Another UPS oops thread

Top 7 UPS COD screw ups (help complete the list):

07) Collecting a personal check when certified payment was checked off.

06) Taking our COD check payment but NOT dropping off the item
(NO, I am not joking, you want to talk about a UPS mess!)!

05) Mailing our COD check back to the recipient of the shipment
(luckily most audiophiles are honest, as was the case here, and he promptly mailed us the payment).

04) *Mailing us another parties COD check and ours to them.

03) Dropping off a COD shipment with multiple pieces, but only dropping off the items that did not have the COD tag, but not the one with the COD tag, therefore the recipient received all items but one with out paying for them.

02) Delivering a COD shipment that was 2 pieces, but only delivering the one with the COD tag
(part two of this one next).

01) Refusing to pay a claim on the lost part of the above mentioned COD shipment because they showed the shipment was delivered, and payment collected! What about the missing piece? They told us the recipient did not mention this at time of delivery. Well, he obviously thought everything was in the one box, which he did not open until about a week after it was delivered, and to top if off, the item in the lost box was a part for the other item which was worthless with out it, AND both of these items were no longer made. UPS never paid on that COD screw up.

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04) *Mailing us another parties COD check and ours to them.

*When this happened, around 1992, we we were able to get in touch with the person that had the check issued. We then ended up returning it to the proper person who had received our check and had already given it back to their UPS driver.

Well, we asked UPS when the check would be returned to us, and we made the MISTAKE of telling them that we had received the other parties check AND had sent it back to them. Well, they would not send back our check UNTIL we sent them (UPS) the other parties check, which we had already sent to the the other party! Sorry we broke the red tape rules. We had to have the other party send a letter to UPS telling them they we had sent them back their check, and that they had received it, BUT, this had to be done on a form that UPS had to send them!!! It took approximately 3 months to receive payment, and no less than 15 ph calls to UPS, of which every time we had to re explain the entire thing from step one. Why don't we use UPS some ask???!

Why are we more than happy to ship you DHL 2 day or next day air for
the UPS 3 day/Fed Ex 3 day rate and lose on some of the shipping cost on 99% of what we ship?
Because it eliminates 99.9% of potential problems. NO ONE orders and insurance claim! They order hifi, and that's what they want to receive.

"UPS, the tightest ship in the shipping business"?
I think the ship they were referring to was the Titanic.

Brian@Hello.lt

Why did you not use the US postal, i have had nothing but good luck

I've had nothing but good luck with Fedex, mostly air. After the other day at UPS, never again. And all those tales from Brain just confirm that decision.
Nothing is perfect and humans are humans, but some companies just do a better job.

About one if five of my UPS shipping experiences have gone awry. Yet, I must confess, even though I've sworn not to use them again, I do end up using them because the pricing typically comes out a bit cheaper. I'm thinking of really giving them up now though, following a recent debacle with them. I think one way to get back at UPS is to include the term "Will not ship UPS" in our Audiogon advertisements when we are listing an item for sale. If enough of us do this, we will likely help create a deserved perception of UPS ineptness. I mean UPS losing us as customers really has no impact on them and they couldn't care less, but if we share that perception to a wider audience then it's really embarassing for them and may be a wake-up call.

My recent UPS Oops experiences:
(1) A pair of heavy speaker cables dematerialized from their shipping box during transit - going from a weight of 10lb to an opened, empty box. (dealer had to go through the laborious claim process, but sent me replacements immediately).

(2) 6,000 two box CD player shipped to me through UPS and only one box arrived - the power supply. Had to wait in limbo for three weeks before other box showed up. Box that was in limbo did not show up on tracking and customer service got around to calling me about a week after I had received the second box (about a month after the incident).

(3) I moved about 20 boxes from NYC to Chicago - one of the boxes was all but destroyed, and I also received someone elses box. Insurance I purchased through them never came through.

(4) CD player I sent from my old address to new address was damaged and no longer worked - this can happen, and is a risk of shipping generally, however again, the insurance never came through.

I'm probably forgetting a few other incidents. Still, UPS is not the only one - last week I sent payment via USPS to a seller here for a pair of Bybee filters. Two days later, I got a letter from USPS with my check returned and a flyer saying 'sorry, your letter got damaged, this rarely happens.....' - they should have at least included a replacement stamp.