My Dog was FedEx-ed!

I spent 30+ years in the technology industry and have long believed that technology can make life easier — and it does, most of the time. Where it breaks down is when you try to have dog food delivered via FedEx and it goes to the wrong house, leaving my poor dog FedEx-ed. I have an auto-ship order with Chewy.com to deliver my dog’s food every 6 weeks. (BTW, Chewy’s auto-ship service is far better than Amazon’s offering greater flexibility on timing.) Normally the food arrives without issue, but this month, it was delivered to my neighbor who has a similar address – lane vs road.

Where, Oh Where has my Doggie’s Food Gone?

Our mail and packages going to each other’s house is nothing new but FedEx has made this mistake a half dozen times in the past month, and the thought of retrieving a 30 lb bag of dog food pushed me over the edge. So I called them to insist they pick up the package and deliver it correctly. I spoke to customer service and they apologized and assured me the package would be redelivered the next day. That didn’t happen. Then I tried to use the FedEx Virtual Support Assistant (IMO Virtual Assistants should be renamed No Assistance) and was directed to call customer service, so I did. I spent 30 minutes on the phone while the rep “researched” the issue only to be disconnected. A pet peeve (no pun intended) of mine is when you get disconnected from customer service and they don’t call you back, so I assumed the rep would just take care of the issue and all would be well with the world. She didn’t.

Four Days Later

Still no dog food — it was sitting on my neighbor’s porch in the rain and easily retrievable, but I have principles. Now I called Chewy.com. They apologized, told me they would file a complaint with FedEx and ship me another bag. Great! Except I really had no need for another bag at the moment. Whatever. A day later, I got a voicemail from FedEx stating they were (still) investigating, tracking the package, and contacting the local station and driver to have the package redelivered. They said I should file a lost package claim with Chewy.com. They also suggested I set up a FedEx Delivery Manager account where I can leave specific delivery instructions.

FedEx Delivery Mangler!

I have a FedEx Delivery Manager account and have had one since I moved into the house 12 years ago. The account was set up precisely to deal with a spate of incorrect deliveries. I haven’t looked at it in quite a while because — well, nothing has changed, so I endeavored to log in and see what was new. After spending too much time going through the usual I don’t know my username or password procedures, I finally got in, and to my surprise, the delivery instructions listed the incorrect address. Now, I had been quite vocal for the past week blaming this all on the FedEx driver. After all, FedEx labels are clearly printed, the address on the label is correct, our houses are clearly identified on the mailboxes, and I get LOTS of FedEx deliveries most of which are correct. It had to be a new driver or a lazy driver or a blind driver. But no! It was the FedEx Delivery Mangler system that for some reason had an incorrect address listed.

You’ve Got to Be in It to Win it!

I tried valiantly to edit and update the address. It didn’t work though I did get emails confirming the change. Sure, I could call customer service again and have them fix it but I already had enough time invested in this. I decided to cancel the account, and start over. Canceling the account was a snap but I didn’t realize that in order to create another account, FedEx snail mails you an address confirmation that contains a code you need for the new account. What could go wrong? Thankfully, the USPS is trustworthy and much more old school.

In the meantime, my dog was going hungry and I (actually my sister) retrieved the original bag from my neighbor. Later that day, the new bag showed up — dog food anyone? I’m waiting on the mailed code and then I will create a new account, though I’m thinking I might be better off without one. I’m not sure if FedEx is still investigating but I expect the removal of the package will complicate that, and I’m not about to call them to tell them we were the ones who removed the package. Importantly, I’d like to publicly apologize to our FedEx driver for all the mean things I said.

What are your technology horror stories? Have you been FedEx-ed? Inquiring minds want to know!

UPDATE Sept 26, 2020: I received the code to establish a new FedEx Delivery Manager account. I did so and immediately had the same problem with it inserting the wrong address. I called customer service and after investigating for 15 minutes, the rep determined the only thing to do was to create a new account. What?? I explained that was what I just did, and after another few minutes of discussion, I suggested just cancelling the account and leaving it like that. The rep concurred. So, I cancelled the account and I guess now we’ll see if I get anymore packages. Thank God for UPS and the USPS — they are able to get it right.