QUESTION:

 
Dear Mr. Advocate;

I reside in the State of Texas. My business is located in the World Trade Center in Dallas, TX but we ship from Graham, Texas to points all over the USA. This is not my first issue with Federal Express for charging for services that are not merited. On March 16,2007, Federal Express charged my credit card an additional $20 for Hazardous Material without notification. The money was refunded, but before that time I allowed FedEx to charge my Credit Card for all services rendered. So I do not have detailed transactions of every shipment before that time. From that time on, I changed my account to Net 14 terms that allowed me to review every transaction before I pay them. I do show on every shipment since that I was charged and did pay extra money to FedEx for the extra Declared Value to cover the cost of each painting shipped. I did not know until yesterday that FedEx will not pay for loss or damaged paintings over $100. If they had asked me on their online shipping form: "What is the contents of the package?" they could easily have not charged me for the extra Declared Value cost of between $.0.55 to $1.50 per $100 of increased value. FedEx has recently changed their web site but they still do not ask for a description of each package shipped. Business customers and their employees that do shipping must read and remember the following:

I am sure that others are being charged for a whole list of other items that are covered in the Federal Express Terms and Conditions stated here:

Declared Value and Limits of Liability (Not Insurance Coverage)

FedEx Ground liability with regard to any package is limited to the sum of $100 unless a higher value is declared at time of tender and a greater charge paid as provided in the FedEx Service Guide or online FedEx Retail Counter Rates Book.

• The declared value of any package represents our maximum liability in connection with a package, including, but not limited to, any loss, damage, delay, misdelivery, nondelivery, misinformation, any failure to provide information, or misdelivery of information. Exposure to and risk of any loss in excess of the declared value is either assumed by the shipper or transferred by the shipper to an insurance carrier through the purchase of an insurance policy. The shipper should contact an insurance agent or broker if insurance coverage is desired. FEDEX GROUND DOES NOT PROVIDE INSURANCE COVERAGE OF ANY KIND.
• In cases where the shipper declares or agrees in writing that the property being shipped is released to a value exceeding $100 per package or article not enclosed in a package, an additional charge for each $100 or fraction thereof of total valuation will be assessed to which the base rate applies, up to a maximum declared value of $50,000 per package.
• Packages containing all or part of the following items are limited to a maximum declared value of $100:
• Artwork, including any work created or developed by the application of skill, taste or creative talent for sale, display or collection. This includes, but is not limited to, items (and their parts) such as paintings, drawings, vases, tapestries, limited- edition prints, fine art, statuary, sculpture and collector's items.
• Film, photographic images (including photographic negatives), photographic chromes and photographic slides.
• Any commodity that by its inherent nature is particularly susceptible to damage or the market value of which is particularly variable or difficult to ascertain.
• Antiques, or any commodity that exhibits the style or fashion of a past era and whose history, age or rarity contributes to its value. These items include, but are not limited to, furniture, tableware, glassware, and collector's items such as sports cards, souvenirs and memorabilia. (Collector's coins and stamps may not be shipped. See the Prohibited Items section.)
• Glassware, including, but not limited to, signs, mirrors, ceramics, porcelains, China, crystal, glass, framed glass and any other commodity with similarly fragile qualities.
• Plasma screens.
• Jewelry, including, but not limited to, costume jewelry, watches and their parts, mount gems or stones (precious or semiprecious), industrial diamonds, and jewelry made of precious metal.
• Furs, including, but not limited to, fur clothing, fur-trimmed clothing and fur pelts.
• Precious metals, including, but not limited to, gold and silver bullion or dust, precipitates or platinum (except as an integral part of electronic machinery).
• Stocks, bonds, cash letters or cash equivalents, including, but not limited to, food stamps, postage stamps (not collectible), traveler's checks, lottery tickets, money orders, gift cards and gift certificates, prepaid calling cards (excluding those that require a code for activation), bond coupons, and bearer bonds.
• Guitars and other musical instruments that are more than 20 years old, and customized or personalized musical instruments.
• Our liability for loss or damage to used electronic or computer equipment shall be limited to $100, unless a higher value is declared on the FedEx Ground Pick-Up Record and the applicable charges are paid. In those instances where the shipper declares a value in excess of $100, our liability shall be determined by the most recent edition of the Orion Blue Book series applicable to the specific item lost or damaged or the declared value, whichever is lower, but in no event will liability exceed the declared value.
• ANY EFFORT TO DECLARE A VALUE IN EXCESS OF THE MAXIMUMS ALLOWED IN THE FEDEX SERVICE GUIDE IS NULL AND VOID. OUR ACCEPTANCE FOR CARRIAGE OF ANY PACKAGE BEARING A DECLARED VALUE IN EXCESS OF THE ALLOWED MAXIMUMS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A WAIVER OF ANY PROVISION OF THE FEDEX SERVICE GUIDE AS TO SUCH PACKAGE.
• REGARDLESS OF THE DECLARED VALUE OF A PACKAGE, OUR LIABILITY FOR LOSS, DAMAGE, DELAY, MISDELIVERY, NONDELIVERY, MISINFORMATION, ANY FAILURE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION, OR MISDELIVERY OF INFORMATION, WILL NOT EXCEED ITS REPAIR COST, ITS DEPRECIATED VALUE OR ITS REPLACEMENT COST, WHICHEVER IS LESS.

• Please inform me if this is a Class Action Suit that could involve other companies.

ANSWER:

 Thank you for writing - your question has an intriguing set of responses, which may or may not help you with your problem.

First, with respect to overall service, I understand completely what you are saying - namely someone needs to jump on Federal Express’s butt and get them in gear to at least “tell the consumer the complete truth” or in the industry vocabulary - fully disclose their practices. And that full disclosure should be easy to find, read and understand. It should also be constant, and not waiver this way and that to fit the company’s needs. On your behalf i did contact Federal Express and try to ask a question, but did not hear back from their PR Department after 2 phone calls (it should not have taken more than that). As such, I too am completely disappointed in their “lack of a reply”. In fact, so you know, in the old days I used to tell everyone (including my cousin who is a postmistress in San Jose) that the only way to ensure that something was sent and received correctly, was to send it via Federal Express. In fact the joke went one step further, and that if I was to get a a tattoo, it would be the Federal Express logo, because I believed in their consistency, quality and overall theme of what they stood for - giving the consumer the best service possible. The problem is thought that when they started to charge for this and that, I said, hey, what’s the deal? I mean lets be realistic, at one time they came up with a fee for ‘gas?”. Let’s get real - isn’t that part of the overall service? What’s next - a fee for delivery to your home or use of their magical pens to sign your name upon delivery? Personally, I am glad I never got that tattoo, and its been over 3 years since I sent anything with them. In fact, I believe that I could go the rest of my life without ever using them again, and to be honest, its their loss, not mine.

Second, with respect to the specifics of a class action suit, although intriguing, I think it would be very problematic - especially since there are a few pieces of criteria that one has to use to establish a “class action suit” in the court’s eyes. The largest, and most problematic is the establishment of a “class” that is recognizable by the courts. A class is a group of people who all fit the same basic criteria (or in a suit’s case, damage). But even when presented with that, courts don’t always grant class action status. Why? Simple, the class may be too diverse, may be too large, may be confusing, too expensive or any other of a dozen reasons.

Additionally, there is a tremendous expense involved with a class action suit, most of it borne upfront by either the initiator of the suit or the attorney.

Next, as history has shown us, class action suits are effective, but very rarely give anyone the amount of money they believe they should have received. For example I was part of a class action suit against the people who make Tasers - you know the stun guns used by law enforcement. Specifically, the case dealt with insider trading and the devaluation of stocks. The price of the stock plummeted, and I was offered something like 35 cents per share for my loss. The problem is that I lost over $20 a share. As such, I just shrugged my shoulders and passed the problem on to Uncle Sam who allows you to write off investment losses.

With that in mind, I would like to suggest the following:

1) I do believe you have a great small claims court suit - one that would not only get their attention (and the meida’s), but would bring some level of satisfaction to you because they would have to send someone out there to defend it, and that would cost them way more than what you have out of pocket. In fact, they might even simply just pay you instead of showing up in court. This is a very effective way for a small business to do business and I strongly support Small Claims Courts and their advisors.

2) I believe you probably now need to find another carrier - many carriers LOVE to hear what you have to say, and when you tell them, you might just get a good deal, not once or twice, but for the life of your account. Personally, I do not recommend any company, but if I did, it would not be a private entity that surprisingly has one of the largest networks in the world - (hint, their colors are yellow and red). In fact, when I needed to send something home from Asia a year or so ago, they were there - with a good solid price, and delivery was flawless.

I hope this helps, and good luck to you.