Ahead of the projected surge in volumes over the holiday period, FedEx has suspended its money-back guarantees for overnight delivery services in the US and for four international services. This will take place from the 13th December.

As with rivals UPS, FedEx offers a money-back guarantee where late or missed deliveries are proven to be down to the carrier. Both companies suspended these guarantees in 2020 amidst the surge in parcel volumes due to the pandemic, and this is the third consecutive peak season that FedEx has done the same.

FedEx said in its note announcing its peak-season suspension that the status of full money-back guarantees is “being evaluated on an ongoing basis, and our focus remains on continuing to provide the best possible service to our customers during this period of uncertainty.”

It is worthy of note that the logistics giant has not announced how many seasonal staff it has taken on for the peak season, which is usually made with some fanfare. The money-back guarantee suspension may well be because an unexpected surge could overwhelm FedEx, should it have been conservative in the numbers of seasonal staff it has hired.