Introduction
FedEx is a shipping company that was founded in 1971in Memphis. The founder of this company was a former Marine with the United States of America: Fredrick W. Smith. Beginning its services in 1973, it majorly used its name: Federal Express, to enable it to acquire quick contracts from the government. It quickly became a leader in its line of business through various steps that it undertook. One such move was application of jet planes in service delivery, especially after cargo airline deregulation. Further still, there was the pioneering of a distribution paradigm called spoke hub. With the change of name from Federal Express to FedEx in 2000 it aggressively started its advertising campaigns thus becoming more popular. This can also be attributed to the fact that it employed overnight shipping. Its major competitors in its line of business include USPS, UPS and DHL.
Sending an international mail via FedEx while in the United State of America is quite simple. All that is needed to be done is just putting the mail that is to be sent in an international destination into a FedEx bag that is designated as international mail service. Next, a call to FedEx using their known number i.e. 1.888.339.6245 would enable you order supplies for packaging airways bills that are preprinted. Before sending, these mails are sorted after being stamped. This is usually done by FedEx personnel or if not possible then their designee would do that. After stamping, they are then shipped to their respective designate countries and handed over to the authorities in charge of postal deliveries in that particular country. Normally this mode of shipment is used for commodities that are considered low valued for example goods for household use, CDs, or films.
Personal Experience with FedEx
While sending printed materials mostly in form of books to a friend of mine in Saudi Arabia, I decide to use FedEx. This was especially so since these materials were urgently needed. I did follow all of the FedEx procedure involved while sending materials to international designations and within a short while, I had paid for the postage and they were off. I was however promised that they would be received in Saudi Arabia within a maximum of 11 days. I did track the mail via their web enable service. True to their words, it only took 4 days to arrive in Saudi Arabia. The mail was now in the Hands of there Saudi Arabia Authorities. I was even prompted to tell my friend to give it maximum 2 days. However, 24 hours did not lapse before my friend finally called me to let me know that she had received the mail.
Therefore my little encounter with the FedEx services was just fine. Their staffs were so willing to help and could give you any information that you did want to have. This was such a nice pleasure and I can now even comfortably send something of a higher value via FedEx to people around off course after insuring it. They simply know how to keep their word. Most importantly however is the fact that although I paid for a standard service, my sent mail got delivered in time period that is designated as premium. That was quite cool.
Experiences Form Other FedEx Ground Service Customers
While that is just part of my experience, there are other various people with varying views about FedEx. One of the many FedEx customer that I got chance to talk to was Jar Hum. He rates the company as fast in delivery. His experience with FedEx is through his regular purchases at Newegg.com and Buy.com. Since these two merchants mostly use FedEx to deliver his purchased products, he has had positive encounters with the company. He fondly calls the serve by FedEx as reliable. He states that even sometimes, the maximum period of delivery i.e. 5-7 days is beaten.
Ahmed however has not been so lucky with FedEx. In his experience, after ordering for a computer part online, the online merchant decides to ship it via FedEx. Luckily, it required that the receiver signs for it on delivery. After waiting and checking on the FedEx website for 3 days, he noticed that information had changed from “Package on FedEx Vehicle for Delivery” to “Delivery exception”. To him, this meant the package had been delivered to a wrong address and there was therefore no one by the name Ahmed to sign for it. Ahmed however on contacting the customer care service was treated well and professionally. However the fact that he had to wait for one extra week to get his package delivered was most upsetting to him.
Mariah on the other hand had some package whose label implied that it contained materials that were hazardous. Since she runs a company, she thought well, it might have delivered to the right address. But later while confirming the address, she noticed that it was meant to be delivered to another company across the street. When she contacted FedEx, she was put on hold for over 20 minutes before some lady explained to here that the package was going to be collected the following day. However, after 2 weeks of continuously calling and no one from FedEx showing up, they decide to call the destined company to come and collect their package. Surprisingly, a week later, someone from FedEx did show up claiming to have come to collect a package.
Finally, Zulia seems to be particularly annoyed at this issue of FedEx loosing her packages that were being sent to hare clients. To her, the refund that she often receives does not cover up for discontented customers on the other end of the line. She out mostly dislikes the FedEx services but still she continues using them. This is because of their cheap FedEx ground which is cost effective to her business.
FedEx Employees
The employees, especially responsible for receiving phone calls, handle all frustrations from customers. While most of them do argue that they try their level best to solve their client’s issues, they cannot assure them that packages that have been delivered wrongly would not get another wrong delivery. Mostly it is out of their hands and is only there to try and calm down their customers. To them, the best they can do is call the driver and let them know of an error that they had made in delivery and hope the driver correct his or her mistake as soon as possible.
Conclusion
The various encounters that customers have with their service providers are very critical. This is because hardly a client would recall a smooth flow of services extended after some time. However, these same clients would keep that one bad experience with their service providers almost for the whole eternity. Therefore to ensure satisfaction in case of any mishap in service delivery, it should be resolved the soonest time possible.