In January I didn't update my expired Credit Card thru Fed Ex. They sent me a letter, didn't suspend my account... but threatened to do so b/c they were unable to charge 2 shipments. I called, update the card, paid the balance. Feb 23 I ship two packages and notice no discount. I called, they said they had to forward a message to my sales rep who would call me. Nothing.
It bugs me that UPS gives a 20% discount to anyone who uses Paypal... but Fed Ex requires an act of Congress and a signature from the President before they can get me talking to the right person to fix the error on my account. The thing is that I have discounts showing for every other method except Ground service. It is obvious I am entitled to a discount, but only a sales rep can snap his magical little fingers to make it happen.
Last week I called back and of course Fed Ex Billing is closed, so I call back the next day 15 minutes before they closed. I was put on hold and then they left. Nice.
Finally, early Friday morning (7am PST) I called and spoke with a CSR who sent me to a Customer Care Representative who said she would call the sales rep and have them return my call. She said it likely wouldn't happen on Friday. In the meantime I have a few packages to ship. No biggie I figured, I would ship them Monday after the rep calls me back. Today, nothing!
So I call back, go through all the hoops again only to be told nobody called the sales rep. I was so mad I hung up. I called back and somehow got forwarded to the person I spoke with on Friday who supposedly didn't call the sales rep. When I told her this, she said that those people wouldn't have the information regarding our conversation and what she did. Only she has that information. Nice. If she quit Friday or lost her job, I would have been stuck at the beginning again.
So, after talking to her she said she called the rep, but the rep said he wasn't my rep and gave her the name of another rep. She contacted that rep and apparently that rep isn't the person either. Nice to know I'm so important. I felt sorry for her, but she was the only person on the other end of the line that represented Fed Ex and their evil ways of poorly conducting business.
Yes, I could use UPS, but I had a problem many years ago with them. They left a package that clearly stated it required a signature. To make matters worse, it was an expensive acoustic guitar and it was left in sub freezing weather against the door of the recipient for at least 6 hours before he got home. The bridge cracked, and UPS refused to cover it b/c they claim it wasn't packed properly. I guess a hardshell case inside of a guitar box isn't packed properly... It took a month for them to deny liability until we went to mediation where I won. But it was the hassle of doing so and UPS is a nightmare to deal with.
I can't believe Fed Ex puts so much stock into sales reps that nobody knows who they are, how to contact them, and how to make sure customers are properly served. It is maddening. I wish DHL was still around.
[ edited by shagmidmod on Mar 15, 2010 04:53 PM ]
posted on March 15, 2010 08:04:08 PM new
Yes, I should... the thing is that it won't reach anyone at corporate. it will get sent to their customer support center where some underling will respond, act like they are doing something about it, and then move on to the next complaint.
Oftentimes, I tell them this very point. Once a company gets so large, real customer service goes down the tube. Basically, it becomes an automated system, except that there are a few live people on the other end that read from a teleprompter. When you ask them a legitimate question, they say, "I'm not sure what you want me to say." or "I understand". There is never a reply. Why should they?
When I moved to Portland I worked for a temp agency at a Credit Card company. I was one of those evil "collection" specialists. My job was to sit on the end of a computer generated call and tell people their account was past due. I tried hard to convince people to pay their bill. I would get many irate people, and fell into the middle of collection results. One day it hit me... don't care. If they don't commit to a payment, tell them that you can't stop the daily calls until they pay and move quickly on to the next person. I shot straight to the top of collections. I hated the job so much that I was the best at it. LOL. About a week before they were going to acquire me from the temp agency i got a call from a non-profit agency for a job i applied for... recruiting volunteers to help kids read. Needless to say, it was my best job outside of working for myself.
posted on March 15, 2010 08:25:49 PM new
In situations like this, I address the letter to the president of the company. A call to their 800 number can give you the name and mailing address for him/her. I've gotten replies from those presidents in the past.
_____________________
"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who ***dared to dissent*** from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, ***may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."*** --Eisenhower
posted on March 16, 2010 08:33:38 AM new
I would have never thought I would say that I miss DHL but I sure do. But it's no wonder they could make it in the US.
I could use my account and it would cost me something like $100 to ship a chair but if I took it to the station and didn't use my account - it could cost me as little as $35. The station didn't measure ANYTHING!!!
If you didn't like a bill - call and complain DHL would reduce it. Like I said - I can understand why they didn't make it here.
posted on March 16, 2010 09:33:53 AM new
I had my issues with DHL as well. The main one was that the closest DHL drop location wouldn't take more than 1 or 2 packages at a time b/c of limited space. I don't ship enough to justify any weekly fee. Just doesn't seem right.
What bugs me about Fed Ex is that they just don't get it. I have packages to ship and nobody knows what they are doing. I keep getting "I'm sorry" from the Customer Support person, but like I told her, "I'm sorry" from a Fed Ex rep doesn't cut it for my customers who are waiting.
I find it utterly absurd that nobody but a salesperson that nobody knows can take care of this problem. I get a 20% discount on everything, yet it doesn't show for Ground. I have a package right now that is almost $90 to ship. With the discount it would be $18 less. I don't plan to give that money away to Fed Ex, and their representatives that I have spoken to won't commit to providing me credits for the previous packages or any other packages I ship until the discount has been applied.
posted on March 16, 2010 10:07:10 AM new
ok, so i call back again this morning and more running around. i ask for the corporate office, go through my whole story only to be told they will relay a message.
I asked the woman, "does anyone at Fed Ex actually do something other than relay messages?"
I don't blame the employees, I blame the structure. They work with the tools they have, but it is so inefficient.
During my 30 minutes on the phone with Fed Ex I was transferred to Customer Relations. The woman at Customer Relations told me that all her department does is write apology letters.
How nice... Fed Ex screws up so much that they have a dedicated department that writes apology letters, but they don't have someone that can resolve the most basic issues over the phone.
A novel idea with Fed Ex... restructure the business into something that is efficient and effective so you don't have to apologize all the time.
posted on March 16, 2010 03:08:01 PM new
I know that you need to get your discount right now on your current packages however I would not be talking to anyone on the phone who is not eligible to ride in the Corporate Jet!
I would send a letter by Courier ( a different one!) to the President and a copy to this Senior VP who is in charge of your Sales Reps and your account. It says she is in charge of 'Customer Experience"
posted on March 18, 2010 11:34:08 AM new
well, i finally spoke with a very helpful sales rep. he has me back on discount contract... but the whole system of getting to someone to handle this is dumb.
posted on March 18, 2010 02:48:23 PM new
That is great news however maybe the people in the Ivory Tower of FedEx still need to know about it!
If they don't know then they can't change it.
