Maybe somebody has experienced anything remotely similar and can help.
TLDR: Fedex has issued me customs/VAT fees I already (unusually) had to pay cash at the door, again. Twice. Likely simply an error in their system/faulty line of code/human error. I have yet to talk to a real human responsible for issues like this, the invoice department is ignoring the issue. They have sent a collection agency after me. I keep refusing to pay money I don’t owe.
Usually I get the invoices for customs duties/VAT of my Fedex parcels etc. via mail. For the last two though, I was required to pay cash at the doorstep, or else the parcel would go back to Japan - I didn’t receive a receipt. Two weeks after receiving parcel #1, I received the standard invoice, for not exaclty the same amount I paid, but a very similar sum.
Below that number, the invoice actually said “amount due = 0€”, so the cash must have somehow made it into their system. I’ve seen the driver for years too, I don’t think he took the money or did anything wrong. He even had to come back the next day both times because there was not enough cash in my pocket.
I thought nothing of it, since the invoices are always automated and heavily delayed.
The same happened for parcel #2, except the invoice actually has its value due. Meanwhile, Fedex has (again automatically) sent a collection agency after me, who now also want money for their work.
I have tried contacting Fedex via chat, phone, online form, Twitter support (pending) and mail - nobody is responsible and everybody says to contact the invoice department, who don’t have a phone number and keep sending me the same copy pasted text of “pls send bank wire proof thx”. The next Fedex hub is 2 h away and they don’t have their own contact info.
I am not sure how far this is gonna escalate, I also have yet to hear back from the collection agency, who I described this issue to. But I am not gonna pay money I don’t fn owe because the company is too big and dislocated to look into it.
I hate in-person transactions for this very reason. Not having a paper trail sucks so bad. Sorry you’re dealing with this. I’ve only ever had to pay for postage upcharge on an ebay package once, and I handed the cash to USPS at the physical office and we were done.
Sounds like a nightmare. I’ve had a couple of instances where they haven’t registered my payment, but as in your case the balance due shows as 0 and I can’t take any other action. I even had one letter threatening debt collection, but nothing ever came of that.
Their system really is buggy. Hope they’re able to fix this for you.
I had the exact same issues with FedEx last month. I proved the customer sevice 13 times via phone and mail that I paid.
After 2 months of trying to solve this issue It ended up with them sending a collector and my lawyer sending them the proof that I paid. Then the collector retracted the case that was that.
The reason behind this (according to the FedEx customer service) is that the customer service has no way to contact the billing service and FedEx can not track any duty/vat payment that was done in cash.
Apparently they moved their billing service to a low cost country which didn’t work quite well and now they have these issues.
Additionaly the customer service has no way to contact the billing service anymore since they made these changes. At least in Europe this a well known problem by the customer sevice but the company doesn’t seem to care.
So the only solutions here are either get a lawyer or pay twice via any trackable method.
I called different customer service lines 22 times and wrote 13 Mails to 5 different billing/customer mail accounts with more or less the same response. FedEx cost optimized and this is the result. They simply don’t care.
Thanks for that insight, that sounds incredibly stressful. I’m trying not to be too stressed myself bc I did not do anything wrong, but this ain’t the best prognosis.
Honestly, if it were about some shipping-cost scale sum, I’d let them win bc of the time I already had to put into this, but it’s significantly more than that by now. I don’t have any proof except the word of the driver who remembers me paying and the first invoice saying 0€ due.
I am gonna wait for the agencies response after they talked to Fedex, after that my options besides a lawyer are German consumer protection and going to the hub in person and being in their face about it. Perhaps I should contact consumer protection sooner than later.
I see you are German as well. This seems to be particular Problem with FedEx Germany. You should have gotten a receipt from the driver that you paid. That’s what I send in to the customer service. Did you get something like this? Otherwise consumer protection is it. I’m sorry for you that you have to go through the same. I hope my journey will help you a a bit.
Nope, I did not receive a receipt either time. I didn’t think much of it because whenever I randomly had to pay DHL at the door, dozens of times over the years, I never got one either. The person at the agency on the phone was shocked I paid something without a receipt, but that is simply how it worked for customs fees over years. They already sounded like I am fkd without it. One Fedex customer service person already was like “ah, another receipt issue” without me even fully explaining, so they definitely know. I’ll call consumer protection tomorrow.
These are the unnecessary issues of life you could’ve just as well lived without, oh man.
I hate this corporate crap. “Outsource to save money. Service quality falls off a cliff.” THAT’s the whole point you HAVE that service! Jerks… Yeah, this is why I keep a law firm on standby. I don’t have time for it. Sorry to hear you had to deal with it, but glad you got it taken care of.
Recently had an issue with car insurance where they said “I’ve never seen this before”. WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? If it’s your job to know and you don’t know then I sure as hell don’t
This has happened to me before. If its under $300 the collection agency will give up after a couple months. Fedex is inept in these types of situations. If its over $300 its worth the emails and BS to clear your name with the collection agency.
Oh and don’t forget. Maybe you will get a Schufa entry. I didn’t check that yet. But when a debt collector is put in place this is not unlikely.
That’s something you should definitely check out.
Thank you. I’ll talk to consumer protection in a bit, probably to get an appointment first. But I’ll also mention hearing of your case if that’s okay, I’m sure it can help them gather information against Fedex. Especially with your having a lawyer involved and the collector retracting the case.
Yeah, this is why I keep a law firm on standby. I don’t have time for it. Sorry to hear you had to deal with it, but glad you got it taken care of.
