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shipping
shipping
UPS Plays Blame Game After $5,000 Package Gets Damaged
By Laura Northrup on February 1, 2012 9:30 AM
90 Comments
Mike owns a small business, and he ships a lot. He mostly used UPS, and says that he probably spends $12,000 on shipping annually. Of all of the company's items to get damaged in transit, it had to be the one worth more than $5,000 that was insured, but not for the full value of the package. That's just how the world works. UPS claims that the item was damaged due to improper packaging, which is interesting because the item had been packaged at a local UPS Store. But loyal Consumerist readers know that UPS Stores are franchises, not owned by UPS. This means that UPS can blame the damage on Mike, since he's the one who paid someone else to package the item. More »
UPS: Pay Up And We Might Not Make The Same Delivery Error Twice In A Row
By Laura Northrup on January 5, 2012 10:30 AM
51 Comments
Keith's brother gave him an old desktop computer as a Christmas gift, but this gift came with a catch. He had to ship it to himself, a few thousand miles away. Since packages can't be delivered to his door at his apartment building, he sent the package to a nearby UPS store, flagged as "hold for pickup." Naturally the UPS store refused the package and sent it back. Now UPS wants Keith to pay the shipping fee again. For that, they might actually deliver it to his house this time. Or they might send it back. Isn't the suspense exciting? More »
EECB Scores Hit On T-Mobile, Saves Customer $400 Charge For Phone UPS Lost
By Laura Northrup on December 30, 2011 11:30 AM
12 Comments
When Jeffrey received his replacement smartphone from T-Mobile, he packed up his old one, used the enclosed prepaid UPS label, and dispatched it using a UPS drop box. From there, the phone disappeared. One customer service rep after another assured him that the lost phone situation would be resolved...and then a $300 charge for the phone appeared on his bill. It was time to escalate. It was time to use a powerful tool he learned about from this very site: the executive e-mail carpet bomb. More »
Only The CEO At Cuisinart Has The Power To Send You A Shipping Label
By Laura Northrup on December 22, 2011 12:30 PM
57 Comments
Jennifer bought the Cuisinart coffeemaker at right about a month ago. It lists for $145.00, and you can get it from Amazon for, as of this writing, $75.45. Unfortunately for Jennifer, her appliance just plain stopped working, and nothing she did at home would fix it. Cuisinart agreed to send her a new one, and even waived the shipping fee, but they want her old coffeemaker back. This wouldn't be a problem, but the cost to ship the large and heavy machine is $47.62. That amount would put Jennifer more than halfway to just buying a new machine. More »
UPS Knows Where Misrouted Package Is, Shrugs
By Laura Northrup on October 28, 2011 9:30 AM
51 Comments
Claire, the manager of an apartment building, went above and beyond the scope of her job duties to attempt to re-route a package destined for a former tenant. UPS didn't really do anything wrong in this case: the wrong address was the shipper's fault, or maybe the former tenant's. But since too many days have passed since the box showed up on the wrong person's doorstep, it's no longer UPS's problem. The package, we assume, will just be written off as "lost." More »
Apple Makes Me Stalk The UPS Guy At My Old House
By Laura Northrup on October 13, 2011 9:00 AM
62 Comments
Samantha has moved since registering for an account on Apple.com. That's not unusual. Her problem is that Apple is somehow unable to deal with this reality, and she isn't able to change her address in their system. This means that they can't ship her freshly ordered iPhone 4S anywhere but her old address. "Maybe I will show up at the house and ask them to please not steal my new iPhone," she muses. More »
US Postal Service Swaps Box Of Love Letters For Strangers' Mail
By Laura Northrup on September 15, 2011 3:00 PM
72 Comments
David has saved every piece of paper correspondence that he's received from his wife during their entire life together. When shipping most of their possessions during a cross-country move, the box containing all of these cards and letters was damaged, and the contents lost. They were replaced with an awful lot of random items that don't belong to David at all. So where are David's letters? And who are the random people whose mail was stuffed in the box? More »
Report Your iPhone Stolen, Get A Visit From The FedEx Thugs
By Laura Northrup on August 19, 2011 4:00 PM
160 Comments
Apple shipped Dianna's iPhone via FedEx to her apartment, but an unknown neighbor signed for it, and the phone never reached Dianna. She filed a police report on the missing phone, which earned her an early-morning visit from three men she calls FedEx's "thugs." More »
50% Off Amazon Prime Renewals For Students
By Ben Popken on July 14, 2011 1:00 PM
44 Comments
Students who signed up last year for a free year of Amazon Prime are getting close to their expiration date. So, Amazon is offering them a renewal for $39, 50% off the regular price of $79. More »
Ensenda Not Entirely Sure Where The Mailroom Might Be
By Laura Northrup on June 29, 2011 8:00 AM
49 Comments
Rob is an Amazon Prime customer who lives near Chicago. He likes Prime, but isn't thrilled with his last three shipments that came through a lesser-known delivery company, Ensenda. The comments on a previous post about Ensenda's inability to actually deliver things indicate that he's not alone. But his packages are: abandoned and alone, lost somewhere in the system. Or dumped on the first flat service the delivery person could find. This is not the quality of service that anyone should expect from a company paid to provide overnight shipping. More »
Why I Will Never Ship With UPS Again
By Ben Popken on June 3, 2011 2:00 PM
136 Comments
Reader Tyler shares the list of reasons he will never use UPS again on purpose. A shot-putted package, $1,000 of computer parts left outside the wrong house with no signature, customer service shenanigans and finally, a smooshed box. That's it! He's had it! Brown is no longer welcome in Tyler Town. More »
Rolex Mails Precious Inherited Watch To Wrong House, Never To Be Seen Again
By Laura Northrup on May 31, 2011 10:00 AM
93 Comments
When Ali's father passed away last year, one thing that he inherited was a Rolex watch. Ali wanted to wear the watch in memory of his father, but it hadn't run in years. He writes that he sent the watch off to Rolex for a repair estimate, but found a less expensive repair option and asked for the watch back. Having moved in the interim, he double-checked with Rolex to make sure that they would send the watch to his new address. They promised that they would, then promptly mailed it to his old address. The watch disappeared. More »
Shipping Rates And Info For Over 50 Online Retailers
By Ben Popken on April 15, 2011 3:00 PM
29 Comments
Here's a handy to the shipping rates and free shipping info for over 50 top online retailers. From Amazon to Zappos, they've got it all so you don't have to go digging through the site or go through the entire checkout process just to see what you'll get charged. Consider it a candidate for your bookmarks list. More »
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At UPS, 'Improper Packaging' Means 'Someone Cut Open Your Package'
By Laura Northrup on March 9, 2011 4:05 PM
149 Comments
Michelle sold her engagement ring to a friend, and shipped it from a UPS Store in the Midwest. The ring was valuable, so she purchased $200 worth of shipping insurance on the ring and sent it on its way to New England. When the box arrived, it had been cut open and the ring removed. Michelle's insurance claim was denied because the item was "improperly packaged." More »
Frederick's Of Hollywood Can't Get Un-Mangled Corset To Customer
By Laura Northrup on February 22, 2011 10:00 AM
26 Comments
As years of Stupid Shipping Gang posts on this site have illustrated, some items can easily be mailed in plastic bags, and other really require something with more structure. A t-shirt, for example, or a pair of pants can easily be mailed in a plastic bag, rolled up, crammed in a mailbox, and otherwise squished around. Corsets, however, have just enough structure and rigidity to serve their figure-wrangling purpose, but not enough to withstand being rolled up or crammed in a mailbox. Stephanie ordered a corset from Frederick's of Hollywood. When it showed up in her mailbox, she learned that for a major lingerie retailer, Frederick's isn't great at shipping shapewear so it arrives intact. More »
Feds Find $9 Million In Opium Inside Adorable Acrylic Kitty Cats At JFK
By Chris Morran on February 18, 2011 3:15 PM
36 Comments
Customs agents at JFK International Airport in New York City have seized $9 million of pure opium hidden inside a shipment of acrylic cats. More »
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In The UPS Time Zone, End Of Business Day Is Midnight
By Laura Northrup on February 9, 2011 9:00 AM
81 Comments
When you order something for "next day" delivery, what constitutes a day? Travis wrote that his very important package didn't arrive that day. Normally not an issue, but he had taken a vacation day from work to wait for it. UPS told him that the package absolutely would show up by the end of the business day, where "end of the business day" is defined as "midnight." Not only does Travis find this a strange way to define "business day," but the package didn't show up then, either. More »
Verizon Refuses To Believe That They Have Your Router And DVR
By Laura Northrup on February 3, 2011 10:30 AM
56 Comments
Andre has had issues with a Verizon equipment return spanning almost an entire year. Verizon claims that they never received the FiOS equipment that he sent back in March of last year. Andre sent the equipment back, and has the UPS tracking information to prove it. Verizon doesn't think that he did, and has sent a collection agency after him for the $1800 he supposedly owes. More »
Happy 2011, Your Calendar Comes With Year's Supply Of Packing Material
By Meg Marco on January 5, 2011 12:45 PM
29 Comments
Reader Cyndi ordered a calendar from Amazon.com, but what she actually got was more like she'd ordered a bunch of packing material and got a free calendar. Like when you order Chinese food, ya know? Except less tasty. More »
Man Rigs UPS Package With Car Alarm In Attempt To Catch Thief
By Chris Morran on December 14, 2010 2:30 PM
90 Comments
After receiving a box full of sheets and soda cans instead of a laptop, a man in California became convinced that someone at UPS had opened and stolen his computer. So he took matters into his own hands in an attempt to catch a thief in the act. More »
