Customers Beware of UPS
I would just like to warn people about a specific UPS store location that I think is dishonest. I would like to use my story as an opportunity to remind people to always ask for a receipt.
For Christmas, my husband ordered me a Macbook Air - a beautiful computer but only 60GB. I decided to return the computer and upgrade to get the 120GB model. I purchased the computer from the local Apple Store instead of waiting for a new delivery and organized a return through Apple.
On December 30th 2010, I dropped off the return package at the UPS Store, an affiliate of UPS, located at 1500 Bank Street (Store 232). I handed the package over, and stood around waiting for something to happen, but nothing. After a few moments, I asked "Is that all?" and the store clerk said "that's it". I left the store happy and relieved that the package was with UPS and ready to be shipped to Apple for refund.
On January 1, 2011, I checked the UPS website to track the package and I got the following message:
"Billing information has been sent to UPS. Check site later for updated shipment status or contact shipper for more details".
The UPS status caused me great concern and I was very worried. Why wasn't my shipment registered in the system? Should I have asked for a receipt? If my package is lost, will I be out of luck since I don't have a receipt?
I asked UPS more than a few times in my dealing with them, and apparently, the UPS Stores are not equipped to provide receipts. Moreover, they are not obligated to provide receipts (at least in my case at least because the Apple was UPS's customer, and not me). That receipts are not required was further confirmed by an experience of someone I know, who dropped of a package at the UPS Store same location. According to them, they dropped off a computer and they were told they didn't need a receipt. Since the item was not scanned into the system either, they had to demand a receipt; subsequently, the item was xeroxed and the photocopy of the package was provided to them. It was better than nothing, he thought.
I tried to stop worrying about the status of the package until Canadian UPS business hours resumed on Tuesday January 4th (Monday was a holiday). On Tuesday January 4th, I contacted the UPS Store Manager and they were claiming that the package was never dropped off. I was actually in tears. Based on the time the package was delivered to the UPS Store, they were of the view that the package would have been shipped out by a UPS by truck at close of business and that it would have been scanned into the system by this point. Was I going to be out $1100 for a computer I didn't have anymore, a computer the UPS Store was claiming they never received?!
After many calls back and forth to UPS and Apple, a trace was finally put on the package. This means that UPS will conduct an investigation to try to locate the package. The trace had to be requested by Apple (and not me) because they are UPS's customer/client.
I wonder what ever happened to the package and I wonder if the UPS Store stole my package after I dropped it off. Or best case, maybe it could be lost in transit and it will soon turn up.
The UPS Store receives probably thousands and thousand of dollars worth of merchandise every week. After talking to the manager, I learned that the UPS Store I was dealing with has no security cameras. If the UPS Store is not obligated to provide receipts or scan items immediately into the system, then the system is built on trust - trusting that the UPS Store actually puts your package on a truck to be delivered to UPS and trust that I drop the package off to UPS when I say I do.
I wonder how this system of trust will work out for me at the end of the day. I worry all the time about whether I will not be able to complete my product return with Apple. Only time will tell.
I will update as things move along! Wish me luck.
I know your blog posts are from several years ago, but I just wanted to mention that I, myself, experienced a UPS Store theft about 4yrs ago in Saint Louis, MO.
ReplyDeleteI brought an Apple iPad to a UPS Store after completing a successful auction/sale on eBay, which I've only ever done a couple of times. I had the product packaging, but I didn't have packing materials at home, so I thought I would box it up with their materials for shipping.
I bought materials, packaged the iPad, arranged shipping and completed the transaction... I was even issued a receipt. However, when the recipient took delivery, inside the shipping box was a ream of copy paper, about the same size as an iPad box. I'm quite sure it was the employee on shift, as he would have been the only one who knew what went into that box.
At the time, I was working probably the busiest job of my career, and though I initially pursued it aggressively, there were too many roadblocks. Short of making it my personal crusade, I had little recourse available. UPS told me that they could not process investigations into franchise store locations (which it turned out this was). The police were not helpful, as you experienced, and the actual UPS Store ownership/management stonewalled me. As it turned out, the employee on staff that day was the nephew of the owner/manager.
In my situation, I was out hundreds of dollars because some garbage human being just took something that he wanted, regardless of the consequences to anyone else involved. I had to refund the buyer, and I also had an eBay claim filed against me. The buyer was very nice and understanding, but she was understandably protecting herself, and, frankly, had no idea whether or not I was being honest with her about the situation. My financial wellbeing and online reputation were compromised.
I will never, ever patronize UPS as a shipper again. Their protections are a joke, and no abundance of a paper trail will cause them to hold perpetrators of internal corruption accountable. I am still affected by this, which is how I ended up seeing your blog years after my event.