Update on UPS antics

MaxTheKnife

MaxTheKnife

Joined
Aug 19, 2000
Messages
643
Well, it seems that UPS, after some soul searching, decided to pay off on the damage claim on my Singer leather sewing machine. I had to get a certified repair shop to fax them a statement that it wasn't feasible to repair the thing, and that got the ball rolling.

Also, the company I dealt with was excellent. Industrial Sewing Machine out of Molalla, Oregon http://www.industrialsewmachine.com/
Very nice folks. They have a machine that's way better than the one UPS busted up for lots less money too. Talked me into buying it and they're throwing in lots of extra goodies and giving me the treadle stand that goes with it. They crate and palletize everything they ship, so there won't be any problems with shipment damage on this one. So, alls well that ends well I guess. Haven't seen any money yet, but the ball just started rolling yesterday.

I was considering buying the machine back from UPS and trying a hair-brained repair job that would probably result in a bad to worse situation, but Mark from Industrial Sewing Machines talked me out of it. He said not to offer them any more than $50.00 if I was going to be a hard head about it. He advised that I should just let it go and move on. Good advice, because UPS just laughed at me when I offered them the $50.00. The rep said I would have to offer at least $350.00 to make it worth their while. What kind of sense does that make? Well, at least they've committed to paying the claim. Sometimes things work out if you're patient and keep your cool.
 
I can always count on UPS to make life a little more interesting. They have even helped introduce me to some of my neighbors. Just yesterday I had to track down a nearby neighbor to get a package that was left with them for no explicable reason. Its a strange operation and the truck coloring is certainly a reflection of their product.
smile.gif


[This message has been edited by not2sharp (edited 10-25-2000).]
 
If you're gonna get a lot of dirt on you and you don't like cleaning up after yourself, then I guess brown is the right color for you.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
UPS Sucks!

I fired them almost 2 years ago and switched to FedEx.

They cost a little more, but for the knives I sell, it's worth it to know when they left, where they are at, and when they got to their location.

They are not perfect, but even the US Mail is better than UPS.


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Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur

http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
 
This doesn't have anything to do with knives, however, when I think about it, it still makes me mad. This is why I don't use UPS. When I was in college, I worked as a loader for UPS. The supervisors were sadistic men who enjoyed watching people suffer. I saw it many times. It took 30 days before you cold join the union. You could be fired for ANY reason during these first 30 days. My room-mate was fired for going to the drinking fountain too many times. It had to be well over a hundred degrees in those trailors. He was thirsty. He got fired for it.

Screw UPS,
Will

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Mendacity is the
system we live in.
 
Will,

When I started with the post office, the supervisors were sadistic men who enjoyed watching people suffer. I saw it many times. You can still be fired for ANY reason during your first NINETY days.

Supposedly, management is a bit more "humanistic" now, but I have my doubts. I ended up as a station manager, which in NYC is like a postmaster, and I would have hated having to work for some of my "peers".

But then, that's why I got into management: to get out from under the creeps. It's hardly surprising, how much more effective workers are, when the boss finds better things to do with his day than hassle people tring to get the job done.

 
Is that why somebody once told me UPS stood for Unbelievable Pisspoor Service?

You can bet money that my next custom will be FedEx'ed. The thought of my babies crushed into metallic confetti is enough to keep me awake at night.

Red

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"Praise not the day until evening has come;a sword until it is tried; ice until it has been crossed; beer until it has been drunk" - Viking proverb

[This message has been edited by redvenom (edited 10-27-2000).]
 
I don't like UPS now. They screwed up with my Sifu order from 1sks.com. Track this order number with me to see what I'm talking about: 3767 The package leaves 1sks perfectly on time, comes across the country to my city for two days, then goes back to Florida! What the hell? I was also suposed to get a CS para-edge from them on the 20th. It spend 4 days in a UPS warehouse somewhere in my city and now it's also going back to Florida. What the hell? This is after I called UPS and spoke with a lady to make sure the address was fine. I mean, What the hell? I called them again today and they told me they didn't know what was happening to my package, and they didn't have any way of interupting its journey to Florida to bring it back here where it belongs. WHAT THE HELL? Why you gotta go an dis me like dat UPS? ARG!
 
I still have a vivid memory of watching a UPS driver at his best as he delivered packages to a large luxury NYC highrise.

The guy backs his truck to the front door of the lobby, jams the lobby door open, pops the rear door on his truck, and proceeds to toss 50-60 packages across the lobby to the elevator bay. It must have been a good 50 foot toss, and yes he was so efficient he never even bothered to check the packages to see if they were marked fragile. I wonder if that is what they refer to as "air shipment".

That was over 20 years ago, so I am sure this guy is running the company today.

 
Originally posted by not2sharp:
The guy backs his truck to the front door of the lobby, jams the lobby door open, pops the rear door on his truck, and proceeds to toss 50-60 packages across the lobby to the elevator bay. It must have been a good 50 foot toss, and yes he was so efficient he never even bothered to check the packages to see if they were marked fragile. I wonder if that is what they refer to as "air shipment".

That was over 20 years ago, so I am sure this guy is running the company today.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see the requisite pyschological profile they use to recruit new employees...



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"Praise not the day until evening has come;a sword until it is tried; ice until it has been crossed; beer until it has been drunk" - Viking proverb
 
Well, another update is in order. UPS changed gears and decided to dig in and see if they could smoke me out. They have decided not to issue a check to the shipper until I have re-packed the machine into it's original shipping container 'exactly' as it was when it arrived, then picked up and shipped to the office of the claims agent and inspected to determine the cause of the damage.

When I found out about this latest lame excercise in futility, I told the claims agent that that was unrealistic and a complete wast of my time. Hell, I'm not a UPS packing employee. Where do they come up these lame ideas? And what will it prove if they use my packing skills as evidnece for reasons of damage to the machine? There's no way I can re-pack the box like it was. The shipper is an intense dude. He packed it like it was going to be subjected to the samsonite luggage test.

When I told the agent I couldn't pack it as good as the shipper did, she said; "Hmmmmm, that's not going to do me any good. I'll have to talk to my collegues about this". So, she cancelled the pick up and the check and hasn't contacted me since. That was 2 days ago. I did re-pack the machine as best I could. Took almost an hour because the original shipper had wrapped the head of the sewing machine in sheepskin with the fleece still on. I was reluctant to send the sheepskin with it because there was a bunch of it and the shipper had given it to me as a gift. She got pissy about that, so I went ahead and packed it up with the head.

Damn, I hate to sound like a whiner, but this is getting rediculous. Why even pay insurance for a package if all you get from it is headaches? I'll quit cryin now.
 
I will lay odds that UPS will never pay you. They will easily and gladly spend $100 to avoid refunding a customer $10. It's UPS policy: never give money back. When the shipper shipped the package, he signed a chit that, in the small print, says something "I agree to all of UPS's policies and procedures." UPS's policies and procedures are deliberately written to leave them loopholes to avoid any refund or reimbursment.

When an overnight package coming to my house in Oregon from Georgia didn't arrive after a few days, we called UPS and asked to have the shipping cost refunded. The response was, "UPS policy is that we don't issue a refund for a late overnight package until the package is finally delivered." Well, this sort of makes sense because thanks to UPS's wonderful "tracking system" we really don't yet know if the package is lost or just delayed. The package did finally show up at UPS's depot in Tualatin, Oregon just a few miles from my house, so I assumed it would be delivered the next day. Nope. So, I called and was told that it would be several more days before it would be delivered to my house. Why? It just would be. It had to do with how the trucks were loaded. I asked if I could come to the depot and pick the package up. No. Forbidden. How, I asked, could you have possibly delivered it from Georgia to my house overnight if you can't get it from Tualatin to my house in three days? Could you, perhaps, send it from your depot to my house via UPS Overnight? No answer for that. When the package finally did arrive, I thought that we'd finally get a refund. So, I called and was told that UPS policy is that refunds for packaged shipped overnight must be applied for within 14 days of the package begin shippped. This one was 15 days late. You can't apply for a refund until the package is delivered, but you must apply for a refund within 14 days of the package being shipped. Gee... I wonder why that package had to sit in Tualatin for three days?

We're talking about eight dollars and change here. A company that would go to this extent to avoid making such a refund just cares nothing about customer service. This is not just cheap, this sort of thing is vindictive

My guess: UPS policy is that claims for dammage to sewing machines must be filed in person at their special Sewing Machine Claim Processing Center in Iraq and that the customer must stand on his head and sing the national anthem while drinking water. Remember, you agreed to this when you signed that little chit.



------------------
Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
Max,

Why are you dealing with this in the first place? You purchased an item, and it arrived in less than satisfactory condition, let the shipper make you whole.

Either the shipper will need to invest in better packaging (seal it in a block of concrete and ship in a steel safe?), or change delivery scheem to use a reliable carrier. I would ask the shipper to send me a check, and give them the honor of resolving this with UPS.
 
I could not have said it better!

"They are not perfect, but even the US Mail is better than UPS"

UPS used to be my favorite but today, I would rather send it via Poastal Ser. I'm sill waiting for my $100 claim from two years ago. I'll stand out by the mailbox and wait for the check ... it'll be here any day now.
 
Nimrod,
Bad news. They're sending it via UPS.

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Dave

Let no one ever from henceforth say one word in any way countenancing war. It is dangerous even to speak of how here and there the individual may gain some hardship of soul by it. For war is hell, and those who institute it are criminals. Siegfried Loraine Sassoon
 
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