Frequently Asked Questions

ShowHoliday Shipping Information
When is the latest that customers can ship packages for delivery before Christmas?

FedEx Express will accept packages until Friday, Dec. 23, for delivery before Christmas. Customers shipping packages in the contiguous U.S. will have until Dec. 16 to ship via FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery®* for delivery before Christmas (Dec. 14 for packages shipped to or from Alaska and Hawaii).

Go to fedex.com/us/holiday/last-days-to-ship.html to determine, based on shipping options, the shipping time necessary so packages are delivered on or before the dates above.

*The last shipping date for FedEx Home Delivery is Monday, Dec. 19.

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What about the FedEx Money-Back Guarantee? Does it still apply during the holiday season?

Consistent with our FedEx Service Guide, the FedEx Money-Back Guarantee for on-time delivery for many FedEx Express® services will be suspended temporarily on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, and from Monday, Dec. 19, through Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011, for shipments that reach their destinations within 90 minutes of the scheduled commitment time.

The money-back guarantee for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery® will be suspended temporarily for packages tendered during the 14 calendar days before Sunday, Dec. 25 (Sunday, Dec. 11, through Saturday, Dec. 24).

See Our Services at fedex.com or the current FedEx Service Guide for complete details on the money-back guarantee.

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How does FedEx respond when affected by winter weather?

All FedEx companies are known for their exceptional planning and the extraordinary lengths to which they will go to serve their customers. For example:

  • At FedEx Express, the Global Operations Control Center manages the air and ground fleets worldwide and can make routing and operational changes within minutes. The company also employs staff meteorologists who can accurately predict weather changes.
  • At FedEx Ground, web-based software is used to monitor weather conditions and road closings. With this information at hand, the FedEx Ground team can make quick decisions about changing the routes of trucks and trailers when and where necessary.
We know how important it is for your holiday packages to arrive at their destinations on time. For additional peace of mind, you may subscribe to receive our service disruption email notifications, which will notify you if any national service disruption or catastrophic event affects our network and might have an impact on your shipments. To subscribe, go to the FedEx Email Subscription Center and select Service Disruption Notifications in the preferences section.

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Where can I find more information about FedEx during the holidays?

Please go to our Newsroom at http://news.fedex.com.

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ShowShipping Services and Tools
What shipping and other solutions does FedEx have to help customers this holiday season?

FedEx has worked diligently during the past year to continue to improve our services for you this holiday season.

  • FedEx Ship Manager® at fedex.com. To use, simply choose Create Shipment from the Ship tab on the fedex.com U.S. home page, register as a user and follow the simple instructions. No extra software is required. This online service helps you save time by enabling you to:
    • Create and easily print U.S. and international shipping labels for FedEx Express®, FedEx Ground®, FedEx Home Delivery®, FedEx SmartPost® (if contract is in place), and FedEx Express® Freight shipments.
    • Request that a FedEx courier or driver pick up a package at a home or office location.
      • Use the Email Notifications section to select and send multiple email notifications — to yourself, to the recipient and to up to two other people — about the shipment:
        • Ship notifications indicate that the shipment information has been sent to FedEx.
        • Tendered notifications indicate when FedEx has picked up a shipment.
        • Pickup notifications indicate that the pickup has been successfully scheduled.
        • Exception notifications indicate any exceptions that may cause a delivery delay.
        • Delivery notifications indicate that the package has been delivered.
    • Store up to 300 Fast Ship profiles for repeat shipments to the same address.
    • Use FedEx® Address Checker to verify the street name and number before you ship (U.S. and Canada only).
    • For FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx SmartPost (if contract is in place) shipments, generate return labels you can include with an outbound package or email to your customer, or request return pickups at a recipient's location.
    • Easily create labels for multiple-piece shipments — up to 25 pieces per shipment. If the packages are identical, you can simply enter the total weight and value. If not, you can enter the quantity, weight, dimensions and value per package in the Multiple-Piece Shipment Details section that appears.
    • Use the Rates & Transit Times section to get the estimated shipping costs and transit times for your shipment, based on the package and shipment details you've entered.
    • Store up to 2,500 names and addresses for future use.
  • FedEx Home Delivery®. This service, which offers Saturday as a standard delivery day, connects you to every residential address in the U.S. and is faster to more residential locations than UPS Ground. You can also take advantage of three convenient delivery options to meet the precise delivery needs of your residential recipients:
    • FedEx Date Certain Home Delivery® provides delivery Tuesday through Saturday on the specific date your customer selects.
    • FedEx Evening Home Delivery® provides delivery between 5 and 8 p.m. on the scheduled date of delivery.
    • FedEx Appointment Home Delivery® provides delivery on a specific date and time your customer selects.
  • FedEx SmartPost®. An efficient, economical service for businesses that need to ship low-weight packages to residential customers. By utilizing the United States Postal Service® (USPS) for final delivery, FedEx SmartPost reaches every U.S. address, including P.O. boxes; military APO, DPO and FPO destinations; and all U.S. territories.
  • FedEx Express. This time-definite service offers reliability and convenience for your time-sensitive shipments — no matter the size or urgency. Delivery today, tomorrow or in 2 to 3 days — even on Saturdays.
  • FedEx Office® Pack & Ship Services. FedEx Office offers full-service professional packing services throughout the FedEx Office® network so you can be confident that your packages will arrive safely and on time. You can choose from a full array of FedEx® time-definite express or day-definite ground shipping services to businesses or residences.
  • Personalized Greetings From FedEx Office. FedEx Office offers great greeting items, from magnets and coasters to T-shirts, that can be personalized with your digital photos. Additionally, FedEx Office offers traditional personalized gifts, such as custom photo calendars, greeting cards and mousepads. A wide selection of memorable calendars and greeting cards are also available to order online at fedex.com/greetings.
  • FedEx Advanced Tracking. FedEx Advanced Tracking enables you to monitor the status of your inbound, outbound and third-party-payer shipments. FedEx Advanced Tracking is automatically populated with shipment details when you use FedEx Ship Manager at fedex.com. You can easily set up watch lists of your most important shipments, and you can designate yourself and/or other recipients to receive automatic notifications of deliveries, delivery exceptions and delays. FedEx Advanced Tracking can help you save time, avoid delays and manage your holiday shipping more efficiently — at no cost.
  • FedEx® Global Trade Manager. FedEx Global Trade Manager is a one-stop resource for international shipping. This free web-based service is available by clicking on the Manage tab at fedex.com. Use it to:
    • Estimate duties and taxes and other customs charges upfront, which can save you time and money.
    • Identify and then download the international shipping and customs documents your shipment requires.
    • Research country-specific information that may affect your international shipment.
    • View advisories concerning your shipment.
    • Search an up-to-date international denied-party screening database.
  • FedEx Address Checker. FedEx has made it easy to check street names as well as city, state, and ZIP or postal code information. When you use FedEx Ship Manager at fedex.com, you can simply supply the information to be verified in the designated fields and submit it to be checked. Our search tool will check the database and verify or provide alternatives when exact matches can't be found (U.S. and Canada only).
  • Get Rates & Transit Times. FedEx makes it easy to compare and obtain shipping rates via the FedEx Rate Finder at fedex.com/ratefinder/home or via Get Rates & Transit Times under the Ship tab. You can use "Get transit time" to find out FedEx transit times for a single package; "Get quick quote" for a fast, simple, high-level rate and transit-time quote for a single package; and "Get detailed quote" to perform a more refined search, including multiple packages and additional shipping options.
  • FedEx® Mobile Shipping Solutions. You can download the FedEx® Mobile for iPhone® app or the FedEx® Mobile for BlackBerry® app at fedex.com/us/mobile to quickly and easily use your smartphone to check the status of shipments, create shipping labels, find the nearest FedEx location, and more. To take full advantage of these shipping apps, you'll need a fedex.com user ID and password. And if you have a different type of web-enabled mobile device, no worries: FedEx Mobile has you covered. Just go to m.fedex.com to conveniently use your mobile device to track shipment status, create shipping labels, find the nearest FedEx locations, check mobile shipping rates, and more.

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How can customers find out how much it will cost to ship their packages without actually going to a FedEx shipping location?

FedEx makes it easy to compare and obtain shipping rates via the FedEx Rate Finder at fedex.com/ratefinder/home or via Get Rates & Transit Times under the Ship tab. You can use "Get transit time" to find out FedEx transit times for a single package; "Get quick quote" for a fast, simple, high-level rate and transit-time quote for a single package; and "Get detailed quote" to perform a more refined search, including multiple packages and additional shipping options.

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What services do you have to assist customers shipping packages internationally?

FedEx® Global Trade Manager. FedEx Global Trade Manager is a one-stop resource for international shipping. This free web-based service is available by clicking on the Manage tab at fedex.com. Use it to:

  • Estimate duties and taxes and other customs charges upfront, which can save you time and money.
  • Identify and then download the international shipping and customs documents your shipment requires.
  • Research country-specific information that may affect your international shipment.
  • View advisories concerning your shipment.
  • Search an up-to-date international denied-party screening database.

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ShowPackaging and Locations
Do customers have to use FedEx packaging to ship packages?

No. You can use your own packaging materials. However, FedEx Express provides some shipping materials for FedEx Express® shipping that are free of charge. Look to our How to Pack website for comprehensive information on FedEx packing assistance, for-sale and free packaging, as well as shipping tips and downloadable packing guides, all at fedex.com/us/services/packageshipment.

Our full-service pack-and-ship services are available at FedEx Office and other FedEx Express locations. Simply let one of our packing specialists handle all of your holiday packing and shipping needs. Or, you can purchase your own packaging supplies and find free FedEx Express packaging at our convenient FedEx Office and FedEx World Service Center® locations. You will find commonly used sizes of corrugated boxes, padded envelopes, bubble padding and specialty packing supplies to meet all of your packaging needs.

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Where can customers get materials to ship packages?

You can visit any of our more than 1,900 FedEx Office locations to obtain FedEx Express® shipping supplies, purchase packaging supplies, or access our pack-and-ship services. To find locations, go to the fedex.com home page and click on the Find FedEx Locations link under the Ship tab, go to fedex.com/us/dropoff, or call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339.

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How can customers find a FedEx shipping location?

  • There are several ways for you to locate one of our more than 50,000 FedEx drop-off locations. You can visit our home page and click on the Find FedEx Locations link under the Ship tab or go to fedex.com/us/dropoff to find FedEx shipping locations in your area, along with a map and business hours and services offered for each location.
  • You can access fedex.com and FedEx drop-off locations via your web-enabled mobile device. Simply key in "m.fedex.com" to begin using FedEx® Mobile shipping solutions. You can also download the FedEx® Mobile for iPhone® app or the FedEx® Mobile for BlackBerry® app at fedex.com/us/mobile to quickly and easily use your smartphone to check the status of shipments, create shipping labels, find the nearest FedEx location, and more. To take full advantage of these shipping apps, you’ll need a fedex.com user ID and password.
  • Finally, you can call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 for an automated listing or to speak to a FedEx customer service representative.

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ShowTracking, Delivery and Returns
Once a package is sent via FedEx, can a customer monitor its status?

Absolutely. Tracking package status is easy and convenient. More than 3 million package-tracking requests are handled on fedex.com per day. You have several options:

  • FedEx Advanced Tracking. FedEx Advanced Tracking enables you to monitor the status of your inbound, outbound and third-party-payer shipments. FedEx Advanced Tracking is automatically populated with shipment details when you use FedEx Ship Manager® at fedex.com. You can easily set up watch lists of your most important shipments, and you can designate yourself and/or other recipients to receive automatic notifications of deliveries, delivery exceptions and delays. FedEx Advanced Tracking can help you save time, avoid delays and manage your holiday shipping more efficiently — at no cost.
  • fedex.com. Track the status of up to 30 FedEx Express®, FedEx Ground®, FedEx Freight® and FedEx Custom Critical® shipments at a time, and sign up to receive automatic email notification of critical shipping events. Click on the Track tab to get started.
  • FedEx® Mobile. FedEx also offers you access to shipping, tracking and drop-off location information via your web-enabled mobile device. You can download the FedEx® Mobile for iPhone® app or the FedEx® Mobile for BlackBerry® app at fedex.com/us/mobile to quickly and easily use your smartphone to check the status of shipments, create shipping labels, find the nearest FedEx location, and more. To take full advantage of these shipping apps, you’ll need a fedex.com user ID and password. And if you have a different type of web-enabled mobile device, no worries: FedEx Mobile has you covered. Just go to m.fedex.com to conveniently use your mobile device to track shipment status, create shipping labels, find the nearest FedEx locations, check mobile shipping rates, and more.
  • You can also track the status of your package by calling 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339.

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What if the recipient of a package is not home when the package arrives?

FedEx Express and FedEx Ground may leave packages at residential addresses without obtaining a signature unless you choose a FedEx® Delivery Signature Option. You can learn more about FedEx Delivery Signature Options at fedex.com/us/service-guide/our-services/options/index.html. Details are located in the FedEx Express Terms and Conditions.

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What if I want to return a shipment?

FedEx® Returns.

  • For consumers, check the return policy and process of the merchant of your purchase. If there is no policy or process, you can use FedEx Express or FedEx Ground to return your item.
  • For merchants who want to set up a returns program, FedEx has a comprehensive returns portfolio. You can manage the entire shipping process, from pickup to return, using either FedEx Express, FedEx Ground or FedEx SmartPost®, right from your desktop. Go to fedex.com/returns or contact your FedEx account executive to determine the best return services for your needs:
    • FedEx Print Return Label, FedEx Email Return Label, FedEx Express stamps or the FedEx Ground® Package Returns Program.
    • FedEx tags, including FedEx ExpressTag® and FedEx Ground® Call Tag.
    • FedEx® Return System, an easy way to return items to participating merchants. All you need to do is drop off the return — with a Return Material Authorization number — at a select FedEx shipping location, and we take care of the rest.

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