UPS damaged HRE rim and is refusing to pay!!

[dansauto]

Anybody have any ideas, short of suing them? I sent them to Al Reed for chroming plating and one came back dented so bad on the back that the chrome on the front cracked and flaked off. It took me two weeks to get them to call me back, the first said they would pay to have it repaired. Now they say to send it back to the USP depot in Calf for them to "take a look at it and dispostion" I am ready to sue them and Al Reed if I don't get this taken care of this week!!

 

[99 R/T 10]

Most of the time the shipper has to file a claim. I would call BS on them, a local rep can take a look at the rim and approve the claim. Just go to your local UPS customer service counter. Talk only to management. Good luck,

 

[95Viper]

Go to local store

 

[RedGTS]

They should pay after you go through the PITA claims process, but I think their liability is limited to $100 or $200 unless you bought the optional insurance.

 

[joe117]

Why are you dealing with UPS?
You didn't hire them to deliver your wheels, did you?

So call up the guy who shipped them and ask him what he is going to do about it.

It's his problem.

 

[Tiepilot]

Who packaged the wheels for shipment? If he did, UPS won't pay as they will claim it wasn't packaged properly and did you place insurance on the items?

 

[BobK898]

That's right, UPS will want to see the original box to see how it was packaged. I'll bet they did a crap job of packing it.

 

[2MANYTOYS]

Why are you dealing with UPS?
You didn't hire them to deliver your wheels, did you?

So call up the guy who shipped them and ask him what he is going to do about it.

It's his problem.

Not necessarily.

 

[Firecat F7 Viper]

That's right, UPS will want to see the original box to see how it was packaged. I'll bet they did a crap job of packing it.

I work for UPS and this happens fairly often....although it is a very low percentage when looking at total volume.(I know that doesn't make you feel much better)
BOBK898 is exactly right in why UPS wants to see that package. They want to see exactly how it was shipped to you in original packing. If it was shipped in a shabby used box or unprotected in any way they will try to make the shipper pay the claim or send new merchandise. If it was clearly UPS fault.........obvious damage to box or evidence of something that might have fallen on it. Then UPS will pay the claim. I think what they may really want to verify is that the item(wheel) is actually damaged. There are so many dishonest people and false claims out there it is incredible.
In any event, you will get your new rim or the value(I assume you insured for over $100.00) one way or the other(no need to sue)....most likely UPS will pay the claim regardless of who is at fault to try to keep good customer relations. Although it will probably take longer than a week.
Hey....I'd be pissed too.......good luck

 

[DodgeViper01]

They should pay for it. Have the shipper file a clain

 

[onerareviper]

Man, do I feel bad for you.... I went though this process with UPS on a piece of audio equipment. It is a royal PITA! They told me I must have the shipper make the claim, and then they told the shipper the opposite. I never got a satisfactory answer, and eventually took the packaging and audio amp to a UPS Distribution Center. Then it turned into a never ending process of forms, etc... It was taking hours out of my day for phone calls, taking the equipment in for inspection, getting estimates for repair, etc... You get so frustrated, you give up (at least I did). A bunch of BS on UPS's part, and I think my experience is the norm., not the exception. When you ship the product, you pay extra to make sure it is fully insured, but UPS doesn't seem to want to make good unless you jump through hoops for weeks and nearly loose your mind.

My advice? Do whatever you can to have the chomer deal with UPS. Trust me.... You will question your sanity buy the time it is over.

 

[MaxedGTS]

My advice? Do whatever you can to have the chomer deal with UPS. Trust me.... You will question your sanity buy the time it is over.

i agree UPS is a joke, they f***up everything if you dont pak it up in a steel box!how well did the chomer pack the wheel???

 

[joe117]

Someone please tell me why this guy is chasing down UPS.

He didn't pack or ship the wheels to himself.

The chrome guy packed, shipped and insured the wheels. It doesn't mater who paid for the shipping. The chromer did it.

When something is damaged by UPS, the receiver should tell UPS as soon as it is noticed. Call them and they will pick up the damaged item and return it to the shipping party.

Again, someone tell me why this guy is trying to collect from UPS.
He didn't hire UPS. He didn't pack. He is the RECEIVING party.

What if the wheels were lost in shipping? Would he be chasing down the shipment?

Call the chromer and ask him what he's going to do.
It's his problem.

 

[Big Medicine]

Joe is 100% right. Better yet, why accept shipment at all if it's damaged? I signed for thousands of packages from multiple carriers during my 5 year side bar into materials management, and rule NUMBER ONE is don't sign for anything until it is placed off the truck by the delivery personnel, on your dock, & you have verified the shipment is undamaged.

Furthermore, a properly packaged shipment will not be damaged during usual & customary handling. The liability lies in the packaging.

Finally, why would the vendor ship a high value itme w/o insurance?

 

[dansauto]

I am a matls manager and I know the process. Just needed to vent. I will have to go back to the shipper as they paid and packed for shipping. They did ship with insurance, but asked me to contact UPS. I did and UPS asked me to email digital photos of the damage and the packaging. I did this and they conceeded. Then they told me they would send a call tag to pick up the rim to ship back to Calf so the shipping office there can review. We put $4000 insurance on these. The problem is HRE only made one set of 19" rims like this. They can re repaired but that could take 2-3 months and UPS will not hold the claim open that long. At this point I have contacted my atty and will begin a suit against Al Reed polishing.

 

[silverz06vette]

This will not help you now but for future UPS shipping.

Anything that is high in value take to a real UPS center. Not the UPS store. If they accept the package for shipment then anything that happens is on UPS. Thats why sometimes that will want to inspect the package for proper packing.

If a UPS driver picks it up or you drop it off anywhere else, then its your responsibilty to make sure that its packed right.

 

[Gerald Levin]

Man, do I feel bad for you.... I went though this process with UPS on a piece of audio equipment. It is a royal PITA! They told me I must have the shipper make the claim, and then they told the shipper the opposite. I never got a satisfactory answer, and eventually took the packaging and audio amp to a UPS Distribution Center. Then it turned into a never ending process of forms, etc... It was taking hours out of my day for phone calls, taking the equipment in for inspection, getting estimates for repair, etc... You get so frustrated, you give up (at least I did). A bunch of BS on UPS's part, and I think my experience is the norm., not the exception. When you ship the product, you pay extra to make sure it is fully insured, but UPS doesn't seem to want to make good unless you jump through hoops for weeks and nearly loose your mind.

My advice? Do whatever you can to have the chomer deal with UPS. Trust me.... You will question your sanity buy the time it is over.

Same happened to me over a motorcycle battery ($100) sent insured thru UPS. The first one looked like it was dropped off a 2 story building. I had a second one sent and the second one look like it had been dynamited. It was in over a hundred pieces. (It actually looked like intentional damage by a disgruntled UPS employee for this to have arrived like this.)Both batteries from a battery co. that packed these very well. Long story short, UPS gave us major resistance but finally paid after ONE YEAR!

 

[GTS1998]

You want to see UPS damage, just write "This is not a football" on the outside.

 

[joe117]

I always ship through a "Mail Boxes" place. They pack and ship. They are responsible for the packing.
I do have to pay for how much insurance I want.

They told me that the break point for insurance is $1k. That is, if you have a box insured for $1k, they take better care of it.
Well, that's what they told me. I don't really know.

They also said that if UPS picks up a damaged item to return to the sender, they make no effort to pack the item. They just put it in a box. It is very likely to receive further damage on the way back.

 

[Firecat F7 Viper]

You want to see UPS damage, just write "This is not a football" on the outside.

Come on........didn't you ever see that Jim Carrie(sp) movie, ACE Ventura where he is a UPS driver kicking the boxes. That is exactly how we handle packages.
It really is between the shipper and UPS as Joe117 said.
You will most likely be getting a damage Call tag.

 

[past ohio]

I am a retiree of UPS, how about some of the guys making their "feelings known" please put your company names on here, I would bet that I have had some problems with your businesses as well !!! If you own a McDonalds franchise, how about the spitting on the hamburgers, how about dishonest people that have their damages, then wrap it and ship it and then file a claim...there are a lot of dishonest people out there and they make the system sometimes to "bog" down...the system is VERY CLEAR and when people want to NOT follow the procedures and make waves....then they get frustrated !!! I wonder why !!!! The shipper is the person that has the "so called contract" with the UPS Company...the receiver does NOT, the shipper then proves that it was shipped and that it was containing the valid product, claims are then issued and paid quickly,...simultaneously the shipper is supposed to quickly send a replacement as well to minimize the "down time" for the receiver....when others want to get into the mix, it causes too much communications with the people Not involved....just my $.02, we are a great company of 345,000 employees worldwide, are by far the largest contributor to the United Way each year, we get a lot of awards fronm various organizations each year BUT when people ramble on, I have found in my year's of service that there is USUALLY the rest of the story (just like Paul Harvey says !!!) I will appreciate hearing from the people jumping on the band wagon about their company names so I can tell the Viper nation a little about their companies....thanks Denny

 

[ViperRichRT10]

Denny, go take a ride in your Viper and get some fresh air. Don't let any of these guys get you so worked up...It's not worth it.

 

[joe117]

Denny,
I like UPS. I've had trouble with them but I understand how that can happen.
I'm sure that UPS wants every package to go to the right place, on time and in good condition.

I've had some problems with UPS that didn't have "the rest of the story". Still, I use UPS as my shipper of choice.

The guy who started this thread has a special problem because he received a damaged wheel that can't be replaced any time soon.
The guy who shipped it to him should take care of him somehow.

What's the problem with people venting about problems that they have had? I think everyone knows that the problems represent a very small percentage of the total.

I don't see the logic in saying that UPS's problems are less serious because some other unrelated company may also have problems.

UPS is good, I like them.

 

[Jerry Dobson]

I just want to say that the Chromer ...Al Reed, is one of the nicest guys you will ever talk to. He ships wheels all day long. He puts them in the same box that you shipped to him.

To damage a rim in a box was a severe impact. I used to work for UPS loading 18whlrs. Policy was that all packaging should be able to sustain a 3 ft drop onto concrete. If you rim is bent....it got hit real hard.

 

[onerareviper]

Bottom line: I like UPS and have never had any packages damaged - except that one time (I use UPS 99% of the time for any shipment). BUT, I don't work for UPS. I don't know the in's and out's on filing a claim. I am merely a customer. And I was told different things by different UPS employees, could not get a straight answer, and was given the run-around. Period. My experience with UPS has been great with everything EXCEPT trying to file this claim. And many people I've talked with have had a similar experience when trying to file a claim from a damaged package. Are people trying to rip off UPS? I'm sure there are.... Was I? H*ll no. And I felt like UPS assumes guilt until you prove innocence. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

 

[dansauto]

yes, Al is a great guy. But they used another company to ship these and they are basically not wanting to get involved. So I have no recourse but to go after Al. The rim is severly bent. No way any packing could have prevented the damage.

 

[past ohio]

What do you mean that Al used a different company to ship these ?? Was this UPS or could it have been the "FEDEX" or DHl grounding unit ??? Just Curious !!! The up and coming copycats of UPS are trying to cut rates severely to get business, and their employees are a lot of UPS want-a-bees!!! The shipper should be contacted by the consignee and then try to get some type of recovery going immediately....the guy saying that all boxes should sustain a 3 foot drop on CONCRETE is totally wrong....sometimes we get hub employees that find the handling to be a joke although they are repeatedly taught to use "hand to surface" handling....the workers get lazy and then drop , like the comment from the Lenexa guy, this is a testimony as to why some workers hurt the UPS reputation....maybe this poster was the guy that handled your wheel ??? There is a definite problem getting young people to follow procedures, they always think they know more than the people that have done it for years !!! Hope all works out, I find it not for this venue to vent your problems for a company, in fact I thought we had rules that you could not "bash" someone on this forum...BUT....

 

[joe117]

As someone pointed out, a Viper wheel doesn't get bent by someone dropping the box 3 feet. Something serious happened to that package.

I bought a small electronic device that was damaged in shipment by UPS. The half shoebox sized box was actually crushed flat, as if a very large truck ran over the item. I'm sure that whatever happened wasn't unknown to those involved. Still they shipped it out to me.

It didn't get dropped. It didn't get improperly handled. It was CRUSHED by some large heavy thing.
That couldn't have happened without someone knowing it had happened.

The driver handed the crushed flat package to me, with broken pieces falling out, and said something like, "look's like there might be some damage". I told him to send it back.
I'll bet if I hadn't been home, he would have left it on the doorstep, crushed flat.

Why didn't UPS simply send it back when it was damaged? Why did they let me find out that they crushed my package?

Is it their policy to ship an obviously crushed package to the final destination?

Couldn't some one along the line just send it back to the shipper?

And please tell me that there are no folks out there that are so incompetent that they could be "UPS want-a-bees".

There is no problem getting workers who will do the job properly. All it takes is enough pay. You pay a high enough wage and you will get people who don't want to lose their job. You pay supervisors enough and you will get supervisors who will not want to lose their job.
Keep the workload within reason and those good employees will have the time to do the job properly.

UPS, and probably all the other shippers have decided they are going to compete over price and quality is secondary. They want to hire kids and pay them little. You get what you pay for.

At this point I think UPS is no better or worse than any of the other options. Well, the post office is probably worse.

I'd be happy to pay more for quality service. If there was some other shipper who charged more but gave better more reliable service, UPS would never see another $ from me.

 

[Firecat F7 Viper]

The driver handed the crushed flat package to me, with broken pieces falling out, and said something like, "look's like there might be some damage". I told him to send it back.
I'll bet if I hadn't been home, he would have left it on the doorstep, crushed flat.

Why didn't UPS simply send it back when it was damaged? Why did they let me find out that they crushed my package?

Is it their policy to ship an obviously crushed package to the final destination?

Couldn't some one along the line just send it back to the shipper?

I am one of those lowly UPS drivers I really do love the job.
Your driver should have sheeted up that package as damaged and should not have made the attempt to deliver it to you. When I get a package that is obviously damaged I always return it to my center. No customer wants to see his merchandise in peices. I think the customer would be much more comfortable knowing that the damage(and ultimate replacement) is being taken care of before it gets to him. He made the wrong decision on that pkg.
If I see a package that is questionable and might have damage, I will ask the customer if they would like to take a look at the product before I leave.(that is actually against UPS rules to let customer open pkg....customer is either to accept or refuse the pkg.) I think the customer appreciates my asking to check out the package and giving them the opportunity to just hand it back to me if indeed it is damaged.
Bottom line..he made an unwise decision

 

[Firecat F7 Viper]

....the guy saying that all boxes should sustain a 3 foot drop on CONCRETE is totally wrong....sometimes we get hub employees that find the handling to be a joke although they are repeatedly taught to use "hand to surface" handling....the workers get lazy and then drop , like the comment from the Lenexa guy, this is a testimony as to why some workers hurt the UPS reputation....maybe this poster was the guy that handled your wheel ??? There is a definite problem getting young people to follow procedures, they always think they know more than the people that have done it for years !!! Hope all works out, I find it not for this venue to vent your problems for a company, in fact I thought we had rules that you could not "bash" someone on this forum...BUT....

Denny,
I think you misinterpreted what the guy from Lenexa(Jerry Dobson) meant.
I beleive he was saying that the boxes used in shipping should have the burst rating to sustain a 3 foot fall. I don't think he meant that UPS was giving the thumbs up to drop the package from 3 feet high!! If I am not mistaken...boxes are tested with a certain predetermined and uniform weight to withstand different height drops....some boxes can withstand higher drops than others....some up to 6' to 10' and are given that rating.

Yes, I know all about the "hand to surface" handling methods all too well..It was drilled into our heads and also posted all over the walls.
I had done the loading part for 5 years before becoming a driver and that is one hell of a demanding job.
There are always bad apples with every company but %99 do the job the way they are instructed. Another reason for some of the damages is in the equipment itself and not employee related at all. If some dork tapes up a package with duct tape(which is not allowed.....must use packing tape) and the bigger dork(the driver) accepts and picks up that package, that can create problems with jams on the conveyors and chutes. The duct tape package sticks to the chute and creates jams. The volume of packages builds up quickly and starts to overflow on the floor like Niagara Falls during the rainy season and some of these conveyors are very high......20 plus feet. Not too many pkgs can survive a fall like that. It is possible that might be what happened to that rim even though rims should be treated as an irregular and not sorted on the conveyor.....it may have gotten by, especially if it was in a box.
We are no worse than any other carrier and I think you might hear about more damages through UPS simply because we are number one and our volume is so much more than the competition but if you were to break it down pkg to pkg it would be very close with all carriers in amount of damage claims.
The funny thing is,when a customer becomes angry with us and decides to try what he thinks are "greener" pastures with Fedex or DHL.....they almost always return to UPS. I see this all the time as a driver. We offer the broadest range of services from international to domestic ground and are very good with time sensitive packages. I may not be management(had plenty of opportunities to do so but have no desire) but I still bleed brown.
I love the driving aspect...great people on my route....pretty much my own boss and UPS treats me real well.
JOE117-- Slowing down the workload would mean decreased volume,difficulties in meeting time commitments on packages and lost business to our competitors....that is not an option for UPS in todays more competitive market.
Volume, high revenue packages such as international pkgs, and fast paced stops per hour is what is making UPS profit and with that fast pace and volume damages are inevitable. It is just part of the business unfortunately but all carriers suffer from it.
JOE....I promise not to use your pkgs. as a seat cushion while I drive and will try to refrain from kicking and running them over in the future. Man...it is gonna be hard to break old habits!!!
UPS is obviously doing something right to be able to remain in business and florish for almost 100 years now.
As far as the rim incident, it is even more unfortunate as this is a hard to replace/repair item and I hope it gets settled quickly.

Sorry for rambling..this topic is getting a little long in the tooth now.

If anyone is wondering......NO...the Viper does not sound like a UPS truck...well.....at least not a modified one!!!