Thread: Heads up......shipping via UPS.

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I just thought I would pass along something I learned the hard way this week, maybe will save one of you some problems in the future. I sold a few unneeded car parts on another forum and took 3 of them to Office Depot on Oct 3rd and shipped them. Got all the receipts and forwarded the tracking numbers to the buyers so they could watch them come to them.

Two days later one of the three buyers sent me an email saying that tracking number was not coming up, so I put it in the computer, he was right. I went to O-D the next morning and they told me they saw my stuff go out the door (It was some odd shaped stuff, like dropped axle, batwings, hairpins) I then called UPS and they told me they see this happen occasionally where no tracking info shows but the box suddenly shows up delivered. She said it should be there by the 7th.

I kept the buyer in the loop and told him to let me know if it showed up. Friday came and the box didn't show up, so I went to the local UPS depot and spoke to a manager. He said it was O-D problem, not theirs and I had to put in a claim with them. Monday I went to the O-D store at the time they told me the UPS guy shows up every day and caught him. He was less than helpful and basically said if the box is picked up he scans it, so O-D must not have given it to him.

Long story short, I have refunded the money to the buyer to get him out of this mess and have put in a claim with O-D. No one can tell me how long it will take for me to get reimbursed (thank God I insured it) or who will be paying me, UPS or O-D. I feel like a ping pong ball.

Moral of story, from now on I drive the extra few miles and put the packages right in the hands of a UPS counter person, that way they can't deflect the blame onto some second party that they sublet shipping privilages to. Oh, in case you are wondering, the other two packages arrived fine and tracking info showed up as normal.

Don

Good word, Don - we use UPS on a regular basis as well as FedEx and rarely have any issues. Of the few problems we've had, our regular driver(s) have been extremely helpful.

The problem with the Office Depot (or similar) is that they are agents and the contracts are cut over brandy and cigars in a dark room somewhere with vague conditions that are never passed on the the drivers so they (the drivers) are sometimes at a loss as to how to handle these issues - however; doesn't excuse rude behavior.

My experience has always been professional but as your story points out, the insurance is always a good idea if you're shipping anything of value.

I had a CNC dropped axle worth about $1000 shipped from CA to me in Tucson. An empty axle box arrived. Called UPS, they said the shipper had to file the claim. The theoretical axle journey could be traced from the shipping point to two intermediate UPS locations and then to Tucson hub but they could not find a 52" long axle.....somewhere out there is a UPS worker with a high dollar axle under his hot rod or maybe under his brown truck.......and nobody at UPS said "sorry", "f**k you" or anything.

if all else fails they`ll claim the loss as a " act of god " .. happened to my company a few years ago on a 50 grand finished product we shipped .. it was found a year later in a terminal warehouse ..

Strange you should mention that , Robot. I have a very funny feeling the driver didn't scan that one package on purpose. When I walked up to him on the sidewalk as he was going into O-D, he was almost avoiding me as I was telling him I wanted to talk to him about a lost package. He had a very strange manner about him and seemed to want out of there as fast as possible.

I could be way out in left field, but who knows?

Don

I ordered a ball cap with my call sign on it OF NO USE to some one else. After 2 weeks I called the shipper(seller) told him I never got it. He said that had never happened before.....He finely sent me another one and it arrived in less than a week no additional cost to me.........about a month later a box showed up on my door step from UPS it looked like it came from china with out a boat smash and all torn... I opened it there was my hat. I called the sellewr and sent him another check I now have 2 hats with my call on them

ha ... i have a spare deck lid spoiler for my stang ... i only paid for one ....

UPS operates a fairly reasonable odds business----stuff is in their possession 100%(except for the drop off point contractors like Office Depot) and the liklyhood of it going astray are remote---so----they sell insurance to the customers---and as long as the insurance bottom line is showing a profit---they don't care what happens or needs to happen to fix any reliability problems---that would be an excessive expense to them as they would have to give training to each and everyone of their employees and the results wouldn't show any thing added to the positive side of the ledger. Soooooo-------------

Don....the UPS guy who didnt want to talk to you....
did he look broke?
did he look like he stayed up late working on his hobby?
were his fingers cut?
did his clothing have grease on them?
was his credit card max'd out?
did he have a 9/16" box wrench in his pocket?

If any of the above are a "yes" he might be a hot rodder
and "acquired" a few parts from you.

Afew years back,I ordered some Model A running boards and valances from another fiberglass company in Auckland..The guy wrapped the stuff up for me,and walked the quarter mile(or less)down the road to Mainfreights main depot,and left them there for delivery..They never turned up,or for that matter,turned up anywhere..Fact is,,the silly beggar wrapped the stuff in bubble wrap,,and it was quite obvious what it was..Methinks,they had a guy either on the staff,or someone who walked in the main door,saw it and took it.... The hassles of going through an insurance claim with the company bugged me,,cos they just didnt seem to care about it..

not sure if its true but if ups drops off a box and you do not sing for it or not there driver lost it ? but tracker shows it made it to the final destination it comes out of the ups drivers pay

One thing that he said while the O-D clerk and I were talking to him that made me suspicious was he asked if the missing parts were "like car struts or something." (They are a pair of Pete and Jakes hairpin radius rods) I said yes, and he said he did remember taking the axle out because it was in bubble wrap and he had to put it under his arm, instead of on his hand truck. Maybe he made a lucky guess as to the contents of the missing box, but his demeanor just seemed standoffish somehow. I know he was in a rush because those guys have so many stops to make, but he seemed overly anxious to me.

Another thing that I do not like about UPS or FedEx is that they will leave stuff at your door if you are not home. I came home one day and there were two big boxes sitting on our landing, and in them were two custom made bomber seats Dan had ordered for his car. Anyone could have come along and taken them.

Don

Don just wondering you said they were in bubble wrap.... I haven't been able to send anything UPS for several years without it beingin a cardboard box,or on a skid.

not sure if its true but if ups drops off a box and you do not sing for it or not there driver lost it ? but tracker shows it made it to the final destination it comes out of the ups drivers pay

Pat A delivery by UPS to a business has to be signed for . A residential delivery can be left in a secure place without a signature . But then what
is a secure area ?
Robot you are right , It's amazing that a large part , like an axle , can fall from a box and it Isn't noticed !!!
ALLWAYS OVER INSURE , in the end you might break even !

yep when i send stuff i request that it must have the singnature of the name of customer when they receive it.i have talk about this to the third party i use for ups or fexdx they said many times the driver makes a judgment call as to how good the neighborhood is to just drop it and run