UPS shipment not delivered

Jewelry Discussion
1

This isn’t EXACTLY metals related, but I figure there’s LOTS of
expertise on this list about shipping things, so if anybody’s got
any advice about how to handle this, I’d appreciate it. So far UPS
has been a bunch of buttheads.

My son ordered a new computer. It was to be delivered last
Thursday. He’s been tracking the package on the UPS site. It was on
the truck Thursday morning, so he waited for it to arrive at his
apartment until he had to go to class at about 2 PM.

When he got back from class about 4:30, there was still no package,
so he checked the tracking number again and it told him it had been
delivered - and signed for - at 2:30. Well, it wasn’t delivered to
him or to his roomate. So he IMMEDIATELY called UPS and was told
that he would have to call the local UPS office the next day to find
out what happened to the package.

He called me later that evening and this sounded like crap to me, so
I called UPS and was told that he would have to contact the
shipper to find out what had happened to his package. Of course by
now it was far too late to call the shipper, they had been closed for
hours. He was also told that they COULD NOT and WOULD NOT begin any
effort to find out who had his package until they were contacted by
the shipper. I was also told that he COULD NOT call the local UPS
office and that no UPS person would have told my son to do such a
thing (eg we’re liars).

Now keep in mind he notified them just 2 hours after the fact that
the package had been misdelivered. Also keep in mind that earlier in
the week, UPS had misdelivered a package for one of his roomates -
same address, it was delivered to the wrong building but fortunately
the person who got it was honest and brought it on over. Kevin’s
computer, on the other hand, is still nowhere to be found.

I told Kevin to have his roomate call UPS and notify them OFFICIALLY
of the earlier misdelivery. Since he got his package, he hadn’t
called to make a complaint. He did call and file the complaint
about the earlier misdelivery.

Kevin called the shipper first thing the next morning and the
tracing process was initiated. As of today, he was told by UPS that
the tracing process had been “closed”, but they refused to tell him
the result - he has to contact the shipper, who, once again, IS
CLOSED. So he can’t find out until tomorrow what has happened to his
package.

At this point, what other actions should we take? We won’t find out
the result of the trace until tomorrow and because of the lag time
for the Orchid list I’m going ahead and asking for advice in the
worst-case scenario - eg, UPS claims that the package was properly
delivered and they have no liability (It was signed for by initials
only, and the initials don’t match my son or any of his roomates
names).

He paid for it with a Debit card (nominally a Mastercard). I told
him to call to find out what recourse he might have through that
route, if any.

At this point I don’t know what else to do. UPS has been totally
unhelpful, and even flat out obstructionist. Their motto should
obviously be, “What can Brown do TO you?”

Sojourner

2

Hi Zen, What kind of place is your son’s apartment? Is it school
housing or a private building? In other words, is there a mail room
where some mail room worker could have signed for it? Or is there a
building Superintendent that could’ve? Maybe the initials be long
to someone like that.

My other comment is about the use of a debit card. Debit cards are
great - very convenient. But they are like using cash. When you
make a purchase with a debit card the money comes right out of your
bank account and is gone. I would never use a debit card when making
a major purchase. Use a regular credit card because then you have
some measure of “buyer protection.” In this case, call your bank
right away and tell them what happened - - maybe they can stop the
payment since it looks like the computer may have been stolen.

Good luck! - - Nan

3

Get back to ups. They definitely should help you . They will know
where and when the package was delivered. It apparently had a
signature required on delivery… They will have to contact the
driver and he will have to recover his actions. I had a miss
delivery one day where a package was delivered to a definitely wrong
address. They found it and brought it too me.

It is possible since it was a school (?) that a neighbor took it
in at best, Otherwise someone close saw it and accepted it in
other than error.

Do contact the shipper they hopefully insisted on a signature
delivery,

I have had several computers delivered by UPS and lots of other
stuff - usually just left on the doorstep, No problems but I don’t
live where a theft would be usual.

Hold in there. This does not fit my ups history and you seem to
have taken a long time to get this far. They can track the shipment
almost immediately at delivery … I know that there are delivery
thefts in high density- crime areas.

Something is wrong with your address on this it will not go off
list-so you wait another day.

jesse

4 
At this point I don't know what else to do.  UPS has been totally
unhelpful, and even flat out obstructionist.  Their motto should
obviously be, "What can Brown do TO you?"

Don’t take no for an answer when they give you this BS. Insist on
talking to a supervisor. Ideally, you want to be talking to the
supervisor of the actual local office from which the delivery truck
took the package. That person can actually find the idiot to
delivered the thing to the wrong address, and that person will know
that he or she can do that. Insist on finding an answer. The
shipper can do little more than file a claim for reimbursement, if
it was insured. They won’t have any more info than you do, from the
web site.

For what it’s worth, I had this happen with a much smaller package
shipped via fedex a month ago. They were helpful sounding, but
couldn’t do more than wonder, like me, where the package had gone.
The delivery guy insisted he’d left it at my door (no signature), and
I got home an hour later. The place they leave packages is totally
hidden from the street, so it’s unlikely the thing was stolen from my
front porch, but theoretically possible still. What happened
eventually is that the shipper refunded my purchase price after about
three weeks wait, enough time for fedex to come up empty. I don’t
know whether fedex reimbursed the shipper or not. But so far as I
know, the shipper usually retains responsibility for the package
until it’s properly delivered, so they usually are the ones who must
actually file a claim, though you can file a complaint and ask for a
trace, and all that useless jazz…

good luck
Peter Rowe

5

Inform the MasterCard (debit) that he did not receive the goods and
they will cancel the sale and return the money to him. Now it may
take a little while depending on the bank, and they will want him to
deal with the seller, too.

6

Well this is why I only use Fed Ex. You never have this problem.
However you are overreacting. The company the purchase was made
from is the one responsible at this point. They are the ones who
contracted UPS as the shipper and they are the ones who have to
guarantee delivery of an item they sold or give your son his money
back. If UPS lost the package (either through their own ineptitude
or the theft by another person–and if it doesn’t have your son’s
full signature they can’t argue with you about whether or not he got
it) it is still up to the shipper (not the shippee) to collect the
money from UPS and either provide a new piece for your son or give
him his money back. The mistake everyone made here is that you
called UPS instead of the company responsible (the shipper). It is
up to the company you purchase the product from to insure that you
actually get the product (which includes calling UPS about a
misdelivery). Call them first thing in the morning and let them
deal with it. It isn’t up to YOU to deal with it, it’s up to the
shipper to deal with it.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
@Daniel_R_Spirer

7 
    Well this is why I only use Fed Ex. You never have this
problem.

That is not true at all - it depends on the area. In my area Fedex
regularly forges “signatures” on packages despite my many many
complaints to their office. F. Door, F. Desk, R. Ceptiondesk are a
few of the “people” that have signed for packages that Fedex has
dumped either outside the front door, in the lobby or mis-delivered
to our neighbors. Luckily we are used to walking packages to our
neighbors and everyone has been honest about it so far.

The shipper is the one that needs to contact UPS, and they need to
speak to a customer service representative that tracks lost packages.
If they don’t get an adequate response, they need to escalate the
problem until they reach a supervisor that will take care of the
problem. The local UPS office will be of no use whatsoever from my
experience.

Hope the computer is found soon,
MonaLS

8 
    My other comment is about the use of a debit card.  Debit
cards are great - very convenient.  But they are like using cash. 
When you make a purchase with a debit card the money comes right
out of your bank account and is gone.  I would never use a debit
card when making a major purchase.  Use a regular credit card
because then you have some measure of "buyer protection." In this
case, call your bank right away and tell them what happened - -
maybe they can stop the payment since it looks like the computer
may have been stolen.

If it is used as a credit card you have the same consumer
protections that you have when using a credit card. When it is used
as a debit card (a pin number is entered) you may have more
difficulty but are still technically covered.

And as Daniel noted it is the seller and the shippers problem as
long as there is not a valid signature for the item not Zen’s son so
he needs to contact the seller

Jim Binnion

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160

@James_Binnion
Member of the Better Business Bureau

9

I am coming to this late but thought this would be helpful. I had a
problem with my local UPS delivery person in Manhattan. He was
leaving packages outside the locked door in my apartment building.
On two occasions he forged a signature on packages that required a
signature.

I wrote a letter to UPS’s home office, addressed it to the
"Department of Fraud" and outlined exactly what happened, detailing
how the signatures were forged. I received a call back from that
office and have not had any problems since. The UPS guy now rings my
bell and waits for me to answer it and to sign for the package. If I
am not available, the superintendent is authorized to sign, with a
proper signature.

@Ettagale

10

This is just a hint to use when signing for packages. Without
mentioning who, but their guys wear brown, I learned to combine the
date into my signature- As in "7John15Jacob05Jingleheimerschmidt’'
because the brown guys lifted a signature from a delivery to my home
and used it on a undelivered package in question. The mistake that
got them caught is that they used my mother-in-law’s signature, who
doesnt live with us, but was staying afew days at a different time of
year. They just screwed up and picked the last time they delivered to
my home and tried to use that for the sig on the new undelivered
package. They actually lifted her sig and placed it with the date
that they needed to prove their case. When I informed a supervisor
of how muddy this was going to become, they paid up without a further
word. Since then we sign with the date integrated into our name.

Ed in Kokomo

11

A whole lot of you seem to have problems with your UPS (or sometimes
other carriers) deliveries from the responses that came in on this
thread. Well I have a suggestion for you all that might help out in
the long run:

Make friends with your delivery guys (this includes mailmen)!!! Give
them candy at Christmas. Talk to them every time they come in. Offer
them coffee or water. Ask about their wives or children. Treat them
the way you want to be treated!

Generally speaking, most guys work the same route almost year round
(obviously there are vacation and sick days but it’s usually the
case, at least in my experience, that the same guys work the same
route). When I have problems with any delivery my delivery men are
the ones who go out of their way to make sure things are taken care
of. My mailman changed his whole schedule around to give me earlier
delivery because I once—just once—made an offhand comment about
how late the mail was coming in. My afternoon Fed Ex driver takes
ground packages for me and hand delivers them to the Fed Ex ground
guy who is actually supposed to be picking them up so I don’t have to
make an extra call. My UPS guy grabs packages that are supposed to
be delivered earlier than we open so that I don’t have to chase the
other driver down (something that the management at UPS makes almost
impossible). The reason they do these things for me is because I know
them and I make sure they know me. I know how many kids my morning
Fed Ex guy has, I know when he got married (well I made the ring for
his wife), I know where they all go for vacation, and I make sure
they know the same things about me. If they become your friends, they
will go out of their way to help you. If you look at them as the
adversary, well that’s just what you’ll get–an adversarial
relationship.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
@Daniel_R_Spirer

12

Hi Daniel,

How nice - I so totally agree with you! Just wanted to add that I
try to be kind and courteous to anybody I come in contact with - not
only paying customers. I feel that it is always nice to be
appreciated and let other people know that I am aware of what they
are doing for me.

Keep shining,
Devora

13

I agree with Daniel.

Get out of yourself.

Get to know your UPS guy, as well as your mail man, the trash man,
the grocery store clerk…

I have my mail mans cell phone number, and he has mine. Its great
when I’m expecting a letter or going out of town and forget to have
my mail held.

He gets great rewards when I BBQ briskets and chickens…

It only takes a few seconds to be kind to someone, learn their name,
speak a few words of priase, and the returns are immense.

Love and God Bless
-randy
http://www.rocksmyth.com

14

Daniel is absolutely right. I know my mail person (woman), and she
and I always exchange greetings when she delivers my mail. We
comment about the weather (hot day isn’t it, gosh,when is this rain
going to stop etc., and wish each other well. the same holds true for
the UPS persons. making delivery here. When I receive a heavy
package, they always are kind enough to bring it inside for me, so
that I don’t have to lift it off the porch These are hard working
people, and a little appreciation goes a long way.

Alma