Fucking UPS just tried to steal our medication for the second time.

The BBQ Pit
1

So my mother has pretty good health insurance, but in order to get most prescriptions covered they insist that that we go through a particular mail-order pharmacy (which has often been a nightmare; I could write a whole other thread about Optum Rx).

About a month ago, they were shipped a three month supply of my little brother’s ADD medication (which is a stimulant, and a controlled substance). That package vanished into the ether. They claim to have missed delivery on a Monday, even though people were home at the time and they left no “missed delivery” slip on the door, then Tuesday they say the package was signed for by my stepfather, even though he was in another state at the time. UPS almost totally blew us off when we called to complain.

Today, we were eagerly awaiting a shipment of my mother’s cancer meds (chemotherapy, and some desperately needed anti-nausea pills). I was there specifically to make sure there was there was someone home to receive delivery, given what happened last time. Around 5:30 I hear the UPS truck pull up, and, being overly cautious, I go downstairs to take delivery directly (we set it up for no signature required this time).

The delivery guys put a bunch of boxes on a trolley and make deliveries to other buildings on the block … then they come out, get back in the truck, and prepare to take off. What the fuck?

“Hey! Excuse me…”
“Hey.”
“You don’t have anything for 21?”
[They look at each other]
“Oh yeah, we forgot.”

AAARGGGHHHH. If I’d had a fucking hatchet they would have no fucking necks. They couldn’t even come up with a plausible scenario (“I’ll double check in the back, maybe we missed something”). Just … we forgot. Well, clearly you fucking didn’t, since you immediately knew what I was talking about.

In four years at this apartment, with packages coming on average several times a week, there’s never been any issue with deliveries … until twice in one month, with UPS, and pills.
I took down the truck number – can’t wait to see how much nothing UPS does about this one.

This is some bullshit. Fuck UPS.

2

Can you have them delivered straight to the hub for pickup? Not that you should have to, in a perfect world, but it might be one way to make sure you get your packages.

3

Would it be worth sending in a police report? Just to log the incident if nothing else. A lot of police departments have websites with online forms.

4

UPS drivers are often thieves. Whenever Apple releases a new iPhone, thousands go “missing”, by which I mean “are stolen by UPS employees”.

5

I have a relative who works for UPS, and they are well watched. Call the office and report that and things will change.

ETA, most of that stuff is tracked, they know it’s on a particular truck. So it’s either still there, or the driver needs to come up with a good story about how it “disappeared.”

6

If you really suspect theft, report it to the police.

7

I sometimes have a problem with UPS (and a bit with FedEx, also). I am elderly and live in an apartment complex. I am unable to walk to the office to pick up any packages left there so depend on deliveries to my door (except by USPS, of course). I always get notifications of when a package is delivered on my phone. Most of the time packages are promptly delivered to my door and I have no problem. If, though, a package is delivered directly to the office I immediately call customer service for the deliverer. I explain that I am unable to walk to the office and depend on door delivery. In most cases customer service is very sympathetic and notifies the local branch. Sometimes local managers call me and sometimes not. I actually have had a manager direct the driver to retrieve the package at the office and redeliver it directly to me.

Any way, you should call and complain each time that the driver fails to deliver a package and sign up for notifications on the deliverers web site. You can even do this with USPS and it works fairly well although they over notify you.

Bob

8

I worked with a carpenter’s apprentice who had been fired for stealing medication. Mostly narcotics. His supervisor was involved. He got fired, as did some other underlings, but no big thing ever came of it and the supervisor, who was the ringleader, kept her job. This was about '06-'07. Insurance and general goodness of the pharmacies providing the medications covered the losses, but it was still bullshit, and the kid working with us treated it like it was “lust the way things were done”.

9

just.

10

So do they know which packages contain the good shit, or do they just steal anything that rattles? I’d imagine that the vast majority of pills shipped through the mail have no recreational (or resale) value, unless there’s a hot underground market for Synthroid.

11

What is there to report? “The UPS driver didn’t deliver a package that was on his truck.”

12

There’s a UPS store a few blocks away. Since we’re necessarily going to be getting regular medication deliveries from UPS, and since apparently we can’t trust them, we’ll probably just rent a box there for meds or other valuables. Presumably they wouldn’t be ballsy enough to steal from their own company’s address. It galls to reward the company for thievery, but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than going out of pocket for medication.

Hard to say? The first delivery, the one with stimulants, was (if history is a guide) probably packed in such a way that checking out the contents isn’t impossible. Or they may just know someone who can repackage & relabel something worthless. And having nabbed something valuable already from this address previously, they may have assumed it’s a good bet.

I don’t know if there’s actually a black market for this stuff but, as it happens, today’s delivery was a total of 65 pills (all generic) with a combined cost of over $4,000. And that’s another question: what the fuck is wrong with health care in this country?
Might file a police report. It would just be to get something on record, though; there’s nothing they can actually do (and, this being NYC, I doubt they’d try).

13

I think it must be easy to find out. If you open one that rattles, and it’s nothing valuable, just deliver it.

14

It would’t be that hard. Just open the ones that rattle, and if it’s not marketable’ deliver it with some tape on it. It got damaged during delivery.

15

I’ve been drinking, pardon me for the double post and the wrong quote.:wink:

16

Also the shipping address would tell anyone looking it’s pharmaceuticals in the package.

I agree with others, report it to the police, report you’ve done so to UPS and this will stop if there is truly shady shit happening.

17

They’re totally stealing it, or trying to. A bottle of aspirin is stolen these days. Definitely call the cops, UPS, and complain to the pharm company for forcing UPS service. I think that should be illegal. If you order online, you should have a choice of delivery method.

18

OP’s story doesn’t make sense. The first time you relate a medication gone missing it was speed, so that part checks out. But then you say this time it seemed like they were gunning to steal chemotherapy and anti-nausea meds? Why would anyone want those recreationally? If there were painkillers in that shipment, then yeah, it would make sense.

19

the UPS guys don’t know what meds are in the shipment until they steal it and open it

20

Are they capable of opening a package to check it’s contents and if it’s of no interest to them, just repackaging it as it originally was? Or do they not have access to shipping supplies?