Okay, yes, I know it sounds crazy, but FedEx wound up losing one of my iPhones for a month, which I had sent in for warranty repair.
After numerous calls, and complaints, I was about to give up and create an anti-FedEx web site. Apple pointed the finger at FedEx, FedEx said Apple wasn’t giving them the info they needed.
I dropped off my package in a FedEx drop box, right before for leaving for CTIA (that was at the end of March). That, apparently, was the last anyone saw it. No was activity on the tracking number (which, took me over an our to get Apple to cough up… they tried to say they didn’t keep track of return tracking numbers).
Actually, I almost didn’t get my iPhone back. See, it had been so long that by the time Apple got my broken iPhone… they had closed the old Dispatch/Repair ID. So, they opened a new one. Problem was… Apple then screwed up, and got it mixed up with another Repair ID.
The result? My finished iPhone got sent to Lyndhurst, New Jersey (a good 3,000 miles away from my home in California). Luckily (and purely luck), the recipient wasn’t there, and after three attempts… it got sent back to Apple. Apple, then realized their error, and called me (Thursday). That was when I started to piece everything together.
So, Monday, I get back my iPhone. Lessons learned:
1) Write down the return tracking number. It will save you an hour pulling teeth to get it out of Apple.
2) Don’t use the drop boxes at FedEx. Hand it to someone with a name. Write that name down next to the tracking number. Do this so that you can say “I gave you that package… now where is it?”
3) Repeat steps 1 & 2 for every single package you ever use with FedEx.