Should I complain, or not?

[Sillygirl]

I left my wallet on the airplane last Friday. Dumb, I know. Saturday morning, before I realized it was missing, we got a call at 6:30 AM from the airline. The cleaning crew had found the wallet. They confirmed my name and that I had a $50 bill in there, and promised to Fedex it to me to arrive Monday. Well, it arrived today (Wednesday), containing $21.

DH had told them to pay for the Fedex from the money found in the wallet, but there's no way that cost $29, is it? It's just a small mailer. So do I call to complain, or just be thankful I got back my wallet with everything else in it? (We've been monitoring our credit cards for suspicious activity, and things seem fine.)

[Wife_and_mommy]

Hmmm..you did tell them to use the $ in your wallet. They should have an acct which would have cost just a few dollars for a wallet-size box/envelope. Seems someone had sticky fingers but is it worth it to stir up nonsense when nothing will probably come of it?

I think I'd drop it and be thankful to have gotten my wallet back.

[MommyAllison]

I'm pretty sure it couldn't have cost $29 to ship FedEx. We paid that amount to ship a P3 stroller via FedEx. But I'd probably let it go, though it would bug me.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I had something similar happen a couple weeks ago. My wallet fell out of my hands in a parking lot one night while loading the car. A limo driver found it while doing his shopping. When he got up the next morning, he called my CC company and met us at the grocery with the wallet.

Even though it was very honorable for him (and them in your case) to return it, we decided reporting the loss and getting new cards issued was the right thing to give us peace of mind. We'd actually done it immediately after it happened.

I wouldn't worry about the cash. DH gave the guy $40 out of the wallet for his kindness. You got a bargain!

[american_mama]

I don't use FexEx much, but I FedExed a power cord and cash to DH once recently and it cost over $10 and probably closer to $20. There's also insurance, in case they paid extra for it, or their earliest delivery option, which costs more if they chose that.

But the reason I mention this is the form specifically said NOT to FedEx cash, which I ignored. But if the person who sent you the wallet was honest and said they were sending cash, that might have changed their shipping options/requirements to make them more expensive.

I wouldn't say anything. But the 4 cones of Ben and Jerry's ice cream we had this weekend that cost $16 due to the cashier's poor communication about my apparently invalid coupons? We complained about that. To no avail.

[kellij]

I would say something. Mainly because I think a manager would want to know if his/her employee has sticky fingers. If they helped themselves, to a "tip" from you, what else are they helping themselves to?

That being said, I wouldn't hold my breathe that I'd get anything back. I would just let them know because it's kind of crummy. Plus, maybe they insured it or did something weird to make it cost a lot more and that way you could find out if it was innocent.

[Pennylane]

I would not say anything. I would just be thankful that I got it back at all.

Ann

[Dcclerk]

I actually think that it could have been close to that amount to overnight something. I've been shocked about how much a small package would cost to be overnighted. When I had to overnight some documents (and not very many at that), it cost me almost $20, even using my employer's discount. Even though they said that it would go out on Sat., there is a good chance that it wasn't actually sent out when they said it would be, but that it was actually overnighted as they said that they would.

At the end of the day, however, even if there were some sticky fingers, it could have been a LOT worse. You want to encourage people to be honest and turn things in rather than discourage them by possibly making them go through a big hassle following up on this. I suspect if too many people are given a hard time, they won't bother turning them in at all after a while.

[infocrazy]

I actually work for FedEx. Depending on the service, weight, package size, and origin/destination, it absolutely could have cost $29. There is also additional fees depending on how it was dropped off and delivered. A big time fuel surcharge is also in effect with all the shipping companies.

I am assuming that you meant FedEx Express (Orange). I don't know if they could have used their account number if they even had one because they were using your money not billing to their number.

If it was FedEx Ground (Green) that was too much.

If you are really curious though, you could do a rate quote at FedEx.com

HTH

[nov04]

I would not say anything. I would just be thankful that I got it back at all. ITA, I wouldn't have expected it back at all.

[hillview]

I'd be thrilled I got my wallet at all and assume that it was $29 for the fedex and try to focus on being happy about getting it back. I dropped my wallet in a bar once and went back the next morning and got it from the cleaning crew. It had no money left in it. I was thrilled :)
/hillary

[Momof3Labs]

I'd just be grateful that you got it back. I left a maternity winter coat on the plane once and realized it just after we got through security. We went straight to the baggage office to make a claim, and my coat was supposedly never found - someone (either a fellow passenger or the cleaning crew) took it that fast. It even had a piece of paper with my name on it in the pocket (I had scribbled some directions to a train station on a monogrammed sheet of paper and shoved it in my pocket) so if someone wanted to find me and return it, they could have.

And I believe that if they sent your wallet next day or morning service (residential addresses cost more $$ too), it easily could have cost that much. This person was honest and went to the trouble to get your wallet promptly back to you - please don't make life difficult for your good samaritan.

[kristenk]

I think you should calculate the rate on fedex.com. For express delivery - especially involving a Saturday - the cost really might be that high. Ground/home delivery is reasonable $$$-wise, but Express (and anything with a guaranteed delivery date) is probably not.

[DrSally]

I believe it could've cost that much if it was overnighted and had insurance.

[pb&j]

Fedex can be surprisingly expensive. Plus some airline employee making $9/hr was out time and gas money to get it shipped. I'd let it go.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

ITA, I wouldn't have expected it back at all.

Me too, questioning someone who was honest enough to turn in your wallet and get it back to you just seems kind of unfair, JMHO.

[bubbaray]

Fedex can be surprisingly expensive. Plus some airline employee making $9/hr was out time and gas money to get it shipped. I'd let it go.


:yeahthat:

Personally, I'd send a thank you note and a followup letter to the airline that would hopefully go onto the person's personnel file. One good turn deserves another. And, frankly, $29 to get your wallet back intact seems cheap to me!

[squimp]

I'd send the employee and thank you note, and send the airline a letter saying how thankful I was for their file. So many things get lost at the airport, I'd be so grateful to get my wallet back.

[kijip]

I tend to think that if someone was honest enough to return it at all they likely were honest about the shipping costs. Basically, if they are going to swipe $10-20 or something (if the shipping was cheaper) then I really think they would have taken the whole $50 and tossed the rest in the trash.

[karstmama]

yep - be thankful, send a nice note, let it go...

[Kungjo]

I don't think you should complain. If they were honest enough to return the walllet to you and to even admit that there was $50 in it when they found it, then I doubt that they would have taken your money. Be happy that it only cost you $29 to get your wallet back. They could have just kept the cash and dumped your wallet.

Send the person a thank you card instead.

[mamicka]

It definitely could have cost that much. I think a thank-you note & a note to the airline would be a nice gesture for the person who went out of his/her way to help you out. Swiping $29 just seems really random & unlikely for someone who was helping you.

[KBecks]

I would be happy to have the wallet and move on.

[mommy111]

Just a quick note to say that I fedex overnighted something (documents) the other day and it cost me over $26. Fedex overnight rates are pretty high. The airline could possibly also have insured in which case the cost could be even higher. I would send a thank you note to the airline. So wonderful that you found your wallet, that the cleaning crew turned it in and someone at the office actually called.