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I HATE UPS!!!

#81
I also have worked for UPS, albeit for 2 years on the graveyard shift at a Freight (commercial/bulk/heavy shipments) dock. Aside from the (completely true) points about unions mentioned already, when you're behind a forklift moving some of these things, you have NO IDEA what's in the boxes, how they are packed, or their value. It's a box. You have to put it in a truck and fit as many other boxes as possible around it. Said truck will then be driving across 4 or more states, to be unloaded and sorted for local delivery.

Often, a manufacturer sends a big pallet of smaller boxes wrapped together, and it is most convenient to stack these pallets on each other. Boxes on the edges get crunched a bit. I remember handling a bulk shipment of Epiphone starter pack guitars, probably 20 stacked up on one pallet. People who don't play music wouldn't know the brand; it'd just be a pallet of weird pie shaped boxes stacked into a cube shape.

Then on local routes, things can move around in the truck. You can't always control when a driver has to stop suddenly, and one box comes free and slams into another. If the box is set in the very back of a semitruck, bumps in the road can launch it over 3 feet into the air at even reasonable speeds.

Not to make excuses, I haven't worked there for years, I don't know your specific courier, driver, etc.
Just saying, there are a lot of places in a delivery chain that things can get dented. Pack and insure accordingly.

Good day to everyone! :thumbsup:
 
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#82
jetgraphics said:
Is that why TRADE UNION is a euphemism for organized crime?
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Dude if you only knew how much control Unions have over businesses! I despise them like no other! They are corrupt beyond imagination. I hated dealing with their reps. It's bad when a Doctor had to threaten to sue both UPS and the Union to fire that skag for stealing multiple times and then in her file it was the only disciplinary report that was placed. Nothing was in there concerning the stealing!
 
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#83
Also, the company shipping the items (guitars etc) should be responsible to package the items in label crush proof boxes. There is a stamped label on these boxes that state crush proof strengths. Sweetwater, MF and many others use cheap manufacturer boxes and just throw them out for shipping and then its on your shoulders. It would not cost hardly much more to provide those boxes for shipping from stores! As much as they hammer us on prices, they can afford to do it!
 
#85
jp8848 said:
Dude if you only knew how much control Unions have over businesses! I despise them like no other! They are corrupt beyond imagination. I hated dealing with their reps. It's bad when a Doctor had to threaten to sue both UPS and the Union to fire that skag for stealing multiple times and then in her file it was the only disciplinary report that was placed. Nothing was in there concerning the stealing!
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Who should have filed a criminal complaint? The physician or the shipper?
 
#87
Stuff gets jacked up all the time, FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL when they did domestic stuff... everyone has a bad day. There's idiots everywhere. Gotta ship instruments always in a hard shell case I guess... sucks though... thanks for sharing the experience, now for me its hard shell cases always.
 
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#88
OP, you are very lucky that you picked up the package at the UPS location! Had they just left it at your door I guarantee it would be a much bigger hassle to get UPS to acknowledge and cover the damage. They are notorious for denying damage claims, usually due to "improper packaging". They once denied me a damage claim on some large photographs I shipped to a customer because they claimed they weren't packaged properly. Funny thing was they were packaged by a UPS Store!
 
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#90
#91
skatecyco said:
Well I think it shouldn't happen in the first place. Have some respect for other peoples property and show some pride in your job. Its not my first bad experience with UPS or FedEx for that matter. No one is going to have to take responsibility for it and I personally think that's just wrong. If I did something like that in my occupation I would be fired.
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What if other people expected absolute 100% perfection from you all the time 24/7? Mistakes happen. Sheesh!

Also, how can you know that no one is going to have to take responsibility for it? Do you know about UPS's internal investigating process? Accidents like these cost the company money and I don't know of any company that has a policy of letting their employees just break stuff at will while they sign checks for new merchandise. I guarantee that a form had to be filled out regarding your bass and that form is now somebody's problem in the company.

Whether the end result is a termination, a written warning, or a meeting to discuss damage claim statistics and process improvement paradigms it's going to cost the company a LOT more money than just the cost of your bass. Training and retraining replacement employees is hella expensive as is having having several bigwigs sit around and talk. At best, it will be traced to a faulty part in a machine.

Whatever the result, You are assuming way too much if you really think no one will have to take responsibility. You should be thankful that they both recognized their own error AND are attempting to make it right for you because sometimes they try to get away with blaming YOU for THEIR actions. And THAT's worth hating UPS about!
 
#94
west al said:
Brown never did it right for me in business, or in personal deliveries. I never have issues with FedEx.
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Everyone's experience is different.
I've only ever had one problem with UPS, whereas with FedEx it got to the point that for a while I didn't allow anyone at work to use it.

Two things I've noticed over the last year or so:
!. Almost all individuals or companies I order from are using FedEx or USPS. Can't remember the last time anything came via UPS.
2. USPS tracking has improved greatly.
 
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#96
Antisyzygy said:
USPS all the way.
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They have the least accountability of any of them! "Oh, what you mean you ain't got yo' packages. It only been two weeks. You gots to be patient."

All companies have bad-apples. One of the problems, though, with couriers is that some really beat up their employees to improve speed, and volume. They also hire a lot of kids as sorters. Combine those factors with weather, and you get a lot of disgruntled workers. They figure that the increased volume makes up for the occasional destroyed package. This is especially true if they can make things so difficult that claimants eat the loss, rather than following through with the claim process.

It is funny that, when ordering from overseas, EMS gets the package to the US faster than USPS completes the shipment from their pickup-point.
 
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#97
skatecyco said:
Its not my first bad experience with UPS or FedEx for that matter. .
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All I know is that I used to think UPS was spiffy when I was a kid. No more. Political people like to gripe about how much awesomer private companies are compared to government-run, but these days I always select USPS when possible. My order of preference to avoid problems is USPS > FedEx > UPS/anyone else
 
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