FedEx Heeds the Call for Exceptional Customer Service (Again)

While it’s easy to pick apart companies for their most well-known examples of poor customer service, it’s much more fun to call out the best examples of exceptional customer service.

When I first got into the customer service business, I was a marketing employee. And the first story I heard that truly amazed me involved a FedEx driver removing an entire drop box from its location to ensure a timely delivery of the packages inside. I mean, really?

That’s beyond expectations by any measure.

With that in mind, I got an extra special smile on my face when I saw a letter from a reader published by The Consumerist. It involves an American living in Tokyo receiving a package delivered by FedEx after having been sent without a mailing address.

The Consumerist: Without An Address, FedEx Still Tracks Me Down In Tokyo

The thing I like most about this story is that it’s a story from the actual customer. We often see customer testimonials as presented by the company and “as-portrayed” by a paid actor. While this doesn’t totally crush the message, it certainly feels more branded and filtered and corporate.

When it’s unfiltered, as in the case of the FedEx customer in Tokyo, you get a much better sense of the customer’s awe, the true WOW factor.

What amazes me about this particular story is that no one would have thought twice if FedEx returned the package to the sender before it even left the distribution center. After all, when you’re mailing something domestically, not to even mention internationally, an address is the most basic requirement. Seriously.

Not only did FedEx take on the challenge voluntarily, the managed to deliver the package—a check no less—within the original service level. “BAZINGA!” As our good friend Sheldon Cooper would say.

In researching this article, I tried to find original attribution for the “driver-who-picked-up-the-entire-drop-box-story.” I googled “FedEx amazing customer service stories.”

You’d be flabbergasted by the sheer volume of stories regarding FedEx going above and beyond. My favorite—written at successful-blog.com way back in 2006—describes an erstwhile FedEx driver braving a flood to not only deliver a package, but pick up an outgoing delivery to the delight of a gallery of stranded neighbors.

Incredibly, even the rare FedEx customer service FAIL received positive coverage. When a FedEx driver casually tossed a computer monitor over the fence at a gated home in California, the customer posted HD security camera footage on YouTube. The video quickly garnered millions of views; however, the Church the customer attended saw fit to praise FedEx’s response, a forthcoming video apology from a FedEx executive.

So, even in failure, FedEx rose to the occasion.

Follow-up on Live Streaming Television

Last week, I wrote about Aereo’s battle with broadcast networks to provide live streaming network television over the internet. Today, it’s been reported that ABC has announced its intention to broadcast its entire slate of original programming live over the internet. In Philadelphia and New York. And for cable customers. Either way, it’s a start.

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