One of the biggest reasons people use Federal Express (FedEx) to ship their packages in the first place is because they don’t want to deal with the headache shipping with the USPS often involves.
The United States Postal Service has a bit of a bad reputation for losing packages more often than they should.
And that’s the last thing that anyone wants to worry about.
FedEx, on the other hand, has a glowing reputation when it comes to guaranteeing that your package gets to its ultimate destination – not just in one piece but also on the day you wanted to.
Of course, every now and again FedEx fumbles the ball little bit in your package doesn’t reach its destination on the day that you expected it to. Sometimes (though it’s even more rare) your package doesn’t show up for days, weeks, or even at all.
What are you supposed to do in those situations?
Well, that’s what we dig into below in this detailed guide.
Let’s jump right in!
What Should I Do If FedEx Has Lost My Package?
If you feel like FedEx has lost your package (either as the sender or as the intended recipient) you have a couple of different options available to you.
The first thing you need to do, though, is double confirm your tracking information to make sure that your package was intended to be delivered by FedEx at a specific time or on a specific day.
Sometimes (especially if we are expecting a couple of packages all and once) we makes up our delivery days and packages we think are lost just haven’t arrived yet because they weren’t scheduled for that day specifically.
This happens a whole lot more often than most of us would ever like to admit.
Thankfully, is usually pretty easy to confirm just by punching out tracking information into the FedEx tracking website (or putting information into Google and tracking it that way).
If you can confirm that your package is in fact delayed and potentially lost it’s time to run through the rest of the tips and tricks we include below.
Give It a Couple of Days, But Keep Check of Tracking Info
For starters, it’s not a bad idea to give it a couple of days for your package to arrive on its own before you jump right in.
The temptation is always going to be there to want to get someone on the phone, have them hunt down your package, and then put it on the first overnight truck to your destination. But sometimes a package just sort of debts “lost” along the way, gummed up in FedEx infrastructure, and will inevitably work its way to you even if it is going to be late.
Filing a claim right away actually slows the process down, and you may even have to go through the hassle and headache of returning anything you’ve gotten from your FedEx claim if your package arrives during the next couple of days.
Slow things down. Give it two or three days after the expected delivery date before you move forward.
You never know, your package might show up a day or two later and you’ll have avoided a lot of extra stress and anxiety believing it to be completely lost in the first place!
Contact FedEx Customer Service ASAP
If, on the other hand, you give it 48 to 72 hours for your FedEx package to arrive after its intended delivery date and you’re still not seeing anything it’s time to reach out to customer service for sure.
FedEx has a fantastic reputation for some of the best customer service in the industry and they are definitely going to be interested in helping you track down your package ASAP.
You can contact FedEx customer service in a couple of different ways, with the first being through their main customer service and support number.
This number – 1-800-463-3339 – can be called anytime, day or night and is totally toll-free.
You’ll usually be connected with a FedEx customer service and support member in no time at all, though sometimes you’ll be put on hold – especially if you are calling during traditional business hours and the lines are busy.
You can also jump on the FedEx website and navigate over to the CUSTOMER SUPPORT section of their platform, using a couple of different tools to reach out to FedEx support for more assistants.
The FedEx Delivery Manager tools are available here (helping you to redirect your package if it is delayed in the infrastructure or is recovered later down the line), but you can use the Virtual Agent tools to get a hold of someone as well.
If the online chat tools aren’t something you feel comfortable using right now you can fire a text over to the number 29372 and start a chat with customer support on your phone that way, too.
Just know that normal texting charges are going to apply in that situation. Most of us have unlimited texting plans, however, so that shouldn’t be something that you have a whole lot to worry about.
Finally, you can always kick over and email and let customer support know that your package is missing.
Email usually takes a couple of days for FedEx to get back to you, though, which is why so many choose to call customer support directly, use those Virtual Agent tools on the website, or text with customer support to get answers a whole lot faster.
At the end of the day, regardless of how you get a hold of customer support, it’s critical that you do this before you go through the claim application process for missing packages.
File a Claim
The process to file a claim with FedEx is maybe the simplest and most straightforward of all the major shipping organizations (including USPS, UPS, DHL, and others).
For starters, FedEx is one of the few companies that has a dedicated online claims section on their website you can use to get the ball rolling ASAP.
You’ll want to visit FedEx.com/apps/onlineclaims to get the whole process started.
From there, you’ll be asked to provide information to better identify the missing package – usually years your tracking number (or your PRO number) and the actual type of package itself.
It is important to understand that the online FedEx Claims tools are generally only intended to be taken advantage of for missing packages that were shipped via FedEx Express, FedEx Ground or FedEx Freight services.
You’re also only be able use these tools for domestic shipments, shipments that originated in the United States and are headed overseas, or shipments from Canada to be sent to addresses in the US.
Overseas packages that were sent to overseas addresses are going to require a completely different claims process. That’s something you’ll definitely need to take care of with customer service and support.
It’s also important to understand that wild you’ll want to wait at least two or three days past your intended delivery day to start the claims process, you do need to start this process (online or through customer support) within 21 days of the intended delivery date.
If you try to start the claims process outside of that 21 day window the odds are pretty good that you’ll get a flat denial with the online tools. Depending on how long it’s been past that 21 day window, though, someone from in person customer support may be able to override that ruling and help you get some sort of recourse.
The actual claim application process is really simple to navigate, too.
After starting the claim, you’ll be asked to fill out a full claim application from FedEx.
This is where you’re going to need to provide documentation regarding the package that was lost and the contents within (provided that you are filing a claim for more than $100).
It’s a good idea to include your FedEx receipt, photos of the products inside of the packaging that have been lost during transit, serial numbers for anything lost (whenever possible), and any proof of value documentation that you can furnish.
You don’t necessarily have to provide any of this information (for all of this information). But your claim will definitely be processed faster if you’re able to attach the kinds of details FedEx is looking for.
After that, FedEx is going to first conduct an internal search and audit to try and find out if your package can be located.
Most of the time, FedEx is in fact able to track down a package that went missing – moving along the infrastructure to get to your recipient as quickly as possible (often with free overnight delivery).
If, however, the package is not able to be recovered and is in fact declared lost you’ll be able to take advantage of the FedEx claims payout system.
As long as you are claiming something that value that between $100 and $1000 you’ll be able to conduct what’s called an Inspection Report all on your own – moving the process along pretty quickly. If you’re claiming that the item lost during shipping was valued at more than $1000, though, you’ll have to wait for FedEx inspectors to approve your claim and release your payout
How Can I Track My Claim?
Because at least some of the FedEx claim process is going to be totally out of your hands you’ll want to take advantage of every opportunity to track its progress without calling FedEx directly every time you’re wondering how things are going on.
The FedEx Claims Tracking Tool can be found online inside of your FedEx account dashboard, but you can also schedule reporting and you your actual claims reports as they come in by checking out the FedEx Reporting Online Portal as well.
At the end of the day, it’s nice to know that FedEx wants to make sure you are capped as much in the loop about your missing packages as possible.
With other shipping partners it sometimes feels like you are just sort of cast into the wind and left to your own devices while they do a cursory search for your package or slow walk your claim.
That’s never how you’re going to be treated by the folks at FedEx.
They take their reputation very seriously and are going to do everything they can to make sure that you get your package or enough compensation to cover all of the losses.
Need to File a Claim on Multiple Packages?
FedEx also makes it easy to file claims for multiple missing packages all at once, batch processing up to 200 individual tracking numbers all at one time.
For this kind of approach, though, you’ll need to have already created a free FedEx account to use the batch reporting tools.
A traditional claim can be done without creating this account at first (unless you want detailed reporting), but to have them search for multiple packages order payout the coverage on multiple claims at once you’ll need this account ready to go for sure.
Modernize Your Mailbox with US Global Mail
Losing a package is always stressful, but not being able to receive packages at your USPS PO Box is just as (if not even more) frustrating.
Unfortunately for the overwhelming majority of people that have a PO Box through the USPS that’s just a cold reality they’ve had to live with since signing up with the post office.
Luckily, though, when you choose to modernize your mailbox with a virtual mailbox account from US Global Mail you eliminate that headache and hassle completely.
Your US Global Mail virtual mailbox entitles you to use a legitimate street address (not a PO Box number) as your mailing address, which in turn entitles you to have all packages and parcels shipped by companies like FedEx, UPS, DHL, and even the USPS sent to that address and received on your behalf.
Combine that with the digital mail scanning, mail forwarding, check depositing, and privacy benefits that US Global Mail offers (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg) and it’s not hard to see why so many people prefer this service.
For more information and details, check out the US Global Mail website or contact their customer service department with any questions today!
