Gee, this is my recent encounter with FedEx, the first time I've ever had to use their services. This is how it turned out:

Notes: On the photo documentation, please note the one picture which shows breakage on the suitcase corner where the PC tower sits within it. I have not yet had the opportunity to disassemble the tower to check for breakage, but my technical prognosis from the observed symptoms of non-operation seem to indicate that the motherboard has suffered breakage. I will know more upon further examination and advise you of my findings. While I am now aware that the computer equipment was not packaged per FedEx’s shipping specifications, Mr. Horton had accepted responsibility for it as is, and had indicated that he (on FedEx’s behalf) “could” add the “Fragile, Handle with Care” label (but failed to do so), so I would fail to see how FedEx could reasonably expect to deny any actual liability for damages.
Claim Process To Date
5/22/2016 At approximately 12:45 PM MDT, I arrived with three parcels with the intention to ship them to an address supplied in advance by my nephew via Facebook. I made the shipping arrangements with one Mr. William Horton, the attending customer service representative. One parcel, a cardboard-sided suitcase, contained within it my PC assembly which I had disassembled and packed for shipping, with associated software and storage media. There was no way any of the contents could move about within the suitcase – I checked before and after shipping. I declared the contents of all three parcels, yet, although I subsequently discovered that it did not meet the required shipping specifications, Mr. Horton accepted them into FedEx’s custody and accepted the additional insurance fee along with the usual freight costs, a considerable sum of money. I had specifically mentioned adding a “Fragile, handle with Care” label, and he said “Yes, we can do that.” However, before he finished processing my shipping order, I watched him walk away to have an extended conversation with someone else, a rather attractive woman. After about two minutes, I exited the office. (Do I really have to tell him how to do his job?)
5/26/2016 At approximately 10:45 AM EDT, at my nephew’s address, my older sister accepted my shipment from FedEx. She said that she “watched him like a hawk”, and that he handled the parcels most carefully and she did, too. Upon opening the suitcase later, I discovered that the PC tower’s faceplate had suffered breakage. Upon subsequent assembly and start-up, I found that the assembled computer still functioned, but would not complete the P.O.S.T. test (hardware operation check) – one hard drive was intermittently detected, but not the other one. I had built and subsequently upgraded it with more hardware, and at last operation the hardware was working adequately before disassembly for shipping. (I have recently determined that the most likely cause is a cracked motherboard.)
5/27/2016 I called the 1-800-GoFedEx hotline to initiate a damage claim, but while speaking with the first Customer Service Rep (CSR, for future reference), she begins by asking me a whole list of questions which had not been initially asked and interrupting me while I was attempting to provide complete answers, further frustrating me. This was the first time which I had ever needed to employ FedEx’s services, after all. I asked her rather testily “Where were these questions when I initially placed the shipping order?”, to which she responded “I understand that, sir…”, and this conversation ended with my asking her to connect me with her supervisor.
She connected me to her (call center) supervisor, named Jennifer, who seemed to be observing the forms of addressing my concerns while continuing this line of Q & A, but she talked so fast and also interrupted me at several points, further frustrating me, and at one point I interrupted her with “Am I rushing you? You seem to be late for some appointment or something.” She slowed down her fast talking but continued to present an “adversarial” stance, to which I responded with a comment about mentioning it on Facebook. She countered with a comment about referring the matter to FedEx’s media dept, and then proceeded to give me an initial claim entry and pickUp number. First, though, she wanted me to send the whole suitcase (not the damaged PC tower) in for inspection, but I responded with recalcitrance, she amended the procedure which I could expect to sending out a claim inspector, adjuster, or some such, and I was told to expect this encounter at 8 AM to 8 PM, local time (EDT).
5/28/2016 A delivery driver named “Duke” arrives at 4:40 PM EDT in his truck for the parcel, while I was given to expect a claim adjuster, or some such. I told Duke what I was told, to which he replied “We don’t do that”, and asked me what I wanted to do about it. I signed that he had arrived, but didn’t want to make him wait because of Jennifer’s miscommunication, for whatever reason she did that. Duke said to call on Tuesday and try again.
5/31/2016 I call on Tuesday to the GoFedEx number and speak with T.J., and upon my needing to clarify what I really needed, he had to assign me a new PickUp number and provide me with a pickup ETA of 3 to 5 PM. I asked him for the time estimate which he was supposed to tell me per company policy, to which he replied “8 AM to 8 PM”. Then we hung up.
6/1/2016 3:45 PM EDT The FedEx driver arrived the second time (the first time, I hadn’t had time to get the PC tower packed per shipping specs, and said he could return at 3 PM). I didn’t get the driver’s name or the truck number, but the second pickup attempt occurred successfully.
6/2/2016 At 12:15 PM EDT I receive a phone call from Barbie, the shipping and receiving clerk from the local FedEx shipping office asking me to where they were shipping the parcel. It seems that the communiques which she read gave her the notion that it was being shipped back to a manufacturer. Upon my clarifying the matter, she told me “Give me 15 minutes, then call the GoFedEx number.”
A half-hour later, I call that number, and speak with Kathy, and I had to clarify the matter again, as her computer had my claim listed as “hold for more information”. She connected with Barbie and they conferred, after which Kathy told me to call Mr. Brian Hammond at the Denver office where I initiated the shipping order, and gave me the phone number.
6/3/2016 8:52 AM EDT I call the Denver, CO office and speak with Robert, who said that Mr. Hammond would be at the office as of 9 AM MDT (11 AM EDT), so I hang up.
1:55 PM EDT (11:55 MDT) I call the Denver office again, and discover that I had been incorrectly informed, and that Mr. Hammond will not be in the office until Sunday. I inform this customer service rep what had transpired to date, and he connected me with Amanda, who obtained and documented the initial claim number, parcel tracking number, and some other information, but all this apparent run-around and other concerns were making it difficult for me to think straight, so after I told her to notify him to expect my call, we disconnected.
6/5/2016 11:15 AM EDT (9:15 AM MDT) I call the Denver, CO office and finally connect with Mr. Hammond, and once I clarified the problem, he apologized for the lack of the “Fragile…” label, and stated that he would need to confer with Amanda and call me back, “probably tomorrow”. I informed him (per my conversation with her two days earlier) that she had said that she would provide Mr. Hammond with a message passing him the relevant information, and he said that he would investigate.
6/7/2016 3:20 PM EDT (1:20 PM MDT) Since Mr. Hammond had not yet called me back, I called the Denver office and spoke with him again. He informed me that he was waiting to hear back from (I presume) a corporate superior to give him instructions. I say that I think I know what we need to do, and suggest that FedEx send me back the PC tower so that I can initiate the actual claim documentation process, with which he agrees (he thought). I then provide him with Barbie’s direct number (the local shipping clerk who previously called me), to facilitate this process, which had already taken up far too much time.
6/8/2016 10:52 AM EDT I called Barbie’s number and left her a message that Mr. Hammond and I had spoken “yesterday” and agreed upon the most likely next step. I then explicitly requested that she arrange for the tower to be returned to my Belle Vernon address and that she release the “Hold for more information” upon the claim which has yet to be initially filed (I had included the paperwork inside the shipping box containing the PC tower, but she had only opened the outer container).
3:20 PM EDT (1:20 PM MDT) I called the Denver office and spoke with Mr. Hammond again, and I related to him that I had not received any contact regarding the disposition of my parcel. He then (after we conferred) referred me to someone higher up within the FedEx Ground corporate structure and connected me to speak with this individual, who then connected me with Nicole in the Claims Department. She then, after I updated her and provided her with my claim number, informed me that my PC tower unit is scheduled for re-delivery to my address sometime tomorrow. I was never provided with notice to this effect until I called and made extensive inquiry.
6/9/2016 Received via USPS a (form letter) claim denial because “the shipping container showed no sign of damage”. Upon calling, I spoke with a claim representative named Beth, who informed me that no documentation had been filed to date. When I told her that the PC tower needed to be shipped back to me to start that process. She told me that “we have no way to track the package.” I then asked “Why, then, did Nicole tell me that it was being shipped back to me?” She told me that I would have to place an inquiry via the GoFedEx number, which I did, and got Frieda, whose voice I instantly recognized as the initial CSR who had started my claim process (in theory), before I asked to speak with her supervisor, Jennifer. Frieda then informed me after entering the original tracking number that, yes, it was due to arrive on Thursday, June 9.
(Same Date) 11:20 AM The parcel containing the damaged PC tower was returned to me.
I am not a FedEx employee, yet I seem to be being forced to undertake FedEx's interoffice communiques just to retrieve my PC tower. This is consuming quite a bit of time and effort on my part. Why am I having to do tasks which FedEx should be accomplishing within its own corporate structure? In light of these extenuating circumstances, I trust that a reasonable decision would be that this constitutes a valid damage claim and will await your decision concerning this matter.
Sincerely,
William J. Coblentz