FedEx Account Terminated for Trades

I have not heard of this but I'm pretty sure that they can't fine you unless it says that they can in the user agreement. It should have zero effect on your work/place of business.

I use both UPS and FedEx and have only been dinged once in five years, after a growler broke in 2011. I got a letter in the mail that was essentially a fist shake.

I guess it's time to open a UPS account

 

I recently sent a box full of HF stuff cross country via UPS and a bottle of Arthur broke in transit. I received a letter from UPS telling me that one of my 15 bottles of beer broke and that because it was not due to bad packing, they would reimburse me the cost if I filled out a claim form and sent it in with a receipt. In the letter they must have said the word "beer" at least 5 times. I also received a phone call and voicemail from UPS just to apologize for breaking a bottle of beer and to let me know that the delivery would be delayed. They ended up repacking my entire box, placed it in a larger box and shipped it to it's destination. I was so impressed with the fact that they took full responsibility and didn't give half a shit that it was beer in the box, that I didn't bother to fill out the claim form for what would have only been $10. I'll never use anyone other than UPS as long as that's the way they conduct business.

 

That's brutal.
They are thankfully inconsistent in their policy, I've had one breakage incident and FedEx repackaged the remaining beers, sent it back from CA, with a note advising me to ensure I had "adult signature required for alcohol shipments."

 

I've only used UPS to date and haven't had the first issue.

 

I had a similar story lately with UPS. The only difference is that they blamed me for the breakage; however, they repacked everything except for the broken bottle and sent it on.

 

Ive never heard of this before.. ever. Hopefully its an eye opener to the OP to package your goods better (if breakage was an issue), if it wasnt he must have some of the worst luck ive ever witnessed in the beer trading cummunity.

 

I go to a local Postal Annex type place because I've been hassled too many times at either FedEx office or the UPS store. The reason I mention that is because they have a flyer/sign on the counter saying UPS now ships beer. I asked them about and they say there is no additional cost and they will actually pack it for you in the store in a shipper. Might be something to look in to?

 

Unfortuantley, its a very misleading service as many states WILL NOT accept the package containing alcohol.

 

Agreed. Tried to ship wine from Iowa (don't ask me why my mom wanted to do that but...) had to have it sent to Oregon because they couldn't ship to CA or CO. Where I can use that service offered by UPS in both states?

 

I end something similar happen with Fedex, and I've also heard stories with both Fedex and UPS doing the opposite and refusing to deliver, sending nasty letters, etc. when they find beer. It seems to be less about the national carrier and more about the specific people running shit in your region and whether or not your route has a hero driver on it. But if UPS is working for you in your area, I'd stick with them too.

 

Yes...it totally depends on the actual people you are dealing with. The place I drop off to and my delivery guy are awesome.

It also doesn't hurt to give your delivery driver a Xmas card with a gift card in it either to show some appreciation and say thank you for coming to your house weekly

 

My FedEx people have been awesome. I think most of the people I've shipped to have also had overall good experiences. Unfortunately there's a vast expanse of unknown territory between the points of origin & arrival.

Unless shipping policies are changed to permit alcohol shipments between adults shipping beer will continue to be a crapshoot.

 

Great idea, I am going to mark this down! Started trading in September and have about 150 under my belt...not to mention my wife works from home and orders supplies all the time and ships her art through FedEx! Appreciate this tidbit!

 

I have had good luck putting my address as the To and From address on the label. The few times I have had a bottle leak or break they have always reboxed it and sent it back to the sender, but since it was the same address I still got it.

 

UPS seems to have upped their customer service I will say lately. There was a package that somehow didn't get picked up the day it was supposed to be and I emailed them and received a full refund on it. I didn't remember this kind of service in the past but was impressed.