I've been using FedEx for decades with no incident until now. I sent in my P&R new-in-box/unfired Model 66-1 to Smith & Wesson have them give me an estimate on refinishing a small from-the-factory blemish that has bothered me.

Priority Overnight FedEx service from Kansas to Mass - $80. Ouch!

Anyway, two weeks later I called to find out about when they could get to it and they had not received it! Uh-oh. Tracking number showed it as "undeliverable." I pulled out my shipping receipt and everything was accurate.

On the phone with FedEx and they transferred me to "International Shipping" which is handling my case. What? International? The nice lady on the phone then explained to me that my gun was seized by Mexican Customs. FedEx's representative in Mexico City had been trying to get them to release it to them as it was an obvious shipper error, but Mexican Customs refused, that they are seizing and destroying the weapon. FedEx fully admitted it was their screw up. Their investigations dept discovered that they put my package on the wrong plane in Memphis and that they accidentally sent it to Mexico City. They said it didn't look good that I'd get my revolver back and that I should probably start filing a claim.

I didn't take out extra insurance. All these years I assumed insurance was for a damaged package, or maybe if they misdelivered something to a rural address, or some other "gray area" situation, but since a revolver is basically indestructable and it was going straight to Smith & Wesson, I didn't think I'd need insurance, especially for the Priority Overnight service which supposedly gets the primo royal treatment from FedEx. Now, looking over the Terms fineprint, it sounds like they try to limit their liability to $100 even when it is something that they readily admit is totally their fault.

So my question is: will FedEx make good or am I scewed? This is probably the nicest revolver in my whole collection, my prized piece, that's why I was sending it in, to make it totally perfect. Worth $800-900, I figure. I'm, still hopeful that FedEx will make good since this is a blatant error on their part.

Anybody have experience dealing with FedEx claims? Any advice? Should I pour myself a strong drink and try not to think about it?

Seems like karma that with your username it went to Mexico
Hope it works out, but maybe pour that drink in the meantime.

I bet that is the only gun the survived your terrible boating accident. Right?
FedEx should step-up and take care of the problem. Keep us informed what is going on.

I would say you are screwed . I always buy insurance even when I send my Browning to the Factory for repairs. Anything that is worth it to you should have Insurance on it. Yep, People do screw up. I know how you feel and I am so sorry for your loss!

They probably sent it by Priority Fast and Furious service by mistake.

Live and learn. I guess I was lulled into a false sense of security all these years. I do take out insurance when there is risk of damage, or if I am delivering to a residence, just in case it gets "left at the door" and then stolen or delivered to the wrong address. But direct overnight right to Smith & Wesson, I figured there was virtually no chance of anything bad happeneing except if FedEx had a blatant screw-up in which case they'd have to make good. This is about as blatant as it gets, and FedEx admits as much.

Thanks for the laughs, I needed that at least as much as the single malt I am about to pour myself.

I would talk to a lawyer. They need to be sued. You goofed. You ALWAYS buy insurance for something you care about.
Is it just me, or should we just seize and destroy Mexico, like we should have back in the 1800s?

__________________
Wayne
Torn & Frayed

I try not to ship any guns unless I have to, and then I over insure them.
I gave up on Fed Ex and UPS long ago.
Good luck. I would stay on them, maybe small claims court will be your only recourse since it wasn't insured for enough.

You sure it was FedEx? Sounds more like the Feds

Not to be flip, 'cause it really sucks. What's the odds of ever getting it back now.

A. file a police report.
because we all know that gun wont be destroyed. it will be sold to the cartels who will bring it back to the US, and you know it will be found at some homicide. the last thing you want, is to be tied to it. even if its not registered to you, you know your prints are all over that gun.

B. threaten to sue them & to contact the NRA.
i know you didn't do your part, but they certainly didnt do their part.
they wont want to loose credibility or their rights... so they might get scared enough to shut you up

C. buy a bottle of hot sauce, and pour it down your throat(and wait an hour or so).
its as close to a punch to the gut as you can get, for messing this one up for not thinking straight and neglecting insurance.

They sent it to the wrong country, so insurance should not be the issue. They were negligent.

As this is a total FedEX screw up I do think they will cover it

Look for it in the next sequel of "From Dusk till Dawn"


I do feel for ya. That's gotta hurt.

__________________
sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

^^^^^^^^
This!

And if there is some way to do it, notify the ATF. That pistola is sitting on some Federales hip until his boss in the Cartel sees it and takes it from him.

CW

__________________
μολὼν λαβέ

check out his (OP) screen-name... oh the irony lol/jk

now i am worried that if i ever ship a gun, its going to japan LOL

First thing I'd do is notify the local PD about the situation, then I'd call the FedEx regional manager and let that person know of the situation. Then let them know the value and that your real interest is in replacement of the gun. If the only answer you get is file the claim, then I'd let them know that you filed a report with the PD, and that you intend on filing a report with BATFE. I'd think they would start jumping through hoops to make you happy at that point. If not, let them know you intend to lawyer up and they will end up paying not only for the gun but for your court time to get an equitable solution. You can readily show personal loss on your part, and prove they were 100% liable for the delivery of the gun. They could easily settle this for around a grand, and if they don't they could be looking at tens of thousands of dollars, let alone the investigation by BATFE for improperly exporting a firearm to Mexico.

__________________
Even older, even crankier....

Sorry to say, if you didn't read all the fine print when it was shipped which released the shipper from damages / loss unless the owner paid for insurance, I'd wager its gone for good.

I'd call the NRA and see what they say.

Then I'd probably call that famous law firm Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe, and go after FedEx with a vengeance....especially since it was a family heirloom to boot!

__________________
Pack light and cinch tight.

sorry for laughing at what must be horrible for you but AYE CARUMBA & MADRE DE DIOS, what were you thinking, NO INSURANCE. it might cost you more for the lawyer to get it back then you paid for it. but fedex being contacted by a lawyer might have better results. either way I'd pretty much expect not to see THAT gun again. however the twin MEXICAN customs agents JOSE-A and JOSE-B will be enjoying it. keep us updated. and good luck.

It wash shipped by S&W back to the owner... so why would he be responsible for insuring the shipment> He wasn't the shipper.

EDIT: Sorry, misread it. Thought it got sidetracked on the way back to him.

Yes, he was -
Re-read OP's beginning:

You saved a few bucks by not insuring the package. Big mistake.

Are they liable? Yes. For how much? Well the shipping agreement states the amount. Seems like $100.

They have a reason for charging for insurance. An insured package probably wouldn't have gotten on that plane to Mexico.

You could hire a lawyer. Maybe only have to pay him a couple thousand bucks. Not worth it I bet.

I think I'd call FedEx management and explain the situation, and if that gets you nowhere, file a small claims charge. Chances are though FedEx has done this 10,000 times and you have done this zero.

Good luck, and next time insure the package for what it's worth!

.

__________________
Kirk / Spock 2020

roll a couple of fatties of some primo kush, send them to Cheech Marin (not by fedex), maybe he could pull some strings with his cousin Ricky at customs.

Maybe it's me but as OCD as I am I'll insure almost anything I ship by any carrier down to $50.

Sounds like time to talk to your insurance co.

Yes, the irony of my handle ... Anyway, I was thinking about this and why I never thought to get insurance. It was going direct priority overnight to a very established business, signature required, that surely receives multiple shipments per day. I was very careful to do "my part" by ensuring the delivery address was correct, and packaging it like Ft. Knox in a foam-lined internally padded S&W hard case, bubble wrap, peanuts, the whole nine yards. But the thing that I assumed, that apparently I was wrong about, is that insurance works like car insurance, that is that there is some fault involved. I shouldn't have to insure against their own negligence. if they lost it due 100% to their own fault, then they would be liable. There's no fault whatsoever on my part, there was no intervening 3rd party beyond FedEx's control, no Act of God, nothing but that they negligently put it on a plane to a foreign country.

So i guess I had been thinking it works like car insurance, and as long as I did everything right, I didn't have to worry about insurance to cover THEIR screw-up. If it is clearly their fault, then they would be liable, logical, right?

I read through some posts on other sites about claim disputes with FedEx and they all involve some fault on the part of the sender, like not packaging something well enough, filling out the airbill wrong, or some intervening 3rd party, like when a package is left at the door and it is stolen. Those cases involve some gray area for interpretation, but not my case since it is, on its face, 100% FedEx's fault. No wiggle room on that.

If it does turn out that FedEX isn't liable when they are 100% responsible, at least my story might serve as warning to others. It still doesn't seem like that could possibly be right.

Well, FedEx is supposed to call me Friday and tell me once and for all if they were able to get it back from Mexican Customs or whether I need to file a claim. I'll post back with any developments.

Thanks for your observations/advice and for some needed comic relief.

THEY sent a package which THEY knew contained a gun(special handling right, they make you go overnight, their policy)to another COUNTRY and you're on the hook? I guess Mexico and Massachusetts are pretty close in spelling.

__________________
Sure you did

I think that when filling out the form for shipping your not really buying insurance, you are declaring value.

They dont know whats inside the box nor the value of what ever it is.

Another thing is even if you declare the value and its lost they dont just cut you a check for that amount. They often require proof of value and then its will be for like and kind.

Under insuring an item make you a coinsured party. This get very sticky but if you have a $1000 item and insure it for $100 and they need to pay out, they will only pay you $50. They do it all the time for building and equipment and sometimes for very big numbers...

I would guess that the OP declared the value at $100 and $100 he shall get...

I would call the ATF and explain it to them. They wont get you any money but it might stop future problems.

I'm not a lawyer or a specialist in the international arms trade. Still, it seems that FedEx just exported a controlled item to a foreign nation without the proper paper work from the State Department. If the State Department can make someone stop providing blue prints for a printable gun, then certainly FedEx should expect some attention from the federal government.

Which I would point out to them when talking about your claim. Mistake or not, this was totally due to the negligence of a FedEx employee. They should make it right.

They probably technically have me on the fine print, but that would be pretty bad business on their part, to say the least, if they stuck it to me. I can see how when an item is damaged in shipping, they would want to stick to the fine print, because they want people to take every precaution to package an item well. Or even when it was lost due to something outside their control. But when it is their fault totally, just good business would dictate making the customer whole. After all, I hired their company to ship an item from point A to point B, nothing more, nothing less. And I think I could reasonably expect them to adequately provide that service. Accidentally shipping something to a foreign country is grossly negligent and not something I should have to insure against! (I'm working on my best lawyer imitation )

And yes, I did tell them it was a firearm and that it was going to the manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, for service.

I agree. Just for customer good will they should make good on this. The problem being that they might not be able find as nice a Mdl 66 as the one you had. Even at that, they should refund you the value of the piece.

I don't think it was an accident. Fed X has a problem in the ranks.

Addressed to S&W? Known to be a firearm? Now it's in Mexico?

Really?

I guess it could happen.

__________________
Dum vivo cano

The NRA might help you out. If they took it up they could make fed ex have a very bad year i bet...

Like Julia Roberts said to the saleslady in the movie Pretty Woman--"BIG MISTAKE"

I can't believe you shipped it without proper insurance. Insurance is something you always need, especially on a gun you valued so highly. It will be interesting to see how this comes out.

Sorry for the problem you are having.

_______
James

Look at this way. Where they gonna get ammo for it!

I hope they make good on their obvious mistake, even with out the extra insurance. I would have not sprung for the extra insurance given your history with Fed Ex. But now we all learned a lesson.

UPS, once delivered a Credit Card to the wrong address and It never was seen again. We cancelled that card and was shipped one over night to us and we missed the UPS man at the door and they wouldn't leave it. So I had to go and pick it up at the local hub. They gave us a 30 minute window to get our packages so we went early and waited for the doors to open. While waiting in the car we watched a fella loading the trucks. He treated those packages like they were foot balls just tossing them in the backs of the trucks with no regard, I hope he knew what truck what package went into because where I was sitting it sure didn't look as so. It was before I got my smart phone and didn't have a very good video camera on the phone I had. Or I would have got a video of the guy and said something to his supervisor. It was late I was tired and just happy to get my card, so I let it go. But still Its wrong we pay them to do a job and they treat our packages wrong then they don't want to make good when they know its their fault.

You are correct. Fed Ex messed up. They will not (nor are they legally bound) make it right. That's why you buy insurance. If they were somehow legally obligated to pay full value without you porchasing insurance-their rate schedule would probably double to cover the claims. You rolled the dice-you lost-you screwed. Fair? No. but Life ain't fair. All of your ranting and raving will not make a difference to FedEx. They have an employee that they pay to take phone calls like these-who will make a note upon conclusion of the call and then move on to the next one.
If this happened in Louisiana and you were sitting across the desk from me-I would tell you exactly what I've just posted. Well, I would sugar coat it a bit since you would be getting a $100 consult bill But hey, since this is the internet and I'm not liscensed to dispense legal advice over the web-this post is on me.
It really does suck and if I were you, I too would be madder than a wet hen-but try not to rail too much against that which you cannot fix. ANd you're right-the thought of some mexican waearing that gun would pee me off supremely. But I DO like the idea of reporting this to ATF together with serial numbers-that i sabout all you can really do.

Let us know what FedEx does.

__________________
Forum consigliere

I was just thinking about something reading the newer posts. Years ago, while working for Delta, I was an internal assist point for the shipment of remains back to Mexico. If we shipped a casket with improper or no paperwork, Delta was fined $10,000 by the Mexican government. I don't know what FedEx will be fined for sending a gun into Mexico without proper documentation but I bet it's more than $10,000! I'm sure that's not any consolation to you but at least you know they most likely will be shelling out big time for their mistake.

CW

__________________
μολὼν λαβέ

+1.

Have you followed up with any of the suggestions posted?

__________________
Stay safe, stay alert
Wachuko

contact the u.s. attorney general, . he will have an answer for you and make it all better....

__________________
There's nowt so queer as folk

DHL somehow sent my niece's gun to from Colorado to California when it was supposed to come to Nevada. Naturally it came out of the packaging to say Boo. The DHL office in CA freaked out and called SanBernadino PD who said "no big deal, repackage it and send it to the proper address in NV. DHL went into CYA mode and refused. I had to get it shipped back via a CA FFL and a NV FFL. DHL refused to cover anything using the excuse she had packed the gun and its ammo together.

His answer would change from day to day as the "talking points" were edited!

The package was known to be a firearm by FedEx and Juan loaded it on the wrong plane and now his cousin Manuel in Mexico is refusing to send it back.

Definitely sounds like a mere mistake to me!!!!

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

I'd be furious ... fast.

__________________
I'm with the banned ...

your big mistake is useing fedex or ups..............united states postal service is your best bet and value.

Rotten luck. I know what it's like to lose something in a foreign country because of someone elses actions. Insurance might have gotten you a replacement, but that shiny pistol, you shall never lay eyes on again, regardless.
Just make darn sure you have recorded the incident with BATF and local PD.
"Con dinero, baile el perro" (with money, the dog will dance)
But in this case, that figure would be astronomical. Even "Presidential".

__________________
Halfway and one more step

Remember the parable of the squeaky wheel. Squeak loud and long. GOOD LUCK

It wasn't luck, it was flat negligence. FedEx needs to make it right. This is a sad statement for their business practices. It sure would be interesting if the press wanted to do something with it....."FedEx Running Guns to México!"

__________________
Even older, even crankier....

It won't end well for you. I sent a derringer in for repair. After a month I called and asked about it. Manufacturer said we sent it back. I said I havent seen it. After some research, FedEx determines it was left on my doorstep. Someone then took it. Their explanation? The prior resident had filed a signature release so all FedEx packages were just dropped off. They never admitted any wrongdoing and in the end the manufacturer was kind enough to reimburse me. FedEx is the worst carrier around.

__________________
Un-Reconstructed Southerner

Good bye in Mexico is Adios.

Out
West

For all the folks suggesting the OP sue, are you gonna help him out when he has to pay FedEx's attorneys' fees? The contract limits their liability to the specified amount. And when you lose a suit based on contract (as opposed to tort), loser pays wiiner's attorneys' fees.