I need advice from anyone who has dealt with problems with UPS. I had a close friend from out of state call me in a panic because she had ordered some sugar pieces to use at centerpieces at a big party she was hosting and the store cancelled at the last minute. She called me and asked if I could rescue her....so I said okay. Spent time researching on the internet to find the exact molds I needed (found them in a store near me) to make chocolate pieces my friend needed to place on cakes she was going to put in center of each table (16 tables). I bought the chocolate, which costs a fortune, as did the chocolate specialty molds I found...and then spent a couple of days making them, wrapping them and packing them up. I shipped them UPS overnite express, paying nearly $100 to get the pieces there overnight and arrive the following morning so that they could be set up at the venue. I had originally told my friend that I wasn't sure, on such short notice, if I would be able to make her pieces edible (had thought to maybe cover shaped styrofoam with gumpaste, etc.) but I lucked out in finding the perfect molds for chocolate, so I called her a few hours before the event just to let her know that they were completely edible, anticipating her appreciation and delight...only to discover that the package still hadn't arrived...continued in next post

continuation......so as I said the package hadn't arrived even though I paid $93 to guarantee delivery for that MORNING, and it was now around 6:00 in the evening...I called UPS, and found out that their truck driver forgot to put it on the truck and it was still sitting in their facility here where I am! They said delivery would be a day later, and they were so sorry. I am livid - I paid a fortune to have it there for this party and UPS screwed up?! What is the point of paying a fortune to have it express delivered and then they don't back it up? I am heart broken for my friend, who was depending on me, and for all the expense and time I put into this project. UPS said they will only refund me the money I paid to ship it - and when i complained, vociferously, about all the time and money spent on these pieces and that it was a one-time event and the pieces are now worthless after the fact, they said they can't help me on that, they only refund the shipping costs, not the merchandise, etc....SO, I am royally pissed off and want to know if any one has experience in this and whether I have any chance of getting reimbursement for my expenses, labor (of love, as I was not charging her for the pieces, they were a gift), and heart break??? As far as I'm concerned, not delivering the stuff on time is the equivalent of delivering the goods damaged. they are useless now so that is damage to me. Anyone????

What a terrible thing to have happen to you and your friend. I'd be livid too.

If the pieces were damaged while being shipped, would UPS handle the situation differently?

I would write to the CEO of UPS and explain the situation and see if you get any satisfaction.

Scott Davis
UPS Freight
CEO/Chairman
1000 Semmes Avenue
Richmond, VA USA 23218
Phone:804-231-8555

I understand you are mad, but I think the reimbursement of the shipping is all you will get. I don't think it's fair, but it is what it is.

I would check with UPS. I know on USPS if you mail it Express mail, it is guaranteed to be their by a specific time, if not they refund your money. I sent a whole order to California from Indiana and it was left at the USPS office and they refunded me $75 or so that I paid for shipping. Check your paperwork and if it was guaranteed you can probably file for a refund.

I'm sorry but I don't think that UPS is respondsible for the chocolate and molds that you purchased.

They do owe you for the shipping, since they did not deliever on that promise. There job is to ship things from point a to point b. If they don't, then they haven't done their job. As far as I know unless you purchase insurance then you are even out of luck if said item gets broken along the way.

It is a situation that sucks all around, and I'm sorry you are having to deal with it. I would go to UPS and get the money back for the shipping, and would be sure to make it know to someone higher up how they screwed up.

I know if it's received damaged, they'll reimburse the cost (up to $100 (I think) is covered without having to purchase additional coverage) of the package contents not the shipping (I reckon 'cause it arrived at its' destination that part of the 'deal' was done right...it just arrived damaged) but if it never left the originating facility...

I already spoke with them and I know for sure I will get the shipping fee back - they were quick to reassure me of that...my issue is all the time and expenses I have lost because the items I made were not delivered and are now obsolete and I have no satisfaction of work - does that express it correctly? Granted the items were a gift, although I wouldn't have minded if she sent me a "monetary gift" to reimburse me for the chocolate, but I wasn't expecting that, but say i had been doing this whole project for money - labor, supplies, ingredients, packaging.....why shouldn't UPS have to cover these expenses because I cannot recoup any of this - the package never got there, and now they are useless...so, beyond what I paid for shipping, I spent a lot more money for nothing - nothing! And their guarantee means nothing if all I get as recompense is the shipping fee I paid to have it delivered on time - guaranteed....so basically UPS is saying, yeah, pay this much money and we will guarantee it gets there by 11:00AM the next day....and when it doesn't, it's "oops, sorry, here is your fee back."....so what does guarantee MEAN - there is no guarantee, other than we will guarantee to give you back your money if we don't get it there...that's it?????? I was depending on them!

I am SO blessed to have an awesome UPS lady who takes very good care of me. A lot of the service you get from UPS sits squarely on the shoulders of the driver. A good friend of mine got really screwed over by UPS simply by the driver being ...well a donkey's behind. The details don't really matter, but she never did get satifaction.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I don't think UPS is going to do a darn thing more than give you back your shipping costs, though. Look at any paperwork and see if they accept any liability, but I'm betting they've covered their brown backside pretty well.

I'd be busy giving them plenty of bad press--and remember they're wanting a bail out from you and me.. aka taxpayers. Kick and scream on that one!

I understand what you're saying exactly. I was just saying what I know as far as if the package had been damaged (as was asked in upthread), they'll remimburse the declared value of the damaged package(as stated on the shipping form) up to $100 not including the shipping cost.

Depending on their list of perishable items, if chocolate is on there, you have no claim to make...they make absolutely no guarantees whatsoever on perishable items regardless of the reason of their demise according to this TOS doc.

http://www.ups.com/media/en/terms_service_us.pdf

Articles 3, 49, 50 may be relative to your situation.

I'm sure if you make enough noise to UPS, it will get cleared up to your satisfaction.

How would you have recouped expenses had it been a last minute paying order that got cancelled?

The situation sucks and I'd be mad as hell, but I still don't see why UPS is respondsible for the molds and chocolate?

You can remelt the chocolate and use it. The molds, well you will have to eat the cost of them, but weren't you doing that already, when you bought a mold that you knew would be a one time use?

If a designer made a one of a kind dress and UPSed it and it didn't arrive on time, would they be respondsible for the material, thread and buttons? Nope, they would be respondsible for the service you paid for and they didn't provide, which was the shipping.

I'm sorry, that's just my view on things.

Good point. I will write a letter and try to kick up a storm, but I know I am probably never going to see anything beyond the shipping refund....so I will move on, after I dry my tears and curse them out for a while. I just feel so cheated and feel soooo bad for my friend, like it was my fault, even though I did everything I could. I guess it wasn't meant to be that she would have the centerpieces she wanted after having two attempts go wrong. Still, it make you see red, and when UPS can only say, gee we are so sorry, you just stand there saying, "Seriously?, that's it???"

I realize I am not probably going to get back more than the shipping fee, but you asked WHY should I get compensation for my other costs? Because those costs were incurred exclusively for a one-time event and by not delivering the merchandise, I have not been able to realize satisfaction and completion of this project. In other words, I incurred these expenses for nothing BECAUSE the package was not delivered. And the receiving party, who was depending on these pieces for her event was deprived of satisfaction for her event as well....I say satisfaction in a "legal" sense, not just emotionally...so, yeah, I am left holding the bag so to speak....it sucks and it isn't fair. Obviously, if I had known the package would never arrive for the event I wouldn't have spent all that money making the pieces...and my friend would have found a different solution for centerpieces if SHE had known the package wouldn't get there....that's where the "guarantee" from UPS falls into play - we were depending on the shipping company. Say you planned a huge event that was dependent on a particular merchandise arriving in order for the event to be complete and you spent a lot of time and money on it and it all fell thru cuz the stuff didn't get there - would you be happy with just getting reimbursed the shipping fees? That's my point really, that I think UPS should have more responsibility in the whole thing than just the fee refund. It wasn't an "act of G-d" that messed up the delivery, I.e. bad weather or something - it was a careless truck driver who FORGOT to put it on the truck! THAT'S what pisses me off and the best they can do is say "sorry, here is your shipping fee back! Too bad about the rest."

Were you able to purchase insurance? I'm not familiar with how UPS works as far as insurance but if you put a value on the box of, say, $500 then you can claim that...but if you didn't purchase insurance or whatever then all you'd get back is shipping.

Live and learn - the hard way...dumb as it sounds< it never occurred to me to insure the package.....sigh.

ups covers up to 100 dollars for damages without having to purchase it

This whole thing boils down to the fact UPS did not do what they promised they'd do. And although it was covered in the small print of what they're actually responsible for, it just isn't right.

I think the OP simply wants UPS to hold themselves to the same standards of customer service she holds herself to.

Trouble is, UPS knows that one spittin' mad, rock kickin' cussin' baker isn't going to make one tiny blip on their radar. Them big brown trucks are just gonna keep on rollin'

I Actually dont think the OP is asking too much at all........ at this point.

She is writing a letter, what harm can that do? How many of us have been unhappy (maybe unreasonable) and written off a letter in the heat of the moment? Or told off an employee?

Let her do what she thinks is right.

Remember, she knows she will only get back the shipping, but wants them to know (even if they dont care) that, that was not all the was lost.

OP, I feel for you. I have been in your shoes more times than I care to remember.

I think UPS operates like so many companies nowadays, by covering their butt and their profits only. Their idea of customer service would make my grandmother cry. That goes for the post office, my insurance company, the yellow pages, etc, etc, etc.

I used to just whine and snivel when I was wronged like this and figured, eh, they aren't going to change anything. Not anymore! When things like this happen to me now I make it a point to address the issue with the person highest up the ladder that I can reach. I don't care how many times I am put on hold and how many ways they try to tell me they are not responsible. Their utter carelessness ruins an entire event and they are not responsible--how does that work? That's not the way I run my business, why should I let them get away with it?

Why go to all this trouble? To put a chink into the armor of those that think they can give you horrible service at an exorbitant cost and then believe that they should be able to wash themselves of any resulting inconvenience or annoyance by the very people that PAY THEIR SALARY.

Ahem. Sorry for yelling. I just dealt with the yellow pages screwing our business over for $815.00. THEIR mistake and they want to send US to a creditor

To kinda put this in perspective, I look at it like this...

if you made a cake for a bride at the last minute, and ended up not delivering it until the day after her wedding (meaning the cake was then pointless, because it had missed the reception) would you just offer to refund the delivery portion of the fees she paid you, because ultimately, there's the cake, it just didn't make it on time? No, and there is no way a bride would accept that! I agree, what good is a guarantee if it doesn't guarantee anything!

I'm with you there, in this case, you would be better off if it was dropped off the back of the truck and damaged, because you would get the $100 insurance plus the cost of shipping. I use to work in accounting and deal with UPS quite a bit, so I know that's how damages work if you don't purchase insurance.

I would definitely write that letter. You did pay UPS to deliver the package on time, right? People file small claims suits all the time. If the centerpieces did not look the way they were supposed to, and the client or friend in this case was so upset by this, than a Judge just might find for the plaintiff (you & your friend.) UPS admittedly "forgot" to load the package onto the truck. Therefore, they are admitting failure of service that had been paid for. Get all of your info organized, make copies of everything.(ie: paid receipts, UPS receipt) Ask your friend to write a letter about how disappointed she was, and how it left her without what she was depending on UPS delivering to complete her table settings. Send everything to CEO of UPS or operations headquarters. Send everything certified signed return receipt. This way they can't say they didn't receive anything. Believe me, UPS won't want to go to court for this. This is small potatoes to them. On the other hand it would be worth it for them to give you what your costs were, just so you'll "go away" Thats how big Corporations work. HTH I really think this whole thing sticks. I am very sorry for your aggravation. Also, try to find out where their legal department is.

I ship a LOT. They only cover shipping charges, that is all they guarentee they will do...unless of coarse it is damaged. That being said, Make a few phone calls, keep track of names and let them know you are going to the press to write a letter about your experience. I know fedex has been eating UPS alive and the last thing they need is bad publicity. Legally, there is not much you can do. Ethically, there is plenty you can do.

Did they ship the package afterall? If so, maybe it could get damaged...one has like 60 days to make a claim.

If they arrived late (assuming the package was delivered and delivered late), recipient doesn't open package right away. When she does, WTF??? They're all effed up! they're damaged, right?

all4cake Smart thinking!

I agree with ladiesof thehouse. I would send a letter to the person highest on the list of command. I don't remember their slogan right off memory but I think it has something to do with getting the job done right. They didnt do it, and just "reversing" what they didn't do anyways is a crock of doo doo. We have a great UPS guy and can't say enough good things about him. But one time during his vacation the substitute UPS guy that came did not even knock or ring the doorbell (I would have heard either one) I was the only one home and it was very quiet with no tv or radio on. He just waltzed right on into my house and all the way back towards my kitchen. I thought my husband had come through the door, but when it was too quiet for it to have been him I got up from my desk (which is about 3 steps around a corner from the front door) to see what was up. This man was standing in my kitchen which is about 35 feet in from the front door. He asked me if my house was a business. Although I do run my business from home, my house is the last one on a very long, strictly residential street, my house looks like a house, no weird architecture or anything like that, and the item was addressed to me personally. I freaked out to say the least. After I got my witts together I called and reported him. I don't know what ever happened to him but I never saw him again.

Maluisa- Thats actually scary!!!! I dont think he would have made it out of there in one peice if it was me. The bat would have been swinging!

Ok, this is where I'm torn. My husband is a driver for UPS & I decorate cakes. I can only imagine the red I would see if this had happened to me. On the other hand, people are not machines. Human errors occur not JUST w/ UPS but all companies. Maybe not everyday or every week even, but they occur. Like w/ all companies goals are to be set AND met(I'm sure). Drivers also have help loading their trucks so it's not always their fault. Sometimes a box gets left off and sometimes a box gets damaged. Sometimes the driver has no control over that. Do I think they run a tight ship, yes, do I think crap like this happens at the worse time , absolutely. The fact is they've refunded your money because of the mishap and that's all they can do other than apologize. They don't want these things to happen, but let's face it, nobodies perfect.