FedEx 'Systematically' Overcharged Customers For Years: Report

While the U.S. Postal Service struggles to drum up business, one of its biggest competitors stands accused of regularly taking advantage of customers.

A FedEx executive said in an email that the company "systematically" overcharged businesses and government offices for years, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.

"I have brought this to attention of many people over the past five or six years, including more than one managing director, and no action has been taken to address it," said Alan Elam, a FedEx sales executive, in a 2011 email revealed in a lawsuit, according to Bloomberg.

FedEx fought back against the charges on Tuesday. "We highly value our relationships with our customers and these relationships are at the core of all we do," FedEx spokesperson Sally Davenport wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "These 11 documents do not tell the entire story of this case. We will continue to defend these allegations in a court of law and not the media."

Complaints about FedEx charging unfair fees have come up before. One small business owner told Consumerist in 2009 that FedEx charged him for a 95-pound package when his package was only 10 pounds. However, the Bloomberg story depicts a systemic problem.

This is not the best time for FedEx to get bad publicity, since the holiday season is its busiest time of year. FedEx projected that Monday was the busiest day in its history.

FedEx also faces a lawsuit from a former FedEx driver, Carlos Rocha, who alleges that the company defrauded him and made "unlawful and involuntary" wage reductions. FedEx called the claims "meritless" in a statement.

And the U.S. Postal Service is struggling. It hit its borrowing limit for the first time in October and will lose $16 billion this year. USPS plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs.

This post has been updated to include a statement by FedEx spokesperson Sally Davenport.