UPS Lost My Bass! I Need Advice!

Folmeister · #1 08-30-2006, 12:39 PM

I purchased this beautiful Lakland DJ4 from Diptixon here and he shipped it UPS. I am, by experience, very wary of their services. From the start, they have lived up to all of my expectations. The package sat in Georgia for three days due to "adverse weather conditions." Then it made it here to the Bay Area and out to my local distribution center (which is all of 5 miles from my house). Somewhere between there and my house it vanished. The driver has come by two days in a row, but the package was not in the truck. I raised a ruckus with UPS and they sent a message to the local distribution site. They call me and immediately advise I start the claims process (seems to me they know where it went or what happened to it or they just don't care about really looking for it). Danny immediately filed. What else can I do from my end? I am going to call and complain again today, but what else is there to do?

bassteban · #2 08-30-2006, 12:46 PM

I've shipped a lot of bass stuff, nearly all w/UPS & only once had a problem. They damaged a combo amp, & quickly made it right. U.S. Musical(Eden's parent company)however, took a bit longer. My shipper tells me UPS will be much more likely to admit responsibility than FedEx in these cases. When was/is the bass due?

Reefer · #3 08-30-2006, 01:07 PM

Did you pay with a credit card?? If so threaten the guy you bought it from with having the charges reversed. That will get his attenton!!

Poop-Loops · #4 08-30-2006, 01:30 PM

You're not the only one.

I only trust Fedex these days, and even then they stick the package on your doorstep and leave.

I don't know man. Complain to everyone you can and threaten to have the charges reversed like Reefer said. Sitting around and hoping that they sort it out for you won't work. =/

James Hart · #5 08-30-2006, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

I only trust Fedex these days, and even then they stick the package on your doorstep and leave.

I won't buy from people / places that only use FedEx. 9 times out of 10 I've had some sort of issue.

Poop-Loops · #6 08-30-2006, 01:44 PM

I've had the worst experience with regular USPS. I ordered a video card and it took them a month and a half (I kid you not) to get it to my house. By that time the price had dropped by like $30 and I wasn't on the bleeding edge anymore.

UPS has had some "delays" before or usually just takes longer. Fedex has given me the best experience.

But I guess it just boils down to luck. =/

jive1 · #7 08-30-2006, 01:47 PM

Not sure with UPS, but with FedEx the shipper or the recipient can file a claim.

Poop-Loops · #8 08-30-2006, 01:49 PM

You can do that with any shipping service. It's called a TMP.

RWP · #9 08-30-2006, 02:00 PM

Don't give up. UPS lost my Crown amp going in for service and it magically showed up at Crown after I had placed a claim.

I never found out where it was for 4 days.
Keep checking the tracking number for clues. Oh, and it HAD to be your NEW BASS they lost! Not something you could care less about, like an ebay order for packing tape.

FLEMMERAN · #10 08-30-2006, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jive1

Not sure with UPS, but with FedEx the shipper or the recipient can file a claim.

first of all as a UPS employee i am very sorry to hear about this. and yes you can file a claim, im not sure how but i know you can. the label probably came off in transit or something, either that or the driver is a complete idiot. 90% of the people who work in UPS hubs are college students fresh out of high school so that may also have something to do with it. but regardless your bass is probably somewhere within a UPS hub.

edit: the other 10% are old and retired and are just working there for the benefits. if you need any help feel free to PM me in these situations its good to have a guy on the inside

Folmeister · #11 08-30-2006, 07:48 PM

O.k. Danny has filed and all is well with us. It's not his fault and I applaud his easy-going nature. It's UPS. Next time, try what I did. Complain. I called customer service. They called management at the local distribution center. Management called me. I complained in a very calm but firm manner. It was in the wrong driver's truck and he let it sit in there for two days. I should have it tomorrow. Now, let's hope it's in one piece.

bigfatbass · #12 08-30-2006, 08:12 PM

My experience from shipping LOTS of stuff around is that you are at the mercy of your regional/local hub for whatever your carrier. One of the reasons they flux so much, especially FedEx Ground, is that they are now franchised, and you may just have a bad one serving you. Like the difference between a GOOD Waffle House and a BAAAAAAD Waffle House can be enormous. Around here UPS is excellent, with few reported problems from any of the GAS hounds I know. FedEx Ground in my region, however, is most commonly used in a sentence like "You won't believe what those godless apes at FedEx Ground were able to do to this Gramma Pad."

I know just as many who say the same thing in reverse. Go with whoever gets it done best for you locally, and request that from whoever is shipping to you. Where it starts matters much less than the hub it ends up at. Things are very rarely lost inbetween.

Hope you end up with an intact axe soon!

Mojo-Man · #13 08-30-2006, 08:27 PM

Start claim with U P S.
If they lost bass, it may end up in there St Louis warehouse.
This is a warehouse for unmarked, or unreadable boxes.
The label on my box was ripped off.
The have a guitar warehouse section.
They lost one of my basses once, and it sat in St. Louis for 6 weeks.
Call there with bass decription, serial #, color ect.

Have sender also contact UPS.
Get recite, for replacement price of bass.
Good luck?

Spector_Ray · #14 08-30-2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Folmeister

It was in the wrong driver's truck and he let it sit in there for two days.

***??? That is the most screwed up thing I've ever heard!

Folmeister · #15 08-30-2006, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

You're not the only one.

I only trust Fedex these days, and even then they stick the package on your doorstep and leave.

I don't know man. Complain to everyone you can and threaten to have the charges reversed like Reefer said. Sitting around and hoping that they sort it out for you won't work. =/

Hooooooo, Boooy! That gives me the willies (my apology to Willie). My friend was delivered an empty box once. The driver hands him a box with a big hole in the side and all the merchandise gone. When my friend complained, he said "hey, I just deliver them." I did get them to admit fault. I won. I think.

FLEMMERAN · #16 08-31-2006, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb1

I'm beginning to think the folks in Lenexa are real party animals. Whenever a bass I order hits the Lenexa hub, I swear I hear the sound of a jam sessions going on... then the next day they pack it all back in the trucks and I get my bass 24 hours after that....

If I had lost my bass, Lenexa would be the first place I'd look.

haha

morf · #17 08-31-2006, 06:22 AM

Hope you had insurance

RWP · #18 09-07-2006, 07:40 PM

We never got an update, did you find your bass? Hope so

Munjibunga · #19 09-08-2006, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfatbass

Like the difference between a GOOD Waffle House and a BAAAAAAD Waffle House can be enormous.

Hmmmm ... good Waffle House ... is that one of them, uh, whatchacallit ... oxymorons?

Folmeister · #20 09-08-2006, 08:13 AM

Here is the final wrap on this episode. I got the bass. How? By complaining to UPS without mercy. Here is what happened according to UPS. Supposedly, the box was incorrectly scanned and ended up in the wrong truck. It sat in that truck for three days without anyone making an effort to get it to the delivery route. Right. The Concord distribution center has a reputation. I am not the only person I know that has had problems with that center and "lost" musical items. I went to corporate. They gave me the secret number to the distribution center. The first person I contacted tried to give me the bum's rush. "File a claim" was their answer. I got pissed. I went back to corporate. They went directly to the actual manager. Seems someone else played manager when she was off doing something else. She got in contact with me and I laid in to her about the lack of appropriate customer service. The tracking had the box enter the center, but not emerge regardless that the driver tried to deliver it twice without it actually being on his truck. I said "go find it." Seems that was a novel idea. Once I was on her back, I refused to relent. She eventually found it - in another driver's truck. That driver had failed to put it back into the system. The manager admitted total fault and personally delivered it to me. It was undamaged, thank God! I believe that my unwillingness to let them brush me off prevented it from being appropriated by someone at that center. I really believe that if I had hesitated, it would have been "lost" forever. Thanks for all of the advice and help on this.