Vic Son, a retired salesman from Boston, recently purchased an Apple Watch and found it to stop charging after four months. The watch was still under its one year manufacturer warranty and Son had also purchased two years of AppleCare+. What could’ve been a simple exchange turned into a finger-pointing debacle between Apple and FedEx.
According to Boston Globe, in February, Son had arranged with Apple to have a replacement watch sent to his home via FedEx. Under the warranty conditions, he had to send back his defective watch within two weeks so he wouldn’t be charged.
Once the new watch arrived, Son packaged the old watch and dropped it off at a FedEx facility with an Apple-supplied FedEx label. For the next couple months, Son went on to believe this problem was done and over – and it wasn’t.
Apple mistakenly charged him $328
Last month, Son found a $328 charge on his credit card statement from Apple – likely the cost of his new watch. After calling Apple and being transferred numerous times, he was told the charge was because Apple never received his watch. Son then got what was to be a null tracking number and was told by Apple to contact FedEx himself.
Now if anyone’s ever tried to contact FedEx before, you’ll know that it’s not easy. After an hour and a half on call with FedEx, there was no way the company could track Son’s package. The only way the circumstance could be looked into was for Son to file a claim.
He then filed a claim with FedEx, as he was told to do, and received an email a few days later stating, “upon completing our investigation, we must respectfully decline your claim.” It goes on to say, “Our records indicate an addendum was added to your contract stating you agreed to not file claims resulting from transportation services provided by FedEx.”
Apple vs. FedEx
After going back and forth again more times with both FedEx and Apple, Son eventually received a call back from Apple. This time, the call was from Apple’s Corporate Executive Relations team. The company did own up to the mistake, saying that Son should not have been directed to reach out to FedEx. Fortunately, he finally got his $328 back from Apple.
As a retired salesman, Son felt that since Apple messed up, he should be owed something in return. He asks Apple for an “iPad Pro Plus” but the two settled on a pair of AirPods.
9to5Mac’s Take
All in all, I’m glad to see the situation was resolved. However, it leaves me feeling frustrated for those who have experienced this before and did not see a solution. How much time, effort, and money have to be wasted until things get better? FedEx has been a pain for many customers in the past and will likely continue in the future. Hopefully Apple will work on improving its relationship with FedEx to better serve customers or find a new partner.
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