Having commented in the recent FedEx woes thread, I thought I should post separately about a recent very positive experience I had when shipping wine with FedEx.
I bought 9 bottles Aubert Pinot on CC. Sent a label using my own account and the very gentlemanly seller proactively suggested using a double hull, since he was aware that the local receiving centers are on alert to spot and refuse wine shipments. A few days later I went to track the package and it showed that it had arrived at the Fairfield distribution center two days earlier, but nothing more after that. After another day of no progress I called and was told there was nothing they would do until the package was late, which wasn’t going to be for a few more days. So I waited.
Sure enough the box never arrived. I initiated a trace, and if you’ve ever done this you know that just means they put a call into the last office that scanned the package to see if they have information. They didn’t, and so I got a call back from the trace office asking me to describe the contents so that they could identify the box if they found it. Obviously I was not anxious to describe the contents, but I did, and we had a brief discussion about how and when the shipment of alcohol was permitted. Honestly, at that point I figured I would never see the wine. But they said they would contact the center again and have them search.
Two days later I called again and was shocked and delighted to learn that they had in fact found the package. The trace office person read the notes which said that the label had fallen off the box and they didn’t know where to send it. He indicated that he would direct the local office to print a new label, and that I should start seeing progress in the tracking info again that night, which I did. The wine arrived several days later, with no discernible issues.
During this time I had kept contact with the seller, and he confirmed for me that he had double-hulled the box. When I received it there was only the single shipper box, so obviously FedEx had opened it and disposed of the outer hull.
All in all a very positive experience with both their customer service and their follow-through.