SteyrAUG
05-20-10, 17:53
A long time ago, an Army Sergeant in Kansas purchased a Colt 6920 LE rifle.
We received the rifle in a reasonable time frame (Obama had not yet been elected so it was still possible to get such things) and we shipped it out to his FFL on 11-25-2008. Everything seemed fine.
Then almost a month later I get a "Hey have you shipped my rifle yet?" email. I run the FedEx tracking number and the trail goes cold in Orlando a few days after I shipped it. I inform the customer of this and provide him the track number so he knows I'm not making anything up and tell him not to be too concerned as the package was fully insured.
I call FedEx and they confirm they have no idea where it is and I submit my claim for compensation. Now I should provide some background. I came to FedEx because I they provided a delivery option that wasn't dependent upon the internet. I had a few bad experiences with UPS resulting from computer problems interfering with shipments. Bottom line I wanted to be able to pick up the phone and schedule a pickup without involving my computer with the situation. FedEx provided me a log book and tracking number labels and I was all set.
I'd physically write in the address and note any declared values and I'd hand the page to the driver and keep a copy. And that is how I did things for about 5 years. No problems. At least, not until there was an actual problem.
It seems FedEx required me to check a box designated as "A.O.D." to get a customer signature. This had never been mentioned prior and nothing in the log book page indicates what "A.O.D." stands for. Now I printed labels similar to an address label that states "Signature Required" because I learned FedEx would simply leave packages out front if you didn't. I had one customer early on call me to explain when he got back home (he was a home based FFL) his package containing a $2,500.00 rifle was simply left on the porch. I called FedEx to find out how to prevent this in the future and they told me to simply make some "Signature Required" labels, at no time did anyone mention checking the "A.O.D." column in my log book. And everything seemed fine.
That was until the FedEx claims adjuster informed me that the package sent in this case was NOT INSURED since I didn't check the "A.O.D." column even though the insured amount column was completely filled out. Basically the fact that I didn't follow FedEx guidelines by checking "A.O.D." for Signature Required means they were not liable for the claim despite the fact that I had a Signature Required sticker and completely filled out the declared value column for purposes of insuring the claim. Basically FedEx customer service told me they were not going to honor the claim. It made no difference that I did everything exactly as instructed to by FedEx and nobody ever made me aware of the "A.O.D." requirement or even took the time to explain what it was.
I then asked about every other package I ever shipped insured. It seems, from day one, everything I ever shipped with FedEx was NOT INSURED despite the fact that I requested it to be insured. This means when I did the Barrett Group Buy involving rifle orders totaling about a quarter million dollars, everything shipped uninsured.
What I learned much, much later is this was all a case of FedEx ground subcontractors failing to enter the requested services into the system like they were supposed to. FedEx basically put the responsibility on them, they claimed they did nothing wrong and that was that, tough shit.
Long story short I went back and forth with FedEx for many, many months and the situation involving this rifle and another claim where the delivery was made with significant damage never really was resolved in a satisfactory manner. Bottom line I ended up being screwed for about $1,000.00 in a negotiated settlement. Could have been worse, I could have gotten nothing and been burned for two grand.
Then out of the blue I get a phone call from California. Seems some woman there who moved from Florida recently received my rifle along with her packages. This was something of a relief because if I could get the rifle back then I would about break even on the FedEx claim. She asked if there was any kind of reward and I told her if she got the rifle back to me I'd be happy to take care of her. I told her all she needed to do is ship the rifle to the address on my license and she would be legally returning a misrouted delivery to a licensed FFL and once we got it I'd be more than happy to give her $100 for her time and effort.
Everything seemed ok, but very quickly things changed. She wanted some money "up front" and indicated if I didn't she could probably make a lot more money selling the rifle locally. This started to feel like a shake down and went from good citizen helping me recover lost property to somebody who might have been in on it with the people who stole it from FedEx and it now looking to scam some reward money out of me.
Armed with her contact info such as where I could send reward money I contacted the local PD and explained the situation. Within 24 hours the local PD was in possession of the Colt rifle. I contacted my customer and brought him up to speed and he was almost as relieved as I was. The local PD informed me that all they needed was supporting paperwork such as a copy of my FFL and the invoice. I informed them that both were already in their possession in the box. I further provided them the FedEx track number and a scan from my log book showing the package was sent to Kansas and went missing in Orlando before arriving in California. This satisfied their concerns that the rifle may have been deliberately and illegally sent to a California customer.
I was told I would probably have the rifle within 2 weeks. That was early 2009. Soon after that during one of my daily "Has it shipped yet?" inquires I was advised the entire matter was turned over to ATF and given the name of the investigating agent. Now I was back to square one. I contacted the agent and basically submitted the same documentation previously provided. The agent was concerned why I hadn't contacted ATF regarding the lost rifle and I explained that FedEx told me the rifle wasn't really lost, just unaccounted for during the claim process. I would later learn this was just another move by FedEx to jerk me around for awhile with promises of the rifle turning up while they found a way to avoid paying the claim. Basically FedEx told me the rifle wasn't lost, it was just out of their system.
And when FedEx finally did acknowledge the rifle was "lost" and settled with a negotiated claim I got the call from California a few days later. So the rifle wasn't really lost yet, I knew where it was. It was my plan to contact ATF if the local PD was unsuccessful in recovering my property. Thankfully the local Cali PD supported everything I told ATF. ATF spent a reasonable amount of time investigating everything and satisfying themselves that their was no illegal activity and advised the local PD to release my property. That was about June of 2009.
I was told to issue a call tag and they would release my rifle for pickup. Just one problem. I no longer used FedEx for anything. It would be reasonable enough for me to drop them after all they put me through, but I actually even gave them another chance. I shipped a single package filling out the log book EXACTLY as advised including checking the "A.O.D." column and adding a Signature Required sticker. And when I called FedEx to track it, once again the local subcontractors failed to enter ANY of the requested services and the package shipped completely uninsured. I was done with FedEx from that point on. And my new carrier, UPS didn't issue "call tags" anymore. As amazing as it sounds there was no way for me to pay for the shipment in FL and have the driver in CA arrive at the PD with a shipping label, even if I chose an overnight option. UPS simply no longer offered that kind of service.
And the Cali PD had no way of accepting a credit card. Furthermore I was informed by virtually everyone at the PD that scheduling a UPS pickup was "not their job." I strongly suspected a case of "evil rifle" syndrome where nobody wanted to help anyone involved with something like that. I honestly feel I could have gotten more consideration if I was trying to get medical marijuana returned to me. Several months passed with me speaking to anyone and everyone trying to get any kind of help in having my released property returned to me.
Several frustrating months passed before I finally told them I was sending a check for an amount that should cover any shipping and pleaded with them for simple basic assistance. I guess having paid the PD by check somehow motivated somebody to put their donut down and have property schedule a UPS pickup. I received the rifle around Dec. of 2009 (more than a year after FedEx first lost it) and it shipped to my customer on 2-25-2010 following his return from deployment.
We received the rifle in a reasonable time frame (Obama had not yet been elected so it was still possible to get such things) and we shipped it out to his FFL on 11-25-2008. Everything seemed fine.
Then almost a month later I get a "Hey have you shipped my rifle yet?" email. I run the FedEx tracking number and the trail goes cold in Orlando a few days after I shipped it. I inform the customer of this and provide him the track number so he knows I'm not making anything up and tell him not to be too concerned as the package was fully insured.
I call FedEx and they confirm they have no idea where it is and I submit my claim for compensation. Now I should provide some background. I came to FedEx because I they provided a delivery option that wasn't dependent upon the internet. I had a few bad experiences with UPS resulting from computer problems interfering with shipments. Bottom line I wanted to be able to pick up the phone and schedule a pickup without involving my computer with the situation. FedEx provided me a log book and tracking number labels and I was all set.
I'd physically write in the address and note any declared values and I'd hand the page to the driver and keep a copy. And that is how I did things for about 5 years. No problems. At least, not until there was an actual problem.
It seems FedEx required me to check a box designated as "A.O.D." to get a customer signature. This had never been mentioned prior and nothing in the log book page indicates what "A.O.D." stands for. Now I printed labels similar to an address label that states "Signature Required" because I learned FedEx would simply leave packages out front if you didn't. I had one customer early on call me to explain when he got back home (he was a home based FFL) his package containing a $2,500.00 rifle was simply left on the porch. I called FedEx to find out how to prevent this in the future and they told me to simply make some "Signature Required" labels, at no time did anyone mention checking the "A.O.D." column in my log book. And everything seemed fine.
That was until the FedEx claims adjuster informed me that the package sent in this case was NOT INSURED since I didn't check the "A.O.D." column even though the insured amount column was completely filled out. Basically the fact that I didn't follow FedEx guidelines by checking "A.O.D." for Signature Required means they were not liable for the claim despite the fact that I had a Signature Required sticker and completely filled out the declared value column for purposes of insuring the claim. Basically FedEx customer service told me they were not going to honor the claim. It made no difference that I did everything exactly as instructed to by FedEx and nobody ever made me aware of the "A.O.D." requirement or even took the time to explain what it was.
I then asked about every other package I ever shipped insured. It seems, from day one, everything I ever shipped with FedEx was NOT INSURED despite the fact that I requested it to be insured. This means when I did the Barrett Group Buy involving rifle orders totaling about a quarter million dollars, everything shipped uninsured.
What I learned much, much later is this was all a case of FedEx ground subcontractors failing to enter the requested services into the system like they were supposed to. FedEx basically put the responsibility on them, they claimed they did nothing wrong and that was that, tough shit.
Long story short I went back and forth with FedEx for many, many months and the situation involving this rifle and another claim where the delivery was made with significant damage never really was resolved in a satisfactory manner. Bottom line I ended up being screwed for about $1,000.00 in a negotiated settlement. Could have been worse, I could have gotten nothing and been burned for two grand.
Then out of the blue I get a phone call from California. Seems some woman there who moved from Florida recently received my rifle along with her packages. This was something of a relief because if I could get the rifle back then I would about break even on the FedEx claim. She asked if there was any kind of reward and I told her if she got the rifle back to me I'd be happy to take care of her. I told her all she needed to do is ship the rifle to the address on my license and she would be legally returning a misrouted delivery to a licensed FFL and once we got it I'd be more than happy to give her $100 for her time and effort.
Everything seemed ok, but very quickly things changed. She wanted some money "up front" and indicated if I didn't she could probably make a lot more money selling the rifle locally. This started to feel like a shake down and went from good citizen helping me recover lost property to somebody who might have been in on it with the people who stole it from FedEx and it now looking to scam some reward money out of me.
Armed with her contact info such as where I could send reward money I contacted the local PD and explained the situation. Within 24 hours the local PD was in possession of the Colt rifle. I contacted my customer and brought him up to speed and he was almost as relieved as I was. The local PD informed me that all they needed was supporting paperwork such as a copy of my FFL and the invoice. I informed them that both were already in their possession in the box. I further provided them the FedEx track number and a scan from my log book showing the package was sent to Kansas and went missing in Orlando before arriving in California. This satisfied their concerns that the rifle may have been deliberately and illegally sent to a California customer.
I was told I would probably have the rifle within 2 weeks. That was early 2009. Soon after that during one of my daily "Has it shipped yet?" inquires I was advised the entire matter was turned over to ATF and given the name of the investigating agent. Now I was back to square one. I contacted the agent and basically submitted the same documentation previously provided. The agent was concerned why I hadn't contacted ATF regarding the lost rifle and I explained that FedEx told me the rifle wasn't really lost, just unaccounted for during the claim process. I would later learn this was just another move by FedEx to jerk me around for awhile with promises of the rifle turning up while they found a way to avoid paying the claim. Basically FedEx told me the rifle wasn't lost, it was just out of their system.
And when FedEx finally did acknowledge the rifle was "lost" and settled with a negotiated claim I got the call from California a few days later. So the rifle wasn't really lost yet, I knew where it was. It was my plan to contact ATF if the local PD was unsuccessful in recovering my property. Thankfully the local Cali PD supported everything I told ATF. ATF spent a reasonable amount of time investigating everything and satisfying themselves that their was no illegal activity and advised the local PD to release my property. That was about June of 2009.
I was told to issue a call tag and they would release my rifle for pickup. Just one problem. I no longer used FedEx for anything. It would be reasonable enough for me to drop them after all they put me through, but I actually even gave them another chance. I shipped a single package filling out the log book EXACTLY as advised including checking the "A.O.D." column and adding a Signature Required sticker. And when I called FedEx to track it, once again the local subcontractors failed to enter ANY of the requested services and the package shipped completely uninsured. I was done with FedEx from that point on. And my new carrier, UPS didn't issue "call tags" anymore. As amazing as it sounds there was no way for me to pay for the shipment in FL and have the driver in CA arrive at the PD with a shipping label, even if I chose an overnight option. UPS simply no longer offered that kind of service.
And the Cali PD had no way of accepting a credit card. Furthermore I was informed by virtually everyone at the PD that scheduling a UPS pickup was "not their job." I strongly suspected a case of "evil rifle" syndrome where nobody wanted to help anyone involved with something like that. I honestly feel I could have gotten more consideration if I was trying to get medical marijuana returned to me. Several months passed with me speaking to anyone and everyone trying to get any kind of help in having my released property returned to me.
Several frustrating months passed before I finally told them I was sending a check for an amount that should cover any shipping and pleaded with them for simple basic assistance. I guess having paid the PD by check somehow motivated somebody to put their donut down and have property schedule a UPS pickup. I received the rifle around Dec. of 2009 (more than a year after FedEx first lost it) and it shipped to my customer on 2-25-2010 following his return from deployment.