What to do when UPS loses a product.

**peeka-bu** · 01-12-2010 11:50 AM

Hi everyone,
I sell a product and UPS has lost it a few times in shipping. If a customer doesn't get a product, would you send it again for free?
Thanks,
Sarah

**Encrypted** · 01-12-2010 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by peeka-bu

Hi everyone,
I sell a product and UPS has lost it a few times in shipping. If a customer doesn't get a product, would you send it again for free?
Thanks,
Sarah

If you offer insurance and they didn't pay for it, then no. If you don't, then yes.

**peteVA** · 01-12-2010 02:56 PM

You mention nothing of the value of the product, which can make a difference.

And you did not mention how you sold it or how you were paid for the order.

If you sold it on ebay, through PayPal or were paid by plastic, it is your responsibility to PROVE you delivered the order. Proving you turned it over to UPS does no good. You MUST produce proof of delivery or they can ask for and get a refund.

You should have partial coverage from UPS and the first people to talk to should be them.

Regardless, refund or replace the order. Do right by your customers and it will come back to you. Hide behind the fine print and you will find your name on numerous online scammer lists.

Plus, if you were paid in any way by PayPal or plastic, you face a chargeback if you do not prove delivery.

**Encrypted** · 01-12-2010 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by peteVA

You mention nothing of the value of the product, which can make a difference.

And you did not mention how you sold it or how you were paid for the order.

If you sold it on ebay, through PayPal or were paid by plastic, it is your responsibility to PROVE you delivered the order. Proving you turned it over to UPS does no good. You MUST produce proof of delivery or they can ask for and get a refund.

You should have partial coverage from UPS and the first people to talk to should be them.

Regardless, refund or replace the order. Do right by your customers and it will come back to you. Hide behind the fine print and you will find your name on numerous online scammer lists.

Plus, if you were paid in any way by PayPal or plastic, you face a chargeback if you do not prove delivery.

All very good points. I was going to go back and edit my post about the value of the item, but I got lazy and decided not to.

**rogercbryan** · 01-12-2010 03:21 PM

Aren't you using tracking? Are you talking about USPS (the Post Office) or UPS... UPS rarely losses packages.. .USPS on the other hand costs me about $5,000 a year in lost packages..

**myfayt** · 01-12-2010 04:22 PM

Contact UPS and let them know of the shipping problem. Also check tracking codes, if it shows it was delivered, then the customer is lying to you about not receiving it.

**Encrypted** · 01-12-2010 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by myfayt

Contact UPS and let them know of the shipping problem. Also check tracking codes, if it shows it was delivered, then the customer is lying to you about not receiving it.

Either that or it was stolen from their front porch. My ex-ex-girlfriend had that happen before. lol

**peteVA** · 01-12-2010 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by Encrypted

All very good points. I was going to go back and edit my post about the value of the item, but I got lazy and decided not to.

Yes, misinformation is worse than no information at all.

There are many newbies who will take whatever they see on a forum as gospel.

**peteVA** · 01-12-2010 09:55 PM

Even UPS has trailers go off bridges and into rivers and occasionally planes fall from the sky. Also, loads shift and larger heavy items may crush lighter, fragile items.

They are good, but things do turn up missing and, as mentioned, if "Adult Signature Required" is not specified, goods are left on porches, in garages, etc. and sometimes stolen.

While, as shipper, you may be able to work things out with UPS, if you are selling as I mentioned above, you should refund or replace immediately, than settle with UPS after making your customer right.

**Encrypted** · 01-12-2010 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by peteVA

Even UPS has trailers go off bridges and into rivers and occasionally planes fall from the sky. Also, loads shift and larger heavy items may crush lighter, fragile items.

They are good, but things do turn up missing and, as mentioned, if "Adult Signature Required" is not specified, goods are left on porches, in garages, etc. and sometimes stolen.

While, as shipper, you may be able to work things out with UPS, if you are selling as I mentioned above, you should refund or replace immediately, than settle with UPS after making your customer right.

Personally, I like Fedex. They have a reputation to take care of your packages better than UPS. I went to apply for a job at a local UPS shipment warehouse and I saw guys carelessly throwing the packages into the trucks.

**kurtjerome** · 01-12-2010 10:35 PM

If you haven't already then call UPS set up a tracer on the package, but yeah we send the customer a replacement immediately then wait to hear back from UPS they ll get back to you in up to 8 business days.... This is how we do it... I would say we get reimbursed for about 80% of the lost packages... with the other 20% being UPS having proof the package was delivered and the customer saying they never received it.

**DerekS** · 01-12-2010 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Encrypted

Personally, I like Fedex. They have a reputation to take care of your packages better than UPS. I went to apply for a job at a local UPS shipment warehouse and I saw guys carelessly throwing the packages into the trucks.

I've experienced the opposite. I found that FedEx's handling of most of our packages was atrocious, especially international shipping. Their freight department was a joke. They're great for overnighting documents (especially with their drop boxes) but I had 3 transmissions go MIA inside of a month, only to be returned to my doorstep 60 days later (literally one after another.) We eventually switched to UPS for freight and never had a package returned.

I'm sure given our volume (average of 150-200 shipments a month), that we could have worked with a rep who would have given us better customer service, but we were young and dumb. Still, once you've paid the shipping cost, and handed off a properly packaged item, they should get it to the agreed upon destination with little to no drama (regardless the amount of business you're giving them.)

I also watched a FedEx driver kick a $2000 custom built combination amp off the back of his truck. It was filled with N.O.S. tubes from the '60s and other fragile stuff that doesn't like hitting immovable objects like the ground. My brother ordered it but before he could even ring the doorbell I told him to put that sh*t back on the truck and send it back where it came from. No vacuum tube is going to stand a 4 foot drop off the back of a truck onto a concrete pad. Needless to say, he ended up getting another amp, shipped via UPS.

I'm sure plenty of people have had good experiences with FedEx, I'm just not one of them.

On a side note- I know a UPS driver personally and he tells me all kinds of horror stories so I will acknowledge that they aren't a bunch of angels themselves. I've just gotten lucky!

**Encrypted** · 01-12-2010 11:13 PM

Ultimately, I suppose that the condition your package arrives in depends on the idiots that handle them. lol BTW, If I were you, I would have called FedEx about that delivery guy and got him fired.

**peteVA** · 01-14-2010 10:22 PM

Click a couple of links and you'll see UPS always comes out standing tall, with FedEx laying over dead.

UPS vs FedEx - Round 1

UPS vs FedEx - Round 2