Originally Posted by WATCHDOG

Oh, FedEx could probably give you an explanation...they just don't want to.

If you're interested, this is the only thing I can figure:

Fact: FedEx and the USPS have a mutual contract with each other. They've had this contract for years and years and years...this is nothing new. The person you sent it to, was the address a P.O. Box? If so, there's your answer...FedEx isn't allowed to deliver to a P.O. box, period, so rather than return it to you, they may have handed it off to the USPS in the destination city. I've seen this happen. Your package might sit around for a day or two while people from FedEx and the postal service try to figure out how to handle it. You may be an experienced FedEx shipper, but I'll bet they never tell you that their tracking system may be 8 hours or even days behind where your package actually is.

As you probably know, Memphis is FedEx's central hub. You said it was scanned in Memphis, but didn't say whether it was an arrival scan or a departure scan. And when your package is sitting in a big shipping container on the FedEx ramp, it isn't going anywhere and it isn't being scanned. The container will be scanned upon departure, but your individual package won't be.

Next time you ship a firearms part, I suggest USPS Priority Mail with a tracking number. Plus it's probably cheaper and you can pack it in a flat rate box. And ironically, your package will end up being flown on a commercial flight or a UPS or FedEx plane, because the postal service does not have any airplanes.

It's also possible that under their contract, FedEx handed your package off for delivery by the USPS simply because of heavy mail volume. If FedEx couldn't deliver it timely, they handed it off.

But all's well that ends well, I guess...glad you got your problem straightened out.