Things I bet you did not know about shipping with UPS.

M

mchazen

Joined
Dec 22, 2000
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Let me share with y"all what happened to me last week. My heat treater sent back to me a box of knives he had just treated. There were 13 blades in the box. He did not bother to insure them because we have not had a problem before now. The blades were tracked to Charlotte and promply lost. Dealing with UPS has been a pain to say the least. I have found out from one of ther drivers that the 1-800 number you call to speak with a UPS rep., is staffed by telemarkers that are hired by UPS. The woman I spoke with told me "You did not spend the thirty five cents to insure your package, it is not our problem." The blades would sell for $2500.00 finished, UPS is going to give me $100.00. Here is the best part, even if I would have insured them for $2500.00, I would have had to prove to UPS that I could have sold them for that amount. My sister sent some business papers home from Italy where she works and insured them for $500., UPS lost them and Gail could not prove the papers were worth $500, so UPS gave her $180.00 and told her "too bad." Be advised a UPS driver told me,UPS does not insure collectables. Am I missing something here or is this the biggest bunch of crap you have ever heard? If you pay for $1000.00 of insurance for a package and the morons lose it, they owe you $1000.00. The driver said make sure you read the fine print on the contract. He said if he shipped a 1964 Marvel comic book (he collects them), with a ten cent price sticker on it and it was worth $1000.00 on any comic book market, and it was insured for $1000. and lost by UPS, UPS would pay him the base price of ten cents. Irreguardless how much he had it insured for. This is wrong in my book. Have any of you had to deal with this, and if so how did you handle it? Thanks for letting me vent. Mark Hazen Ps. If one of you all works for UPS and knows I've been given wrong info, could you please let me know.
 
I learned that with the post office. You have to prove the insured item is worth the claim amount. Best way to do this is write out an invoice and send one with the items and keep a copy. The stuff gets lost, you have proof of their value. Also, I absolutely refuse to ship anything with ups. If it's too big for the post office, I go to Fedex.

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Take care!! Michael
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Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!
I currently don't have a web site but am working on one.
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!
 
I don't doubt that UPS would do something like that. UPS is pulling some fo State Farm's stupid stunts. In the end thebigger the company the more the consumer gets screwed
 
Hey guys. I hate to say this, but I am so glad I am not the only one this has happened to. I like the response by I think it was L6 of how to get by the Post Office reciept thing. Good ideal. Mayo is right on the money also with anything over $5.00. You know no one is responsible anymore. Honor has left our society, gentlemen. Thanks for all the help. Mark Hazen
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by mchazen:
Let me share with y"all what happened to me last week. My heat treater sent back to me a box of knives he had just treated. There were 13 blades in the box. He did not bother to insure them because we have not had a problem before now. The blades were tracked to Charlotte and promply lost. Dealing with UPS has been a pain to say the least. I have found out from one of ther drivers that the 1-800 number you call to speak with a UPS rep., is staffed by telemarkers that are hired by UPS. The woman I spoke with told me "You did not spend the thirty five cents to insure your package, it is not our problem." The blades would sell for $2500.00 finished, UPS is going to give me $100.00. Here is the best part, even if I would have insured them for $2500.00, I would have had to prove to UPS that I could have sold them for t Have any of you had to deal with this, and if so how did you handle it? Thanks for letting me vent. Mark Hazen Ps. If one of you all works for UPS and knows I've been given wrong info, could you please let me know.</font>
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It would do you no good to prove that you could have sold the knives for $2500. The most you could recover is your cost. They will pay sales value but only if the item cannot be replaced They do insure and pay for collectables, but, they are so careful about not being screwed that they end up screwing lots of their customers. What you want to point out to them is the cost involved in the blades when your next (insured) shipment is lost.

The best way is to talk to your insurance man and arrange a policy to cover shipments over the value of $100. Your insurance man can explain this better than any of us on this forum. A. G.
 
Yeah, UPS sucks alright. Lost more than one of mine. They wanted me to give them a reciept for the items lost and when I told them they were items I made and therefore didn't have a reciept they told me to read the fine print. Come on. If we all read all the fine print in our lives we would never get anything done. I think AG is right. They are so busy covering their own butts that they bare ours. I use the US Postal Service now. I haven't lost anything yet. I went to insure a package the other day and they told me I couldn't insure priority mail. Im sure I have before. Maybe not. But why not? That sounds like they are saying we will get it there fast or not at all. Your risk!
I think its money making BS. If you insure something for a thousand dollars and they lose it they owe you a thousand dollars regardless of what was in there. They are just playing the odds like a casino. The bottom liners have figured out that they can make a lot of money this way and the amount of angry customers are far out weighed by the increased revenue.

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http://www.livelyknives.com
 
Something less severe but still annoying happened to me with UPS a while ago... I got a package, everything was fine. Then a few weeks later, I get a FINAL NOTICE from UPS stating that if I don't pay up, they're taking their case to a collection agency!

I phoned them immediately, and luckily got things straightened out. Turned out the driver forgot to ask me to fill out a bit of paperwork! (Just a bit extra: I think I ended up paying something like $30 CDN in customs, tax, and brokerage fees... the second worst I've ever been hit for those.)
 
Now you have me worried!!!!!!

I just sent 20 blades to Paul Bos by UPS. I sure hope they arrive.

What's the best way to send blades? Fed Ex? UPS? USPO?
 
You can get your money from them If you insure them, BUT! you have to spend alot of time on the phone,and you have to be presistant. Best thing to do is ask for a customer relations person. Paul.
 
I've never had problems with the USPS, as long as the box was taped (the glue those Priority Mail boxes have can be undone by hand - I always wrap a few feet of tape around the box). I trust Airborne very much, but they're pretty costly. I haven't used FedEx enough to form an opinion. I will only ship by UPS if someone insists.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
I ordered a birthday present for my Grandaughter in Phoenix. I had 5 days . The co i ordered from was based in LA.La to Phoenix in 5 days no problem. I paid extra for 3 day special delievery. The carrier sent the package by the shortest route from LA to Phoenix.Which just happenend to be by way of Hawaii. The package was late.
Thank you FEDEX
Take Care
TJ Smith
PS I went to mail a package in Prosser Wa. I was a little late with the mailing so I said I wanted to send it next day air. I was promptly informed that NEXT DAY AIR from Prosser took 2 days.
There ya go
TJ Smith

[This message has been edited by TJ Smith (edited 04-27-2001).]
 
TJ, Mayo must have wanted to inspect it
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I have been lucky with UPS, but now I'm more paranoid than I was before.

I can't say that the USPS is the best either. I bought a myrtle wood burl on ebay that came from Oregon. It should have been here in a day or two by priority. I got it TWO MONTHS later!

The post office put the wrong zip code on their sticker (the ebay seller had put the correct one on the box). PLUS, the zip that was on it is about 5 minutes from my hometown (and they're both big enough that if you blink you miss them). Wasn't anyone at the little dinky post office smart enough to put two and two together?

I've heard that there is a service in which every employe that handles a package HAS TO sign their name on a list. So if the package does not get somewhere, the last guy's name on the list....well it's his ass. Does anybody know if this exists? and if so, who is it?

Thanks,
Nick
 
Nick, it's called registered mail. It's very secure and not to much more expensive, but it depends on the value of what you are shipping.
 
Thanks Bill-

Is that through the Post Office? I was thinking registered mail is where just the sender and recipient sign. Do all the employees along the way have to sign as well? Because that's what I heard about.

Thanks!
Nick
 
This story won't be of much help in selecting the best servie, but it might make everyone feel better. Some things even out in the long run. When I was living in Germany I had an inexpensive air pistol that I bought at the Rod & Gun club and was shooting in the basement. I visited a local German shooting club,shot somewhat better than my average and was promptly added to their team. They didn't want me shooting that clunker, so loaned me a brand new Feinwerkbau (superduper-put-them-all-in-one- hole) pistol. Once I started "putting them all in one hole, I had no use for that cheap one, so mailed it to my Dad back in the States. The Army post office insisted it had to go registered mail (even though the air gun was not legally a firearm). Even registered, they had no way to trace it when it never arrived, so I put in my claim for the $40 it cost me and received prompt payment. A year and a half later, my Dad received a notice from the local customs office in Detroit that he had a package to pick up. Since the value was within the gift limit, he had no customs duties to pay - just come down and sign for it and take it away. When he passed away many years later, I inherited the same little pellet pistol the post office already paid me for. Took it down to a gun show and sold it for $80. Poetic justice I thought.
 
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