Dealing with courier companies is always a challenge. Despite RFID and advancements in tracking technology, there is still no substitute for human interaction and proper training. Any company, courier or otherwise, is only as good as its people. Only as good as its weakest link, so to speak, if you must.
Before I left for DC, the day I left for DC actually, January 3, 2012, I stopped at the local FedEx to ship four boxes of clothes, books, shoes and coats. Stuff I’ll need as I move my life across the country and just across the border. Stuff to help get through the first three months of temporary living until I find my own place and can sort through the bigger stuff, like furniture.
I’ve only worked on ocean crossing, not on land border crossings, so I asked what needed to be included on the FedEx International Ground waybill.
Now, the local FedEx people know me. I’d be in there numerous times shipping stuff to trade shows for most of 2011. They’re kind, helpful, courteous people so I didn’t think much of it when they asked what as in the boxes. I told them: clothes, books, shoes and coats. They jotted it down in the appropriate spot on the waybill and said that should be fine. I was basically shipping household goods to myself as part of my move, no big deal. I signed the form, got back in the car and headed to the airport. Using FedEx International Ground, it’d take about 7-10 days. No biggies. I’d packed enough for the conference a few days later. I’d beat the boxes there so, in theory, it’d all work out OK.
On Wednesday, January 4, I get a call from a FedEx depot in Illinois. They needed to know the country of origin of the stuff I was shipping to myself. OK. Easy enough. The United States.
On Tuesday, January 10, I got another call from the depot in Illinois saying there is a problem with the shipment. Canadian Customs requires an itemized list. Clothes, books, shoes and coats is too general. They need to know what kind of clothes, books, shoes and coats. Annoyed, but getting that clothes, books, shoes and coats is generic and that there might be rules on certain goods, like down coats or something, OK. I call back, ready to get it all straightened out.
The lady asks what kind of clothes. I tell her T-Shirts, cotton long sleeve shirts and perhaps some jeans. It’s been over a week since I packed the box and I can’t remember, but that’s basically it. Books? No, not electronic books. Paperback grammar reference books for work. Shoes? Boots? Dress shoes, maybe a pair of sneakers and my winter hiking boots. Coats? A down coat? No. My winter ski jacket and snow pants.
Lady says OK, I can just write all that down in parenthesis on the waybill, which she’ll fax to me so I can correct it and fax it back. Yes. After being more specific on the phone, as she is reading off what was originally on the waybill, she has to fax it to me so I can fix it. She can’t fix it as I’m telling it to her, I have to. OK. Fine. Send it to me so I can fix it and get the boxes here already.
Except nothing comes.
Later that night I get an email asking me to respond with more specific information on what’s in the boxes. I respond with the same info I gave over the phone.
Next day passes with no news. Figure OK. No news is good news. Boxes are on their way, they oughta be here today.
Nope.
Today I get call from a FedEx Depot in Oregon telling me they can’t ship the boxes across the border without an itemized value. In other words, I have to list the value of the items in the box. The total value, of 4 boxes, is useless. They need an itemized value list.
I’m livid. And that’s putting it mildly.
I don’t mind finagling with Customs. All kinds of stuff can be moved in and out of a country, so I get the need for rules and requirements for shipments. I remember once having to be careful on verbage for used auto parts going to China because China changed its Customs rules on what counted as “used auto” and what didn’t. I get it.
What I do mind is being told more information is required AS THE BOXES MOVE FROM ONE DEPOT TO THE NEXT. That is poor training. And for a courier, it’s uncalled for and downright pathetic. The people further down the line know more than the people at the front! Pathetic. I can only imagine FedEx must do much International Ground business, and I would not be surprised if that’s because its training is so pathetic.
All the information I have since provided could have been provided WHEN I FIRST DROPPED THE BOXES OFF FOR SHIPMENT. That was on January 3, 2012. Here it is, January 12, 2012. And the boxes still have no arrived. And again, FedEx had to fax me the waybill because they don’t have the capability to scan and email. What, exactly, was the purpose of purchasing Kinko’s then? FedEx customers, that don’t use it for shipping, have more access to scanning and emailing capability provided by Kinko’s than FedEx employees! Lame.
So, word to the wise: don’t ship anything across an international border. And if you must, think long and hard before using FedEx International Ground.
If you must ship stuff across an international border, make a detailed list of what’s in the boxes. Keep a copy with you, put a copy in with the boxes and transcribe the thing on the itty bitty lines FedEx International Ground gives you. I’d say attach a copy, but FedEx probably wouldn’t know what to do with it, probably rip it off and throw it away.
Track the packages. Call ahead when the packages arrive and make damn sure everything is in order. Have your fax number handy because if there are any changes, FedEx will have to fax the waybill to you, and you’ll have to fax it back.
And count on phone calls either way. The people closest to the border apparently are the only people who know what is necessary to clear Customs. A good idea is to call a depot close to the border and ask them.
Better yet, just don’t use FedEx International Ground. I don’t know if UPS is any better, but I do know that UPS was quite responsive via Twitter when one of its drivers dropped a box of books, that were Christmas presents, on the nearest stoop. Not a big deal, except the nearest stoop wasn’t covered, the front door 2 feet away was, and it was pouring rain! Lazy UPS driver.
But UPS was quick in responding to the tweet, checking to see if the books were damaged and asking if they needed to start a damage report. Thankfully Amazon uses thick boxes so the books weren’t too wet, and dried out OK.
But UPS responded! FedEx, nope. Tweets you probably saw today have gone unanswered. Another notch in their pathetic training, perhaps pathetic customer service. I don’t know that I’d go that far though. Aside from not knowing what’s required for Canadian Customs, yet being on the FedEx International Ground team, they were nice and courteous on the phone.
Still no boxes, but the Oregon FedEx depot did get my fax of the corrected waybill with the itemized values. In most cases, no news is good news. In this case, no news means I’ll get another phone call from FedEx tomorrow asking for information that, if FedEx International Ground employees were properly trained, would’ve been asked at the beginning! Or even the first time I was told an itemized description list was needed.
Stay tuned.
2 thoughts
Comments are closed.