*Title courtesy of Butt Trumpet*
For those who are not in the know, every year Michael and I send a package to his relatives in the middle of the country. Last year we went to FedEx in person and they handled everything well, and our package, even though we shipped it late, even got there on time. Not bad.
This year, Michael wanted to eliminate any hassle for me, and so we weighed the package at home and he printed a label for Fed Ex Ground using his account. I printed it and stuck it to our package and then decided to take it to our local Mail Boxes Etc (905 W 7th St, Frederick, MD) because I had some shopping to do at Safeway.
The drop-off appeared to go fine. I handed it to a man in uniform behind the counter, told him it was Fed Ex Ground and he smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. All in all, a pleasant experience, right?
Well, today, after 3 pm when Michael notices Fed Ex has not scanned our package, he calls them up. They open an investigation and call Mail Boxes Etc, who say they don’t have the package in their location anymore.
So I call up, and speak to a man who checks our tracking number and tells me they sent it out because the data is there. Which I find out is untrue, that data is the data Michael submitted, Fed Ex has never scanned the package when they picked it up or when it entered their facility.
So I call back (around 4:20 pm today) and explain the situation. He tells me they don’t have it. I tell him if Fed Ex hasn’t scanned it at all, chances are it has been lost at Mail Boxes Etc. He gets testy with me and tells me it’s not there and what reason would they have to steal the package, they don’t know what’s in it. I ask to speak to a supervisor, he says he is the supervisor. I ask for his name, he tells me Jim. I ask for a last name and he hangs up.
So suck on this, Jim, if that is your real name. Fed Ex will resolve the package on their end soon. It may turn out they lost the package, in which case you still lost a customer because of the way you chose to treat me. It may turn out Fed Ex never received the package, in which case you can look forward to me being a total bitch. I’ve been in customer service my whole damn life, and I would never speak to someone the way I was spoken to today (and I have had people cussing me out, not treating me as nicely as I was to you today). I’ll come back in person, I’ll file a police report, I’ll call Fed Ex and make sure they know how an affiliate is treating their customers. I’ll do whatever I can to seek my personal justice, starting with this blog entry. I’ll take my shit to Consumerist, I’ll take it to the local paper. Hell, I’ll do that shit even if the package is found by Fed Ex, just because of the way I was treated today.
In conclusion, please refer again to the title of this entry.
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Fed Ex has reported the package was picked up about ten minutes after they called Mail Boxes Etc today. Who knows if our package will get to relatives on time or whether it was tampered with, but in any case, Fed Ex was not responsible for the delay in getting the package shipped. Michael dealt with them and said they were helpful and they obviously took our concerns seriously. Now all they need to do is get rid of the crappy affiliate that is Mail Boxes Etc.
6 Comments
it’s interesting that people try to blame everyone but themselves. kara and mike, you should take personal responsible for yourself.
I’ ve been working with customers my entire career, and most customers I would say 98% are reasonable and intelligent, but there is the 2% such as kara and mike who are totally unreasonable.
they take a fed-x package that has a prepaid label to a mail box etc and demand unreasonable service.
the mail box etc does them a favor, but taking there package even thou the store doesn’t make any money on the package. I wonder if they would do the same for free.
if the roles have been reversed and I asked mike and kara to do someting for free and that reqiured them to use ther money and resources, would they work for free.
so if you want quality serive then you have to comensate people, and expect people to do things for free! you get what you pay for so don’t be so cheap and next time pay the poor store owner some money so that he can feed his family!
and not just try to take advantage and always want something for nothing!
If MailBoxes Etc wasn’t making money as a corporation from this deal, why would they choose to be a drop-off location? If they didn’t want to offer the service, they shouldn’t offer it to customers and then provide crappy customer service.
I didn’t want something for nothing, I paid to have my package delivered, FedEx pays Mailboxes Etc to provide the service they do, and my little butt drove to a drop-off location that offered this service and smiled at the man who took my package, and thanked him.
I’ve worked solely in customer service jobs and have never had a complaint because I go above and beyond in all areas. I will find an answer, I will treat you as well as I expect to be treated, and I will always allow myself to be held accountable by giving my name. The cardinal no-no in phone customer service is hanging up on someone. It’s rude, it’s dismissive, it’s classless.
So I don’t expect something for nothing. I expect the service I was promised and the service I myself do offer to the people I deal with every day.
You wouldn’t happen to work for Mailboxes Etc., would you, Joe?
I will agree with you that the situation sucks for a local Mailboxes Etc. franchisee. I know FedEx doesn’t pay them a cent to handle my prepaid packages, but it’s a part of Mailboxes Etc.’s agreement that enables them to sell other FedEx services at a markup. It also doesn’t really cost them anything to hold onto a small box for a couple of hours.
To put it differently: You’re not doing me a favor and I’m not your customer. I’m FedEx’s customer, and your contract with them obligates you to deal with me. I don’t know if that arrangement is fair for you or not, and I don’t care, because when I call 1-800-GO-FEDEX and ask where I ought to drop off my packages they direct me to your store. That’s also why we called FedEx to ask about the package first, and only called Mailboxes Etc. after FedEx told us that it was their problem.
And yeah, we overreacted at first, because FedEx themselves strongly suspected that the package had been stolen at first. What would you do in that situation?
I’d also like to point out that, by publishing your comment on a blog that I pay to host, I have used my personal resources to provide you with a free service.
@Joe…
Wait, wait, exactly how should Kara and Michael take “…personal responsible [sic] for themselves…” in this circumstance?
They weighed the package, and (I assume) measured it according to FedEx package rules on the website. The paid for shipping on the FedEx website and printed out the label and affixed it to the box. keep in mind, it doesn’t take any special “Mailbox Plus box measuring skills” to accomplish this-any 4th grader could surely read the instructions.
They then dropped the package at the location indicated BY FEDEX, at which point the Mail Boxes, Etc. (hereinafter referred to as “MBE”) employee should have validated the packaging, dimensioning and weight. (FedEx doesn’t want a package that has to be returned for improper measurements.)
At that point, If there was something amiss it would be the MBE employees responsibility to address it.
As pointed out, MBE has a contract, a business relationship with FedEx. This relationship requires MBE to accept pre-labelled/paid for packages from FedEx customers. Presumably this relationship is financially beneficial to the company. If it isn’t, then MBE financial officers are failing at their jobs, which is no concern to Kara and Michael. That relationship’s financial woes or benefits accrue solely to MBE.
At no time is MBE “doing a favor” for Kara and Michael-they are performing their obligations to the contract they hold with FedEx.
Oh, and I’d venture that MBE does receive some financial compensation from FedEx for each of these “free” packages they handle.
So Kara and Michael didn’t want something for nothing-they wanted what they paid for-competent delivery service as offered and contractually agreed to by FedEx and MBE .
If the “poor store owner” can’t feed his family, then he should change lines of business, because he’s obviously incompetent at the one he’s running.
PS. I don’t know Kara and Michael but stumbled on their site the other day and found their writing engaging. I disagree with them strongly on some things, and agree on others. What I find compelling is though we see some things very differently, they offer reasoned, intelligent, hyperbole-free discourse. I find it unlikely they are “totally unreasonable”.
Oh, and Joe, it doesn’t help your cause when your writing is full of typos and critical grammatical errors…I don’t even know what this means:”so if you want quality serive then you have to comensate people, and expect people to do things for free!”
Wow, thanks, Bob. If I wasn’t me, I’d assume you were shilling for me.
I appreciate your kind words about our “reasoned, intelligent, hyperbole-free discourse,” even if it is occasionally laced with profanity. You are as awesome as a million exploding Godzillas being shot directly into a neutron star.
Your welcome.
And thanks for the most excellent compliment! Guess I should’ve said “they offer reasoned, intelligent, generally hyperbole-free discourse”!
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