What do I do with a FedEx claim denial?

Go to your local courthouse and pick up the paper work for filing a small claims lawsuit. Since the package was sent from your adress it is within the jurisdiction of your local court house. Fill it out and have Fed Ex served via certified mail. Include in your damages the amount the court fees are. You will need documentation for how much the remote costs to replace. You will get paid shortly before the court date, probably about 2 months.

I did this with a UPS insurance situation and they paid up. Mine was 2200.00 for a CD player.

It's pretty much standard procedure that they deny any claims made for damage shipments. Most people will just figure that it's to much trouble to go after them, but it's really not that hard, and I can just about garantee that you will get paid.

Sounds like FedEx has a point. THEY didn't pack the remote which "came loose from its compartment in the foam packing material during shipment and cracked"; Why should they be responsible? Whomever the packer was is the one at fault...

Ejlif comments:
We ship thousands of items yearly and deal with claims on incoming shipments constantly.
Ejlif is RIGHT ON THE MONEY.
We had the EXACT same experience with UPS in 1993. They paid 4 days after they were served.

Assuming you are not at fault, sue Fed Ex.
Your only worry will be if you win and they appeal it (if you lose you
can not appeal it, at least not in California). At that point it's no
longer a small claims issue, regardless of the amount.

We had *1* claim on our outbound shipments in 2001,
and Fed Ex denied it (not very good for Fed Ex since we only
use them about 30x's yearly, vs thousands for DHL).
One more letter to them and then we go to our local small claims office.
These freight companies just assume everyone will go away,
right or not, once they get that denial letter.

Go get'm!

Brian@Hello.lt

http://hellosimplymusic.com/packaging/

I am a lawyer. You can try filing a claim in small claims court against FedEx, and they might settle just to avoid the expense of sending a lawyer to court. If they do choose to go to court you will likely lose, since there was no external damage to the box. If the electronics was shipped in the original carton with the original foam inserts, and the remote was properly placed in the inserts, then the manufacturor is probably liable. This is based on the theory that the shipping carton did not properly protect the electronics in shipment. I would certainly press the manufacturor for a new remote. A remote will cost them very little, and they need to improve their carton.
Good Luck.

Thanks for all of the followups. I will look into small claims this week and give it a try. Theta offered to give me a remote for $150 instead of the $200 retail value. Doesn't seem like much of a discount but since Theta has to get the remote from Pioneer maybe that is all that they can do. By the way, that form letter that FedEx sends out is a piece of work. "We value your business, and appreciate your understanding in this matter. We look forward to serving your future express shipping needs". Pure corporate drivel!