When I called my office, they told me the Fedex guy had made his delivery for the day around that time, but while he left packages for others, he had no package for me.
Have you ever tried to get a fedex representative on the phone? Not so easy. Finally, I navigated past the automated voice prompts that kept telling me a delivery had been attempted but no one was there to accept it, to a customer service representative.
She told me Fedex has no way of contacting its drivers until after they return to the terminal. Really? What about those hand-held devices the drivers are always typing into when we see them on elevators? She said that's Fedex Air, not Fedex Ground. Fedex Ground drivers can't be contacted.
I asked her to call the terminal and have them contact the driver. She said she couldn't do that, and refused to give me the number. Terminal numbers are apparently secret. She said she'd file a report. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After leaving me on hold for several minutes while she went to get a supervisor, she came back to tell me he stepped out. I asked for him to call me. He never called. I then went online and "chatted" with a Fedex representative. She also said Fedex has no way of contacting Fedex Ground drivers and said I should give them some time to address the complaint.
But, while Fedex couldn't get hold of its driver, the receptionist at my office was able to call him. And here comes Lie Number Two: He told the receptionist there was no suite number on the shipping label so he didn't know who to deliver the package to. Really? Here's the shipping label Apple sent them: The suite number is right on it:
Realizing a order confirmation might not be the same as the Fedex shipping form, I then called Apple (and had no trouble getting a live person named Quinn who was exceptionally nice) to confirm the suite number was on the shipping form Apple sent to Fedex. He said it was.
Considering the snow storm we had yesterday, if Fedex had just said the weather caused a delay, I would have understood. But to flat out make two misrepresentations, and then say they have no way to contact the driver to rectify the error is inexcusable.
So it will be at least one more day until I get my new iMac. I'll live, but that's not the point. The point is that since Fedex is practically a monopoly, there's no way for consumers to hold it accountable for actions like these -- other than publicize it, which is what I'm doing.
I don't like companies that aren't truthful with its customers, give you the runaround, and don't own up to mistakes. It will be a long time before I trust Fedex again enough to use its services.
Update 2/26: Fedex delivered my iMac at 8:30 this morning. The suite number was clearly on the fedex label, as you can see here. It was also clearly on the packing list from Apple. There are never less than 5 people manning the front desk and mailroom in my office, and there is no door that would be closed as if no one was there -- the elevator opens right into the suite. Since the fedex delivery guy delivered packages for others yesterday, clearly someone was there when he arrived. And the later excuse that the label didn't have the suite number so he didn't know where to deliver it was, as you can see from the label, just not true.
With this behind me, I am now going to open and set-up my iMac. Thanks to all for your comments, and once again, to the very generous TalkLeft reader who bought me the iMac.