Complaint Review: FedEx Corporation - Memphis Tennessee

I just got into the hobby of keeping reef tanks. I bidded on corals on eBay and won one of the auctions but ended up cancelling that transaction because I ended up buying a nicer piece that didn’t sell. I asked the seller if I could buy it at a slightly discounted price which he agreed to. I was so excited because I REALLY wanted that piece!! It was gorgeous! Well I ended up purchasing two pieces, paid a PayPal invoice totaling $570. I paid using PayPal Bill me Later which I have never used before but I felt better that I could make smaller payments over 6 months without interest to make the spending $570 hurt less. The seller was great! Sent out the item as soon as I paid for it and even messaged me to ask if it was okay to ship because it’s going through FedEx Priority Overnight. I didn’t even think to ask the seller about insurance or to signature confirmation. I was too excited to think straight I guess...I regret that so much. 

The next day, I had to leave for class at 9am but told my aunt, who I live with, to wait for that package since she was supposed to be home all day and it’s promised by 10:30am anyways. The package was coming from Fort Lauderdale, FL to my house in Diamond Bar, CA. Tracking # :797131480859 I checked the tracking right before I left and was ecstatic that it said out for delivery from the "City of Industry" location at 8:50am. I checked again during class and it said "Delivered Left at front door. Package delivered to recipients address" I get home around 2:15pm, ran to my tank since I asked earlier for her to take the corals out and float it in the bag, in the aquarium, to start acclimating them. She walks up to me as I’m looking at the tank and tells me the package never arrived and that she was constantly looking through the big front window and checking outside for the package. In order to get to my front door, a person will have to walk through gates first which makes a loud scrape sound, especially when its warmer outside, pass the big window, to get to my front door. Unlikely a person could get to the front door without being noticed, let alone someone coming right after FedEx to steal the package. I freaked out and ran outside, searched through all the plants, inside the box that held the hose, behind bushes,  in the trash cans, in the mailbox, basically every square inch outdoors. I asked a few of my neighbors if they have received a package but no one saw anything or they weren’t home. I immediately called FedEx thinking they may have delivered it to the wrong address. I was talking to them while running up and down the street like a mad person, walking up to every house I saw packages at and looked through boxes at the front door of several houses, no luck.... I gave FedEx a similar street in the same city and said maybe they delivered it to that street to the same number as my house. I went there myself but couldn’t get in because it’s a gated community. The security there told me that the street in question all start with "2000" where my address started with "1000" so it’s unlikely it’s there. FedEx did send a driver out but since there’s no "1000's" on that street, he ended up at my house since his mapping system routed him here. I spoke with him for a while and he said that it’s unlikely in the gated community because that’s not on the driver’s route. I got a call from the manager a little later and they said they couldn’t get a hold of the driver and he is off for the day but they will research and try to trace the package tomorrow. I was still frantic so I drove around in the dark to several streets in hopes I could somehow spot it. no luck. Couldn’t sleep so I walked around at 2am probably looking like a criminal, a good 3 miles checking every street in the neighboring neighborhood under the assumption FedEx delivered to that neighborhood before mine and maybe it’s still at someone’s doorstep. no luck.

The next day I was pretty much losing hope since the corals are live, they need air, water flow, heat and light to live. I slept only 3 hours and had to wake up at 7am for my morning class to take a test. got home around 12pm and called FedEx again. they sent the driver who delivered my package out to try and retrieve the package where he thinks he left it. He shows up at my house of course using my shipping info in his GPS, I think around 11am but no one was home. I have a feeling he doesn’t remember...I don’t expect him to since he probably delivers hundreds of packages daily. While I was on the phone with FedEx the lady said. "The driver said your house is a light colored house, is that true?" I said yes and she says that the driver says that he remembers delivering to that house and that the next time I have something this expensive shipped to have it insured. I am now really frustrated because the driver drove to my house, saw what it looks like and has the audacity to go back and tell them that he remembers it’s a light colored house and that he remembers delivering there. When they told me that the driver was going to "retrace" his steps, I thought they  were going to pull the string of shipments and the GPS location of the truck at each scan along his route or the location of the truck when the packages before and after mine were scanned. I figured it may have been accidently scanned and delivered to the wrong house, perhaps a house receiving multiple boxes or to the house receiving shipments before and after mine. I have a feeling they didn’t do too much "research" or any "tracing". I asked them to do exactly that since sending FedEx drivers to my house is not going to do any good. They refused because they said that the house before and after mine both were receiving single box shipments so it’s unlikely and that because there is "hundreds of packages being delivered by a single driver, doing a trace is too difficult"

They were very good about apologizing and said that the only thing I could do at this point was to contact the seller who’s supposed to file a claim with FedEx and if approved, they will reimburse the value of the lost package to the seller. They said that it is the sellers responsibility to make sure the buyer receives the package and that I shouldn’t even be responsible for contacting FedEx because that’s the sellers responsibility to refund or replace my items. Unfortunately the one rare piece I got for $460 is very hard to replace since it’s one of a kind, I fell in love with that specific piece. The other one I got for $110 could easily be replaced. This also got me thinking. I was never offered insurance or a signature required option, I was an excited idiot and didn’t even think about asking about insurance. Seller didn’t declare a value. The tracking shows that it has been "delivered" and it’s to the correct city. The FedEx driver now has a good description of my house because he went there to try and retrieve the package after he found out it was lost, so now he’s saying he remembers delivering it to there. There is no way that FedEx is going to approve the claim, especially since they are their own arbitrators and I feel they will act in the best interests of FedEx. The only way I could have established fault on FedEx's part is if the person who my package was accidently delivered to, returns it, or to do a trace which FedEx refused twice.  I brought this up with one of the upper level managers named "Richard" who was nice and felt bad, he said he will add into the notes that "There is no definite way to prove delivery to recipients address" and said that should help my case when it’s forwarded to the claims department. Now even if they do approve the claim, since its uninsured, the seller will only get back I think $100 which is the default insurance on any package. Not nearly enough to refund me $570. 

Since a FedEx claim, even if approved, will likely not refund the full amount to the seller, I’m at a loss. I have been communicating with the seller and updating him about what’s going on. He hasn’t offered to refund or replace my items but I have not asked. I just feel absolutely horrible for asking the seller since he is a very trusted and respected person in several reef forums. He was very generous to give me a discount and didn’t charge me shipping since I ordered two items. Great communicator and shipped out immediately and really want to retain a good relationship with him. I feel like he’s done so much for me and I am 99% certain that FedEx made the mistake.

$570 is a lot of money for me. I am a full time student at Cal State Fullerton, have no job but do get some help from my family because I don’t have the capacity to work and be a full time student, the reason why I used Bill Me Later. Despite absolutely loving the $460 piece, I was planning on letting that coral grow so I can eventually cut it up and resell fragments of it. I could care less about the $110 dollar piece but knowing that the expensive one is probably now dead literally made me cry. Completely embarrassing for a 24 year old man to admit that. I don’t know what to do. What happens if I ask the seller to refund or replace the items but he says that he can’t do anything because delivery was confirmed? I don’t want him to think I have the items and I’m trying to scam him. I’m not and I’m frustrated that if he asks, I have no way to prove that I’m not. What if I take a picture of my tank to show that the pieces are not in there and he says that I could have already resold it or placed it in someone else’s tank? I know if he refuses, I can file a PayPal dispute as a last resort but again, he has proof he sent the items and it shows as delivered, so I doubt I will win that case. The odds are completely against me in every way. I’m so sad and completely frustrated. My 3rd day dealing with this, thinking about it nonstop...I probably will lose sleep again tonight. I am so exhausted dealing with this every minute I’m not at school. The worst part is that I get to stare at my tank which has only 4 corals (all very cheap and common) for the next few months while I pay off this $570. I haven’t done even basic maintenance or feeding to my tank since my package was lost. Every time I stare at the tank, I’m reminded of this mess and now every time I make a payment to Bill Me Later, I’ll be reminded of this situation and how I’m paying for something I never received. I just got into this hobby and now I can feel that I’m losing interest in it already. I have no hope the package will be found and even if it is, my would be gorgeous centerpiece of my tank is likely dead.

I don’t want to have to absorb this cost. I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t want the seller to have to absorb the cost because he did nothing wrong! It was FedEx who lost it or a very slight chance that it was stolen, but doubtful. I have always been taught that honesty will bring you far and I have always lived by that. Sometimes I wish I could be more aggressive...despite FedEx customer service reps and managers being very nice and lending a compassionate ear, I feel now that they saw me as not a fighter and probably expects me to give up easily and didn’t honor my request for a trace because they knew they could say no and I would be okay with it. I guess I’m an idiot for expecting FedEx to spend their time to research a case to prove they were wrong since they would then be liable. I guess they are right. I can’t deal with this, I just can’t dwell on it anymore, can’t lose sleep anymore, I don’t have any more time for this, and let it affect my grades any more than it has...I had a test on Tuesday (day it was supposed to arrive), Wednesday and Thursday (today) the exact 3 days I have been involved in this mess. I don’t even want to think about the results of those tests at this point.

So if anyone is reading this. Am I completely out of options? Do I have a case with PayPal even with all the odds stacked against me if the seller refuses to refund/replace the items? Is there any way to get FedEx to admit fault and take responsibility? Please, someone help!!

Also, let this be a lesson for everyone. Please insure your packages, declare a value and require a signature. I’m in a horrible situation from many different points affecting many parts of my life because I failed to think to tell the seller to insure the package with signature confirmation. I know there are countless others who were in a similar situation and countless others who will run into this problem after me and I wish this on no one!