FedEx apologizes for another bungled Huawei delivery

This photograph taken on August 6, 2018, shows a McDonnell Douglas MD11 aircraft of US parcel delivery giant FedEx on the tarmac at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris. [File photo: AFP/ JOEL SAGET]

FedEx has issued another apology in relation to a delivery involving Huawei, after the global logistics company returned a Huawei phone destined to New York from London because of an "operational error," according to a statement emailed on Saturday to PC Magazine.

A tweet posted by Sascha Segan, the lead mobile analyst at PC Magazine. [Photo: China Plus]

Sascha Segan, the lead mobile analyst at PC Magazine, tweeted that a colleague in London had tried to send a Huawei handset to him in New York for assessment. However, it was returned to London with a note glued on the package, saying "parcel returned by FedEx, due to U.S. government issues with Huawei and China government."

A tweet posted by Sascha Segan, the lead mobile analyst at PC Magazine. [Photo: China Plus]

In an article published at PC Magazine, Sascha Segan and his London colleague Adam Smith said that they wanted to refresh their review of Huawei's P30 Pro. "As we had one at our office in London, our UK reporter, Adam Smith, popped it in a Parcelforce bag to sail over the seas to New York," they wrote.

The delivery was picked up by FedEx. The tracking information provided by the company showed that after leaving London, the package flew to Indianapolis before being shipped back to Smith in London later that day.

Smith and Segan said a customer service representative with Parcelforce replied to them on Twitter, saying "As advised on the information provided, due to the issues the USA government is having with Huawei they don't accept any items with this brand." FedEx also replied to them on Twitter via @FedExHelp, saying "it is my understanding that to ensure our compliance, at this time we are not accepting any shipments to any of the listed Huawei entities."

File photo of Huawei’s P30 series smartphones. [Photo: IC]

In a later statement issued by FedEx published by PC Magazine, the company said "the package in question was mistakenly returned to the shipper, and we apologize for this operational error. As a global company that moves 15 million shipments each day, we are committed to compliance with all rules and regulations and minimizing impact to our customers as we adjust our operations to comply with a dynamic US regulatory environment. "

The incident comes shortly after China's government announced it was investigating FedEx for an incident in May when it diverted two parcels to the United States that were destined for Huawei addresses in Asia. Huawei also claims that FedEx attempted to reroute two other parcels. FedEx later apologized, and said that the packages were mishandled because of an internal error.