Screwed by UPS, any advice?

[hopkins_student]

I was home in Kentucky doing an away rotation shortly before Christmas. I purchased a center channel speaker for my home theater/stereo and had a friend of mine UPS it to me in California using his UPS business account. The UPS tracking calculator "guaranteed" that if shipped on Monday the 17th of December it would arrive on Friday the 21st of December. I knew that I would be back in California from Wednesday the 19th to Saturday the 22nd before leaving for Florida, so I had my friend ship it on Monday, which he did. I kept checking the online tracking on Friday and all day it said that it was out for delivery, but at about 8:30 that night it said that delivery would be rescheduled for the 24th. So, I left for Florida on the 22nd and assumed that UPS would either leave the package with my leasing office or, at the very worst, return it to the sender, which would have been inconvenient, but we could live with that. Come to find out, they left it by the front door to my apartment on the 24th. I finally got in touch with someone from my apartment complex on the 27th and they went to my unit to look for the package. Of course, by that time, one of the sleazeball ******* criminals that lives in my building had run off with it. Unfortunately, my friend did not insure it beyond the minimum $100 that is included with any UPS shipment. My friend has already begun filing a claim with UPS for the missing package and they told him that there's pretty much no way that he's getting more than $100.

So, I count two instances where UPS didn't live up to their end of the deal. The first is the "guaranteed" delivery on the 21st which didn't happen, and the second is leaving a package by my front door without a signature. Has anybody experienced a similar situation with a shipping company or does anybody have any advice to go about getting more than the minimum $100, considering UPS was negligent in their handling of my item?

Thanks for your help, HS.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by hopkins_student

I was home in Kentucky doing an away rotation shortly before Christmas. I purchased a center channel speaker for my home theater/stereo and had a friend of mine UPS it to me in California using his UPS business account. The UPS tracking calculator "guaranteed" that if shipped on Monday the 17th of December it would arrive on Friday the 21st of December. I knew that I would be back in California from Wednesday the 19th to Saturday the 22nd before leaving for Florida, so I had my friend ship it on Monday, which he did. I kept checking the online tracking on Friday and all day it said that it was out for delivery, but at about 8:30 that night it said that delivery would be rescheduled for the 24th. So, I left for Florida on the 22nd and assumed that UPS would either leave the package with my leasing office or, at the very worst, return it to the sender, which would have been inconvenient, but we could live with that. Come to find out, they left it by the front door to my apartment on the 24th. I finally got in touch with someone from my apartment complex on the 27th and they went to my unit to look for the package. Of course, by that time, one of the sleazeball ******* criminals that lives in my building had run off with it. Unfortunately, my friend did not insure it beyond the minimum $100 that is included with any UPS shipment. My friend has already begun filing a claim with UPS for the missing package and they told him that there's pretty much no way that he's getting more than $100.

So, I count two instances where UPS didn't live up to their end of the deal. The first is the "guaranteed" delivery on the 21st which didn't happen, and the second is leaving a package by my front door without a signature. Has anybody experienced a similar situation with a shipping company or does anybody have any advice to go about getting more than the minimum $100, considering UPS was negligent in their handling of my item?

Thanks for your help, HS.

I can't offer anything helpful, but wtf is the point of using a courier if they're just gonna drop it infront of your door? Not even canada post does that with their regular service. They leave you a pickup notice and you have to go to the outlet on the notice. And in an apartment building no less! Wth did they think would happen to the package?

The problem as I see it for you is that you have no way of proving the value of the contents as they weren't insured for over $100.

 

[teddieriley]

I thought it was UPS's policy NOT to leave anything in the front door of an unsecured apartment building? And typically, if it the bulding/complex is secured, the delivery guy shoudln't have access to your front door, unless you authorized them to leave something at your door. I know they will leave it in front of a house if it looks safe and they put it behind something. Maybe you can look into what liability exists if they broke protocol (not sure if they did in your case). Sorry nothing specific to add.

 

[SoCal2NYC]

Very wierd that UPS left something. UPS and FedEx never leave anything on the door step for me. USPS will leave things because they have a key to get into the building foyer where the mailboxes are.

 

[SoCal2NYC]

It was insured for $100 so there is not much you can walk away with.

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by teddieriley

I thought it was UPS's policy NOT to leave anything in the front door of an unsecured apartment building? And typically, if it the bulding/complex is secured, the delivery guy shoudln't have access to your front door, unless you authorized them to leave something at your door. I know they will leave it in front of a house if it looks safe and they put it behind something. Maybe you can look into what liability exists if they broke protocol (not sure if they did in your case). Sorry nothing specific to add.
UPS' policy is whatever they feel like saying it is that day. I had a two-hour argument with them a while back in which the guy maintained that UPS won't leave a package unattended ... unless the driver is "reasonably" comfortable that it will be undisturbed. I shudder to think of the race and class implications. Ultimately, it's up to the driver's discretion. Of course, the driver has an incentive to leave the package, because that means he doesn't have to come back the next day. Best of all, the guy I spoke with made it abundantly clear that UPS doesn't really care if you get your package or not. UPS, he said, works for the sender, not the recipient, and the company views its job as being to deliver to an address, not a person. I really hate UPS, and would happily pay a premium on every shipping purchase to avoid them.

 

[rxcats]

I live in a building with 96 units. UPS never leaves anything outside of the building door. If they are delivering something that does not require a signature, they will leave it in front of my actual apartment door if they are able to gain entrance to the building.

 

[Piobaire]

My house has a nice courtyard in the front and UPS constantly leaves things at my front door, even things that expressly require signatures, such as when they drop off cases of wine being shipped in from Cali.

Sorry to hear about your loss Hopkins.

 

[GQgeek]

I'll add to the others in saying that I avoid ups if at all possible. I hate that company.

 

[Piobaire]

I am surprised at all the UPS hate. I greatly prefer them to Fed Ex for deliveries to my home. Fed Ex is superior, to my experience, for work deliveries.

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

UPS' policy is whatever they feel like saying it is that day. I had a two-hour argument with them a while back in which the guy maintained that UPS won't leave a package unattended ... unless the driver is "reasonably" comfortable that it will be undisturbed. I shudder to think of the race and class implications. Ultimately, it's up to the driver's discretion. Of course, the driver has an incentive to leave the package, because that means he doesn't have to come back the next day.
This is true. Fortunately I have a good driver these days and he takes care of me, though he can't control what happens to my packages before he gets them -- last year I had the same item shipped to me three times and sent back for damage ($600 head gasket sets for my car). Gave up and had it FedExed. Piobaire -- FedEx 'Home' deliveries (the trucks with the little dog on them) are not the same level of service as the business or Express delivery service.

 

[truestorytravis]

Do you have a reciept from the retailer that states how much you paid for the speaker and that it would be shipped via UPS? That might be enough to prove that the value of the speaker is more than $100. IDK though, I've never had a problem this bad with any shipper.

You could also go directly to the retailer to try and get the problem solved. As I see it, there's an implicit guarantee between you and the retailer that your package will arrive to you in a timely manner and without damage (or theft). This might be better than trying to deal with UPS.

I usually use USPS and they've never let me down.

 

[Quirk]

I have nothing to suggest other than to write them with your complaint. Actually, I once complained to my local driver about his having returned a package of mine to the UPS center when I wasn't at home, instead of simply leaving it in the lobby for me to pick up, and he told me that he couldn't leave packages in the lobby any more because another resident had complained that his/her package had gone missing.

 

[TyCooN]

Plan ahead by having the item deliveried to a friend you trust.