A heated discussion about FedEx is going on over at one of the Washington Post’s blogs, with people purporting to be FedEx employees leaving tips for consumers who are “stuck in FedEx house arrest.” Are they real? Who knows, but they do sound pretty accurate.

Example:

Been a FedEx courier for 7 years.

GPS: Not in any of our trucks (unless management is keeping it a secret!). We do have wireless communication, however, and are often asked to give an ETA for a particular delivery.

Paid per attempt: Yes and no. Express drivers are paid per hour; ground drivers are “independent contractors” (please don’t get into the ongoing argument as to whether they really are or not; I’m merely distinguishing the types of drivers) and at least part of their pay is “per package.” An express driver could in theory benefit from reattempting a package several times, as it would make for a few more minutes on the clock each day.

Possible solutions for your problem:

1) Appointment delivery, mentioned by Arnie.

2) Note on door saying you are home, and please wait until you come to the door.

3) You might experiment with contacting the station directly and seeing if they can automatically “hold” any packages for you at the station. Our station does this, but not all stations will put this in place for you.

4) Get the mailbox at the UPS store. Of course, there might not be one anywhere near you.

5) Get to know your driver. I know, that would mean you’d waste a day actually watching so you could catch him/her and talk, but building the relationship would be worth it for you, as you get a good number of signature-required deliveries.

6) Call 1-800-GO-FEDEX, say “representative” and give them your address, then ask to speak to a manager at the station that serves your address. Tell them your problem, and that it has been ongoing.

7) Most online order forms have a couple of lines for the address. If you are able to put your address on only one line, you might use the second for any specific instructions you have. Might help, might not.

Hope some of that is helpful. I’m on the “inside” of FedEx, and I know we sure aren’t perfect, any more than any other company. We have plenty of areas we need to improve. I’m sorry you’ve been on the receiving end of these problems.

If you’ll send me an email with your name and complete address, I’ll contact your FedEx station and try to resolve the issue. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, I understand. If so, contact me at 268370 letter-a-letter-t fedex-dot-com.

Do any of you drive for FedEx? Does this sound about right? —MEGHANN MARCO

FedEx House Arrest [Washington Post Blogs] (Thanks, Bill!)
(Photo: jenn jenn)

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