WARNING UPS does it again

[caf]

Several of you probably remember several months ago I tried to send a wooden crate with two full elliptic springs from Cal to NY via UPS. Somewhere in Ill. they managed to destroy the crate and sent me a claim form which they eventually paid. I tried to reach a human in their employ to try to recover the salvage, but it appears no humans work for them anymore. Well my son purchased a 1874 Backus Water Motor from Penn. and had it carefully packed and crated and guess what? They managed to damage the crate so bad that the cast base was broken. Thank god he had the sense to insure it for a kings ransome, but that doesn't really make up for destroying somthing so unique and rare. The lesson here is not to ship anything by UPS weighing over 40lbs.and certainly not anything of historical value. And by all means insure it to high heaven. Evidently they really do not want to handle parcels over 40 lbs and if they find one they intend to destroy it so they don't have to deal with it. I feel that their policy is their business. I just wish they would be honest and tell us the truth so that we could use someone else. From now on I will send only crates full of rocks insured for over $5000 by UPS. Sounds like a good retirement plan doesn't it??

[Guest]

very frustrating... Ugg.<P>In UPS's defense though, i've shipped over 200,000 packages through them in the past 12 years. All of them 5-10lbs. I don't have firm records but i suspect the quantity that were lost or damaged was dramatically less than 1%. Probably closer to .1%<P>For big packages (100lbs and up) i've had great success with Yellow Freight. They love the big stuff!<p>[ 08-07-2002: Message edited by: peterg ]

[29 Chandler]

I have also had trouble with UPS. They are difficult to deal with when it come to making a claim on an old car part. Sent a 1929 Chandler radiator across the country TWICE, both times it was damaged. The second time it was in a wooden crate! They wanted proof of its value as it was insured for $1500. They asked for a page from a cataloge showing the value. They finally accepted a detailed estimte from the shop that repaired it twice of how much a radiator built from scratch would cost them.<BR>I now use Alliance Air Freight for all our heavy items.<BR><A HREF="http://allianceairfreight.com" TARGET=_blank>Alliance Air Freight</A><BR>They have been great and cheaper than UPS and much cheaper than Yellow.<BR>

[1937hd45]

%@*&! UPS! They have lost or broken the last large items I have sent. They also screw you on the cost of shipping. The rate stated online NEVER matches the rate you pay when you drop it off! Yellow Frieght is GREAT. I don't even root for Dale Jarrett any more, dump the big brown load of crap and maybe I will.

[Guest]

Be sure you have a bill for those rocks for the amount of the insurance. You will play hell collecting without one.<P>A couple of years back I shipped a wooden crate containing an item I bought in the Hershey Flea market for $350. I insured the package for $1100 because there were other items in the box. Only the $350 item was broken and so I claimed only $350. I thought that was fair and honest, but they were neither fair nor honest. They refused to pay unless I could produce a bill from the seller. Fat chance of getting one of those from Joe the parts guy in a flea market.<P>Anyway, there is a God. They claimed the box was mispacked, but could not produce the empty crate or the broken contents which they picked up from the consignee. It seems that it was misrouted by them back to the claims dept. and was lost forever. I pointed out that since they had lost the evidence in their care they had effectively denied me my civil rights by preventing me from having the evidence to file an appeal.<P>Amazing how mentioning a violation of one's civil rights shakes people up. I got paid the $350. <P>The moral of this is always have a receipt for the purchase of what you ship via UPS. <P>Then insure the hell out of it.<P>hvs

[1937hd45]

Thank you Howard. I guess the "End of Auction" printout from an eBay Auction would be a "Bill of Sale" of sorts. Maybe a digital photo of the bozo at the UPS counter recieving your crate would help prove the condition of things before the shipping bozos get their mitts on it.

[1937hd45]

The above post was not ment to offend any hard working circus or rodeo workers.

[Guest]

whats a Backus Water motor?????<P>I receive mostly Fed-Ex shipments at a rural address. Never any problem from Fed-Ex. <P>When U r the shipper be careful about drop off points. Even tho Fed-Ex, UPS et-al will recommend a drop off point it may NOT be company operated but rather an Independent bussiness taking shipment on behalf of the carrier. In such cases, there will be a handling fee on top of the actual shipping charges that the independent keeps for himself.

[ex98thdrill]

What can be said about UPS? It looks like they spend more time and money trying to get Dale Jarrett to "race the truck" that they don't have time to take care of what's in the truck.

[Ron Green]

Last Thursday UPS delivered to me a rare one piece windshield of which was in two pieces. The crate was wood with many warning labels and excellent packing.<P>When I called them Monday my fingers seemed like carbol-tunnel was setting in from all the press 1, 7 star, pound, etc crap. No number specifically for damaged goods (amazing). Fooled them by dialing a 0 at one point and got a person who quickly by accident (yeh) cut me off. Started all over and filed a claim finally (I hope) with a employee that didn't seem to have very much of a thought process. Only time will tell as they did pick the windshield up to inspect it.<P>This is my first problem with UPS and my wife and I get at least 3 deliverys a week.

[caf]

One good thing Yellow Freight has going for it is they ship nationally. Smaller frieght outfits have to drop off shipments at terminals and this switching can cause things to get lost. Be sure to get a bill of lading number and check it often. As it gets closer to destination I check several times a day. It seems that they can get it to the correct state but specific addresses near destination can get fouled up. I have had good luck with Yellow.

[Guest c.johnson]

I worked at a company that received regular UPS delivery. We receive a package that was not for us, and returned it to the delivery guy. This happened with the same package, and the same delivery guy 3 times!! You would think the same delivery man would have figured it out after he had been back and forth with is so many times.. <P>The package was delivered to Utah, altough it was clearly labeled to New York. By the third time we received it, it was so badly damaged you could hardly tell it was a few CDs. We put it on the shelf, and tried to forget about it. (We sold construction material, what did we care about CDs?) Another 2 months went by, and the delivery guy came asking for the package. I guess a they sent a tracer on it, and found we had it - finally. <P>I can't imagine the look on the receivers face when he saw his package torn to shreds, plastic CDs broken in pieces, and only 2 months late. <P>Strangely, we convinced the boss to switch to FedEx after that <P>cj

[Guest]

Ron ~ If UPS denies your claim for the windshield, immediately inform them that you wish to appeal their denial, and follow that up with a written notice of that fact.<P>Then tell them you want to inspect the damaged marchandise and packing crate at the time of the appeal. If they hem and haw and cannot produce the evidence, e-mail me and I will give you the steps I took from there.<P>I was fromerly in the glass business and I <B>KNOW</B> from experience that UPS does not like to allow claims for glass breakage. If the packing case was NOT marked GLASS they will try, and probably successfully, to beat the claim. If it was properly marked, then they accepted the shipment knowing it was glass and are responsible unless they accepted the insurance coverage for LOSS ONLY and not breakage. That is another one of their tricks, so if they try that one ask to see written proof from the time of shipment that it was accepted under those conditions.<P>Those devils have all the deviousness of the good folks at Enron and Anderson. <P>hvs

[R W Burgess]

....And your Worldcom-- "AOL", Howard. Investigators found 2 BILLION more missing today. That situation is scary for all us using the internet system. Wayne<P>[ 08-08-2002: Message edited by: R WBurgess ]<p>[ 08-08-2002: Message edited by: R WBurgess ]

[Ron Green]

Thanks Howard for the advice hopefully everything will work out. The thing that scares me is the company shipping the glass did not have any warning signs stating the package was glass. I told them last night that they need to invest a few dollars for some warning stickers especially if UPS denies the claim. On a good note the company said that they will take care of ther problem either way and lucky for me they may have another windshield?

[Guest]

Ron ~ With UPS claims it is the shipper who must make the claim, so in this case you are lucky. <P>However there are some pitfalls in that. First is that the seller may not have another one of what you ordered. Second is the integrity of the seller. Suppose you pay for the item in advance and the seller decides not to refund your money or can't replace the damaged item. Then you have a legal fight on your hands and if the amount is not large it will be impractical to pursue it in court. It helps to have a lawyer in the family.<P>Whenever possible pay by credit card so that you have the ability to withhold payment. <P>But remember folks, that when you sell and ship an item it will be up to you to collect on a loss or damage claim.<P>If I sound cynical on this subject, it is based on years of experience as both a shipper and receiver. <P>hvs

[Judd]

Y'all<BR> I was told by a friend who is repairman for company that makes the conveyer systems for U.S.Post Office and UPS that the packages run down a line at 90MPH and are turned by wings. It is the sudden turn that breaks heavy packages. I started shipping models I build in two sections the heavy unbreakable section and the light delicate section packed so they could move in an over sized box and damage stopped. I have recieved boxes from USPO and UPS in perfect condition with the contents broken to pieces.

[1937hd45]

Can you fit a UPS worker in one of those boxes?

[Guest]

I have a question on this matter. I have someone on the west coast that may have an engine I need but they are 3000 miles away. I know this thing will be 600+ pounds and it also has the tranny on it which will add more to it. <P>Who would I even ask about shipping this thing to me and how much should this set me back if I decide to follow through? I don't think this would even be something to ask the UPS man about. USPS is out also but Yellow sounds possible if they would deliver here. <P>Has anyone shipped anything this big and who would you recommend?

[1937hd45]

I'd call Yellow Freight, thay have been great people to work with. The problem with trucking is the fact that there are so many rates based on what the item is made from. It is not just 500 pounds of whatever. You will get two different rates for 500 pounds of lead and 500 pounds of styrofoam. Knowing how to declare the item is the first step, shipping depot to depot also saves you money. The home delivery adds cost.