I work part time for a ffl dealer in Tenn.  I went to Fed Ex to ship a rifle to a customer in New York.  I was told by the girl at the counter that even though. the rifle was going to a ffl. from a ffl. that it still had to go next day air at a cost of 35.00 to 40.00 dollars.  I told them to stick it!!  and then went to UPS a shipped the same package for 11.80 with no questions asked.  Is this normal for Fed EX??  

I had a simillar experince for the first time with fedex..(I have NEVER had a problem with fedex before!.. wth is going on?)

fed: do you have a license?

me: why yes I do, but it doesn't matter, I'm sending it to the Licensed Dealer/Importer who sent it to me.

fed: hmm, I'll need to open the box and check that it is safe.

me: ??  it's safe, its in the same condition and packaging it was sent to me the first time.

fed: I'll still need to open the package.

me: I don't think so. (thinking to myself, yeah right, pull that thing out here in the middle of a busy Kinko's?!?!?!)   You have every right to ask and I have every right to refuse and take my business to UPS.

fed: but its for your safety and ours.

me: ahhh, now I see the truth here.. the old "safty" "key word".  No thanks, I'll use UPS. Thank you.

UPS took it, no questions and away it went!

I've never had a problem when I went directly to the courier's office or customer counter.  The problems arise when you you try to use one of the shipper's agents like Kinkos, OfficePutz, Mailboxes R Us, etc.  They just don't know the rules and try to error on the side of caution.

Although the cost is prohibitve, there is a reason its generally better to ship it Next Day Air.....Basically the longer the firearm/valuables are in the system, the more people that handle the package. Which leads to a greater chance someone will steal it.  

I shipped a firearm a few months ago to Colt and was told by Fed Ex that they had recently changed their policy and would only ship firearms to a firearms manufacturer. It sounds like they have modified this policy some what or no one at Fed Ex really knows what policy is, but they will not ship a firearm to an individual.

UPS has very much nicer drivers than fed ex... this UPS lady has been coming my house and over 15 years and each time brings our 2 labs a snack each time... everytime...

Nice to see another shipper getting bashed besides UPS.

Hah! UPS sucks dead dogs!!!!!!!!!

Here in MI they make you open EVERY PACKAGE you bring in so they can paw through it!!!!

FEDEX gets my business...... ship my firearms without having the gay guy behind the counter giving you a hassle about not being able to ship firearms etc.....

UPS can go kiss my rear.... FEDEX is right around the corner and treat you right... "firearm? sure... how would you like to ship that ? "

UPS investigator bold faced lied to me about a lost shipment and he lied about a supposed phone call he made... should have known he was a liar as he was a retired Detroit cop, bunch of thieves.

UPS ....... NO BUSINESS FROM ME.

Dram out

It seems to me that this s$it is regional. I haven't had problems with either one thus far. Neither have my FFL dealers whom I frequent.

The Postal Service is another matter....(non-guns of course). They lost two of my transcripts that I forwarded to medical schools this past year, VIA PRIORITY MAIL!!!! Needless to say, I'm going to a top ten med school this fall, so I'm safe. However, it's rather nerve racking when someone loses something.

themao

I used to love FedEx, then in the past year I've had a laptop stolen from me from inside the Houston Hub.
Then they keep screwing up my Sig on file drop info and their rates went thru the roof.
UPS, which used to suck here and damage everything, now performs awesome. So I
ship big stuff UPS and everything else USPS Priority.
FedEx just plain sucks ass now.

FedEx will ship to individuals.  I just received a rifle via FedEx last Thursday. It didn't come from an FFL either.  (CMP shipment)

Quoted: I've never had a problem when I went directly to the courier's office or customer counter.  The problems arise when you you try to use one of the shipper's agents like Kinkos, OfficePutz, Mailboxes R Us, etc.  They just don't know the rules and try to error on the side of caution.

I've sent stuff thru this particular office before.  It's a fedex counter inside a Kinko's.  (history: They used to have one of those little 'foto-mat' kiosk type shacks for a remote fedex counter...until it was robbed at gunpoint.  They then moved into the local Kinkos with a nice counter set up in a corner of the store. It's staffed with fedex employees.) So, I don't know if it's a 'new' fedex policy or just some paranoid new employee.