units, and (most importantly), safety issues for patients with a large sharp all preclude my having anything like a sword or dagger shipped to me at work, regardless of how well it has been packaged. I would not even feel safe about a butter knife or set of keys.
Michael
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Michael Edelson




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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 7:09 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

David Teague wrote:
Michael Edelson wrote:
Have Albion ship it USPS, if they are willing, and specify post office pickup. Odds are you have a post office close enough to you that you can pick it up on a lunch break or on your way to or from work. Priority Mail is quick and cheap, and I've never had a problem.


Here's a little something you may not know, the USPS doesn't ship their own airmail anymore. They contracted it out to a vendor called FedEx.

FYI

DT


That's for airport to airport delivery only.

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/press/2006/pr06_048.htm

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Andrew Maxwell




Location: New Zealand
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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 8:04 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

P. Cha wrote:
If it's truely no longer in their system, the sender needs to find the insurance slip so you can start the claim process. While your suppose to have 30 days, I have had fedex try to cheat me and count from the day it ships, so when they told me on day 31 that they could not find the package, they also tried to claim that they didn't have to honor the insurance as it was past the 30 day mark and I haven't started the process yet. Course my workplace corporate lawyer made them change their tune in a hurry, but unless you have one of those of your own (along with taped conversations), fedex is pretty bad about reimbustment of lost packages and will try to cheat you any which way they can. They hope the headache they cause will make you give up.


As someone who has been working in the transport & logistics industry for some years (albeit in a different country) I would lay down good money that I know what has happened here. Odds are you've got a low-level manager trying to cut his department's claims budget, and he can't see beyond it. These kind of individuals are toxic for a company but you often find them circulating in the lower management pools because they're too much trouble to get rid of.
The best way to deal with it is as Jonathan said; go above them. If you get a couple of levels up, the dollar value of your claim becomes irrelevant, and it's only the PR value that is important- so the claim will usually get sorted pretty quickly. Otherwise you can end up spending ages banging your head against the wall, talking to someone who will actively try to sabotage your claim.
Also if you can try to get a sales rep rather than (or as well as) a manager involved in your claim (more likely if you have an account rather than are sending something one-off). Reps are primarily interested in ongoing business, so they'll generally try to speed up the claims process to get you a positive outcome.

Good luck

Andy

Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man's power to live long. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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David Teague




Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 8:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Michael Edelson wrote:
David Teague wrote:
Michael Edelson wrote:
Have Albion ship it USPS, if they are willing, and specify post office pickup. Odds are you have a post office close enough to you that you can pick it up on a lunch break or on your way to or from work. Priority Mail is quick and cheap, and I've never had a problem.


Here's a little something you may not know, the USPS doesn't ship their own airmail anymore. They contracted it out to a vendor called FedEx.

FYI

DT


That's for airport to airport delivery only.

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/press/2006/pr06_048.htm


Still FedEx's hub to hub... just pointing it out to the Michael who swore never to use Fedex again. However, what did the tracking website say about the package via the tracking number? It's got to show going somewhere before winking out of the universe into a black hole.

DT

This you shall know, that all things have length and measure.

Free Scholar/ Instructor Selohaar Fechtschule
The Historic Recrudescence Guild

"Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou's sword art is with me; Thy poleaxe and Thy quarterstaff they comfort me."
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Ozsváth Árpád-István




Location: Romania
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PostPosted: Sun 25 Jul, 2010 8:49 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

You can track your package on their homepage, or find pick-up locations.
http://fedex.com/us/

Remember that Cast Away movie? Happy
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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Mon 26 Jul, 2010 4:41 am    Post subject: could not find it in system         Reply with quote

I decided to stop using them because early in the day on Saturday, when calling and using my tracking number, I was told the package was on the truck and out for delivery to me. I waited several more hours until I knew they were about to stop deliveries, then called back. At that point, I was told they could not find "any scans for it in the system today. I'm sorry, but we cannot locate your package." There had been problems before this, but that was when I decided to throw in the towel.
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Michael R. Black





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PostPosted: Mon 26 Jul, 2010 3:00 pm    Post subject: It is finally here         Reply with quote

Well, a fedex guy just knocked on my door, and despite my earlier statements of not ever working with them again, I signed for the package. It would have been too petulant and a little crazy to refuse to sign just to make a point.

The sword and custom work are beautiful. This is one of my favorite pieces.

I'll still go with UPS or USPS whenever possible in future shipments.

Thanks to all of you for the support and comments. I'm happy to say the sword is in good shape, so there will be no need for me to deal with insurance/damage/reimbursement hassles.

Michael
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