Trouble with UPS and UPS Store

[stitch'sgirl]

Back in March we were visiting my DS in the Disney College Program. My husband inadvertently moved my set of keys into a suitcase we were leaving in Florida with DS. I had my son overnight the keys to me to the tune of $86.

When the overnight package arrived there was nothing in it. Half of the envelope flap wasn't sticky at all. I went in circles with the UPS Store and UPS. They both pointed their fingers at each other. The UPS Store verified through video that my son put it in the envelope and sealed it.

I paid $385 to replace my keys. UPS would not hold up their promise of $100 insurance for the package nor have they refunded the original $86 overnight fee.

Would you head to small claims court? It is just another thing I don't want to take the time to do, but geez I don't have money to burn.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I don't have an answer for you, SG, but that sure is a bummer. I'm glad to hear you were at least able to duplicate the keys. Hope you find a resolution soon.

 

[rwdavis2]

How much time will you spend for that $186?

 

[disneychrista]

Would I? No I probably wouldn’t.

I am curious as to what type of envelope the keys were shipped in. I also kind of feel the fault, at least partially, falls to your son for not ensuring that the envelope was fully sealed. Objects like keys probably should have been shipped in a small box not an envelope which are generally designed for paper not hard objects that could potentially cause the envelope to tear.

 

[mom2rtk]

Don't know what's reasonable. Just want to say the cost of car keys these days is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Back in March we were visiting my DS in the Disney College Program. My husband inadvertently moved my set of keys into a suitcase we were leaving in Florida with DS. I had my son overnight the keys to me to the tune of $86.

When the overnight package arrived there was nothing in it. Half of the envelope flap wasn't sticky at all. I went in circles with the UPS Store and UPS. They both pointed their fingers at each other. The UPS Store verified through video that my son put it in the envelope and sealed it.

I paid $385 to replace my keys. UPS would not hold up their promise of $100 insurance for the package nor have they refunded the original $86 overnight fee.

Would you head to small claims court? It is just another thing I don't want to take the time to do, but geez I don't have money to burn.

I feel your pain, I had a similar experience with USPS over the past several months. My sister was in a very serious auto accident this past Oct and she later passed away due to complications from that accident. I was her POA and not executor, I have had to send several letters and documents via certified mail with a return receipt request. Only 50% of my certified letters with return receipts were successful. I only received 50% of the return receipts. When I contacted the post office about each incident it was a time-consuming experience and they don't want to take any responsibility nor reimburse you for the extra postage you paid to get a return receipt.

I thought about trying to make an issue out of it but in my case we are talking about a lot less money than in your case. My husband convinced me that it really wasn't worth it because of the time and aggravation involved, to me it was more about the principal than the money.

What reason does UPS give for not paying the $100 insurance? How can they justify not paying if you did in-fact have the package insured? What good is it to insure anything if this is how it goes? If the keys should have been shipped in a box rather than an envelope, why didn't they suggest that? Very frustrating I know and just not what you would expect from the UPS or USPS.

 

[starry_solo]

I feel your pain, I had a similar experience with USPS over the past several months. My sister was in a very serious auto accident this past Oct and she later passed away due to complications from that accident. I was her POA and not executor, I have had to send several letters and documents via certified mail with a return receipt request. Only 50% of my certified letters with return receipts were successful. I only received 50% of the return receipts. When I contacted the post office about each incident it was a time-consuming experience and they don't want to take any responsibility nor reimburse you for the extra postage you paid to get a return receipt.

I thought about trying to make an issue out of it but in my case we are talking about a lot less money than in your case. My husband convinced me that it really wasn't worth it because of the time and aggravation involved, to me it was more about the principal than the money.

What reason does UPS give for not paying the $100 insurance? How can they justify not paying if you did in-fact have the package insured? What good is it to insure anything if this is how it goes? If the keys should have been shipped in a box rather than an envelope, why didn't they suggest that? Very frustrating I know and just not what you would expect from the UPS or USPS.

Likely because the value of the keys is nominal. Like $5/key. Not the cost it took the OP to duplicate them.
Plus it's not "real" insurance.

 

[mom2rtk]

Likely because the value of the keys is nominal. Like $5/key. Not the cost it took the OP to duplicate them.
Plus it's not "real" insurance.

Where would you buy car keys for $5 these days?

At the very least they should be refunding the shipping charge.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

Would I? No I probably wouldn’t.

I am curious as to what type of envelope the keys were shipped in. I also kind of feel the fault, at least partially, falls to your son for not ensuring that the envelope was fully sealed. Objects like keys probably should have been shipped in a small box not an envelope which are generally designed for paper not hard objects that could potentially cause the envelope to tear.

The envelope was one of those plastic bubbled envelopes. The UPS Store worker told me they can only be opened by cutting or tearing open. I have the envelope and the adhesive is like a post-it note quality on half of the flap. Tacky, but not adequate.

And my son? Geesh. How many teenagers do you know that would tell the UPS Store he didn't think the adhesive would be adequate from a trip from FL to MI? The UPS Store watched the video of him sealing the envelope. He's not an idiot.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

How much time will you spend for that $186?

I would ask for the $385 + $86 + court costs.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

I feel your pain, I had a similar experience with USPS over the past several months. My sister was in a very serious auto accident this past Oct and she later passed away due to complications from that accident. I was her POA and not executor, I have had to send several letters and documents via certified mail with a return receipt request. Only 50% of my certified letters with return receipts were successful. I only received 50% of the return receipts. When I contacted the post office about each incident it was a time-consuming experience and they don't want to take any responsibility nor reimburse you for the extra postage you paid to get a return receipt.

I thought about trying to make an issue out of it but in my case we are talking about a lot less money than in your case. My husband convinced me that it really wasn't worth it because of the time and aggravation involved, to me it was more about the principal than the money.

What reason does UPS give for not paying the $100 insurance? How can they justify not paying if you did in-fact have the package insured? What good is it to insure anything if this is how it goes? If the keys should have been shipped in a box rather than an envelope, why didn't they suggest that? Very frustrating I know and just not what you would expect from the UPS or USPS.

I am so sorry to hear of your sister's accident. That is heartbreaking, and then to be hassled on top of it is cruel.

UPS did not give ne a reason for denying the claim. It was really odd because the store said they would file the claim on my behalf and the lady that was doing it was a "bulldog" with UPS. It is very difficult to actually reach someone at big UPS and was much easier to go through the store. It took about 2 weeks. They reviewed video footage and decided they were not going to pay it.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

How much time will you spend for that $186?

I would ask for the $385 + $86 + court costs.

Don't know what's reasonable. Just want to say the cost of car keys these days is absolutely ridiculous.

Totally agree I was floored

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Likely because the value of the keys is nominal. Like $5/key. Not the cost it took the OP to duplicate them.
Plus it's not "real" insurance.

If the OP paid almost $400 for keys it's probably keys with chips in them, even my husband's 2010 mazda key would be $200-$250 if not more. My 2002 ZX2? Yeah that's a very quick duplicate key. However, to use the fob for automatic locking and that such I tried to get a new one and it just never could pair it correctly and I never wanted to spend a ton to get a new fob so I just use my key. You can't really duplicate key fobs, you just purchase new. For my husband's Mazda the key actually swivels into the key fob like a swiss army knife style.

 

[disneychrista]

The envelope was one of those plastic bubbled envelopes. The UPS Store worker told me they can only be opened by cutting or tearing open. I have the envelope and the adhesive is like a post-it note quality on half of the flap. Tacky, but not adequate.

And my son? Geesh. How many teenagers do you know that would tell the UPS Store he didn't think the adhesive would be adequate from a trip from FL to MI? The UPS Store watched the video of him sealing the envelope. He's not an idiot.

I certainly didn't say your son was an idiot. What I did say was that if the envelope got to you and it was not sealed then he should have noticed that. Every UPS padded mailer I have gotten or used you had to cut the envelope open. It is not UPS's fault if the person shipping the items doesn't properly seal the envelope.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

I certainly didn't say your son was an idiot. What I did say was that if the envelope got to you and it was not sealed then he should have noticed that. Every UPS padded mailer I have gotten or used you had to cut the envelope open. It is not UPS's fault if the person shipping the items doesn't properly seal the envelope.

UPS gave my son the pouch.
He put the keys in the pouch.
He tore off the strip and patted it down.
This was verified by video.

What would you have expected him to do? What would you have done? Touched the adhesive before you sealed the flap? Please.

I asked if it is worth it to go to court, not an analysis on the intelligence of my son. Just stop.

 

[disneychrista]

UPS gave my son the pouch.
He put the keys in the pouch.
He tore off the strip and patted it down.
This was verified by video.

What would you have expected him to do? What would you have done? Touched the adhesive before you sealed the flap? Please.

I asked if it is worth it to go to court, not an analysis on the intelligence of my son. Just stop.

And I answered and gave my reasons why I don't think it is winnable. As for what he should have done he should have checked to make sure that the envelope was properly sealed. If it wasn't then he should have asked for another envelope or tape to seal it. If the clerk had been the one to place the key in the envelope & seal it then it would be on the UPS store/UPS. I am sorry you are taking offense to my reasoning. I would say the same thing if it was one of my daughters as well. It has nothing to do with your sons intelligence, that you YOU thinking that.

 

[mom2rtk]

UPS gave my son the pouch.
He put the keys in the pouch.
He tore off the strip and patted it down.
This was verified by video.

What would you have expected him to do? What would you have done? Touched the adhesive before you sealed the flap? Please.

I asked if it is worth it to go to court, not an analysis on the intelligence of my son. Just stop.

If he went to the UPS store they should have noticed if the package wasn't sealed properly. It's not like he brought it to a drop box and put it in with nobody watching. I do wonder if the adhesive had issues of some sort. Or if someone along the line cut an edge to steal whatever was inside (not realizing it was keys).

You know, that package did have your address on it. I'm sorry to point out, someone might have keys and an address they work. Although hopefully if that's the case they would have just destroyed the package entirely.

Does the UPS store have a Twitter account of Facebook page? If so, I would post there as companies tend to be more responsive on those public sites.

 

[shh]

i've had my issues with UPS as well - they sent me a note a few months back saying my shipment was "destroyed/damaged" due to poor packaging - I had so much extra padding, reinforcements, sealed so tightly in the original mfgr's box, there was simply no way that could be legit. I also took pictures of every step in the packing process because I knew something like this could happen.

I later heard from someone who worked there that they lose a lot of stuff on their conveyor belts/systems - many things are really torn up or damaged and they just blame the customer for poor packaging.

I kept escalating the issue until finally - I was reimbursed. But it took way too much time and life energy. In hindsight, it wasn't worth it, but I tend to get obsessed (in an unhealthy way) when something like this happens....I don't like being ripped off.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

i've had my issues with UPS as well - they sent me a note a few months back saying my shipment was "destroyed/damaged" due to poor packaging - I had so much extra padding, reinforcements, sealed so tightly in the original mfgr's box, there was simply no way that could be legit. I also took pictures of every step in the packing process because I knew something like this could happen.

I later heard from someone who worked there that they lose a lot of stuff on their conveyor belts/systems - many things are really torn up or damaged and they just blame the customer for poor packaging.

I kept escalating the issue until finally - I was reimbursed. But it took way too much time and life energy. In hindsight, it wasn't worth it, but I tend to get obsessed (in an unhealthy way) when something like this happens....I don't like being ripped off.

For me it's about the principal of it especially in this case where insurance was purchased and now UPS won't honor it. Again, what good is it to pay extra to insure a package if they aren't going to honor it? I don't see how they can get away with that. I also agree that the UPS store should have noticed if the package wasn't sealed correctly, they had to handle the package, it wasn't dropped in a drop box. I think I would go to a UPS store and make an issue about it but that's just me. I think I would also write a few letters and give reviews about this service on the UPS site or on Facebook. I hope you get some satisfaction.

 

[disneychrista]

For me it's about the principal of it especially in this case where insurance was purchased and now UPS won't honor it. Again, what good is it to pay extra to insure a package if they aren't going to honor it? I don't see how they can get away with that. I also agree that the UPS store should have noticed if the package wasn't sealed correctly, they had to handle the package, it wasn't dropped in a drop box. I think I would go to a UPS store and make an issue about it but that's just me. I think I would also write a few letters and give reviews about this service on the UPS site or on Facebook. I hope you get some satisfaction.

The insurance is included in the cost of shipping. The value usually has to be declared on the shipping label, which I am guessing* wasn’t done ( I probably wouldn’t have thought to out a value amount) and may very well be why UPS won’t pay a claim.