Are you sure this was not a phishing attempt?

What tubes?

My experience with FedX has always been negative, while Amazon is the gold standard of customer service. Apple is another, while Borders never got it and is now defunct. Customer service pays off, and management that fails to understand that fails.

Yeah, the Fedex site is a PITA. We use my boss's corporate card for our account, and I've had to change the card number a few times over the last couple years because he physically lost his card on business trips. I recall that it took a while to find the screen to enter the new autobill information into. After I read this blog post I logged on to their website to see how easily I could find the right page... and no, I couldn't find it either. Found where you can change your password and address, but not update your payment form.

How stupid.

Amy, I use Fed-ex six days per week, yet my account was also suspended? Now I'm unable to order shipping material, large pak's, which I employ daily. Is there a black market on their shipping materiel I wonder?

FedEx is just as bad when it comes to invoicing. I regularly get a statement letter saying that our account is going to be suspended unless x invoices are paid. Usually, they've already been paid, and I have to call customer service and reiterate that yes, these invoices have been paid, check #eieio, on such and such date. And then I get, oh okay, it must not have cleared yet. And I tell them oh yes it did, and give them that date. Then it's okay, we'll make a note of it. No thank you, no oh sorry, our fault, nothing in the way of thanks for your patronage, just oh it must be your fault, until I point out to them, that NO, your people are not recording the transactions correctly. I think we're going to start using UPS. They seem to have their act much more together than FedEx does lately.

When you called, did you find out why the account was suspended? That would be my main concern. As I read it you never found out, you just got your credit card info added to your account. Maybe someone was trying to break into your account (I have had that happen with another company).

FedEx's service has been poor for me. I called because my delivery had a "Delivery Exception" and some error code like EADIDFD. So I called and asked what it meant...the lady was getting pissed because I kept asking and she kept saying she had no idea what I was talking about and i would have to speak English. Finally I got her to check based on my shipping#. She cheerfully reported back to me "Your package had a EADIDFD delivery exception." I asked her what that meant, she had no clue. Finally I got to a manager...there was a problem with the address such that it couldn't be delivered. We found that the apartment number had gotton cutoff (e.g. it read "1234 MyStreet NW Apt#")
Another time, my package was received at the local warehouse at 11am (on the day it had original been scheduled for delivery), I called and asked to pick it up --- no they could hold it for pickup on Monday (this was Friday) or delivery it Monday -- but getting it before Monday would be impossible.

And here's the solution from Amazon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA_gwzx39LQ&feature=player_embedded

Yes, Amy, the country is going "down the tubes".   I'm only 61, but this isn't the same country I grew up in.   It's odd, cuz the cities are the same.   The streets are the same.  The mountains and seas are the same.   But the people are different.   The culture has changed.  And why not?   Cultures evolve.  History doesn't stand still.  Never has.  Never will.   But I always had the sense that evolution meant progress.  Civilizations evolved forward.  Better and better with each passing generation.  But, I'm sorry to say, even as technology moves forward, western civilization is "progressing" backward.   We're regressing toward less freedom, less prosperity, less tolerance, less fairness, less civility, less education, and, the point of your blog, less competence.  At 61, I'm probly OK.  But I fear for the world my kids and grandkids will inherit.  

Eh, its the free market at work. FedEx obviously thinks they can make more money this way. Their job is not to make customers happy, it is the make money. Sometimes those things overlap. Sometimes they don't.

I looked on the website for a place to insert my credit card number. And looked, and looked. Unclear. I've been on the Internet since the early 90s and I find things as a hobby ... I can usually make my way through even the worst laid-out website. But, Fedex.com being hard to figure out? Just sad.

Hmmm, I think to myself. I've never had to do that, so just in case ...

Home Page > My Profile (next to last tab on the right) > Billing Online (middle column in the account list) > My Options (third tab) > select Update Credit Card from drop down menu.

That took me every bit of forty-five seconds to figure out.

Now one might quibble over whether that is a layer or two deeper than it needs to be -- although probably not, given that you can have many accounts with one login -- but the chain is completely logical.

I did what I don't like to do and gave her my credit card over the phone, lamenting to her that even Fedex, which used to be a great company, is run stupidly now.

Best to clean your own finger before pointing out someone else's spots.

NicoleK is correct.

If I were not already triple employed, I would start up a competing company to go up against fedex using high quality customer support as my hook.

It is puzzling that you seek to defend confusing and crappy web design. Did that make you feel all big and winner'y inside?

Hardly; you are the one calling people stupid. You made it sound like an impossible code for even an expert web user to crack.

It isn't -- it is forty five seconds of stepping through the not quite absolutely blindingly obvious.

I mean really, how hard is this?

---

My Profile
Welcome Jeff Guinn

Here you can manage all the FedEx accounts you use online, as well as the fedex.com services you use for each account.

My Services and Accounts
Click on the account number or any of the links below to edit account services and information.

---

I happen to have done a fair amount of site design in a previous life. I might change things a little bit. But the fact that you can establish many different accounts with one login makes the FedEx website substantially different than probably any other one you have used, a fact that you seem not to have taken on board.

Something you might keep in mind when calling people stupid, or insulting someone because you were like a pig looking at a wristwatch: all interest and no comprehension.

Hey, Jeff.   You're obviously an intelligent person.   Maybe you're right about the FedEx Website.  Maybe Amy overlooked something.   Or maybe you're wrong and it's truly a poorly designed site.   More likely, the truth is somewhere in between.   OK.   But why did you have to attack Amy personally?  

          Best to clean your own finger before pointing out someone else's spots.

Amy was just describing her own experience, and her poor opinion, of a corporate website and customer service.  Doesn't she have a right to point out those corporate "spots", as you call them?  She wasn't attacking you, or anyone else, personally.    And I have no reason to believe Amy's fingers aren't clean.   She brings a lot of wisdom and a lot of laughs to a lot of people, including you, or why else would you be reading her blog.   Instead of attacking Amy, you should thank her, and point out, respectfully, if you disagree with her.  

So, Jeff, are the one who designed FedEx's site? Is that why you're getting all bent out of shape over what Amy said?

Truthfully, I don't use the FedEx site; but there are a lot of crappy sites out there and I have to wonder "WTF? How do they expect anyone to navigate their site?" Especially when they are a big name company like FedEx.

Ok, I work for a competitor. And that site is not hard to use.Read that again...I hate Fedex with a passion...I do think much is wrong with the company, most notably the fact that they have both corporate and independent drivers. But their site is not hard to use. Nor is ours if you actually read the little pop ups that indicate what you are actually clicking on.

Example...I cannot tell you how many people *without* a corporate acct click the button that says "I have an acct". And then scream at me because when they come in to see me the price is substantially higher.

They shut the fuck up when I ask them which button they clicked and/or bring them around the counter to the computer to show me how they arrived at that quote.

I have been in customer service *waaaaaaaaay* too long to not suspect lack of reading comprehension in most situations.

45 seconds for a person to find their account information is what I expect from some site of some accountant who went cheapo on web design, not a major international company.

You are proving here, as if further proof is needed, that computers are hard for girls.

The site is capable of tracking a half dozen or so features over multiple -- and by multiple, that could mean hundreds accounts for a single log-in. So when you say "their account" you are making it perfectly clear you simply don't understand what is going on.

It might be possible to provide access to that amount of information more clearly and obviously than they did, but I sure can't think of a way, and I'll be you can't either.

BTW -- the reason it took me 45 seconds instead of 15 is that, based on your account, I was looking for everything instead of the glaringly apparent.

So, Jeff, are the one who designed FedEx's site? Is that why you're getting all bent out of shape over what Amy said?

Not at all. I was at first astonished at how simple it turned out to be, then puzzled at Amy's apparent refusal to understand what is going on.

And, as far as that goes, you should probably actually try and navigate a website before deciding it is hard to navigate.

Unless, of course, you don't want to contaminate your opinions with first hand experience.

What gets me here is that people are getting so personal and mean... about a corporate website Just for example:

...computers are hard for girls.

Well, last I checked it wasn't soft and fluffy, and I know that's not what was meant, but why the meanness? What does it get you?

Why not something like, "Really? I thought it was very clear," and assume that maybe people key in on visuals differently (most people look right, some look left, etc.). Why make it a gender issue and, by doing so, escalate the argument?

This, above all, is what I find frightening about people. It seems so easy for many to just get mean, and personal, and escalate unnecessarily. I'd expect it if Amy had said, "They are fat, ugly, jerks." Or if she'd insulted somebody's mother. But people are getting all worked up over a corporate website - that nobody involved is claiming to have designed! Don't we have better things to do with ourselves?

Amy had a bad experience. She thinks it's indicative of a general decline. This is her blog, where she shares her thoughts. This is not the end of the world.

Maybe, just maybe, we can all save the venom for bullies, vandals, and people who kick puppies?

HEY!! those fucking puppies had it coming

lujlp,

If the puppies were in fact fucking, then you are absolutely right. They are too young for that sort of behavior and we need to make sure they don't do it again!

This, above all, is what I find frightening about people. It seems so easy for many to just get mean, and personal, and escalate unnecessarily. I'd expect it if Amy had said, "They are fat, ugly, jerks."

You are right, I was too sarcastic.

Hi Amy -- thanks for your blog. I got the same email today from "BillingOnline@fedex.com". It had the correct last 4 digits of my account and username. I took the same steps that you did, i.e., logged into a separate browser window, typed in the URL, checked my account, then went back and examined the source code for the original email. In my case, my account was *not* suspended and this appears to have been a fairly sophisticating phishing/spoofing attempt. All domains in the source point to fedex.com and the email even directs the recipient to call a legitimate FedEx customer service number.

However, on September 10, FedEx posted an alert for phishing emails sent from BillingOnline@fedex.com. I'm wondering whether someone managed to actually co-opt a FedEx server for this scam. I'm sorry to hear that this impacted your credit card. I assume you contacted your credit card company to make sure there aren't any indicators of ID theft there?

To those criticizing Amy, that seems unwarranted. Her information about the originating email was detailed and helpful, and she took reasonable steps to avoid becoming the victim of a scam. As for her opinion of FedEx and the general decline of our economy, this is a BLOG and she is entitled to express her opinion (with which I happen to agree, but those who do not have a similar right to disagree).

Thanks Amy.

I got the same email. I thought it was a phishing scam because it was so poorly worded. Probably came out of the Calcutta office. Especially this line:
"You can also call the above number to let us know if your credit card is lost or stolen or expiration date should change."

However, all the URLs went to fedex.com and the 800 number is a Fedex number. I too logged on, but couldn't figure out whether my account was "suspended", whatever that means, let alone where to input a credit card. One would think that there would be a message waiting for me when I logged on directing me to the correct location.

Their partnership with the USPS was the beginning of the end. Nothing like ordering something with 3 day shipping only to find out after the fact that it's 3 days to the Post Office, where it sits for another 3 days or just vanishes into the ether.

I have just this morning received the same email. I guess a good phish is hard to stop. It is annoying as I've lost 1/2 hour figuring this out.

I have a fedex story as well, I live 2hrs from newegg. I always used UPS for delivery, often getting it the next day or once same day with 3 day delivery. One time I ended up with Fedex 3 day delivery (either a special offer or only choice don't remember) and I tracked it. Package was on the truck the next morning and stayed there till end of 3rd day, because by gum we said 3 days and you will NOT get it sooner. I don't really like fedex now...