The post got a fair bit of exposure and I noticed a lot of hits comming from Fedexs' network. However the lack of response from Fedex was dissapointing.
Until today!
I received a letter in the post from Colin Groves, head of customer service FedEx UK & Ireland.
Rather than comment on it I will quote the full letter here:
11 January 2006
Dear Mr. XXXXX
Your email referencing the entry in your blog has been passed for my attention, and I was concerned to learn of the problems you have encountered with our service.
From the information provided , I have reviewed the causes of the delay. On 2 occasions, primarily due to human error, the instructions to mak a collection were not communicated to the on-road Courier. As you were aware, on the third occasion a shortfall of resource was cited as the reason for the failed collection attempt.
The explanation is frankly unacceptable and you have every reason to expect better from our company. Attempts to recover the situation could have been made in each case. had our partner operation in Ireland advised our Customer Service team. They did not, and I understand that this only added to your frustration.
I apologise for this unaacceptable situation and can assure you that I am working closely with both our Customer Service team here in England, and our service provider in Ireland to address these issues.
We recognise that where we are able to directly serve the customer, satisfaction increases, meeting our goal to provide a professional and reliable service. As a result, I am sure that you will be pleased to learn that from 26 February, FedEx will begin to operate in Nenagh from the FedEx facility in Shannon, no longer relying on a service partner for collections and deliveries. This development is a key part of our Ireland expansion plan, which we believe will bring enhanced service benefits to our customers.
Whilst an apology after the event is no consolation, I appreciate the inconvenience these events have caused, and arangements have been amde for the transportation charges related to this shipment to be credited in full.
Yours sincerely, Colin Groves
Head of Customer Service
FedEx Express, UK & Ireland
cc: David J Bronczek, President CEO FedEx Express
Robert W Elliot, Regional President, FedEx Express EMA
Mrs A Schuett-Fahrenk, Vice President Customer Experience EMEA
Adam Koffles, Managing Director, Customer Experience NEu & EMEA
David Canava, managing Director, Operations
While it is good of FedEx to respond and send me a letter apologising for the shoddy service it still doesn't make up for me having to explain this to a new (and possibly very big) customer. The shipment was sent on my customers account so while they get a refund I get nothing but an apology...
Also I spent two days during the holiday season waiting in our office for the driver to collect the shipment while we were actually closed for business.
Now if Fedex promised me a nice discount on all future shipments I woud be a happy camper!
E.
3 comments:
Hi,
I'm not part of the courier industry but I do use them a lot. BTW, I use DHL rather than Fedex. I think they all use the same airplanes in/out of Ireland. Do Fedex airway bills (AWB's) have HAE (Heavyweight Air Express) on their consignment dockets? HAE is owned by DHL, I think?
In your original 'fedex me ass' post, you asked Fedex to respond. They did...and they admitted they'd messed up. Or rather, they blamed it on the local guy. But they did provide a solution for your future needs (via Fedex Shannon). And I think the English guy did take it seriously by cc:'ing a lot of other European managers. Maybe he's empire-building but at least he did reply. And that's not bad.
I think you'll have to ask for a refund of your money because no company gives away money without a good reason. Would you?
Re your potentially large new customer, I'm sure they'll understand your evolving situation about couriers. Chances are (a) they want to use your company (i.e., couriers are a side issue) and (b) they've had very similar problems with couriers. Your client contact is probably Irish and so are you. I'm only (half-)joking when I recommend you blame everything on the English.
Good luck!!
To be quite honest I think you're looking at it froma wrong perspective;
1) FedEx decided to use a local courier, hence they are responsible for any problems caused by the "local courier".
2) The "English guy" probably cc'd all those people because they ordered him to deal with this issue and to keep them informed.
3) They already agreed to not charge for this shipment some time ago.
4) My customer is in Israel, they (as most companies outside of Ireland) find this lack of service un-believable.
I do however appreciate reciving a letter from FedEx and this at least indicates that they are aware of this issue are dealing with it.
E.
I agree with isadub. I think DHL is much better than FedEx. I use a mail forwarding service called Bongo International (http://www.bongous.com). Bongo consolidates shipments in the US for individuals overseas. They basically allow you to use their warehouse as an American address. The obvious benefit is that you can make multiple purchases in the US and have them shipped to your new US mailbox. Bongo consolidates the items into one box and gives it to DHL for international delivery. I encourage you to check them out because they actually charge 1/2 the price DHL charges on their own. I have saved thousands of dollars over the past year.
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