Package delivery man damaged door

[linenfort]

Can I file a claim? I heard something against my front wall and looked through the peephole just in time for some packages to slam against our door. I opened it and turned off the alarm.

Turned around and saw a scratch on the door. He was just smiling. Never took off his over-the-ear headphones or sunglasses.

I said, can you knock next time. No response.

I said can you knock next time, using my fist in a knocking motion. His smile disappeared and he eventually nodded slowly. Probably on drugs.

At no point did he take off his headphones or say a word.

He left while I was still hauling boxes inside, and I looked at the door for more scratches. The door is actually broken. One part of it has shifted so that a column of paint-free wood is visible.

Do I have a claim?
EDIT: it's FedEx Ground. The shipping info was in my wife's email and she wasn't home when I wrote the first post. There was an "fxg" sticker on one box, but I wanted to be sure. buccimane's post is relevant.

[renue74]

Sure you can try.

I once bought a 55" flat screen on Amazon and had it shipped to my office. It stayed in original shipping box and then a week later, I shipped it to Ft. Worth, TX for a trade show. When I got there, the shipping guy at the venue had taken photos. The UPS people had put my 55" TV on the bottom of a pallet and stacked boxes on top. It was mangled to death.

I had photos of the box. It was in the original packaging....and I submitted a claim. UPS denied it.

I fought 3 months with them and ultimately my UPS "rep" came out to our office and we discussed it. He finally took care of the claim.

I swore it was an open/shut claim. I mean...we shipped the box in the original shipping box and it was never opened.

You may find it easier...but I doubt it.

[linenfort]

Probably on drugs.

Hooo buddy. This is something else.

Meaning you don't believe my interpretation of his appearance, behavior, lack of response, or....?

[Raybo]

Probably on drugs.

Blood pressure medicine? Statins? Anti-depressants?

[linenfort]

I swore it was an open/shut claim.

I'm expecting resistance, but I appreciate your answer.

[barnaclebob]

You can shift the piece of wood back. Knock it the other direction with another piece of wood. Things happen in life.

Probably on drugs.

Hooo buddy. This is something else.

Meaning you don't believe my interpretation of his appearance, behavior, lack of response, or....?

You described him as smiling and wearing headphones with sunglasses. I do all three of these frequently.

[linenfort]

Guys, I've just had my door damaged for no reason. Person only had to knock. Think you could save the snide comments? He was on drugs.

[linenfort]

You can shift the piece of wood back. Knock it the other direction with another piece of wood. Things happen in life.

I'm definitely going to dtry. There are other scratches, but it's worth a try to shift it, yup.

[DoTheMath]

Are you sure the damage was due to the packages? They would have quite heavy to do the damage you're describing. Especially as corrugated cardboard is forgiving to impacts by design.

If you're sure, then I would certainly take photos and file a complaint making it clear you where there and heard the packages hit and confirmed the damage happened at that time. I would press the delivery company until they pay to have the door repaired/replaced.

You're opinion of the driver's state of mind isn't relevant. He either did the damage or he didn't.

[linenfort]

You described him as smiling and wearing headphones...

Yes, and not attempting to remove them to talk to me. And looking rather confused when the smile went away and he nodded.

[rantk81]

Guys, I've just had my door damaged for no reason. Person only had to knock. Think you could save the snide comments? He was on drugs.

I agree with your sentiment. I've often seen folks on this board make suggestions that everything is the fault of the original poster.

"XYZ wronged you? You should have had insurance for that!"

"XYZ assaulted you? You probably looked at them the wrong way!"

etc etc.

[linenfort]

Are you sure the damage was due to the packages? They would have quite heavy to do the damage you're describing. Especially as corrugated cardboard is forgiving to impacts by design.

If you're sure, then I would certainly take photos and file a complaint making it clear you where there and heard the packages hit and confirmed the damage happened at that time. I would press the delivery company until they pay to have the door repaired/replaced.

You're opinion of the driver's state of mind isn't relevant. He either did the damage or he didn't.

Ok, let's put his state of mind aside. He definitely did the damage. This is my only residence and I see the door every day.
The door was fine, and now it isn't. I am 100% certain. I was just about to open the door and greet the man when the packages flew into the door and slammed against it.I was not surprised to see damage, as these were pieces of a bed frame.

I appreciate the advice. Pics already taken. Will do.

[linenfort]

Thank you rantk81.

[bob60014]

".......saw a scratch on the door. " A scratch? A gouge maybe, but even then I dont know if I would bother. Things happen.

[ohai]

This is the kind of thing that convinces me that you should install a front porch camera for liability claims.

[dalbright]

Can I file a claim? I heard something against my front wall and looked through the peephole just in time for some packages to slam against our door. I opened it and turned off the alarm.

Turned around and saw a scratch on the door. He was just smiling. Never took off his over-the-ear headphones or sunglasses.

I said, can you knock next time. No response.

I said can you knock next time, using my fist in a knocking motion. His smile disappeared and he eventually nodded slowly. Probably on drugs.

At no point did he take off his headphones or say a word.

He left while I was still hauling boxes inside, and I looked at the door for more scratches. The door is actually broken. One part of it has shifted so that a column of paint-free wood is visible.

Do I have a claim?

I would consider calling your non-emergency PD number and getting a report filed if you wished to pursue a claim. It would be much easier to substantiate damage to your door to the carrier that way.

[3-20Characters]

".......saw a scratch on the door. " A scratch? A gouge maybe, but even then I dont know if I would bother. Things happen.

OP is reasonable here in filing claim. OP says 100% sure delivery man caused this.

The door is actually broken. One part of it has shifted so that a column of paint-free wood is visible]

It doesn’t sound like a lot of damage. Might be good to get a repairman to estimate and submit with claim? Maybe delivery company would be happy to get this settled for a couple of hundred $$?

[buccimane]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is what company this was..

I know someone who works for FedEx Ground. They are contracted employees, i.e. not FedEx employees. Someone buys a 'route' and hires drivers to deliver to their route. He mentioned that his delivery recipients have almost no recourse in situations like this.

[linenfort]

Ok, I found a sort of resolution. Bob600 didn't read very carefully after the scratch part, but although the door is damaged, it still functions. So, it looks like seeking a claim is only going to result in compounded frustration. (The power of compounding). What is needed is some kind of psychological, feel-better fix.

All I need to do is return the item and tell the vendor why. Anything less would just be them telling FedEx -- it's FedEx Ground -- and then getting back to me about how "we take this very seriously." At that point, everyone keeps on doing what they're doing.

Already canceled an unrelated subscription that only uses FedEx. I think buccimane's right, and I don't feel the need to do business with FedEx's subcontractors.
Ahh.
Thanks to those with advice and anecdotes.

[neilpilot]

Am I reading this thread correctly?

OP receives delivery of item(s) that he presumably ordered. The delivery is allegedly thrown against the OP's door, resulting in apparent damage.

The OP initially considers claiming damage against the delivery company and/or the delivery company's contractor, but now consideres this too much trouble and or unlikely to be successful

Solution: the OP instead decides to return the item's that were ordered and delivered back to the vendor.

Seems like a very strange resolution.

[nisiprius]

I think this is a good candidate for "letter to the CEO." Collect enough documentation to show them that you aren't making it up. Quickly, get the tracking number and get a screen shot of a tracking report showing the date, time, and place of delivery. Get a good picture showing the damage to the door, and record the date and time when you took the picture. Do your darned best to establish a reasonable dollar number for repairing the door. OK, you don't need to get a formal quotation, but something that establishes a dollar number that's tied to reality. Screenshot of a door like yours from a Lowes' website or something, call a contractor and see if they will tell you their hourly rate and guess at the number of hours.

Get the name of the CEO and the corporate headquarters address... try the company's website and look for "shareholder relations" and the latest annual report, or Wikipedia.

No phone, no email, no fax. Create a printed letter. The first sentence of the letter says what you want them to do: "Pay me $234.56 to repair the damage your delivery man did to my door." The letter should contain no hostility, no anger, no details about why you thought the delivery man was impaired. The essence of the message is "This is what happened, this is when it happened, this is the number of dollars I feel is fair. I used to be a happy customer of yours, now I am unhappy, do this thing to make it right and I will be happy again."

Say absolutely nothing about any legalisms. No threats. Don't tell them to fire the guy. (You've given them the address and the exact time of delivery, of course, they should know who it was). Don't do anything for "the principle of the thing." You're out $234.56 to fix the door and it's all about the money.

Try, if possible, to keep the entire letter to a single page. Do not tell a long story.

When you are done, put the printed letter in a paper envelope. Write the address on it by hand, with a pen--block letters if your handwriting is like mine, but handwritten, with a stamp.

It will shoot an hour or so of your time, and you may feel lousy (and angry at me) if it doesn't work, but I think there's a much-better-than-50% chance of success, if it's only a couple of hundred dollars or less.

[nisiprius]

P.S. FedEx, eh?





If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.

[oldfatguy]

The door is actually broken. One part of it has shifted so that a column of paint-free wood is visible.

This is a wood door with panels? If so, it doesn't sound like it is broken. Wooden door panels are free floating to allow for expansion and contraction of the wood. If there is now an edge of unpainted wood visible on one of the panels, that just means the panel has shifted slightly. You might be able to bump it back into its previous position ... if not, you can either touch-up the unpainted part, or repaint the entire door.

[linenfort]

The door is actually broken. One part of it has shifted so that a column of paint-free wood is visible.

This is a wood door with panels? If so, it doesn't sound like it is broken. Wooden door panels are free floating to allow for expansion and contraction of the wood. If there is now an edge of unpainted wood visible on one of the panels, that just means the panel has shifted slightly. You might be able to bump it back into its previous position ... if not, you can either touch-up the unpainted part, or repaint the entire door.

I will definitely have it corrected, and I didn't know that about the panels. Thank you for that! Thread became more useful.

[linenfort]

I think this is a good candidate for "letter to the CEO." Collect enough documentation to show them that you aren't making it up. Quickly, get the
<snip>
It will shoot an hour or so of your time, and you may feel lousy (and angry at me) if it doesn't work, but I think there's a much-better-than-50% chance of success, if it's only a couple of hundred dollars or less.

Nisi, this actually sounds like a fantastic idea. The only part where I disagree is the possibility of anger at no response.
Of course, if I filed a claim, I would want satisfaction, and I'd be frustrated if it went nowhere.
From the first (non-insulting) response here, I determined my chances of that kind of satisfaction to be slim, so there's no point in filing a claim. All I can do is focus on making the door look good and moving on.

However, I think I will enjoy writing the letter, and I certainly wouldn't expect a response from the top.
I have a friend who did get a response once, but his situation was more serious than this, enough to convince the hardest of the bogleheads crowd. They had broken into his boxes, stolen some items, and replaced them with books.

Anyway, thank you for the thought. I'm going to do it.

[TomatoTomahto]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is what company this was..
I know someone who works for FedEx Ground. They are contracted employees, i.e. not FedEx employees. Someone buys a 'route' and hires drivers to deliver to their route. He mentioned that his delivery recipients have almost no recourse in situations like this.

I don’t know. FedEx driver managed to knock down a stone wall in my driveway. Insurance adjusters did the hokey pokey for a while, but photos and an estimate for repairs seemed to do the trick.

[TomatoTomahto]

Already canceled an unrelated subscription that only uses FedEx. I think buccimane's right, and I don't feel the need to do business with FedEx's subcontractors.
Ahh.
Thanks to those with advice and anecdotes.

Well, here’s another anecdote. We order a lot from Chewy (two dogs, two cats, meds, bird feed, etc). They only use FedEx. I had a poorly handled delivery by FedEx and called Chewy, explained why I was upset, and they seemingly did follow up with FedEx, because deliveries have been A+ since.

[linenfort]

~
They are contracted employees, i.e. not FedEx employees.
~delivery recipients have almost no recourse in situations like this.

I don’t know. FedEx driver managed to knock down a stone wall in my driveway. Insurance adjusters did the hokey pokey for a while, but photos and an estimate for repairs seemed to do the trick.

Well, he did say "almost." Knocking down a stone wall sounds like the sort of thing that would be kicked up to the top.

[linenfort]

Already canceled an unrelated subscription that only uses FedEx. I think buccimane's right, and I don't feel the need to do business with FedEx's subcontractors.
Ahh.
Thanks to those with advice and anecdotes.

Well, here’s another anecdote. We order a lot from Chewy (two dogs, two cats, meds, bird feed, etc). They only use FedEx. I had a poorly handled delivery by FedEx and called Chewy, explained why I was upset, and they seemingly did follow up with FedEx, because deliveries have been A+ since.

Uh-oh. We just began using Chewy. We were supporting the local store but the cat needs special prescription food now. I didn't even have time to notice that Chewy is also FedEx, as we've only received one box so far. Can't deprive the greatest cat in the world. Oh man...

[dknightd]

Your door got scratched (or maybe broken) by a delivery box? You need a stronger door.

[linenfort]

Your door got scratched (or maybe broken) by a delivery box? You need a stronger door.

I hear you. I'd love a steel one, but we live in an area that is designated historic and are allowed to buy exactly one type of door. Repaced it a few years ago at great expense. Maybe some disagree, but the delivery man should have known better than to set a heavy box up to fall against a wooden door like that. All he had to do was knock.

(If anyone has anything to say along the lines of, so move, so rent, etc, please save it)

[psteinx]

Turned around and saw a scratch on the door.

He left while I was still hauling boxes inside, and I looked at the door for more scratches. The door is actually broken. One part of it has shifted so that a column of paint-free wood is visible.

So, you've apparently got a painted front door? Wood door? Is the scratch just a scratch in the paint, or does it go noticeably into the underlying wood?

Is the thing that has shifted a panel within the door, as another poster suggested and you seemed to agree with?

Are you a tenant or the owner of your dwelling?

===

My quick thoughts are that paint scratches on painted doors are pretty trivial - I would consider it essentially ordinary wear and tear. Hopefully you've still got some of whatever paint was used to paint the door originally, and you can quickly touch up a scratch or two in ~5 minutes. As for the panel thing (assuming that's what it is), either shove the panel back into place or touch up the unpainted part.

The amount of apparent mental aggravation you're suffering seems quite disproportionate to what actually happened, if I'm guessing correctly.

Possibly you're young, and have done few, if any repairs on the assorted things that go wrong around the home. But paint touch-ups of all sorts (not just front doors) are one of the more basic repairs, and this would be a good time to learn, if you haven't already. Even if you don't have the matching paint, you can try to get something close, especially if it's something common like a glossy black or white, or just get a little more paint and repaint the entire door - it shouldn't take that long. (If repainting the whole door, you'll want to put something down on the floor to catch drips - either a painter's tarp or just some newspapers...)

[linenfort]

Hi psteinx

I'm not young. The aggravation was indeed intense, but fortunately I have a quick recovery time.
As has been said by a few posters, things happen. But, I wasn't quite ready to feel that after the original post and the subsequent blaming of me instead of the joker who does a poor job of delivering packages. Our UPS man is courteous and amazing, by the way. Communicative.

I've seen topics by others that result in similar responses, so I don't claim to be the first. "OP you did this wrong, you're reading the situation wrong, you're overreacting and are possibly delusional."

I've seen it all and it's my fault for seeking advice before calming down.
Doesn't matter now. Thank you for the advice.

[Sandtrap]

Actionably:

1. Document the event and damages. Take pictures. Record/write out all conversations with various parties that you speak to (conversation recaps).

2. Write a letter explaining the situation, by the numbers.

3. File a damage claim with the delivery services company.

4. Schedule a property inspection by the delivery services company customer rep. and/or damage claims person.

5. Follow up on damage claim.

6. Written estimates by reputable repair persons to remedy damages as needed. Also forward to delivery services company.

7. Continue to follow up until matters are resolved.

j

[psteinx]

OP hasn't really clarified damages beyond the need for paint touch up and maybe a panel shoved back into place. Without greater clarity on the damages, it's hard to justify elaborate claims procedures for what could be self-resolved with perhaps 5-15 minutes of effort.

[Buckeye Chuck]

I changed a front door from black to white. If you paint it's not a big deal. Get expensive paint and ask them to pay for you to do it. Or... you will require pro to fix at high cost.

[linenfort]

Thank you, guys. Forgive me for not going into further details on damage.

To recap:Estimating risk/reward from earlier posts, it seems unlikely that a claim will result in satisfaction, regardless of what I think about the severity. I have learned that FedEx Ground often employs subcontractors just as others use Lasership. I have learned that I can't be rid of FedEx if I want to stay on with Chewy. I will stick with Nisi's suggestion of a letter to a CEO, but that's it.

Thank you, all.

[quantAndHold]

I would file a claim and see where it goes before I went all nuclear with the CEO. All that’s going to happen with the CEO if you haven’t filed a claim yet is that you’ll get a form letter apology from whoever handles executive customer service, and then it will go to claims.

If the package came from a vendor that has a large enough account with Fedex to have some pull, complain to them. Sending the package back because it damaged the door seems a bit over the top, though.

FedEx ground employees are all contractors, so payment for the damage will probably come out of his pocket. Which might be what you want, given what happened.

As far as the guy being on drugs, unless you saw him shooting up or something, that seems unlikely. To deliver packages, they have to have clean police and driving records. More likely his music was too loud. That can make people behave oddly too, like they can’t hear what you’re saying.

I live in a historically designated house too. I’m wondering about the construction of the door as well. My wood door might get scratched if it got scraped by one of those big staples, but otherwise in a door vs box collision, the door would win.

[fareastwarriors]

This thread is done. You got a bunch of advice/comments already. It looks you made a decision.

[rasta]

ok OP, let's assume you are correct and the driver was under the influence.

did you call the police and report this driver? the driver could certainly do more harm by driving a vehicle than by mishandling a package.

Edited by Moderator Misenplace to remove inappropriate comment.

[fru-gal]

I think this is a good candidate for "letter to the CEO." Collect enough documentation to show them that you aren't making it up. Quickly, get the tracking number and get a screen shot of a tracking report showing the date, time, and place of delivery. Get a good picture showing the damage to the door, and record the date and time when you took the picture. Do your darned best to establish a reasonable dollar number for repairing the door. OK, you don't need to get a formal quotation, but something that establishes a dollar number that's tied to reality. Screenshot of a door like yours from a Lowes' website or something, call a contractor and see if they will tell you their hourly rate and guess at the number of hours.

Get the name of the CEO and the corporate headquarters address... try the company's website and look for "shareholder relations" and the latest annual report, or Wikipedia.

No phone, no email, no fax. Create a printed letter. The first sentence of the letter says what you want them to do: "Pay me $234.56 to repair the damage your delivery man did to my door." The letter should contain no hostility, no anger, no details about why you thought the delivery man was impaired. The essence of the message is "This is what happened, this is when it happened, this is the number of dollars I feel is fair. I used to be a happy customer of yours, now I am unhappy, do this thing to make it right and I will be happy again."

Say absolutely nothing about any legalisms. No threats. Don't tell them to fire the guy. (You've given them the address and the exact time of delivery, of course, they should know who it was). Don't do anything for "the principle of the thing." You're out $234.56 to fix the door and it's all about the money.

Try, if possible, to keep the entire letter to a single page. Do not tell a long story.

When you are done, put the printed letter in a paper envelope. Write the address on it by hand, with a pen--block letters if your handwriting is like mine, but handwritten, with a stamp.

It will shoot an hour or so of your time, and you may feel lousy (and angry at me) if it doesn't work, but I think there's a much-better-than-50% chance of success, if it's only a couple of hundred dollars or less.

I have done this successfully, using those guidelines several times for problems and gotten good resolutions.

I have not done it with FedEx or UPS, however, despite their really bad service. The most I have done with them is had them find packages they delivered God knows where that were supposed to be delivered to my home. My solution to FedEx/UPS problems is to request USPS shipping wherever that is an option. The USPS does care and tries to fix things and does not hire morons.

[linenfort]

Excellent, fru-gal. Glad to hear it.
I appreciate my letter carrier. The USPS package deliverers have been hit and miss.

Ultimately, most of these retailers will tell you that they choose a carrier based on complicated logistics and timing, so it’s out of their hands, let alone ours.

What is actionable is having Amazon packages sent to a customer pickup center. Luckily I have that option with virtually all small to midsized packages. When it arrives, I pick it up, blissfully unaware of which carriers did what.

[3-20Characters]

Excellent, fru-gal. Glad to hear it.
I appreciate my letter carrier. The USPS package deliverers have been hit and miss.

Ultimately, most of these retailers will tell you that they choose a carrier based on complicated logistics and timing, so it’s out of their hands, let alone ours.

What is actionable is having Amazon packages sent to a customer pickup center. Luckily I have that option with virtually all small to midsized packages. When it arrives, I pick it up, blissfully unaware of which carriers did what.

If you have one of those packaging and mailboxes stores nearby, you can usually have packages delivered to them to hold for you at no charge. They make their money in packaging and shipping (ship out), mailbox rental and some other peripheral services but generally accept deliveries for free. I get regular ups deliveries and I can redirect directly from the ups website on a case by case basis. Very easy. I know they accept fedex and probably most everything else as well.

[linenfort]

If you have one of those packaging and mailboxes stores nearby, you can usually have packages delivered to them to hold for you at no charge.

Thank you! quick follow-up- can they handle very large items? Amazon cannot.

[wilked]

It’s a little hard to interpret. Op can you post photos of the damage?

[willygreen]

I have had luck with filing a claim through the merchant I purchased the goods from. Last year I bought from Lowes and had some shelving delivered, they damaged my driveway. I called Lowes and they referred me to someone that handles claims for them. I sent them pictures, then they called me and offered me $350, or to have an adjuster come out and look at it and determine the damage. I took the $350 and ended up paying someone $275 to fix it.

[linenfort]

Great, willy, thank you. I have copied these bits of advice and anecdotes and will keep them on file.

[quantAndHold]

Ultimately, most of these retailers will tell you that they choose a carrier based on complicated logistics and timing, so it’s out of their hands, let alone ours.

I worked for that gigantic online retailer that ships things via multiple carriers. They have complicated algorithms that determine which carrier they use to ship a particular package. Factors included in the decision are price, speed, the number of other packages they’ve sent via that carrier (they don’t want to completely overwhelm a carrier), and reliability to the local area. A single complaint won’t do it, but if they get multiple complaints about deliveries by a certain carrier to a certain local area, their algorithm will use a different carrier for that location. So definitely complain to who you bought the item from.

[3-20Characters]

If you have one of those packaging and mailboxes stores nearby, you can usually have packages delivered to them to hold for you at no charge.

Thank you! quick follow-up- can they handle very large items? Amazon cannot.

They are usually independently run businesses, so each may have its own policy. But they are generally affiliated/approved locations by the carriers that pick and deliver there, so I think they’d have a motivation (if not obligation) to accept all packages.

[linenfort]

~
A single complaint won’t do it, but if they get multiple complaints about deliveries by a certain carrier to a certain local area, their algorithm will use a different carrier for that location. So definitely complain to who you bought the item from.

quant,
I have been in touch with the vendor. That’s good to know. Without my requesting it, the rep said that he called fedex while we were typing. I didn’t think much of it before your post, but you make a good point: a collection of complaints may tip the scales.

Furthermore, I will definitely ask the CEO if he thinks outsourcing may be hurting business. The unspoken answer may simply be that they have to do it because DHL or someone else is doing it.

Still, from the consumer’s viewpoint, it’s actionable. That is, worth mentioning.