Reason #4933 to never use UPS, and especially the UPS Store

[wj94 10+ year member]

this is going to be really long, but here's my story:

I brought in a set of speakers and told them to package them up and send them out with $500 insurance. They didn't charge me for the packaging (for whatever reason) and apparently only put packing peanuts in a box with 50 pound speakers. UPS standards for speaker shipping call for 2" thick styrofoam and 2" of bubble wrap between items with the rest as packing peanuts as I found out later straight from UPS.

Anyway, one of them arrived with damaged with a magnet detached from the cone. UPS told the receiver to keep the working speaker and told him to repackage the broken one in another box and sent it back without telling the guy (he thought he was going to have it returned to him after inspection). So my speaker is currently sitting at the UPS Store down at VT and has been for almost a month. The UPS Store says they can't prove to UPS's insurance claims department how the speaker was packed because it was repackaged for inspection. Remember, UPS instructed him to repackage it.

The woman who owns the UPS Store I shipped it with came to the conclusion (because she is...you know....qualified in the science of speaker construction) that the damage was internal and the speaker must have simply "fallen apart" (...right) due to shotty construction. So I took the time to call the speaker company and have them email me a statement with their opinion, in which they confirmed that it very likely was a packaging issue and informed me that 98% of the time they deal with UPS claims, they are denied the first time and won't be paid until you continuously follow-up on them. Now, I would tend to think the opinion of a certified speaker engineer would suprecede that of some girl who owns a packaging store, but what do I know?

So because they didn't charge me for packaging, and because the stupid employee behind the counter marked off the "packed by customer" box AFTER I had already signed the shipping slip (very illegal), UPS denied the claim on a broken speaker due to "insufficient packaging" and now I've gone through about 93204082345 phone calls trying to get the UPS Store to cover the damage out of pocket since they screwed up. I originally made the claim on May 9th and here we are more than a month later. Every time they say someone will call me back, nobody ever does. Normally I'd probably just say screw it and pay for the repair myself, which by the way, is less than $100....but this has become a principle issue now. It amazes me that the UPS Store's customer service doesn't think it's better to pay a simple claim out of pocket when it was their fault to a customer who spends $1000+ at the store annually......I sure as hell won't be shipping there again. DHL is my new shipping company and I've yet to have a problem. The shipping rates are also about half of what UPS charges.

Also, if anyone didn't know, the UPS Store and UPS itself are apparently not affiliated with each other, so they like to play the blame game and go back and forth about whose fault a problem is since neither technically supports the other. Screw you once again, UPS.

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[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

Gonna happen through any shipping company //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. Take those bishes to small claim ftw! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

wow who woulda knew the ups store and ups itself dont have any affiliation.

 

[temposs 10+ year member]

All shipping companies treat boxes and customers like garbage.

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

uhh... anyone wanna break it down for me? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[wj94 10+ year member]

Gonna happen through any shipping company //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. Take those bishes to small claim ftw! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I realize packages break and most shipping companies will throw them around, but the fact is nobody from the store wants to take responsibility for their mistake. If the package were done according to UPS's standards, it would have greatly minimized the risk for damage even under those conditions. I would hope FedEx and DHL would have managers smart enough to realize that simply paying out of pocket to keep a frequent customer happy is the smart thing to do. As I have always been tought, a person who receives great service will tell 1-2 people on average, and a person who has a bad experience will tell 10-14 people. Now we have the internet and I can tell a few thousand people.....I just can't believe they aren't willing to fork over less than $100 to fix the speaker to avoid such an issue and to keep my business.

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

I realize packages break and most shipping companies will throw them around, but the fact is nobody from the store wants to take responsibility for their mistake. If the package were done according to UPS's standards, it would have greatly minimized the risk for damage even under those conditions. I would hope FedEx and DHL would have managers smart enough to realize that simply paying out of pocket to keep a frequent customer happy is the smart thing to do. As I have always been tought, a person who receives great service will tell 1-2 people on average, and a person who has a bad experience will tell 10-14 people. Now we have the internet and I can tell a few thousand people.....I just can't believe they aren't willing to fork over less than $100 to fix the speaker to avoid such an issue and to keep my business.

I dont trust any of em //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif. However on the buying end I got foked over by fedex and have not shipped with them since. UPS has never given me a problem or broken anything of mine. USPS once a smaller small a larger 2lb package by putting like a 60lb package on it lol. Customer asked for the info and I have it to them. Then usps dealt with the customer, never had to talk to anyone...that was pretty nice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. However I still over pack everything I send because Id rather pay a lil more in materials than have to deal with any of them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. Its like dealing with a shitty insurance company lol.

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

wow who woulda knew the ups store and ups itself dont have any affiliation.

They have to have some kind of connection //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. Must be some type of franchise? You just sell the shipping and you get a commission or some shit? I just talked locally to mine about getting pick ups done if I had like 30 packages every couple days. They said it would be pretty //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif because the owner would pick it up in her tahoe...I was like //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif wtf. Said they dont give shipping discounts there period //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif. Ship 1000 packages a day, still no discount //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

For dropping off a package or two, its great. But sending bulk...meh 1800callups or some shit like that //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Edit: hope those post make any sense...I think its about time to retire for the night //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[wilzyx 5,000+ posts]

I dont trust any of em //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif. However on the buying end I got foked over by fedex and have not shipped with them since. UPS has never given me a problem or broken anything of mine. USPS once a smaller small a larger 2lb package by putting like a 60lb package on it lol. Customer asked for the info and I have it to them. Then usps dealt with the customer, never had to talk to anyone...that was pretty nice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. However I still over pack everything I send because Id rather pay a lil more in materials than have to deal with any of them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. Its like dealing with a shitty insurance company lol.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/hilarious.gif.02a037aad04aa96f19982b298a3d70a8.gif that made no god dammed sence at all

 

[ssj2xxgotenxx 10+ year member]

Go form a one man protest in their store. Chain yourself to the door and declare your hatred to all those that enter.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

There is nothing you can do, UPS is just scum. They deny all claims, period.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Keep bird-doggin' it, wj.

Keep at 'em until they pay.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsup.gif.3287b36ca96645a13a43aff531f37f02.gif to you for being a proactive seller and keeping after it for your buyer.