United Parcel Service can die

The BBQ Pit
41

[QUOTE=Otto]

I report it and the inspector comes out. He denies the television immediately because it’s not packed in the styrofoam packing that would have been in its original box, which I didn’t have because it was a floor model which I had to buy because they refused to pay full replacement value for the first TV they broke.

[/quote]

Hmmm…sorry to be argumentative, but I would never expect to just throw a television set in a box without packing material and have it survive. Anything with glass in it needs to be securely encased in soft packing material and held still so that it cannot move around inside the box. I think you may be expecting miracles from UPS. The fact that you didn’t have the packing material isn’t really their responsibility.

42

[QUOTE=Eva Luna]

Three times, although she was home all day and managed to receive all sorts of wedding gifts via Fedex with no problems, UPS left delivery slips stating that nobody was home.
[/QUOTE]

O.K., this strikes me as odd, too. They left the slips at the house? Are you saying that the UPS person snuck up to the front door and left the notices while deliberately trying not to be detected by the person inside the house? Why would they do that?

43

[QUOTE=anamnesis]
As far as I can tell, the only fault a buyer can have in any transaction is, um, not having the money to pay for it. So what else can they do wrong? I want to make sure it’s really not my fault …
[/QUOTE]

From my own experience (not eBay related though), it would be the fucking moron who doesn’t know their own address. I can understand blaming it on me if I took your information over the phone. Sure, maybe I keyed it incorrectly, or maybe I misheard you. But, when you fax in an order, and I key it exactly as you have written it, you can not then blame it on me, or the shipper.

In this case, we did eventually find the package, in a completely different city, at a residence instead of a business. My manager at the time was a bit of a wimp so instead of telling the idiot customer to go get it himself, he actually paid for a courier to get it for the idiot. At least my manager did take my advice and he sent flowers and an apology to the poor old lady who spent over a month freaking out about the strange package in her garage.

44

Wow. I read this and thought the OP had somehow channeled my brain, as I wrote something almost word-for-word like this rant in my own blog a year ago.

[QUOTE=lowbrass]
O.K., this strikes me as odd, too. They left the slips at the house? Are you saying that the UPS person snuck up to the front door and left the notices while deliberately trying not to be detected by the person inside the house? Why would they do that?
[/QUOTE]

I have had this exact same thing happen to me. When the room I am in is less than 20 feet from the door. When I’m expecting a UPS package, I have to sit six feet from the door, and not have the TV, radio, or anything causing noise. I cannot even type on my keyboard. I have to sit and wait in utter silence until their knock, barely the noise of a mouse scratching around, comes at the door.

Otherwise, I don’t get my package.

I’ve left notes on the door ‘PLEASE KNOCK LOUDLY’. They go ignored. I’ve called them up at their office numerous times and asked them to please leave a note with the driver to KNOCK LOUDLY in addition to my note. No go. I always have to basically stake out my own door, and wait for them to walk up the steps, and spring on them with a loud AHA! YOU HAVE MY PACKAGE!

Otherwise I’ll be checking the door every few hours, and without fail, at some point, will find a ‘You were not home, we’ll redeliver’ slip.

I wish I was exaggerating, but I’m honestly not. I hate the UPS service with a passion, for this reason. I generally use USPS with delivery confirmation and/or tracking, or EMS service if at all possible.

I cannot fathom why UPS would want to keep trying to redeliver something to me, or go through all that effort coming back to my house, but it has happened so many times, that I don’t know what to make of it.

45

[QUOTE=lowbrass]
O.K., this strikes me as odd, too. They left the slips at the house? Are you saying that the UPS person snuck up to the front door and left the notices while deliberately trying not to be detected by the person inside the house? Why would they do that?
[/QUOTE]

It’s faster, and they had a lot of packages to deliver? I don’t know, but I do know that the doorbell at that place was working just fine, and Fedex managed to deliver packages with no problems. That neighborhood is full of apartment buildings, and probably very few people are home during the day, so the driver probably thought he could get away with it.

46

[QUOTE=lowbrass]
How do you guys figure? If the seller shipped the item, and has proof that he did so, I would say it’s neither the seller’s nor the buyer’s fault.
[/QUOTE]
No product was delivered. That’s pretty much the end of the story. The seller can’t prove the product was delivered (since it wasn’t). I think it’s great that the seller and the buyer are cooperating on this. The OP has been very patient. I’m just saying that if push comes to shove, the seller is the one on the hook.

My only complaint with either FedEx or UPS is the stealth “you weren’t home” that others have mentioned. If I have to stay home from work to sign for a package, you better at least ring the fucking doorbell. Sadly, that’s not always the case.

47

[QUOTE=RogueRacer]
No product was delivered. That’s pretty much the end of the story. The seller can’t prove the product was delivered (since it wasn’t). I think it’s great that the seller and the buyer are cooperating on this. The OP has been very patient. I’m just saying that if push comes to shove, the seller is the one on the hook.

[/QUOTE]

How do you figure? The buyer already paid for the item. I’d say if push came to shove, the buyer would be the one out the money.

And the seller can prove that he sent the package. If it didn’t reach its destination, he can prove it was the shipper’s error. They have very detailed tracking info. So I don’t know what “can’t prove the product was delivered” would have to do with it. It seems rather like saying if someone else dents my car that I’m on the hook because I can’t prove my car is dent-free. :confused:

48

[QUOTE=Leah M]

I have had this exact same thing happen to me. When the room I am in is less than 20 feet from the door. When I’m expecting a UPS package, I have to sit six feet from the door, and not have the TV, radio, or anything causing noise. I cannot even type on my keyboard. I have to sit and wait in utter silence until their knock, barely the noise of a mouse scratching around, comes at the door.

[/QUOTE]

Oh, I see. That sucks. I guess I’m lucky that my UPS guy knocks really loud.

Although, even if he didn’t, I can hear the truck coming a mile away. They’re noisy as hell.

49

[QUOTE=lowbrass]
How do you figure? The buyer already paid for the item. I’d say if push came to shove, the buyer would be the one out the money.

[/QUOTE]
The consumer did not receive the item. It would be an easy charge back if the buyer paid by credit card. The seller wouldn’t have a leg to stand on to dispute the charge back. Hell, all parties even agree that the consumer didn’t get the product.

50

[QUOTE=RogueRacer]
The consumer did not receive the item. It would be an easy charge back if the buyer paid by credit card. The seller wouldn’t have a leg to stand on to dispute the charge back. Hell, all parties even agree that the consumer didn’t get the product.
[/QUOTE]

If the seller proves he sent the item via a tracking number, he most certainly has a leg to stand on.

Few eBay sellers have provisions for direct credit card charges. PayPal is the usual method of payment. I don’t know what the rules are for PayPal chargebacks; I guess it would depend on the source of the funds.

Maybe you can do chargebacks and maybe you can’t, but I don’t believe it’s contigent on whether “the consumer received the item”, without regard to whether the item was sent. I’m not understanding why you believe “the consumer did not receive the item” is a slam-dunk, bottom-line issue.

If it were ONLY based on “the consumer did not receive the item” without regard to any evidence, I could just lie and say I didn’t receive an item, keep the item, and get my money back. Obviously it’s more complicated than that. If the item were lost due to the fault of the shipping company, it would be a shipping insurance issue to be resolved by both parties.

EBay allows auctions to be set up with shipping insurance as an option. If the buyer declines shipping insurance, I don’t see how one could maintain that the seller is then responsible for the safe transport of the item, once it has been entrusted to the shipping company.

51

Meanwhile, UPS recently tried to bring me a parcel I’d never ordered!

I was away from my apartment from last Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning. When I returned home, I found two notes stuck to my door. UPS had been unable to deliver what was identified as “TIRES”. Since I don’t own a car, I figured that a mistake must have been made.

The UPS forms featured a toll-free number, but I figured I’d just call the Lafayette office, since I know from experience that you’re less likely to get a hotel reservation screwed up if you directly call the unit you’re planning to patronize, as opposed to the chain-wide general number. Well, turns out that the phone book lists no United Parcel Service among the “Package Delivery Services” or whatever the heading for that category is.

So I call the toll-free number, get put on hold for about ten minutes, and finally get to tell the recorded voice that the scheduled delivery time is “not acceptable”. When a living human finally comes on the line, I explain the problem. I am asked “And you’re at 666 Lucifer Lane?*”

“No, 668*.”

“Am I speaking to Mr. Krabappel?*”

“No, Sternvogel.* I think I see what the problem is.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. We’ll send a driver over to 666 Lucifer* today.”

Yesterday, I was about to leave my apartment when who should come trudging up the still-snow-covered walk (the rental agency had cleared a path, albeit a narrow one) but a man wearing brown and brandishing a clipboard. I open the door.

“I’ve got some tires for you.”

“No you don’t. I called Saturday and explained the mistake. Obviously you never got the message.”

I then handed the guy the two misappropriated notes. Last I saw him, he was futilely banging on the door of 666*, yelling “UPS! I got your tires!” For the sake of Mr. Krabappel*, I hope that if he wasn’t home, yesterday’s attempt to deliver to him counted as his first chance, as opposed to his third and final opportunity, to claim his merchandise before it was marked as “undeliverable” and sent back to whoever shipped those tires.

  • Disclaimer: Names and addresses thus noted are fictitious, just in case anyone was worrying I’d revealed too much personal info!
52

[QUOTE=Eva Luna]
UPS also consistently lies.
[/QUOTE]

I will second that. I get a shipment almost every day from UPS to my business. One day the driver was running behind and showed up after we were closed. He decided to see if a neighbor would take the delivery. They were not home, so he left the package on their doorstep. However the package contained controlled substances and required an adult signature for delivery.

The neighbor brought us the package and I was livid. If the material in the box wound up stolen or otherwise gone, it would be my DEA license that would be in trouble.

So, I called UPS to complain. I was told that the “adult signature required” on the shipping label was just a formality. I got the guy’s name who told me this. Then I called the regional DEA office. They called my UPS office and must have scared them. The next day a UPS rep showed up to apologize face to face. I never saw the druiver again; he was either fired or reassigned.