Start on the tracking page rather than the claim form. FedEx routes a non-arrival through Manage Delivery, where a Report Missing Package option opens a case with a number attached, and a shipment running a day or more behind can be raised as a support ticket. The formal claim for an undelivered shipment stays open for nine months from the ship date, so there is room to trace properly first.
The trace creates a record the claim can later stand on.
Trace routes per the FedEx tracking support pages, and deadlines per fedex.com/en-us/customer-support/claims.html, all checked 2026-07-28.
A damaged parcel arrives with its own evidence attached. A lost one has none, which shifts the entire weight onto records made before the shipment left.
List per fedex.com, checked 2026-07-28. Build the habit of photographing the packed contents and the label together before sealing; it takes ten seconds and it answers three of these five lines at once.
Nine months is a long time to leave a customer waiting, so most sellers reship early. We quoted a 12 by 12 by 12 in carton at 15 lb through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Days quoted |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $17.01 | 8-9 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $19.63 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $19.78 | No window returned |
| UPS | Ground | $23.54 | 2-3 business days |
| FedEx | Ground | $28.59 | 5-6 business days |
The cheapest row quoted the longest wait and the priciest FedEx row did not quote the shortest, which is a reminder that price and speed are only loosely related on ground services. Quote the lane on the day; these figures belong to that Tuesday.
FedEx allows nine months on a lost shipment. UPS wants a claim started within 60 days of the scheduled delivery date, per ups.com checked 2026-07-27, which is a far tighter leash on the same kind of problem. Our missing UPS package guide works that side.
Misdelivery resolves faster than loss, and the delivery image is the fastest way to tell them apart. Look at the door, the mat, the step and the house number before concluding anything.
Optional SMKlog shipping protection is claimed by email with the order number, tracking number, proof of value and photographs, under its own pilot rules. It is a separate track from the carrier case, not a substitute for it.
Through the tracking page. FedEx puts a Report Missing Package option under Manage Delivery, and it issues a case number you should quote in everything that follows. A shipment merely running a day or more late can be raised as a support ticket instead.
Undelivered or lost shipments are claimable within nine months of the shipment date, per fedex.com checked 2026-07-28. That is much longer than the 60 calendar days FedEx allows for damage or missing contents, so keep the two straight.
Then the shipment was misdelivered rather than lost, and the case is about redirecting a parcel that exists. Raise it with the case number from the tracking page and describe what the image shows, since the photograph is the strongest evidence in that conversation.
FedEx lists serial numbers of damaged or lost merchandise among the materials it uses to support claims investigations. For electronics in particular, record them at packing time, because nobody can retrieve a serial number from a parcel that never arrived.