Deceptive FedEx Passport Site
The FedEx website for Passport Renewal is incredibly deceptive. It APPEARS Fedex does everything for the prices in the photo below BUT:
1) All FedEx does is forward you to a third party where you fill out forms
2) I have to print out everything myself (I would expect my packet to be ready and waiting at FedEx)
3) That $349 does not include the actual cost of the renewal, which is about another $200. I saw that after filling out all the forms on a third party site and was wondering, correctly, “hmmm, well is that included in the $249 I already paid?
4) This third-party site has not gotten back to me in 2 days… either via email (immediately after filling out the forms) or phone. I’ve sent one email and left two phone messages.
5) All FedEx provides is an ENVELOPE. Oh, and Passport photos, which you have to pay extra for.
It’s this kind of stuff that makes me not trust big US businesses. Super shady, FedEx. Now that I have been able to unravel everything and figure out what is going on, it’s too late for me to renew my passport before I go back to New Zealand.
As a customer, when I go to FedEx to use their Passport Renewal service, I expect:
1) FedEx to prepare the entire package for me, including:
2) To pay once. They can sort out splitting that into a cashier’s check for the government.
3) To fill out everything online without signing into a third party website (they use GovWorks).
4) After I fill everything out, they print it out at branch where I will show up with my Passport for renewal.
5) I walk in, hand them my Passport (and if I need Passport photos, they were included in the price), and they pop it in an envelope and say thank you.
I mean, right?
Last, it’s totally unclear who I ask for a refund. FedEx apparently forwarded most of my money to this third party, and they kept the money for the envelopes. Oh man…
I called up and I ended up talking to a lady at “Passport Center.” I said, “Wait, is this FedEx?”
She said, “No, this is Passport Center.”
I said, “What is that? Is this the government?”
She said, “No, is there a problem with your passport sir?”
I was very confused and said, “Wait, you say this is ‘Passport Center’, but I started at the FedEx website, which forwarded me to a website called ‘GovWorks.com’, and then I got an email receipt from ‘RushMyPassport’ – what the heck is going on over there?”
She said, “It’s all very simple. We’re a sister company with FedEx.”
I said, somewhat exasperated, “Are you all sister companies? Oh never mind, I don’t actually care. Anyway, it’s taken you, or one of your sister companies, over 2 days to get back to me. I don’t think I can make my flight anymore, so I need a refund.”
She asked, “Where are you going?”
I said, dumbfounded, “Why does THAT matter? Let’s say the MOON via North Korea.”
Finally, I rushed through this pedantic conversation and she said she would send me another form to fill out for a refund. I was like, omg. I said, maybe you should tell one of your four sister companies to change its name to KindaRushMyPassport.com.
Also, look at how there is a timer up there on the top right to pressure you to buy, as if they are really limited on reservations like a hotel that is running out of rooms. Sketchy, Fedex, really sketchy.
Daily Photo – Closing Time at The Vessel
This was my last day in New York, so I was trying to be the absolute last person to leave The Vessel. It was such an amazing structure that I tried to squeeze every last photo out of that place, I tried a bunch of different lenses, but a place like this is really screaming for a super wide-angle lens. I almost wish I had my fish-eye with me… oh well… I’ll have to go back! 🙂
Closing Time at The Vessel
Photo Information
- Date Taken2019-06-22 20:56:32
- CameraILCE-7RM2
- Camera MakeSony
- Exposure Time1/60
- Aperture4
- ISO1250
- Focal Length12.0 mm
- FlashOff, Did not fire
- Exposure ProgramManual
- Exposure Bias
