Fedex problem (ebay sale) - boned am i?

Short:

sold plow pump on ebay for $320.  Purchased fedex shipping through ebay to verified paypal address, drop at fedex office next day, done.

yesterday buyer files claim for not receiving.  Fedex shows delivered.  Ebay says "provide tracking showing delivery, or you can refund in full".  Add same tracking, showing delivery, and i go to my fedex account and it shows delivery exception for wrong house number friday, then delivery Sunday.  It's not the wrong house number, it's a paypal verified address that pops right up on google maps and there's a damn plow truck in the driveway.  I believe fedex "fixed" something that wasn't broken and sent it to the wrong house.  Buyer claims security cameras show no delivery.  He also has 100% feedback

so fedex boned it up, I'm trying to get them to talk to me, but who's left holding the bag?  Ebay told me to provide a tracking number that shows delivery, i did, can they still berkeley me and take the $?   If it escalates and they judge against me i'm out 39 to fedex, 32 to ebay, 10 to paypal on top of the 320 for the pump.  
 

also 1800gofedex can suck it, their automated system told me I could not speak to a representative because the package was delivered and hung up on me

Have you tried this? GetHuman

Nothing constructive to add, except that I wish you the best of luck.  I know it limits my market, but if it's physically large or high in value, I sell via Craigslist face-to-face. 

I've had good luck with Fedex insurance claims - maybe it applies in a situation like this?

I am actually getting someone looking into it via DMing the fedex help twitter account.  Their phone system was like

"Hi, tracking number"

number

"package was delivered, anything else?"

customer service representative 

"is this regarding the tracking number you just provided?"

yes

"you can not speak to someone about that tracking number, goodbye" 

I was already having a bad day yesterday, i may or may not have called back and yelled at their automated system

this is my first fedex issue, I've been using them for years.  Never had an ebay sale go wrong either and I've been selling since 1999.  I've had several high dollar sales($700+) always go smooth.  I generally use ebay for big ticket stuff that needs exposure to get max $.  Small stuff i'd rather give away to someone here for cheap or free who can use it than get fee'd to death for a couple dollars

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

That's when I call back and just start pressing "0" or other numbers until I get a person to talk to.

Or alternatively, I'd print out some stuff and drive over to my local FedEx distribution center, turn my accent to "Full-on Georgia" (since I live in PA) and make myself annoying. 

Fedex has turned into straight garbage this year. Anyone in the Atlanta area knows about the fedex ellenwood location. Packages go in. packages don't come out. After waiting on hold for an hour, I finally was able to talk to someone. who was useless. someone was supposed to call me back, but never did. repeat that 4x, before my package showed up 2 weeks late. 

all that to say fedex is a dumpster fire of E36 M3.

have you made a claim yet?

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/customer-support/claims.html

lnlogauge said:

Fedex has turned into straight garbage this year. Anyone in the Atlanta area knows about the fedex ellenwood location. Packages go in. packages don't come out. After waiting on hold for an hour, I finally was able to talk to someone. who was useless. someone was supposed to call me back, but never did. repeat that 4x, before my package showed up 2 weeks late. 

all that to say fedex is a dumpster fire of E36 M3.

have you made a claim yet?

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/customer-support/claims.html

 

This is consistent with my understanding of the current state of Fedex.  And I don't want to hear about the negative impact of Covid.  If you can take my money, you can damn well give me decent customer service.

Apparently the recipient called them monday and they tried to find the package and could not, and they sent me a pre filled claim form.  I sent that back with my ebay shipping receipt and the listing end so i hope they just fix it quickly.  Either way i'll have to refund the guy before ebay steps in, the buyer doesn't want that and neither do i.  He's holding out hope they find it because he needs the pump.  I'm hoping they find it because then I don't have to gamble sending his $ back then having fedex tell me to get berkeleyed

We ship a lot of FedEx, in the last month they have lost packages to New Zealand, Australia and France, and multiple in the US.  UPS has lost one,  DHL has lost one.  A lot of people may not know that FedEx does not employ it's own drivers, it is all contracted out to the lowest bidder.  And FedEx ground is a separate company to FedEx Express.  There is much to not be impressed wth at FedEx.  UPS is not a lot better, but I have had more luck with them, even if they do have a bad habit of losing commercial invoices a lot lately.  I would say good luck, but you may be out of luck.  We have lost maybe $60k worth of merchandise this summer, and FedEx has yet to come through on any of its insurance.  Sorry for the rant, but I actually just got off the phone with them, yet again.  Very frustrating.  

The only time I have with FedEx messing up a delivery, it was a similar issue to yours.  (Lund Visor for a Squarebody Chevy; buyer said it never arrived.  Either fedEx messed up, package was stolen, or buyer was lying)   I sent tracking to eBay and let them take care of it.  It was a couple of weeks-  eBay sided with me, but refunded the buyer anyway.  Case Closed.

One quick question, are you requesting POD's (proof of delivery aka signature)? In couriering the general rule is he who pays calls the shots.

Edit: To add regards insurance their liability may be limited to something around $1.50 per pound unless you have paid for declared value insurance. Check the fine print on the back of the way bill.

In reply to Rons :

We usually pay extra for the insurance, its pretty cheap, like $1 for every $1000 or something like that.  You get up to $100 automatically, but you do need to declare it when you ship I believe.  Now collecting on it, that's a different story.  I have yet to have a claim paid by them, and we have had several over the years.  The typical scenario is that you file the claim and get a claim number, they say they are going to investigate, you call back since you never heard anything, and what, you filed a claim, we do not see a record of you ever contacting us.  So, you start the process all over again only to go through the same steps.  This one hits a nerve as it has been a huge source of irritation the last few weeks.  To be fair, it has been much worse since Covid, and I am sure they are all understaffed.  

Best of luck to getting the insurance money from FedEx.

This spring they deemed my business as non essential and returned ordered parts. They charged me return shipping on top of not delivering my packages. Had to make special requests to not have things shipped FedEx for two months, it was a disaster. Still don't forgive them for that no matter how many summit racing parts they deliver to me. 

I hate seeing FedEx when I've ordered stuff.

If retailers were to advertise using FedEx before I purchase I wouldn't buy from them. Seriously.

Not even worth citing how trife they've been.

I finally had a negative experience with them as well. We went to Amazon to check on something we ordered, we were surprised to see it had been "delivered" 2 weeks prior. 

The POD said "Signed for at front desk." We live in a house. The closest apartment complex is ~1 mile away. 

And it's not like we have a hard house to find. It sits right on a corner lot with a school I can see from front porch. 

We have noticed that service from the UPS/FedEx/USPS drivers in our area has improved since we started handing them a few pieces of candy every time they drop something off.  We find the assortment of Fun Size Snicker/Twix/Kitkat goes over particularly well.  We are not above bribery.

I had the same thing happen a few months ago when I sold a Datsun intake manifold on eBay for $250. Shipped it with FedEx and the tracking # said it was delivered. The buyer then filed a claim stating they never got it and that their camera never showed it being delivered. Long story short eBay sided with me because the tracking number showed it was delivered. Buyer then tried to file a claim with PayPal and it was also denied. I did try to help the buyer by filing a claim with FedEx but they also denied it stating the package was delivered but could not prove it. I also learned that even if I bought extra insurance they would have still denied it since I didn’t use signature confirmation.

In reply to PseudoSport (Forum Supporter) :

One thing I have learned with the signature confirmation is that sometimes the drivers fake it.  I have had this happen more than once.  See above where Fedex does not employ their own delivery fleets.  It is all subcontracted.  Ours changed 3 times during the past year.  Our original driver was a young woman who bid on her route and won, and purchased her truck.  She did a fantastic job but was outbid about 8 or 9 months later.  She did find another route, but it was a long way off and did not have anywhere near the number of stops.  it has since changed again, and they just used U hauls for the first couple of months.  I am so unimpressed with them as a company.  

And don't get me started with ground and express being different companies.  You have to pay for two totally separate pickups or daily pickup fees.  UPS has one fee for both.  

Sorry to the OP for ranting on his post.  

I ship a couple of radioactive packages a month for work and we use FedEx for it.  Our pickup instructions are a little complicated so speaking with a real person is necessary otherwise they don't show up.  If you call 1-800-463-3339 and ignore the prompts but just keep saying "representative" eventually the system gives up and forwards you to a human.  You might have to play along for a little bit with the automated system, but get past the first prompt and then start saying it.

In reply to racerdave600 :

My driver(awesome guy btw, i order lots of heavy E36 M3 and he's cool) told me due to covid i could decline to sign even if signature is required, so that doesn't mean much right now.  
 

if fedex doesn't get back to me on the claim by ebay's 3 day window i may gamble and let ebay jump in since i do have tracking showing delivery.  I don't want to eff the guy over but I don't want to be the recipient of the effing either

Update:  2 customer service reps said it was lost and to file a claim.  I refunded the buyer because he didn't get what he paid for.  Claim declined, i'm out $320 on the sale and the $37 i paid fedex to lose me $320.  berkeley fedex

how can they legally deny a claim when it was 100% their fault? That seems like a small claims lawsuit to me. 

nutherjrfan said:

I hate seeing FedEx when I've ordered stuff.

If retailers were to advertise using FedEx before I purchase I wouldn't buy from them. Seriously.

Not even worth citing how trife they've been.

I go out of my way to not buy thru companies that only deliver thru FedEx.

Even if I spend more it's worth it since I won't receive what order thru FedEx anyway

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Update:  2 customer service reps said it was lost and to file a claim.  I refunded the buyer because he didn't get what he paid for.  Claim declined, i'm out $320 on the sale and the $37 i paid fedex to lose me $320.  berkeley fedex

How the hell can they deny it?