FedEx shipping on eBay is a bad idea

[jhoro]

As a seller, I ran into multiple problems with FedEx 2-day Express label purchased on eBay:

Warning - Seller is not the Shipper as far as FedEx is concerned if you purchased your label on eBay

Other issues:

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1) Lack of detailed tracking

2) No Saturday delivery - ship on Thu, delivery will be on Mon (perhaps)

3) Residential delivery window is 8am-8pm

4) Bogus delivery attempts by the FedEx drivers

5) No hold for pickup available from FedEx on request from buyer or seller

6) Seller is caught in catch-22 situation

7) Seller waives the FedEx Money Back Guarantee when they buy label via eBay

Shipped a small expensive item FedEx 2-day express from my seller account on eBay on Thursday. They said delivery is for the following Monday (there is no Saturday delivery option on eBay). Shipping and receiving addresses are on the East Coast.

The package barely made it to the destination on the 4th day, Monday morning, with virtually no tracking. It got on the FedEx vehicle at 2pm with delivery by 8pm. The buyer waited all day until he got delivery exception at 7:30pm - "customer not available or business closed". He says he never left the house and there is no door tag or FedEx trucks on his security cameras. He called FedEx and presumably arranged hold-for-pickup for the next day. He goes to the FedEx location on Tue morning and they tell him due to shipper restrictions they cannot release the package. Understandably, he is angry with me for putting such restrictions, which I never did.

I try to make changes under my FedEx account, I can't. After multiple calls to FedEx and eBay I find out that I am not the shipper on record and I cannot make changes (e.g. arrange for a pickup from a specific FedEx office). I paid for the label and insurance and shipped the item, but the shipper account on file is eBay's. eBay refuses to cooperate and is telling me to make arrangements with FedEx. FedEx more or less wouldn't make any changes per my request. What a total nightmare. During the last call eBay rep told me to keep my fingers crossed one of the delivery attempts makes it.

[calntom]

I have heard a lot of FedEx stories over the past year or so concerning lackadaisical efforts and overall service problems. I do not ship anything FedEx. I stick with UPS for the most part when I do not want to risk a USPS failure. UPS has been top notch.

eBay cannot help you with problems with any carrier. 

[jhoro]

Main issue for me is that I cannot manage my shipments. eBay has placed automatic security restrictions on the shipment that prevent me from making any changes. eBay explicitly disables the buyer's pick-up option  (perhaps only when over certain amount, I am not sure). Here is what I get under my own FedEx account for this shipment. 

And when I called FedEx I was told I am NOT the shipper, eBay is. None of the links in the above image work btw.

[d-k_treasures]

If you link your fed ex account to ebay's account, you should become the shipper of record for future shipments, and still get ebay's discount.

That's how it used to work - hopefully it's still the same.

[jhoro]

Thanks for the suggestion. It's too late now and I hope to never use FedEx again after reading all the horror stories about not delivering for days and stealing shipments. Perheps things went downhill recently, or it's only in some areas, but avoiding FedEx seems the best solution at this time.

[sansuioldaudiophile]

I had a problem with Fed Ex too. Do not use a QR code and expect them to print your label. I spent 4 hrs. Trying to figure it out with my local Fed Ex office and multiple calls. I gave up and went to Office Max and bought a printer. Voided my first label and printed an entirely new one. An when looking at shipping prices for Fed Ex vs. UPS or USPS do not arrow back at the top of the screen. Use the go back to my orders icon. If you arrow back to the previous screen you just bought a Fed Ex label. So if your purchase label price is for a Fed ex shipment ALWAYS use go back to my orders to change your mind. So far I have not personally had any other problems with Fed Ex. I have had to use them after Thanksgiving. USPS gets the freaking package there when ever they feel like it. Even if it takes 13 days and two of my shipments took that long USPS priority. Fed Ex 2-day took 2 days and 9 hrs.

[halhollis]

I sure do wish I had seen this post before I shipped a very expensive, very heavy vintage audio component via FedEx with direct signature required, insurance, and with the label purchased through ebay.

I thought for sure, without doing my homework (my bad), that the buyer would be able to select "Hold at Location" at a Walgreens just around the corner. I can confirm that, after several calls on the buyer's behalf to FedEx CS plus one to ebay CS, neither the buyer nor I can make that request nor will ebay. Indeed, the ebay rep told me that both UPS and FedEx have stated to ebay that they will not hold packages for pickup any more period. I haven't independently verified that but I have reached out again to FedEx via their CS twitter feed.

To make matters worse, the buyer will not be home today (found at this morning), and the third (final) delivery attempt will be made. So, best case, as far as I can see at this point, is that this package makes it back to me and the component inside is undamaged. But I'm not counting on it.

[doubleagent745]

I completely agree. Sellers, please stop using FedEx. Two weeks in a row, my package arrived late, and the first driver lied and said he attempted delivery (we have a 24/7 concierge at the desk to receive packages). The second driver typed in "location security delay," which is code for "I don't feel like making this delivery today." I'm still waiting for that package, which was shipped from New York to my hometown in Virginia, placed on a truck, then inexplicably shipped to North Carolina. And whatever citizen of India or Bangladesh who happens to answer the customer service line can't - or won't- tell me where my package actually is. I hate to even get anything from Etsy or eBay these days because of the use of FedEx.

[dryophelia]

@doubleagent745 

Just as the seller and yourself don’t know where the item is, a CS  rep, anywhere on the planet, can’t tell you either. 

If all delivery dates have passed, go to the listing, find the eBay Money Back Guarantee banner. Click on that banner and begin the “Item Not Received” case. 

Going forward, be sure to choose listings that offer shipping options that you can live with. 

[kh-ornesh]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread HERE.

Thanks.