I was going to write about something else, but this is all important! Today, Thursday, 3/8/07, a client FEDEXed me a package with fully negotiable notes in it valued at $14,000. According to the tracking number, it was delivered at 9:40AM and left at my door. I never got it. I have two little dogs who go wild when the doorbell rings. The doorbell was never rung. They never uttered a peep. The driver said he left it at my door and rang the bell. No one rang a bell. Doug, my mailman, delivers registered mail to me practically every day, and when he rings the bell, the dogs go wild. Another point is this. My customer listed the value of his package at the above value, and it came through at $500. FEDEX will not insure for more than that evidently. I called, and a friend went out to the local FEDEX, and the driver wouldn’t talk to him! Would the driver pass a lie detector test? The manager said he was coming by to look for himself. The manager came by and he was a nice guy, but said he could do nothing. Since no signature was required, and since the envelope must have felt nice and hundred dollarish, has a driver become richer by close to $14,000, and no one can prove it? (I found out that the envelope had cash in it.) Probably. This means that if you send something by FEDEX, it is insured for the grand amount of $500! Does that make you think twice about ever using them again? I will NEVER instruct any of my clients to send ANYTHING by FEDEX. If it is sent by registered, insured mail, I have to sign for it. FEDEX thinks it’s OK to leave it by the door and ring the bell, which he didn’t. Will I sue for the balance? Will I make a police report? Of course, but FEDEX probably has lots of expensive lawyers on retainer, and it could be postponed or other legal entanglements for years. We will see, but I am not going to take this laying down. Will I tell my customer that since I never got the money, it is his responsibility? Hell no! I am so honest I squeak, and will probably be out that much, hopefully not forever, but of course will send him his silver without being paid. The point is, NEVER USE FEDEX for anything more valuable than $500, or you might be sorry! I urge you to forward this column to everyone you know! This is ridiculous! Have a great weekend! It wasn’t a profitable one for me, and neither were the previous two weeks either, since I am out close to $14,000.
