What "brown" did for, er, to me.

[Alex H.]

I recently purchased an audio console on eBay. It was well packed, and a UPS agent was the last person to see the packaging as she told the seller that she'd seal the box after making sure that she added a few more packing peanuts.

The box showed up at my house severely damaged. It had been sliced (not ripped, sliced) open and much of the packing had spilled out. Even though the board was heavily wrapped in bubble wrap, the box had been dropped several times. The corner of the board was dented and the plastic cap to the power switch had been broken off and was missing. I powered the console up and went through it, finding that everything was in working order except for the left main... no output, no meter. (PFL routed signal to both ears in the cans.)

The package was insured for full purchase value. We filed a claim.

UPS requested a repair estimate. I dropped the board off at my regular shop (authorized Allen & heath service center) for an estimate. The gave me a quote, which we sent to UPS. The shop went ahead and fixed the board, and took pictures of the damaged circuit board inside the console.

The shipping agent saw pictures of the dents, and of the box, and said that they had really botched it. She started a claim with the repair quote.

Then, the same driver who delivered the box showed up at my house a couple days ago with a pickup order (no one had told me, or the seller, that they would be doing this).

The board has been repaired, and payed for. Now, UPS is telling us that they may not be able to complete the claim unless they pick up the board.

And do what with it?! What on earth do they need it for? I have a major even coming up in a couple weeks, and cannot be without my FOH console (sold my older board to buy this one).

So now I'm out the $1200 I payed for the board, and the $300 from the repair, and UPS wants to take it back. Anyone ever dealt with this before?

I'm about to call my attorney.

 

[Nektonic]

So now I'm out the $1200 I payed for the board, and the $300 from the repair, and UPS wants to take it back. Anyone ever dealt with this before?

I'm about to call my attorney.

I definitely wouldn't want to hand it back over to UPS, whether I had already paid for repairs or not.

Who knows if they'll just trash it and claim that they never received it and have no records of it? Sounds really fishy if you ask me. Also, they should've said they needed to actually see it up front, not after the fact.

I've personally encountered some shady practices at a UPS store before, so definitely be careful with these guys.

 

[Cassius]

Just ***** over the phone until you get to management. See how far that can go.

 

[Jordan_S]

Then, the same driver who delivered the box showed up at my house a couple days ago with a pickup order (no one had told me, or the seller, that they would be doing this).

A pickup order? Were you able to keep a copy? Do you have the driver's name or employee number? Something definitely is rotten in the state of Denmark. My guess is that the driver is attempting to cover his or a fellow employee's a$$.

If upper management is unyielding (unlikely over $300, I would think), tell them about this thread.

 

[Alex H.]

My guess is that the driver is attempting to cover his or a fellow employee's a$$.

The driver is just as surprised as I am. The pickup order is coming from the UPS agent in Dallas, from whence the board came.

Oddly, when the driver showed up, the pickup order he had (of which I do not currently have a copy, but my scanner is ready should he arrive for his second attempt) had the UPS store phone number from Dallas listed on it as my contact phone number (along with my name and home address).

Hmmm... this agent is the one who sealed the box personally, after topping off the packing peanuts. Your comment makes me wonder if she's the one try to cover her a** on this one...

 

[Dingos8mybaby]

I'm not sure if this applies to you, but for a small business up here in Toronto with a UPS account, this happens whenever there is a damages claim. They maintain the "right" to inspect and/or keep the damaged goods even after the claim has been approved (i.e. after UPS already paid). Where I used to work, they only ever took back one of the damaged items, even though we filed a lot of successful claims (we were in the wine-making and wine storage business).

In my experience, the claims for <~$500 take longer to process (up to 6 mos up here), but usually end up being approved. If the claims are for more than that, I know they usually handle it in a more timely fashion (by actually actively pursuing it), but you usually have to do a lot more legwork (e.g. phone calls, paperwork).

FYI, some of the bigger couriers have a 'destroy' pile - literally a place where they destroy any packages that were totally f-ed up during transport. This probably means instant claims approval for the destination parties, but could you imagine how many packages would have to be damaged, and to what extent, to justify a pile? It reminds me of that ruined Canon shipment where the workers had to smash all of the lenses and cameras with hammers.