Fed Ex should get some sort of honorable mention in the "Worst Company Ever" competition. Even if the package requires a signature upon delivery, their policy is that at the driver's discretion, he can leave it unattended anyway. Staying home to receive your package won't necessarily help, since they probably won't buzz you anyway; they often skip right to the door tag. And if you do make the trip to one of their inconveniently located facilities, expect rudeness and confusion.

I don't understand why your ID wouldn't be enough. I pick up stuff at the post office here in Boston with my FL driver's license, and I am able to get a letter. That policy is stupid. What if you are visiting or having it delivered at work?

Doesn't your ID have your address on it? Whenever I need to pick up a package they cross check the label on the package with my name, address, and photo on the ID.

They are always very insistent on the phone with a reminder to bring ID with address to the depot.

FedEx has justification for the policy, if you didn't have your address on the ID, without additional proof, I'm not sure how they could verify that you were the intended recipient.

What this guy is not telling everybody is that his ID does not have the current address on it...that is why they need a utility bill.

Hmm. I had new phones from Verizon delivered a few weeks ago. The driver left a door tag. I took said door tag and ID to the Fed Ex office. My drivers license doesn't even have my current address on it. They looked at the DL, took the door tag and had me sign for the package. So why they gave this guy such a hassle seems out of the norm.

@EricaKane: Yep, I figured that out from reading between the lines. He doesn't have a drivers' license, since he doesn't have a car, presumably. And probably doesn't have an ID with address.

>> show us a bill with your address

I don't believe him on this. FedEx has never demanded a bill from me. They do ask for ID that has your address on it.

Showing ID is common sense for picking up a package. Anyone can steal the tag form people' doors.

@johnva: Although I should add that that guess is only correct if his ID's address doesn't match his current address. And it certainly doesn't justify the foul-mouthed "customer service".

I agree with the above, having lived many locations the ID policy, in my experience, has been pretty standard. Especially as my driver's license hasn't had the actually place I live (my home of record stays the same, but current address changes) I have made it a habit to bring a power bill with me pretty much anytime I want to pickup a FedEx or UPS package.

And seeing as though they never actually deliver packages here in Chicago but instead just throw the notices up as fast as they can, I've had a good deal of experience with this. The only difference is they've always reminded me on the phone to bring proof of address.

If you want to grip about FedEx, let's talk about packages being signed for by F. Rontdoor…I've had to file claims a handful of times because my packages that required signature verification that I never signed for. Mr. Rontdoor must be living the life with all these stolen packages…

The response from fedex seems disproportionate, to the point that I'm having trouble believing it, even from FedEx. To have two people curse you out, when you're supposedly being perfectly polite?

It also sounds like his ID doesn't have his address on it. I'm sure in NYC FedEx has had their share of people taking door tags off doors and trying to claim the packages (I also know you can get a fake ID in about 10 minutes in NYC) - so I don't really blame them for this.

I've picked up tons of packages at FedEx with just a valid ID showing my address. They do match the address, though - that's what they're looking for.

Yes I live in Chicago and it is standard practice for both UPS and Fed Ex to require proof of current address to pick up items. If your ID doesn't show it, then you are required to produce utility bills. This guy left off that very important fact in his story.

i <3 new york...

Where I live in Dallas, I show my passport--which definitely DOES NOT have my current address--and it works fine. They always give me my package(s).

This is such B.S. I have had packages SENT to FEDEX's own Shipping Hub address with c/o 'Hold For Pickup' when I don't feel like having something shipped directly to me. What am I supposed to show for proof of address then? I'm not a fedex employee, just using their address to get my package, since I know it will get shipped to the hub and just sit there and wait for me...

And as for the utility bills? When I lived in Arkansas ALL UTILITY bills were paid for by the landlord. Everything, phone, elect, cable tv, water. Not a single piece of mail was even going to my house.. This is a ridiculous policy.

This guy should email Steve Jobs and tell him that he needs to give him an iPod.

That is no way to treat a customer. What's wrong with Fedex?

I can see how in an urban area, where anyone can (and probably do) rip a notice off a door and go down to the depot and try to see what package they can get, how there might be more strict requirements for ID.

The verbal abuse however is inexcusable however.

WOW. Proof of address or not, the way you were treated was UNACCEPTABLE.

@Lucky225: There are different policies in effect for "Hold at Pickup" When you do that, the person shipping you the package has to put an address for Fed Ex to verify with you.

There's certainly no excuse for the abuse. However, it should be "principle" not "principal" in both occurrences in your letter.

I once found two FED EX packages by the side of the road. One was from a jewelry manufacturer with $1000 in insurance and the other was from a blood bank. It took me an hour to navigate their system to reach a live person who could help me. They seem less than pleased to talk to me, even after I explained I had found some packages they had dropped. They sent someone to pick them up that night and he was rude. No one ever even thanked me.

I was sorry I wasted my time, I should have held the packages overnight and returned them to the customers the next day. Then Fedex could explain to them why their packages were sitting on the side of the road.

I had this exact thing happen to me at this exact location in December of last year, although I was (admittedly) less than polite initially.

I has about $1500 of computer parts sent to me via Fed Ex. I had initially called to have the packages dropped off at a Fedex location close to me. Of course, when I get home to pick them up, they tell me that they don't accept packages (something that the rep never told me) and I would have to go to Maspeth. Great.

I caught a cab out to Maspeth (there's no subway that goes out that way). My Driver's license is currently my parent's address (I had just moved and I STILL haven't had time to change it), and they refused to give me my parts (and were pretty rude to me when I asked why, they did the same thing to me that they did to Matthew, brushing me off before I was even done talking). I had a bad day and said a few things I shouldn't have, unfortunately. I caught a cab back, and looked for ANYTHING with my name and current address on it, and found a rent envelope with my name on it.

I go back that night, catching ANOTHER cab. I apologize for my earlier actions and try again, this time with my envelope. Unfortunately, that wasn't "good enough" for them, they still refused to let me take the package I go home (yet ANOTHER cab), and take a day off from work the next day to receive the package... only it never comes.

I got a call about 3-4 PM saying that they tried to deliver the package to the original location I went to and they refused the dropoff. This was the next day, AFTER they originally tried. At this point, I figure that maybe Newegg (who I bought the stuff from) can help me. I talk to the CSR (who was very polite and helpful), she calls them and explains my situation to them, and they make a note of it in their file that I should be able to pick up the package.

As I'm flipping through the day's mail, I find that I received a credit card bill with my name and new address on it. It's a good thing too, because when I go back for the 3rd time (ANOTHER cab), they told me that there was no record of the Newegg CSR calling (even though it had happened literally 2 hours before). I finally got my stuff.

Yes, I was not nice in the beginning (and I really do regret it), but the people behind the counter were some of the rudest people that I have ever dealt with. I spent $120 in cab fares total, and wasted quite a bit of time dealing with these people. I'm never going to use FedEx again, I would actually rather use USPS than have to deal with this again.

However, I have another story (not involving me, but what I witnissed) -

I had a friend who shipped something via FedEx, and I volunteered to go with him to pick it up (I knew where the place was). I saw this same exact situation happen to another customer - she didn't realize that she needed an ID that the ID on her license didn't match the address on the package. The next customer was taken before she was done talking.

@Lucky225: I'm sure you had some document showing proof of address; the utility bill is just a suggestion. A lease would suffice as well, as I've used that before.

What can brown do for you?

I'm also in Queens..I've had similar experiences at both FedEx and UPS there. I ordered the Chocolate from Verizon the day it came out, and got there about 20 minutes before closing. They locked the door and wouldn't let me in. I begged and begged since I wanted the phone, and they let me in, but I heard one of the other employees curse about me repeatedly (not to mention..the Chocolate wasn't worth it)

tcp100: Believe it. I had a package delivery from Fedex, that required me to go to the Fedex location in Danbury, CT. I went there and was asked for my drivers license, and the CSR proceeded to start typing my drivers license # into her computer terminal. I quickly stopped her, retrieved my license, and asked to see the manager, inquiring about their computer security policies. I was brushed off, with the manager saying that it was their policy to record the Drivers License #, and that was that. I told them, fine, redeliver the package the next day to my house. I signed for the package next day, case closed. I complained but never heard back.

It was a woman, maybe even a "minority" too. With that attitude and language, she knows that no company, especially one with deep pockets, would EVER fire her. And in the NY area it's probably a piece of cake to find numerous government and private agencies and lawyers to help advocate any "discrimination" toward her. Just feeling like someone at work doesn't absolutely like anything about you ever, or not getting every open promotion is all she needs for a "hostile workplace" or "employee or minority discrimination" suit. Hopefully she'll eventually quit when she's to burned-out from the having to do the barest minimum of showing-up most of the time and get government handouts for suffering what ever "medical condition" caused her not to want to go to work.

'he received a barrage of foul language from an employee and her manger.'

It's been awhile since college French, but I remember manger means 'to eat'...I'm not a grammar-nazi, but I got a great mental image of oversized chompers behind a FedEx desk.

@EricaKane: What fricken government-issued ID doesn't have your address on it?!

sounds like that employee was having a fantastic day!

It doesn't make sense. I can understand the Address needing to be verified but if you stole a doortag what are the odds you would have a matching ID with name on it?

If someone thinks the package is worth a few thousand dollars (say a laptop), it is quite conceivable that they could get a fake id and pass that off in order to get the package.

@ViperBorg: What fricken government-issued ID doesn't have your address on it?!

A military ID or passport, to name a few.

Too bad this isn't confined to FedEx- I've had problems with ALL of the carriers, including UPS telling me that my package could not be re-delivered because it didn't include an apartment number (ORLY? How did you leave the door tag the first time you incompetent donut?)

I have been speed-buzzed by FedEx (the guy knocked on my door and in the 15 seconds it took me to get off the couch he was already on the elevator with my package having left a door tag. Lazy bum.)

I also have put up with DHL, the Taco Bell of Package Delivery (I hope everyone who could take offense to that does) sending my package from the Dell Factory that is 20 minutes from Nashville ACROSS THE STATE TO MEMPHIS and then back to Nashville because they are apparently braindead fuckwits.

So, consumers, what is the option? Its not like you can tell Amazon (or whomever) "Hey, could you like, use FedEx/UPS/DHL because I really hate FedEx/UPS/DHL and would prefer if you didn't use them." And, even if you could, is one really better than the other?

I love UPS. I had a driver leave a note on my door and I called to ask if I could come pick up my package. The CSR said "Oh that driver's still out, he'll be picking up at the town hall in 30 minutes, do you want to meet him there?" I said yes (town hall is a 5 minute walk) and two minutes later the driver was at my door. He wanted to save the the trip so he just redelivered the package. Excellent customer service.

I thought using a utility bill as "proof of address" was for people who didn't have a driver's license or other government-issued ID?

Ah, the joy of living in sparsely populated territory. Not only do our FEDEX, UPS and USPS drivers know us by name, we know them and their families.

Cities. Got one word ... frack.

@enm4r:

The address wasn't my address.. it was literally the address of the Fedex facility it's self. And no, at the time I was living in Arkansas I had no proof of my ACTUAL address (tho I never had anything shipped there anyways) as everything was in the landlord's name, and not a single piece of mail was going to my house at that time. I was being stalked, and the stalker was finding me through utility companies (through a practice known as social engineering), and through USPS change of address forwarding. So I specifically chose that residence since the landlord paid ALL the bills so nothing was in my name for the stalker to find, and I didn't forward any mail to that address or receive anything there, not even my own mother knew where I was living at the time (as they were harassing family members for information.) I was stopped by a cop for speeding coming OUT of the town that was listed on my address, when he asked where I was going I slipped up and said home, which he then noticed I was going in the wrong direction of home and demanded my address, which I refused for fear that it would become public information if I was ticketed with that address. I ended up with a verbal warning to change my address. After looking up the statutes for change of address I noticed that I wasn't required to give my residential address when I move but rather 'an address', so I sent a certified letter to the Dept of Finance(DMV in arkansas) citing the statute and updating them with a PO BOX address. Next time I got stopped I had my scanner on me, sure enough my DL # came back to a PO BOX, and that was all that was listed. It was pretty cool having a place to live without anything linking me to my residence for that year or so I lived there.

Comment on No Proof Of Address? FedEx Curses You Out I'm sorry, but the fault is almost entirely with Matthew on this one. Get a freakin' clue, Matthew. First off, anybody can steal a door tag. The fact that he has the door tag is not proof of address. Use your brain. Second, demanding a real, live signature from a warm body when delivering cellphones is pretty customary procedure, and has happened with every cellphone I've ordered in the last five years. Deal with it. Maybe have it delivered somewhere where somebody can sign for it? Nah, too logical. Third, get some friggin' proof of address. What kind of transient loser are you? There's Go Phones for people like you. That doesn't excuse rudeness or profanity, but other than that, Matthew has absolutely NO grounds for complaint, none.

I'm sorry, but the fault is almost entirely with Matthew on this one. Get a freakin' clue, Matthew.

First off, anybody can steal a door tag. The fact that he has the door tag is not proof of address. Use your brain.

Second, demanding a real, live signature from a warm body when delivering cellphones is pretty customary procedure, and has happened with every cellphone I've ordered in the last five years. Deal with it. Maybe have it delivered somewhere where somebody can sign for it? Nah, too logical.

Third, get some friggin' proof of address. What kind of transient loser are you? There's Go Phones for people like you.

That doesn't excuse rudeness or profanity on the part of Fedex, but other than that, Matthew has absolutely NO grounds for complaint, none.

My most recent experience with OOPS involved two boxes of pretzels I'd ordered. For some reason, the shipper marked both as "1 of 1" and according to the receptionist, the delivery guy decided of his own accord that the second box was an error and that he should take it back. All this transpired while I was out of the building so I couldn't come down and say yes, I did order two boxes.

I use the shipping information on the box I do have an go online to see what's going on. It shows "delivery refused," which is utter crap - the receptionist said she attempted to have him leave the second box and let me sort it out and he made the unilateral call to take it back.

So I try calling the customer service line. Options: track a package, send a package, find shipping locations, etc. Not one about "Your idiot driver took back a package that he shouldn't have." Eventually after mashing the 0 button, I got through and after explaining the situation got put through to the local office where they redelivered that afternoon.

So it seems every shipping company has its share of asses and boneheads.

@tcp100: Apparently you haven't been at the Maspeth location. I have on several occasions.

I believe every word he said in his letter.

Yep, Matthew is a frickin' moron and intentionally left out the fact he did not show ID with his address on it.

As for being offending by the cursing, grow some balls Matthew. The woman was probably sick of having to deal with morons all day long.