Today I got a partial voice message from Fedex. “This is Fedex Express calling . . . . ” That’s all there was. So I called Fedex to find out what this truncated message was about.
Amazingly, the first Fedex front-line person was able to to track down why I got the call. A Fedex package was inbound to me for delivery the next day and it required a signature. I said “No problem. The folks at the UPS store will sign for it.”
Yikes. “UPS” must be a sensitive word to Fedex folks. I was told in no uncertain terms that Fedex will not deliver to a UPS store. After much disagreement, I asked for a supervisor. The first front-line person hooked me up to customer advocacy or someone of the ilk.
The second front-line person confirmed the first person’s assertion.
Becoming a tad irritated — because I have had Fedex shipments to my account at the UPS Store — I asked to speak to the boss of Fedex front-line person number two.
Fedex person number three came on the line and told me “Sure we deliver to UPS Stores. I don’t know why they are saying that.”
Sheez, 20 minutes later I get someone at Fedex who is grounded in reality.
The first two Fedex people also told me that Fedex will not deliver to a post office. That’s not true. The Postal Service, in an effort to become competitive, started a service called “street addressing” Postal Bulletin 22369 states “Street Addressing service — customers have the option to use the street address of their Post Office location for their mailing address, along with the box number. This address gives customers the opportunity to receive packages through private carriers . . . .”
I’m always mystified that corporations will put fumbling front-line folks on the phone to interact with customer without real knowledge. I know, it is a cost thing. But really, why not pay well-informed customer service folks to be on the front-line. Then people like me will talk to one person, not many.