Dear Jeff Bezos

[MrFedEx]

Jeff, somehow I hope this letter provides some enlightenment about the way FedEx operates. First, by now you're probably hearing all of the excuses Fred S and his minions can pull out of their collective butts. Don't believe a single word of it. "Weather problems", "unexpected volume", and all the rest of it is nothing but crap. FedEx did nothing to prepare for the Peak 2013 season. If anything, they reduced capacity by implementing a retarded routing system called DRA and then simply expected all employees to suddenly become more productive and make-up the difference.

Unlike UPS, FedEx Express made essentially no preparations for Peak. UPS hired temporary drivers and runners, rented extra vehicles, and geared-up for the worst. FedEx did nothing until it was obvious that a disaster was underway, and by then, it was too late. FedEx stations and ramps were full of late, rotting, and stagnant packages going nowhere. You know the rest of the story...unhappy customers, late gifts, and unfulfilled promises.

FedEx is a company that is living on a reputation for excellence it no longer deserves. It is run by incompetent morons who mainly make decisions that will serve to pump-up the price of FedEx stock and inflate their lucrative option packages. Over the last 2 years, Mr. Bronczek, Mr. Smith, and many other top officers have been milking this cash cow to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly through cutting costs and lowering service levels.

Maybe that's "good business" to you, but I suspect not, especially since Amazon disappointed a huge number of customers this year, thanks to Fred S and his top-level management team making horrendously bad decisions...over and over.

Yes, UPS blew-it too, but at least they made an honest effort to protect service and satisfy customers. Fred S has your money...that's all he cares about.

 

[bbsam]

LOL. I think Bezos is quite aware of what happened and if he is honest with himself is merely doing damage control in refunding money. Bezos is no "mom and pop" lemonade stand owner. With his insistence on huge shipping discounts, he is getting exactly what he paid for. Better will absolutely cost more. UPS and Fedex aren't going to pay him for the privilege.

 

[hypo hanna]

I don't think that will stop him and the rest of the big shippers from suing fedex.

 

[Cactus]

As we've said before, the service is only as good as what Fred's willing to pay for. Now if you look at all the undelivered packages, what does that tell you?

 

[bbsam]

I don't think that will stop him and the rest of the big shippers from suing fedex.

suing FedEx will only be part of future contractual negotiations.

 

[TUT]

I don't think that will stop him and the rest of the big shippers from suing fedex.

Must be sarcasm.

 

[hypo hanna]

Must be sarcasm.

Why wouldn't they? Depending on what is in their contract, I think its certainly a possibility.

 

[TUT]

Why wouldn't they? Depending on what is in their contract, I think its certainly a possibility.

Because in the contract it is covered and it is reestablished nationally each November, time definite is off. If Amazon or others had a real case to sue and win, then you would see the carriers backing off on pickup, then it creates another problem the seller rather not have.. no sale. The bottom line here is Amazon, UPS and Fedex had happen what they assumed, order as much as you can as late as you want, UPS and Fedex will get it there as fast as they can.

I will surrender that Amazon could have a special contract, but in general that is the case. If they do, then they probably won't have to sue, Fedex will probably be cutting them a check once an agreement is made. This could easily be reviewed and some money changes hands to lesson the blow on a single company.

I am certain the teams of reps between the 3 companies were very clear moment to moment, not always agreeing, but seeing what is going on and what could be going down. They probably didn't expect as much press at they got, enough to give gift cards and apologies, but that will be recovered. My guess is all sides will review and improve some for next year, but you can never say for certain you have enough when the public can order unlimited amounts.

 

[Doc Sorting Dude]

The news about undelivered packages seems to be targeted at UPS. FDX seems to be mentioned only as an afterthought. I think we have (had) many undelivered packages but not on the scale of UPS volume. That's the take many of us are hearing and reading on the TV and Net.

 

[MrFedEx]

The news about undelivered packages seems to be targeted at UPS. FDX seems to be mentioned only as an afterthought. I think we have (had) many undelivered packages but not on the scale of UPS volume. That's the take many of us are hearing and reading on the TV and Net.

The Supreme Weasel has once again raided the chicken coop and escaped largely undetected. I'm not sure how FedEx is staying under the radar on this one

 

[bbsam]

The Supreme Weasel has once again raided the chicken coop and escaped largely undetected. I'm not sure how FedEx is staying under the radar on this one

Could it be because the opcos are separated? Since UPS is not, both air and Ground were clogging the same system. FDX had the Ground cleaned up by Xmas eve and just the Express to clean up.

 

[hypo hanna]

Im

Because in the contract it is covered and it is reestablished nationally each November, time definite is off. If Amazon or others had a real case to sue and win, then you would see the carriers backing off on pickup, then it creates another problem the seller rather not have.. no sale. The bottom line here is Amazon, UPS and Fedex had happen what they assumed, order as much as you can as late as you want, UPS and Fedex will get it there as fast as they can.

I will surrender that Amazon could have a special contract, but in general that is the case. If they do, then they probably won't have to sue, Fedex will probably be cutting them a check once an agreement is made. This could easily be reviewed and some money changes hands to lesson the blow on a single company.

I am certain the teams of reps between the 3 companies were very clear moment to moment, not always agreeing, but seeing what is going on and what could be going down. They probably didn't expect as much press at they got, enough to give gift cards and apologies, but that will be recovered. My guess is all sides will review and improve some for next year, but you can never say for certain you have enough when the public can order unlimited amounts.

I'm not privy to their contract any more then you are so it is an educated guess on both of our parts.
You see it from the perspective of a small to mid level shipper. I see it as an employee who saw many of these special contracts being implimented. FedEx can and often does promise special services far outside normal operating procedures much to the detriment of our hub and spoke system and the packages of smaller customers.

 

[TUT]

The Supreme Weasel has once again raided the chicken coop and escaped largely undetected. I'm not sure how FedEx is staying under the radar on this one

Fedex, they are smarter than you think...

 

[TUT]

Im

I'm not privy to their contract any more then you are so it is an educated guess on both of our parts.
You see it from the perspective of a small to mid level shipper. I see it as an employee who saw many of these special contracts being implimented. FedEx can and often does promise special services far outside normal operating procedures much to the detriment of our hub and spoke system and the packages of smaller customers.

Mostly true, I am giving my opinion. I will stick with there won't be a lawsuit. Both sides will review and come to agreement. This is too big of business for anyone to risk. It's tweaks. It is business 201. There are always exceptions, but something would totally have to go wrong, like to the point they drop the carrier in full, I don't see it, especially when both large shippers together can't handle it. They need everyone and then some.

 

[Doc Sorting Dude]

The Supreme Weasel has once again raided the chicken coop and escaped largely undetected. I'm not sure how FedEx is staying under the radar on this one

What? He's got his grubby hands on how FDX is portrayed in the media? His reach is farther than we thought. That and the fact that he has oodles of money in his account and private jets to smooz his way around this mess.

 

[MrFedEx]

What? He's got his grubby hands on how FDX is portrayed in the media? His reach is farther than we thought. That and the fact that he has oodles of money in his account and private jets to smooz his way around this mess.

I find it amazing that even though Express messed-up far worse than UPS, that most of the anger and attention is being focused on Brown. Fred is pulling every string he's got.

 

[vantexan]

I find it amazing that even though Express messed-up far worse than UPS, that most of the anger and attention is being focused on Brown. Fred is pulling every string he's got.

How do you know FedEx messed up far worse? It's a known fact that UPS' service levels are lower than Express's so when UPS get's surprised by unexpectedly high volume those system deficiencies are going to be glaring.

 

[MrFedEx]

How do you know FedEx messed up far worse? It's a known fact that UPS' service levels are lower than Express's so when UPS get's surprised by unexpectedly high volume those system deficiencies are going to be glaring.

Neither is releasing numbers. Locally, UPS was OK while we were screwed. I'm hearing similar from around the country. UPS was bad in some areas, but not nearly as bad as FedEx. Just opinion and anecdotal...not verified.

 

[vantexan]

Neither is releasing numbers. Locally, UPS was OK while we were screwed. I'm hearing similar from around the country. UPS was bad in some areas, but not nearly as bad as FedEx. Just opinion and anecdotal...not verified.

UPS acknowledged they had serious problems nationwide. How are you getting from anyone inside info about whether they weren't nearly as bad as FedEx? How could a courier or even a mgr possibly know whether they were worse off than UPS? And yet you are stating it as fact. Anything to tear down the company. Yes, they've screwed us all. But spreading misinformation doesn't make the situation better. The bottom line is customer service is going to suffer because it's not cost effective to maintain the kind of workforce needed to handle that kind of volume for a few weeks out of the year, which TUT already covered. HOWEVER, if the economy is improving, and this Christmas is indicative of that, then Express won't shrink nearly as much as thought.

 

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

Social media either showed a massive conspiracy by MFE to tarnish FedEx,or the more plausible, as witnessed firsthand by many of us.We sucked equally as bad nationwide as UPS!