Another sad OOPS Story

Early B.

My friend recently shipped a pair of speakers via "OOPS" (UPS) in the manufacturer's original boxes. When they arrived, the crossover in one of the speakers had become unhinged, so a claim was submitted and a OOPS guy came out to inspect the speaker. According to OOPS, they denied the claim since there was no visible damage to the boxes. So my friend got the speaker manufacturer to write a letter saying that this damage could only occur if the box had been dropped. Is OOPS too stupid to realize that?

What's the purpose of buying shipping insurance if the insurer won't take responsibility for their own mistakes?

faster100

exactly, UPS is known for not paying any claims..

Ron-P

I count my lucky (brown) stars.

I've used UPS many, many times and no problems yet.

MrBuhl

faster100 wrote:

exactly, UPS is known for not paying any claims..

Not trying to be contrary but I recieved a full rebate on my 5b's that arrived with corners dinged. (UPS Store packed and shipped) Dented corners suck but free speaks are a winner.

dragon1952

Ron-P wrote:

I count my lucky (brown) stars.

I've used UPS many, many times and no problems yet.

"Yet" being the key word here

I'm expecting a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce signatures today via UPS. They are coming all the way from the east coast. I'm holding my breath My last pair of UPS shipped speakers got dinged.

dragon1952

MrBuhl wrote:

Not trying to be contrary but I recieved a full rebate on my 5b's that arrived with corners dinged. (UPS Store packed and shipped) Dented corners suck but free speaks are a winner.

Yeah, if they pack they've got no recourse. They charge an arm and a leg though and you still have to buy the insurance. However, if you want to be absolutely assured of a hassle free claim that's the way to go. Otherwise they'll ty to 'slither' out of it.

Early B.

The worst part of the story is that the buyer has had the speakers for a month and is afraid to hook them up because of the damage, so he hasn't heard them even after paying a grand for 'em.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I've had MUCH better luck with FedEx than I've had with UPS. I've only had 1 issue ever with FedEx - and that was just a slip - the guy dropped a receiver I was shipping before he even got the box taped up for me. I've never had any issues in transit with FedEx - always had issues with UPS, don't use them anymore.

steveinaz

NO shipper will cover "internal" electronics damage if there is no apparent external damage. Regardless of the amount of insurance. USPS won't cover electronics AT ALL.

There is no way the shipper can test the item before shipping it, thats why it's not covered. Can you imagine how many scams people would pull if you could ship an item that was electrically defective and then later claim the cost of repair because you felt it was damaged in shipment?

If you read the fine print on all shippers concerning claims, it's a crap shoot, unless they actually lose the item.

I ship for a living, $9.4 million last year about $5.6 million so far this year, go Fedex or DHL; UPS is a nightmare, I see it everyday, twice a day (we have 2 pick-ups daily). Do Fedex and DHL have issues? You bet, but they handle boxes much, much more gently and pack their trucks with far more competence than UPS. My Fedex/DHL boxes always have sharp corners, no dents, no tears. My UPS stuff routinely looks like its been drug behind the truck for 40 miles before delivery. Invoices missing constantly, boxes just crumpled---etc, etc...

PolkThug

dragon1952 wrote:

I'm expecting a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce signatures today via UPS.

Kick ****! I wanted to get a pair of those for a 2-channel rig. Make sure to let us know your impressions when you get them.

BIZILL

EFF ups. go fed ex. bought my $1000 moutain bike and it arrived through ups with the fork clearly pertruding the corner of the box. luckily only minor scuffage occured. n e way, called ups claims folk. they sent a 19 year old girl in street clothes that was driven by her boyfriend to my house. she snapped a few pics. then they denied my claim. the fork had scuffs that didn't really hurt the bikes performance too much, but for a grand, i want my **** brand effin new! i fought and fought ups and never won. i then proceeded to pull a scam to get back at them. those who don't like that about my character, too bad. felt good to get back at them.

edit. thing that sucks is though i paid for the insurance, the seller of the bike paid ups for the shipping. so all claims went through the seller and not me. i hate that crap.

nadams

UPS is just horrible... simply... horrible. We once bought 25 CRT monitors and they were shipped UPS (no choice). They lost two, one came with the glass separated from the case, and several were beat up with holes in the boxes. We filed a claim and actually did get new monitors for those that were broken.

Should've seen that delivery truck when it came in... she was draggin **** for sure!

Early B.

Sucks.

Same thing happened to me with my Soliloquy speakers when they were shipped via FedEx -- one of the crossovers became unhinged even though it was screwed in place. The port was also busted. Luckily I was able to repair the damage myself. Othwerwise, I would have been screwed.

So the moral of the story is that no matter which shipping company you use, buying stuff off the 'net that's non-refundable is somewhat risky, even with insurance. However, the price differences between an Internet or brick & mortar retailer vs. stuff on ebay, audiogon, etc. is often too compelling to ignore and worth the risk for many people.

dragon1952

I worked for UPS for a short time along time ago. Their main concern was speed. How fast you could load and unload stuff, read zip codes and stack packages. If they saw you mishandling stuff they would certainly call you out on it but their 'speed' philosophy is contradictory to safe handling practices. You can't do both.

billbillw

I had a huge headache trying to get OOPs to even come and look at the packaging from my RT800i. I never thought they would pay out because of the shoddy packaging from the shipper. I knew that the shipper was at fault, but UPS would only pickup the speakers and take them to their warehouse for inspection. I wasn't going to risk damaging the speakers more and never seeing a dime so I refused to let them pickup. Tried to Squaretrade negotiate with the seller, but she ignored me. Ultimately, I got nothing from either UPS or the seller, but left negative feedback and got some satisfaction. The speakers sound great, but instead of being in "perfect shape with no scratches" they are just in fair shape with a handful of minor dings/scratches. Nothing glaring thankfully.

This week, I received a heavy Onkyo amp (38lbs) by UPS and everything was fine because it was packaged to withstand an A-bomb. Its all about the packaging in my opinion, but FedEx is definetly easier on packages.
I've had mo problems with FedEx. I always ship FedEx ground when I'm selling.

dragon1952

Just for everyone's info, you can request a home inspection vs them picking up the item and taking it who knows where for who knows how long. They don't tell you this because it's not their preferred method but you can do it. They'll make an appointment and you may have to wait a couple weeks but it's better than the alternative.

faster100

for ground why ship UPS? FED EX is atleast 30% cheaper or more.. they have screw up heavy packages but i think because its harder to toss a 40-50 lb box without damage. sometimes we think its packed good, but after tumbleing off a 15foot high conveyor belt things tend to break

billbillw

dragon1952 wrote:

Just for everyone's info, you can request a home inspection vs them picking up the item and taking it who knows where for who knows how long. They don't tell you this because it's not their preferred method but you can do it. They'll make an appointment and you may have to wait a couple weeks but it's better than the alternative.

I waited over a month to have this done and nobody ever came. I called repeatedly for awhile, but finally quit because it wasn't worth my time.

I believe I was told that they wouldn't do a home inspection unless the value was more than $1000 or something like that.

BIZILL

dragon1952 wrote:

Just for everyone's info, you can request a home inspection vs them picking up the item and taking it who knows where for who knows how long. They don't tell you this because it's not their preferred method but you can do it. They'll make an appointment and you may have to wait a couple weeks but it's better than the alternative.

did me absolutely no good. sent a funkin rookie girl who needed to be b-slapped!

BIZILL

oh, just another ups shipment. thank god it was just an oven rack that was not damaged.

Polkersince85

Can you say Class Action on misrepresentation of the insurance?