So... Odds of Fedex screwing up 4 overnight deliveries...

Question

Well, you might think that an overnight delivery is a pretty sure thing right? That Fedex envelope looks pretty professional and trustworthy?

WRONG!

Do I have a valid lawsuit here if this somehow screws me up? I'm freakin flip out... what a relaxing start to the weekend this has turned out to be! Can anyone send positive thoughts toward my packages for me? and for my mental state for that matter.

mNeo · Answer

Actually I'd never trust the "overnight" thing that much. I either do everything I can to send packages much earlier or (If the destination is in reach) deliver them myself.

wspfaris · Answer

Well, you are smart my friend! I think everything will work out, this situation really only poses a threat for one of the schools, and obviously I can prove that fedex was at fault. So any reasonable school should accept a scanned copy for the day it's not there, should it not get there by the deadline. If they don't, I don't want to go to their school anyway.

mNeo · Answer

All the best. Hope everything works out fine.

wspfaris · Answer

I appreciate it! I'm sure it will, I'll never "rely" on Fedex again however. What a waste of time though... I was so looking forward to having everything done, but it looks like I'll have to wait a little longer

clobo · Answer

Call Fedex and complain. You might get your money back or a free something the next time you try to use Fedex.

riverripper · Answer

When did you ship them out? Did they promise they would get there that time. Sometimes if you try to overnight something after like noon it wont make it, and not sure about fedex but some companies are a pain about shipping on weekends.

kwam · Answer

I Agree I use Fedex all the time, last time today around 4 hours ago, and I never had problems, though, I never used their 24h system...

aaudetat · Answer

I overnighted practically everything that related to my app. It was ridiculous -- I never got it together. All part of all the dough I spent to get where I am...sigh....even my stinkin' deposit check to Duke was overnighted....but it all got there on time.

solaris1 · Answer

i'm confused - did FedEx actually lose 4 of your overnight packages or did they just not get to their destination in time?

If the IRS will accept tax returns that have been postmarked by Apr 15, I'm sure adcoms will also give you a break if they see that you did 'send' them these packages by the appropriate deadline and that any further tardiness was FedEx's responsibility!

riverripper · Answer

You cant sue them for anything, its not like they lost something of great value or else you would have had it insured.

What the heck were you overnighting anyways in 4 packages? Applications are all done online these days. Instead of freaking out call the adcoms and talk to them but not to be unsympathetic but cutting it that close is just asking for trouble.

wspfaris · Answer

Not freaking out, but still pissed. Don't anticipate even missing the deadlines, but it's still ridiculous if I pay $100 for the "guarantee" and they don't even leave the city I live in. I dropped them off at 8:00 am and I finally see a tracker saying they left knoxville @ 9:00 pm the next day. BullSh*t. At least it looks like they know where they are now, which would be the only way I'd miss the deadline.

So yeah, overnighting transcripts to 4 schools in 4 packages.... thanks for asking...

mba2010 · Answer

Weird. I use FedEx every day and they deliver everything on time as long as I drop off the packages on time. They haven't failed me yet.

aceman626 · Answer

Hey man, i don't think you have to worry a thing about bro. The transcripts can get there after app submission. Stuff gets lost all the time, adcom understand. That's why they check your app and tell your what's missing (if any) and you will have a chance to send it in later on. I think schools give more leeway for GMAT/Transcripts, than they do with other app material.

Most schools are ok with them just getting there sometime in the review process, or even after admit only. Even the most strict schools I've heard, who say you need to have that stuff in by the Round deadline, actually still accept it afterwards, they just won't start reviewing your app til they get it. So they start reviewing a couple days later, so what right?

riverripper · Answer

Ya transcripts they usually have leeway with...if you filled out hardcopies of the app and mailed it they probably would still accept them a day late. I can see being ticked off at fedex, most schools dont want official transcripts until you get in anyways.

dox · Answer

I send out about 100 FedEx overnight shipments per week, and my late delivery rate has been less than 0.1%. About the only time I've ever had them missed their delivery timeframe is due to major weather systems.

wspfaris · Answer

Well, for me this almost didn't even seem like a surprise. It's almost as if somebody is purposely trying to make me fail. For the first deadline, here's how it went the night before. Got home, internet crashed, never comes back on. Drove to Kinkos and used their computers. Emailed the essays back to myself/saved them on disk. Then got home and my computer couldn't recognize the version of MS Word that Kinkos had. Rewrote essays with saved handwritten notes and turned in on deadline date 30 minutes before cutoff.

Countless other things, but I still think everything will work out. I know most people would say that I should have completed them earlier, but the fact is I could not have completed them and maintained the quality. The only reason everything is gonna work out is because I have had to stay so OCD about everything... otherwise I would have failed 50 times over already. That and not sleep more than 5 hours a night for the last six months.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention... 2 days after the deadline mentioned above, I got an email from the school indicating that "recommender 1" had not uploaded their recommendation even though the website indicated that it was submitted. I immediately emailed my recommender, and they responded that from the airport waiting for a plane out of the country... forwarded the email to their assistant, who submitted the rec. the next day. Madness... good training for a high pressure job maybe, relaxing... not at all.

dox · Answer

Sounds like you deserve a vacation! Hope everything works out in the end for you.

So... Odds of Fedex screwing up 4 overnight deliveries...

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