I took a trip to San Francisco and loaded up on CA beers. I packed a box of about 33 pounds and shipped it back home (Boston), and proceeded to get on my plane. The box arrived on my doorstep this morning with red "fragile" labels all over it which i had not myself attached to the box. I became even more apprehensive when i saw a bright red "return to shipper" label attached and the box "damaged. an inspection report has been completed" was demarcated. I figured that either A) all the beers were smashed or B) that the contents might be discarded anyway considering the questionable legality involved. Just as i was kicking myself for not checking the box at the airport and taking it back on the plane with me, I opened the box to find it had been completely repacked. I have shipped over a hundred boxes and i have only had ONE bottle break in the past one or two years; I usually do a decent job. Apparently one of the midnight sun stouts i bought ended up breaking somewhere along the way and the entire box smelled like beer. The bubble wrap was sticky, etc. But, someone at Fed Ex completely repacked everything complete with additional paper and packing peanuts which i never use. They wrapped it all up and sent it right to my door. There were at least 15 or 16 bottles in there. There was no enclosed letter, or warning, or anything of the sort either. Thank you, Fed Ex. Thank you.
I had a good experience recently with FedEx as well. I was being all beer advocatey and sending a buddy some beer he had never tried from out here in the PNW. Because of the area he is in, he wants to sign for it. Well the box showed up and my friend wasn't there to sign for it. The driver called me, but I was in a meeting and unable to answer. Well the next day the driver again attempted to deliver it, my friend was at the gym. The driver called me and talked, I gave the drivers number to my friend who then called him. The FedEx guy drove over to the gym to meet my friend so he could sign it, rather than have it sent back to me. I thought that was pretty cool of him to do.
FedEx has done me two solids before: Once they repacked a box of broken beer that was being sent to me and delivered it. The driver showed up and said, "We repacked your beer, just be careful next time"... needless to say he got a nice Christmas gift from me. The other time I was sending a box of Westy's to a friend, maybe 4 of them I think. Well the label tore clean off so the box was basically homeless. It had scanned into its final town destination, so when I called they asked me to describe the box as best I could and then asked about the contents. I legit told them it was beer (thinking, what do I have to lose at this point?) and within 10 minutes they found it and specially delivered it the same day. Can't say I've ever had a problem with them!
