OT: Need advice about missing Ipod package

[disneysnowflake]

My son saved for a long time to get the newest 64gb Ipod Touch.
We ordered it from Amazon.
The item said that UPS had it, and it was to be delivered. It didn't show up. It was supposed to be delivered today. I have Prime.
Then we were told there was an error in processing the order, UPS had it, and he has to wait a week for them to find the Ipod. If it wasn't found, we'd get a refund within 10 business days after that. So, it's 20 business days from today to get a refund. That's unacceptable.
The Amazon rep said it was at the facility, but it was misplaced. It was on the truck, but now it's not.
Since it's a holiday weekend, UPS won't attempt to look for it until Tuesday, but most likely Wednesday of next week at the earliest.
I'm debating on whether to contact my Discover Card to file a dispute on the $350+ charge. For a 16 year old kid, that's a heck of a lot of money.

Has anyone else had this happen?

I'm just not sure what to do.

I'd be glad to wait if the item was $10 or something, but this is a $350+ item.
It's not Amazon's fault. They shipped it. It's UPS's fault.

 

[starry_solo]

If you dispute it and it's delivered are you going to refuse the package?

 

[disneysnowflake]

Absolutely.

 

[disneysnowflake]

I am now told that UPS will make a note that if it's found to send it back to Amazon, but it could take up to a month in total for Amazon to process a refund. I guess I should have just bought locally. I'll be doing that from now on.

 

[kneedeep]

Sorry this happened to you. I wonder what "misplaced" might be code for. We have had Amazon Prime for years and order all kinds of items from the site regularly. For the most part we have had very good experiences. The one time when items did not make it to us in two days, we contacted Amazon and ended up receiving an online credit to apply to a future purchase. This was for a $25 item; I am sure you could make the case that the waiting and inconvenience you have experienced is worth something, especially when you purchased a much more expensive product than we did. It may not help you get the iPod any faster, but a little extra spending money on Amazon might offer some consolation to your son ...

 

[NotUrsula]

Call the CC company and tell them what is going on; they can delay the payment if the charge is disputed. This also should cause your Buyer's Protection Plan to kick in as well. Let the CC company handle the hassle for you.

Generally Amazon is very good about getting packages to you when they are supposed to, and the taxes on that much money are not a negligible thing, so I wouldn't write them off as a store just yet. I order upward of $5K from them every year for business purposes, and they have never permanently lost one of my packages yet.

 

[MomToOne]

I once had an Amazon package stolen from my front stoop where the delivery service left it. Once I contacted the delivery service and they came out to verify where it had been left and that it in fact wasn't there (duh), Amazon quickly sent a new package, next day delivery.

I'd give it a business day or two to get sorted out. It sucks to wait - especially for a kid - but it's just something that has to be. Mistakes happen. If it doesn't show up, Amazon will make it right pretty quickly.

 

[holycow]

I can't tell you what to do but I've had 2 delivery's 'disappear' from UPS.

It was upsetting since the items were sold out and couldn't be replaced.

I also had a hard time calling UPS to complain. They weren't really interested.

Good luck! That is a huge amount of money!

 

[bumbershoot]

Then we were told there was an error in processing the order, UPS had it, and he has to wait a week for them to find the Ipod. If it wasn't found, we'd get a refund within 10 business days after that.

UPS told you this? Ignore them.


Contact amazon. They have their own department at UPS that they deal with, and unless it's a seller, they will help you. And if it's a seller and they don't help you? Contact amazon again.


Don't dispute, don't talk with UPS anymore. Talk to amazon. No matter how much you think it's UPS's fault, it doesn't matter. Amazon will help. Contact them.

 

[angwill]

With UPS they see it as they are responsible to the shipper and not the reciever. Their rules are that they get 10 days to look for the package and from there they credit the shipper. Misplaced could mean anything from getting misdelivered, to kicked off the truck whatever happened it never got scannned once it got put on the delivery truck.

As the previous poster said take it up with Amazon who will have their own private UPS facility that process packages and deals with missing packages for only Amazon. They can do a lot more than the general UPS customer service line can since they deal with missing packages from every company to every destination all over the world. The CS reps hands are tied to simply putting in a claim for a missing package then that claim goes to the claims department and then on to the delivery facility.

 

[seashoreCM]

Regardless of what anyone says or how much progress you have made, file a dispute with the credit card company or with Paypal before the deadline for doing that.

Should the item be found and delivered in good order, you can cancel the dispute.

I would not worry about or make a fuss about an item that is delivered a week or two late, but I do expect not to have to pay for an item that I never get.

 

[plummer925]

Your credit card company won't accept a dispute for 30 days. By law a company has 30 days to get merchandise to you when you order by credit card. I know this because I used to work at a credit card company.

 

[granmanh603]

I thought you had contacted Amazon... if not do that right away, let them handle it... I just had a problem with FEDEX(actually 2) and they were totally useless...said they fixed it and did not... called the company Crocs and Kohls, and got problem solved and got package...one they had change my address to a different town, said they could not find where I lived...they and delivered a package from this company not 2 weeks before?
Anyway I would after talking with Amazon and the results with them, if not satisfactory call credit card company and let them handle it...you can always call them and cancel the complaint.. Good luck on a Labor Day weekend tho...

 

[Sagginit]

sorry to hear that. unfortunately no shipping company is perfect and it is super frustrating when this happens to you. my advice:
- CC dispute should be a last resort. unless fraud most companies may make you wait and give you 60-90 days to file. if you jump the gun it may seem like an invalid dispute and hurt you in the long run with amazon or your CC company.
-call Amazon, as stated UPS can be pretty useless. you see the tracking update on the website? most likely the person you talk to is looking at the same thing and will just read you off policies. Amazon has a customer to keep and will do more to assist you.
in theory as the shipper they should be able to request if the package is found to return it to them, and then ship you out a new package or issue a refund.
also yes, it is a holiday weekend. so unfortunately UPS will not be working again until Tuesday, but business days are business days. look at it this way, if you did get a refund this weekend it may not process until tuesday anyway.
-ordering online is never perfect. i would not let this discourage you from ever shopping online or using UPS again, but as you point out if you want the item in your hand shortly after the purchase the only guarantee is going to the store.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I agree with everyone else. Contact Amazon. They will make it right.

I've had two shipments 'disappear' in the last year - one from Amazon, one from ShopNBC. I'll never shop with the latter company again, but Amazon was great. I logged in, followed the instructions, and somebody from Customer Service called me back within seconds!

 

[starwood]

I had ordered something from Amazon and knew it was supposed to be delivered that day. I saw the truck on my block and waited for delivery. I saw the truck leave and went online to check and it said delivered. Well it wasn't delivered to me. I contacted Amazon and they immediately sent out another item and said if the first one showed up to refuse delivery. Well 3 days later a neighbor down the street (that I had never met) brought my package to me. Why on earth were they holding on to it for 3 days is beside me. When UPS came to deliver the resent package I told them the story and refused delivery. No problem at all.

 

[KKB]

I agree with everyone else. Contact Amazon. They will make it right.

Black Friday I ordered a couple of movies for $5 each...never arrived. A week later I ordered a couple of phone chargers, about $50, different vendor, never arrived. The Fed Ex tracking number always said "in transit"

I simply contacted Amazon (seems there was a link to do so to the right of the order in my account). I had new movies within 48 hours & a credit to my credit card for the chargers on my next statement.

Ridiculously simple. I was shocked--figured I was out $60.

 

[Leajess99]

UPS here has had issues lately. I ordered textbooks for my son and they were coming from Chegg. Well the day they were to be delivered we had someone here and the books never came. I went online to find the books were delivered at 9:30 that morning in a whole different city/county. I contacted UPS to ask what was going on. It seems someone saw the box was a Chegg box and never looked at the label. They put it back on the truck to Chegg rather than the truck to deliver it to me. Chegg had to resend the books out because of UPS' mess up. Then the UPS driver decided to just deliver the box even though I live in an apartment complex and they are not to just leave packages here (this is per UPS and has been this way for many years). The driver left it uncovered outside and it ended up soaked from the rain. Chegg had to be notified after I contacted UPS to complain. Chegg was easy to deal with but UPS made my whole experience bad. I think they need to fix their issues as it is getting bac lately.

 

[starry_solo]

Well 3 days later a neighbor down the street (that I had never met) brought my package to me. Why on earth were they holding on to it for 3 days is beside me. When UPS came to deliver the resent package I told them the story and refused delivery. No problem at all.

I'm guessing that UPS didn't bother knocking on the door to the house to let them know there was a delivery (or getting a signature). That happens to us a lot. I expect a package and it shows delivered, I call home, is it there? Parents say no. We go outside and look around the front and where is the package? Stuck between the garbage, recycling, and/or green waste trash containers!

 

[bumbershoot]

Regardless of what anyone says or how much progress you have made, file a dispute with the credit card company or with Paypal before the deadline for doing that.

Should the item be found and delivered in good order, you can cancel the dispute.

I would not worry about or make a fuss about an item that is delivered a week or two late, but I do expect not to have to pay for an item that I never get.

It is simply not needed with amazon. It wastes everyone's time, including your own.

Amazon has helped people perfectly in this situation since at least '99, so it's mystifying to me that people still waste time with UPS and initiating chargebacks (telling the cs rep about a chargeback gets you NO better service than not, as they have their procedures and processes to help...being helped in this situation is the standard, not something you get extra by "threatening" them). And it is even MORE mystifying to me that ups reps are still telling people things that do NOT help when the company is amazon.


(starting a search is only supposed to be done by the company that shipped it, is expensive to that company, and is far less useful than letting amazon do their thing. Almost all shipments are eventually found, and when they are, they make their way back to amazon, so it's better to help the customer immediately and let the paperwork be taken care of later, when the package makes its way back).