Woody
Woody SuperDork
8/17/09 6:45 p.m.

...and here's what I found:

Photobucket

The driver didn't even come to the door. My wife heard him backing into the driveway and she went out the front door, but he put the box down and drove off. There was no damage notice on the box. It was packaged and shipped at Staples, in a Staples box, with tape labeled "Staples". Someone added clear tape at some point later.

I am fairly certain of a few things:

1) Staples would not have released the box in that condition.

2) UPS would not have taken the box from Staples in that condition.

3) I will never ship anything by UPS again.

porksboy
porksboy Dork
8/17/09 6:58 p.m.

Did you notify the carrier and have them send someone out to retrive the package and take it back to the shipper? do this before you open the box. Also notify the shippers customer no service that this is happening. I cant belive a signature wasnt required. I always send Fed-Ex over night signature required.

fiat22turbo
fiat22turbo SuperDork
8/17/09 7:15 p.m.

Yep, the folks working the warehouse, loading the trucks are the lower paid grunts and they sometimes take enjoyment in tossing things labeled air freight or fragile.

Unfortunately, the drivers really should be more upstanding about it as they are representatives for the company. Anyone who has had to drink the "Brown-aid" would know that the company lives and dies by the drivers, hence why their union is so powerful.

cxhb
cxhb Reader
8/17/09 7:32 p.m.

notify ups. they will have someone come and inspect everything (you just have to keep pushing them), KEEP ALL THE PACKING. EVERYTHING. if anything is damaged you need all of it for your claim. most damage occurs in the warehouses. the clear tape more than likely came from the driver as they carry it in the truck for instances such as this. trust me, the drivers dont want your package damaged anymore than you do as they catch a LOT of flack for it as well as the things that the package handlers do in the warehouses which is completely out of there control.

PM me for the ups customer service line.

cxhb
cxhb Reader
8/17/09 7:34 p.m.

and im not even joking, 90 percent of the damaged ups shipments are all warehouse issues whether it be stupid handlers or the conveyers they ride on from one end to the other. your unlucky package was brobably right in front of something REALLY heavy.

wbjones
wbjones Reader
8/17/09 7:44 p.m.
porksboy wrote: I cant belive a signature wasnt required. I always send Fed-Ex over night signature required.

I've been receiving shipments via UPS for many yrs now ( I'm 60 so that's a lot of yrs) ( Fed-Ex also) and haven't had to sigh for anything for ..... I can't remember that far back.....

packages are left by the door.... even if I meet the truck the driver just hands me the package

cxhb
cxhb Reader
8/17/09 7:48 p.m.

signature req'd costs extra, or in the case of a High Value (greater than 1000 dollar value) they come anyway. Sometimes the drivers are allowed to leave it only if they feel the area is a "secure environment." which is dependant on what a driver would consider secure.

Woody
Woody SuperDork
8/17/09 8:18 p.m.
cxhb wrote: trust me, the drivers dont want your package damaged anymore than you do as they catch a LOT of flack for it as well as the things that the package handlers do in the warehouses which is completely out of there control.

I'm sure that the driver's are pretty careful, since they're the ones who run the risk of face to face contact with the recipient.

confuZion3
confuZion3 SuperDork
8/17/09 9:10 p.m.

In my apartment, the UPS drivers will bring my toys upstairs all the way to the fourth floor. I don't have an elevator and I order lots of parts for my track slave. One UPS guy even came after I got off of work (I'm usually not home when they come) and he helped me carry my new tires down to my storage unit in the basement. The driver probably wasn't to blame. It was probably somewhere else along the line.

That said, my friend ordered a monitor online once (right when CRTs were going out and LCDs were coming in...it was a CRT). It had been dropped and did not work. I think UPS took care of them. Call customer service.

pete240z
pete240z Dork
8/17/09 9:51 p.m.

just think of the funny stories you now have to tell your buddies.....

mtn
mtn Dork
8/17/09 11:02 p.m.

I think UPS drivers are great. Ours always would have a dog treat for the dogs (if the owner consented), and made a point to come express his sorrows to us when our Shelby passed; he stopped the truck and walked about 100 yards backwards when he saw that we were outside.

HappyAndy
HappyAndy Reader
8/17/09 11:58 p.m.
Woody wrote:
cxhb wrote: trust me, the drivers dont want your package damaged anymore than you do as they catch a LOT of flack for it as well as the things that the package handlers do in the warehouses which is completely out of there control.
I'm sure that the driver's are pretty careful, since they're the ones who run the risk of face to face contact with the recipient.

Unless its not the regular driver on the route.... My wife once ordered some tickets for an event and had them shipped ups overnight 11am delivery gauranteed (or something like that). By 5 pm no tickets arrived, checked tracking and It said that they were delivered. We called ups and they said that they were delivered and there was nothing that they could do about it becaused they were signed for? The package turned up on her sisters door several days later, we called ups again, and their responce was "you've got your package now, but since it was late we will refund the shipper the shipping cost, there is nothing that we can do about your tickets not arriving on time". When we saw the regular ups driver some time later we told him about the experience and he said the driver that filled in while he was on vacation messed up so many deliveries that it would have been better to have no one doing the route. I've asked other ups drivers about this type of situation, and none that I have talked to will deny that its a common problem.

Ever since then I've used usps or fed-ex for all my shipping, I even request that things being shipped to me not be sent by ups, if at all possible. IMO ups charges top dollar for thier service, but doesn't live up to expectations.

Travis_K
Travis_K HalfDork
8/18/09 12:12 a.m.

I think UPS is so worried about their image of being perfect (like the way they quickly remove wrecked trucks in the event of an accident, etc), that they are not willing to aknowledge a mistake and do what it takes to fix it. I use fedex for shipping anything i have the need to.

cwh
cwh Dork
8/18/09 7:51 a.m.

Almost all of my outgoing shipping is by freight forwarder, but occaisionally somebody will request DHL or FedEx. Those are the only ones that cause problems, but that has been late delivery, no damage yet. Incoming is usually UPS, and still, no damaged goods. I know I have been lucky.

Strizzo
Strizzo SuperDork
8/18/09 9:05 a.m.

we had to stop using UPS because they "lost" several large shipments, and all of our shipments HAVE to be on time. not to mention issues we've had shipping into mexico. now we only use fedex, and are much happier.

Rusty_Rabbit84
Rusty_Rabbit84 HalfDork
8/18/09 9:36 a.m.

did Ace Ventura deliver it?

motomoron
motomoron Reader
8/18/09 2:01 p.m.

UPS never asks for a signature unless I've specifically instructed a vendor to ship something urgent with "no signature required" in which case it's virtually assured that I'll arrive home after work Friday to find a notice that it'll be redelivered Monday. Of course it's already been 10 days since UPS ground takes freakin' forever from say, Oregon to DC.

I request USPS priority mail as my preferred shipper with FedEx ground a close second. 3 days coast-to-coast, inexpensive, PayPal links directly w/ eBay and USPS for super easy shipping. FedEx ground service is nearly always the least expensive option for dense-heavy stuff.

UPS delivered 3 of 4 boxes of prototype parts (custom 8mm, heat treated 8640 CrMo skateboard axles w/ centerless ground bearing seats ans rolled threads) and lost one but stated it had been delivered. The parts were dependant on a volume order for production, so the vendor would only remake the parts at about 4 times the cost. the ensuing mess took nearly a year to sort out.

I will not willingly use UPS. "What has Brown done for me lately?" not a lot.

66aldo
66aldo New Reader
8/18/09 5:41 p.m.

Why am I reminded of the opening sequence of the first Ace Ventura movie????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V64r3q4FuA

Seriously though, that sucks!

Keith
Keith SuperDork
8/18/09 6:31 p.m.

We ship a lot of stuff via UPS. With the right packing, almost everything will get through. It's harder than simply tossing something in the closest box and taping it shut, but a good shipping department won't have problems with them. We get very, very few damage claims.

grinch77
grinch77 Reader
8/18/09 9:19 p.m.

(custom 8mm, heat treated 8640 CrMo skateboard axles w/ centerless ground bearing seats ans rolled threads)

sorry to hijack but a little more info on this please..

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