FedEx Overcharged Customers for Years, Sealed E-Mail Says

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) FedEx Corp. (FDX) has been “systematically overcharging” customers by billing businesses and government offices at higher residential rates, a company sales executive said in an internal e-mail unsealed in a lawsuit.

“I have brought this to attention of many people over the past five or six years, including more than one managing director, and no action has been taken to address it,” Alan Elam wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 2, 2011. “My belief is that we are choosing not to fix this issue because it is worth so much money to FedEx,” Elam said in a separate e-mail that day.

The e-mails were unsealed yesterday in a class-action, or group, lawsuit claiming FedEx Corp. and FedEx Corporate Services Inc. overcharged commercial and government customers as much as $3 each for millions of packages delivered. The plaintiffs, who claim violations of federal civil racketeering laws, seek three times the amount of the alleged overcharges in their lawsuit.

“We allege that FedEx has and continues to engage in a pattern of intentionally charging its customers residential delivery fees for deliveries to obviously non-residential addresses such as courthouses, government offices and banks,” Steven J. Rosenwasser, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-11/fedex-overcharged-customers-for-years-sealed-e-mail-says.html

[Tansy_Gold]

2. And this is exactly why we need to

privatize ALL delivery and do away with that inefficient and expensive USPS.

[jody]

4. USPS uses FedEx for USPS Express Mail. nt

[Tansy_Gold]

5. Not that I'm paranoid or anything

But why did you choose to respond only to my post, and not to either of the other two that were expressing the same sentiment?

[jody]

12. Please see the time of posts. They did not exist when I posted. Have a great day. nt

[Tansy_Gold]

13. Excuse me? Do you think I didn't look at the time of the posts?

Mine was the second of three replies

OP went up at 1:15 p.m. (my time)

#1 was posted at 1:16
#2 (mine) went up at 1:17
#3 was posted at 1:21

If mine, to which you replied at 1:25, existed for you to reply to, then so did #1. For some reason, however, you chose to reply to mine.

I retain the right to be paranoid.

[jody]

15. Be my guest. No offense intended. nt

[Tansy_Gold]

20. You presented a defense that was clearly refuted by evidence

Offense was obviously taken, but that offense was also apparently intended.

I have no idea what I ever did to you. As far as I know, I've never exchanged posts with you before in all the time I've been on DU. Why you're suddenly so hostile to me is a mystery, but I do take it personally, especially when two of your statements in this thread alone have been shown to be just plain inaccurate and you've blown them off.

[jody]

22. I was not offended. Could your self diagnosis in #5 be accurate? nt

[Tansy_Gold]

25. Ah, that explains a lot

As I wrote in my reply to it, I didn't think I'd ever tangled with it before. Now I know why.

Thanks for the info.

[wilt the stilt]

27. honestly,

i have just started to read your posts. you are a troll.

[Tansy_Gold]

30. honestly,

in well over 10 years on DU, I don't think I had encountered that . . . . person . . . . until today. Star or not, I think your description is spot on.

[Egalitarian Thug]

18. It is a Congressional directive. Part of the crusade to cripple the USPS was to

force them to sell their equipment and are forbidden from owning their own. Yet another corporate welfare program.

[unblock]

3. see? private enterprise IS better than gubmint!

let's see the usps try THAT and see how much money they can make!

[jody]

8. Federal agencies had access to USPS Express Mail during that time. Problem is incompetent managers

who did not find ways to cut costs.

Alan Elam should have received a monetary award as a minimum for suggesting ways to reduce costs.

No policy or procedure can prevent an incompetent manager doing stupid things and for government jobs, it's difficult to impossible to fire them because of layers of protection.

[unblock]

10. turns out they probably WERE using usps -- because fedex uses the usps:

http://cepobserver.com/2011/12/fedex-uses-usps-for-30-4-of-ground-shipments/

[jody]

11. That's what I said in #4 nt

[Tansy_Gold]

14. No, that's not what you said.

You said USPS uses FedEx, which is not the same as FedEx using USPS.

[jody]

16. Mea culpa you are correct. nt

[Tansy_Gold]

17. And that kinda nullifies (pun intended) your whole argument, doesn't it. n/t

[jody]

19. Not at all but do what ever makes you feel good for the moment. nt

[Fumesucker]

23. I told jody that a couple of days ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1957138

[Tansy_Gold]

26. Oh, goodness, THAT

was a depressing exchange.

[Fumesucker]

29. I seem to be having more and more of those on DU lately for some reason

Tide goes in, tide goes out, can't explain that, eh?

[Brickbat]

6. Private business is always more efficient than the government.

More efficient at MAKING MONEY, THAT IS.

[jody]

21. "always" is a big stretch. Russia and China found out different, e.g. agriculture. nt

[wilt the stilt]

28. once a troll always a troll n/t

[xchrom]

7. Du rec. Nt

[Trillo]

31. So the problem is Not that the residential sector (middle class) is getting charged higher rates,

which would tend to agree more with the headline, The problem is that business didn't get a lower rate than residential, and thus business was getting "overcharged".

[surrealAmerican]

32. So many corporations ...

... if they actually were people, would be in jail.

[Egalitarian Thug]

33. LOL! I was thinking "...so much white meat".

[jody]

35. Exactly. nt

[arikara]

34. So why should there be higher residential rates anyhow?

Another way to gouge the public in favour of business once again?