What Does Shipment Information Sent To Us Postal Service From Fedex Mean

Aid! I'm A Victim of Shipping 'Bait-and-switch'

ABC News Logroller investigates when 1 carrier hands your parcel to some other.

Jan. 24, 2014 — -- Love ABC News Fixer: I am a victim of a shipping bunko.

I ordered a CD to update the navigation organisation on my car and selected ground shipping for the delivery. On Dec. 12, I received an email stating my order had shipped and giving me a FedEx tracking number.

When I tracked the package, it had an expected delivery appointment of December. twenty. I took a day off work to stay domicile and await for the package. It never came.

I checked with FedEx and was told they did not take my bundle anymore. The package was delivered to the U.S. Postal Service for delivery. I checked with the post office and they couldn't tell me anything.

I was promised FedEx service but the seller used FedEx SmartPost, which is an arrangement between FedEx and USPS. In that location is no exact tracking of your package from FedEx. According to FedEx, once they requite the packet to USPS, they are not responsible. USPS' response is you have to wait on commitment – which in my case took an additional three days.

- Travis Edwards, Virginia Beach, Va.

Got a consumer problem? The ABC News Fixer may be able to help. Click here to submit your problem online. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Beloved Travis: The ABC News Fixer remembers back when FedEx meant but one thing: a white truck with the FedEx logo was going to pull up in front of your house, and a worker would dash out, band your doorbell and hand you a package.

With the rise of online retailing, FedEx – besides as competitors UPS and DHL – now has alternate shipping methods for getting high-volume, low-weight, less time-sensitive shipments across the country cheaply.

FedEx's method is SmartPost, a low-toll aircraft selection by which the package is carried across the state via FedEx's system, then handed off to the U.S. Mail service for the concluding mile or and then, said Erin Truxal, a FedEx Basis spokeswoman. (When people get gratuitous or very cheap shipping from online retailers or catalogs, it's ofttimes considering one of these alternative methods is used.)

Later on the package leaves FedEx's system, the commitment time depends on the local postal system and how quickly they move. In your instance, it was a piddling unclear exactly when your package was at either location. FedEx's records show information technology was handed off to USPS (and signed for) on Dec. nineteen, Truxal said. But USPS spokeswoman Toni DeLancey said their data shows they had the package outset on the morning of Dec. 21 and delivered it on the 23rd.

Who knows where it was on Dec. 20. Stuck in a time warp?

Our advice for consumers: Inquire the retailer specifically what type of shipping plan they're using. With some methods, you lot won't get FedEx tracking all the style, and you won't go guaranteed commitment.

Truxal suggested consumers with a very time-sensitive shipment use FedEx Express and consumers who need commitment guaranteed for a sure date cull FedEx Ground. FedEx SmartPost tin can only estimate the delivery date – not guarantee it.

- The ABC News Fixer

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