Public Mediation

S.A. vs. United Parcel Service - Ups

Company refuses to honor claim. Slack attitude explains why customer satisfaction rating is so low on Consumer Affairs website.

Ic vs. Ups United Parcel Service (Headquarters)
55 Glenlake Parkway, NE, Atlanta, Georgia, 30328-3474, United States
Amount Involved: $600.00
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (3) - View
Claimant says:
"05/02/17
Below is a response from the insurance investigator I wanted to put this up for others to view and I have provided a link to an article written four years ago about the very same problem I'm experiencing now: https://consumerist.com/2013/06/12/ups-doesnt-offer-insurance-even-if-an-employee-tells-you-it-does

Here is the response from the insurance investigator: "Thank you for your additional information. Please understand, the Division of Insurance does not regulate United Parcel Service (UPS). We regulate only insurance carriers and without insurance information, I am unable to process a complaint. I will not review consumer reports off the internet; but I will review an insurance carrier's claim handling as it pertains to Nevada Revised Statutes (Nevada Law) and its adherence to policy language. In this case, it appears UPS is a self-funded group that is not regulated by the Division of Insurance. "
04/24/17
Just an update. In response to the advice given on my claim located at Peopleclaim.com, I have filed complaints with my Insurance Controller and my Attorney General as well put up a query on topclassactions.com. As I learned from the advice and this is a copy of the response on my complaint page (People Claim): “Here's the interesting thing: UPS doesn't sell insurance, but employees tell you it does. It's all about semantics and avoiding actual payouts. If you take a package to a UPS facility and ask to insure it, they'll say sure - just pay this fee. If you don't ask, they'll offer you "insurance," and that's what they'll call it - insurance. But UPS says it sells Declared Value Coverage. "Acceptance of tender by UPS is not an indication that a Package is packed in accordance with UPS’s published standards. In addition, any tested product must be free from damage and the packaging must afford reasonable protection as determined by UPS in its sole judgment." Yep, their sole judgment. How often do you think their sole judgment ends with a payout?
Will the employee busy selling you "insurance" tell you that a payout by UPS is rare as hen's teeth and basically you're paying for a losing lottery ticket? No, they will not. Will they give you a simple list of UPS rules about packaging and what will cause your claim to be denied? No, they will not. Will they offer you an option of them inspecting your box before it's sealed and certifying that the packaging is "reasonable" so that you really will have "peace of mind"? Hell no, they will not.
The way you describe your packaging definitely sounds more than adequate. I have no idea what they did with your package. Probably the driver caught air and your package flew up; that's what we guessed happened to my pottery that broke....and wasn't covered, despite the massive amounts of bubble wrap and double boxing that has proved more than enough for every other piece I've shipped.”

Is it any wonder there are so many complaints against UPS? Just look at the websites such as Consumer Affairs, Pissed Consumer, Customer Service Scoreboard, Peopleclaim, etc. There are more than plenty of people (with numbers reaching in the thousands on some sites) that have a grievance against UPS and something must be done.
04/03/17
Received call from UPS and they stand with the original belief that since the external package was not damaged, it is "not their problem". I'm afraid this is completely unacceptable and a slip-shod way of doing business. There was no place that I saw which stated that "claims will be honored only if the outer package is damaged". I have a person who has waited over a month and a half for a refund and I do not have the money to refund. That was the entire point of insuring and I must say that if they did in fact have a disclaimer stating that "only packaged visibly damaged will have their claims honored" somewhere on their website then their custom will diminish significantly.
03/25/17
Finally received a call from a UPS representative after nearly a month. I explained the situation all over again and she asked if the outer package was damaged.
I replied no and she said that in all her years of experience, the people who honor claims do not do so where there is no external package damage.
I find this to be an extremely casual attitude for a company to have. Damage may occur on the inside without any damage to the outer packaging. Cardboard has a bit of give and it is not necessary for an outer package to sustain damage while the inside is broken to bits.
What if the medical profession took this attitude? Many diseases and injuries would go untreated because of no "external damage".
There are many other industries which would fail if people took a look only at the outside. Certainly industries such as insurance agencies would prosper because they would not have to honor the claims for various internal damages (be it physical, structural, or medical) but they would lose money in the long run because the public would lose faith in their services and judging by the amount of complaints I have seen, they are already having patrons lose faith in their services.
03/16/17
I was forced to sell a limited-run statue (only 2500 in existence) to get rent money. I found a buyer in a collector's group on Facebook and we discussed price and shipping options.

The price agreed was $400 and the buyer wanted to ship via UPS. I went to UPS and created a shipping account just for this purpose. I insured the product for $450 to cover the shipping cost which at that time I was unsure of. It was shipped out Feb. 6th. I passed the tracking information on to the buyer via Facebook on the 7th. On Feb. 10th, the buyer informed me of the item's arrival and the breakage due to its journey.

He submitted pictures of the breakage and I filed an insurance claim and instructed the buyer to repack it so UPS could pick it up and inspect it. They did so on Feb 15th. I received a denial for the claim due to "improper packing" on Feb. 17th.

According to the buyer (and this is copied from our Facebook conversation: "It all looked like it happened in transit based on how you packed it. I noticed the strategic Styrofoam for all the pieces, so I'd definitely doubt it left you in the condition it arrived." Which indeed it didn't. The statue was encased in a die-cut foam container which was inside the product box.
The product box had four pieces of Styrofoam around each corner on the top and bottom. I placed a large piece of packing paper between the product box and the shipping box then taped all sides of the box (top and bottom) with packing tape five or six times. There was also a faded "Fragile" sticker on the box. The color of the sticker was faded but the word could still be seen.
Again according to the buyer, when it reached its destination: "one big thing was all the tape that was torn open when it arrived, only one corner was still taped shut." This was definitely not how I had sent it. I tend to overdo my taping just to ensure that the box does not pop open. In light of these circumstances, I cannot see how I could have packed the item more properly. I have also filed complaints on other sites such as Complaints List Pissed Consumer, and I have filed with the BBB and have yet to receive word from the company which to me seems extremely unprofessional.
I have images of what it looked like before and after the shipping plus I have the entire Facebook conversation with the buyer saved."
...
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Claimant timeline (13) - Hide
  • 02-06-2017 — Package picked up
  • 02-10-2017 — Informed of damage
  • 02-15-2017 — UPS picked up package to inspect
  • 02-17-2017 — Denied claim
  • 02-18-2017 — Submitted claim here which was consequently lost on 03/06/2017
  • 03-10-2017 — Filed a BBB complaint
  • 03-16-2017 — Filed complaint on Pissed Consumer. Updates from this site are in my initial post.
  • 03-25-2017 — Updated info
  • 04-03-2017 — Updated Info
  • 04-22-2017 — Updated Info and changed compensation amount
  • 04-24-2017 — Filed a complaint with my state's Insurance Controller and the Attorney General.
  • 04-26-2017 — Updated and edited info. There were some spelling errors.
  • 04-29-2017 — Sent a follow-up e-mail to my state's Insurance Controller's office.
What Claimant Wants Hide
1. Recovery of Losses: Damaged Product Apr 23, 2017 $450.00
2. Recovery of Losses: Conpensation for time Apr 23, 2017 $150.00
Just make me happy!
Claimant invites UPS United Parcel Service (Headquarters) to make a fair offer to resolve this complaint.
Cash total : $600.00
  • 0
Do you agree with the claimant’s demands?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)

Respondent's Counteroffer

There has been no response to this claim from UPS United Parcel Service (Headquarters). This claim will remain posted until resolved
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  • Contributed Solution: by Bryan Morris On 04-23-2017
    View more
    Complain to your insurance commissioner that UPS sells insurance that really is NOT insurance. Look for a class action suit - if there isn't one yet, there will be. More...
If you are a party to this claim, click here.
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