There's a video that FedEx (NYSE: FDX ) doesn't want you to see, but 3 million people already have.
A YouTube clip uploaded on Monday shows a FedEx driver hurling a PC monitor over a gated driveway.
"Here is a video of my monitor being delivered," reads the description on Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG ) popular video-sharing website. "The sad part is that I was home at the time with the front door wide open. All he would have had to do was ring the bell on the gate. Now I have to return my monitor since it is broken."
True to its moniker, FedEx has reacted quickly to the embarrassing situation.
A statement from the speedy parcel delivery specialist claims that the issue has now been resolved. FedEx had a face-to-face meeting with the recipient, apologizing in person and providing a replacement monitor at no additional cost. The errant employee has been handled according to FedEx's disciplinary policies.
"We know this is an aberration and is not reflective of the outstanding FedEx customer service that makes us proud around the world," the statement concludes.
FedEx -- and UPS (NYSE: UPS ) and the USPS, for that matter -- are great companies, but they're not perfect. We've all received battered boxes and defective merchandise over the years. We don't know if the blame falls on the shipper or the shipping service, but we're human. We make mistakes.
Unfortunately for FedEx and this particular driver, we also happen to live in an era where many affluent homes in Southern California have surveillance equipment. We have social tools including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, where these clips can go viral.
Mistakes are magnified.
The 3 million people who have seen this clip can't "un-see" what they saw. The one person who matters the most -- the recipient of the busted monitor -- has been satisfied, but the vast majority of YouTube users who have stumbled across the clip have no idea about the resolution.
"Did you see the video with that FedEx driver throwing that box over a fence?" has probably been a corporate ice breaker a few times this week -- and FedEx's reputation sours in every retelling.
Some companies embrace the negativity. Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ ) had an entire marketing campaign stemming from someone who had received a crushed pizza box. When it tweaked its pizza sauce, it approached those who had complained in the past. FedEx can't do that. It wants to erase everyone's memory bank of the surveillance video footage.
These are the holidays. Drivers will be rushed. Sadly, sometimes it's a company's reputation that gets heaved over a gate -- only to smash on the other side.
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