FedEx shipment exception

Most likely you dropped it off after the last pickup & it will be picked up today & be on its way. Happens all the time.

 

Or the FedEx guys are enjoying your beer

 

Fuuuckkk.....Had my first Delivery Exception (Damaged) packed. I sent a package to PA, from WI, and it made it all the way there (just not to the person's house) when it was damaged. It's being sent back to me and will arrive tomorrow.

I talked to the rep and they said it'll be repackaged so it can be sent back. So I'm guessing they know damn well it's beer when they repackage it obviously.

Luckily the beer I sent was nothing too rare, and can be replaces and resent. But still, this blows.

 

If you don't mind me asking, can you take a guess as to what went wrong? I understand that I am essentially asking you to say whether or not you think you packaged it correctly, or whether it just fall off a truck, but...If you're willing to tell =).

I've sent some boxes that I felt like even if they were dropped, there's no way anything could break unless it was...thrown. Other times, ex post, I think that I've sent boxes that maybe *could* have had something happen to them if they landed the wrong way. Still yet, Ex post, I think in the 50ish boxes I have sent, that I've probably had 2 or 3 that...I must have been tired when I packed, or something, and I feel a bit embarrassed I didn't pack better.

 

Guess I can't edit. Was going to say - I've never had a package broken that I shipped, but based on what I have shipped, on some of those I could have guessd, but on others...not so much. So, I am just a bit curious.

 

I guess it's always a possibility things could break. I had a few cans snug against the sides. So if the box was hit just right I suppose a can could puncture (but I had all of them sealed in a bag). I had 3 bottles in the box as well, but I'm confident those were packed away securely compared to the cans.

I guess I'll find out for sure tomorrow when I get it back.

 

Jumping in here with my only experience seeing a damaged box...

I received a box once where it was pretty obvious to me that the damage was from a forklift tong going into the box. I was lucky, as it only ended up breaking a glass and ruining the styrofoam-shipper.

Every time I read about damage, an image of a guy on a forklift, paying little attention to what he is doing runs through my mind.

 

It kills me because, according to FedEx, the package was on the truck out for delivery at 5:50 a.m. Then on 7:39 a.m. it was reported as damaged. So I assume it was a good condition as it went on the delivery truck. Not sure what happened after that.

 

Your story is very similar story I have had and it was also a box shipped to PA. I had a box that had some expensive beers in it so I made sure I packed it extra good as I did not want to replace anything. My box was out to delivery to a well known trader and than I got the message that returned back to office. The OP went to FedEx the same day to see what he could salvage and they told him that the entire box was destroyed and nothing to see. I never received proof that the box was destroyed and my shipping was not refunded. I have shipped well over a 100 boxes and this is the only box to have had that problem. I now avoid PA whenever possible and only ship USPS.

 

Most of the damaged stories that I have heard of have been the same way. The one package that was supposed to be delivered to me last year and then could not be due to damage was the same circumstance.

 

This exact situation happened to me in the last 30 days. Package shipped to Pittsburgh, PA via FedEx - Fundamental Forces and two other bottles - and they randomly searched it from what I gather. Wouldn't return or allow pick-up.

 

Does anyone know if this whole Pennsylvania fiasco is just an issue with FedEx or all shipping services? I sent a box UPS a few months ago and it was fine, don't know if things have gotten worse more recently and i should avoid that state in general...

 

I had no problem shipping into PA with Fed Ex back in early June. Maybe I got lucky?

 

I got the package back over the weekend, and a single can was half crushed in the box. Also it looks like the bag I had it sealed it in was punctured, causing 16 ounces of beer to spew all over. The end result was one corner of the box getting saturated from the inside causing it to leak. So FedEx just took the box and placed it into a thick large plastic bag labeled "Hazardous Materials" (I shit you not). Then they placed that bag in a larger box and shipped it back to me. All the contents, including the busted empty beer can, was returned to me.

Luckily the one beer that busted was easily replaceable. I just re-used that larger box they sent me back, repackaged everything and mailed it to the person though UPS. I didn't want to use FedEx again for this trade, just incase they flagged me as a beer trader to the address in PA. I thought I would play it safe.

Not sure how the can got busted. Maybe they got careless with the package, or something heavy was throw on top of it? Not 100% sure....

All in all, things could have went a lot worse. I gave the guy I traded with an extra beer that he wanted as a "sorry for the inconvenience".

 

Nice job - props to you.

It's funny, I've often been worried that a can would get punctured by someone unloading a pallet (where they stack packaged on a pallet, shrink wrap them, then load/unload from a plane/truck etc. As a result, although I sometimes forget, I try to do "Can in bag. Bagged can wrapped in bubble wrap. Then bubble wrapped can in bag placed into another bag." Then, in the end, everything in a trash bag. Always hoping that these 3 bags would catch any leakage if leakage occured - even with puncture like that - since I expect the puncture would not be in the bottom of the box.

That's me being paranoid/careful, and nothing saying you aren't doing enough. Again, good on you. Sound like a qualtiy trade partner.

 

Side story, I used to work in a fairly large beer distributor and one day I was in an aisle pulling cases when suddenly there was a river of beer running about my feet - a guy in the next aisle had just speared two kegs!!! He made it worse by then backing into a pallet of cases that had been pulled and stacked, knocking off one or two.

 

FedEx to PA seems like playing with fire?
I'll say I got lucky with my one time shipping to PA with FedEx

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I have never had a beer break in shipment, and part of the reason for that is that I use the box in a box system. I package my beers wrapped completely in bubblewrap (top, bottom, sides), either tightly taped together or with cardboard separators dividing them, and then put them into a box that has large-bubbled bubble wrap running across the bottom and sides so that I can then drape that across the top. I seal that box and then fill the bottom of a larger box with "peanuts", drop the box in, and then fill the sides and top. I then seal up that box and ship it. That keeps the inside box from absorbing the shock if it's dropped or has something heavy dropped or placed on it. The tighter that inside box is the better. Also, I should note that bottles are meant to be shipped upright, never on their sides, and you should set up your shipment so it appears that it should be shipped a certain way (rectangular box, etc.).

 

Is it worth asking them to put a "Fragile" sticker on the box (whether it's UPS, FedEx, Post Office, etc...).

Then if they ask just say it's snow globes or something.