Fed Ex being late consistently. SYR insurance?

Anyone having trouble with them getting to destination by 10:30 am?

How many claim for late arrival? Do you make a lot of claims?

I'm trying to decide if I should ins ALL packages no matter the value. I hate to make claims agains SYR when it's Fed Ex. I'd love to go after Fed Ex for late arrivals. I get all mine on time here,but many of mine going out to others are late! Why?

Rich

Occasionally late to select locations or if a weird weather pattern or something jumps in (which my packaging is meant to account for to a reasonable degree). Mostly on time to most locations. I use RE for my FedEx labels, although I receive packages from those who use SYR. I personally make no claims. I remain satisfied with the services provided by both companies. Debbie at RE is wonderful. The FedEx clerks at the hub I drop off at and the delivery folks that bring me my packages are all kind and conscientious people who act with quality and a sense of duty. I know not everyone shares similar experiences, but I feel rather fortunate.

Given the number of emails I get from FedEx reporting service disruptions this winter; I'd say it's pretty common. IMO, there are occurrences that merit claims...and those that really don't. How "late" are we talking?

Only an hr. And I'm ok with that amount. At what point do I make the claim? I don't want to make any claims unless really needed. My issue at this time of year is I have to use heat packs here to ship to places like Fl. that are getting into the high 80's to low 90's. I hate for the boas to cook/dehydrate. I usually soak before shipping to make sure they are well hydrated in case of excess heat build up.

I purchase the SYR insurance on every shipment (mostly because I feel like the one time I don't I'll need it). I have filed several claims for late delivery. SYR has always paid the claims...a few times even without me filing one (they knew the shipment was late, because I called them about it, and they processed the refund without me mentioning the insurance). One of the claims they filed without me asking was one that I was going to let slide, because it wasn't super late, but they said no, I was due a refund. So if it is late enough for be to be concerned enough to call SYR, I file a claim. I balance out the feeling bad for filing a claim with SYR when it is really FedEx at fault by looking at how much I spend with SYR over the course of a year. Then I don't feel so bad...

That being said, all of my claims were for times when Fedex was conducting normal daily operations, and just goofed on my packages somehow. I don't know what would happen if you shipped during a service alert...I know there are times when SYR advises not to ship and I doubt you would be covered then.

I live in Georgia so I will use RE. Main headquarters only about two hours away. Anyway, My last two shipments I received from FedEx were very late IMO. Both scheduled for 10:30am deliveries one didn't arrive until 2:30pm. The other wouldn't have arrived until 4pm until I pitched a fit. Was delivered at 1:45. I didn't get any refund

The last 3 packages I've received, the last 2 I've sent and the last 4 I've heard of other people getting have all been late, from 1 hour to 6. I've never personally asked for or received a refund. Am getting pretty upset at how consistently FedEx has been late though! Could understand if there was a good reason for it but that hasn't appeared to be the case with any of these shipments.

From what I hear, FedEx has cut back on staff and sometimes been hiring third party contractors for deliveries (still in fedex vehicles). I work in a warehouse and we've had a significant increase in late and damaged shipments over the last year, both normal fedex and fedex freight.

April- FedEx does use contracted drivers for Ground deliveries. You basically bid for your route, then execute it. Air and Overnight deliveries are handled by FedEx employed drivers. Nothing has changed there.

What has changed is the weather! Such a horrible winter for severe weather. The worst we have seen in 5+ years.

DOAs are still rare, but they happen, and the extreme temps and delays don't help.

In January and February weather was so consistently bad that not many reptiles were being shipped. Then the weather "broke" a bit and seemed nicer in mid February. A TON of packages flooded the system. Not just reptiles, all kinds of shipments. THAT then caused system overloads and delays.

The following week, weather was bad again, but many folks were still trying to catch up from the horrible weather. MORE crazy delays.

Those two weeks marked two achievements- Two of our biggest weeks ever for reptile shipping volume, just monsters. But also our two biggest weeks ever for delays and issues, MONSTERS.

In one week we refunded over $6000 for late arrival packages. Crazy. If that happened every week we'd be broke in a month.

But then it smoothed back out. Volume is a bit higher than a normal March, folks still trying to catch up (some vendors had 50+ shipments waiting to go out), but delays are pretty minimal right now.

And the winter is ending, hooray, so good weather shipping should be more typical.

FedEx doesn't offer any late arrival refunds, and no DOA coverage either. At SYR, FedEx doesn't give US any refunds either. It is prohibited in the Reptile Certification contract you have to sign to create a certified FedEx account.

We created our own insurance program, and it is all self-funded. As long as you get the minimum insurance of $2.50, you are eligible for a complete refund of the shipping cost if the package is one minute or more late after the Guaranteed Time of arrival. Very simple.

DOA coverage is more specific, you can read up about that on our site.

DOAs are definitely rare, but they do happen, usually when the package misses delivery and is a day delayed. We have paid out a few thousand dollars in DOAs so far this year. It is never good to lose an animal, proper packaging and heat pack use will protect you in most every instance.

OVERUSE of heat packs will doom you in most instances as well. The most common cause of DOAs is overuse and misuse of heat packs. We have very specific heat pack guidelines on the site. And we are always happy to help with specific questions.

I personally wouldn't' ask for a refund for being late one min. I would ask if a couple hrs late and it was real hot or very cold. At that point it's the welfare of the reptile that would be in jeopardy. But I'm sure there's people who are quick to ask for a refund for several mins late?

It's nice that you reply to the reptile community Robyn.