United Parcel Service UPS Does not honor their insurance claims. atlanta, Georgia
I shipped almost new plotter from UPS store # 1009 to zip code 99669, and purchased $500 in insurance just to be safe. I paid a little over $200 to ship the package with insurance, but it would be ok if the plotter was received undamaged. Let me tell you how I packaged it. I bought 4 comfy shock adsorbent pillows at Walmart to cover the 4 major sides and wrapped a soft blanket around the entire plotter to ensure it would not break. It fit perfectly and was extremely snug with padding all around and would have to be thrown into oncoming traffic to break. The package arrived with a big punch hole on the top and the UPS driver said it must have suffered a blow and didnt know how it happened. Nothing was thought of it because of how much padding was inside the box. I opened it and the paper guide was completely off but it clamps together so no biggie there. I turn it on and cartridges will not move and makes loud clicking noise now!! INSURANCE DENIED! They said if I would have wrapped it in bubble wrap it would have been accepted. REALLY! Bubble wrap is better packaging material then 4 pillows and a blanket????? I call B.S. I am going to make some YouTube videos showing how much of a blow it must have suffered to break with all the packaging materials. I am also going to make a video showing how bubble wrap would have been no comparison to my packaging.
Moral of the story is UPS insurance is a scam, I have read many complains about their lack to accept fault on stuff they break because their employees don't care what they break! THEIR EMPLOYEES MUST HAVE DROPPED IT 40FT HIGH IN ORDER TO BREAK IT. NOW I AM OUT MY PLOTTER AND OVER $200. BBB is next, this insurance fraud has to stop. I shipped it UPS instead of checking it on Alaska Air so it would be safer. Alaska Air did a better job than UPS, none of my other stuff was broken. I will not use them ever again. FedEx from now on. UPS=SCAM!!!
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Scoobysteven
Yorba Linda,California,
U.S.A.
The answer to this problem
#3Consumer Suggestion
Tue, November 20, 2012
I've had this happen to me, twice, and while they initially deny ALL insurance claims, they quickly changed positions and paid both of mine. They always use the same excuse for denial, "your packaging does not comply with our accepted packaging standards, blablabla". It is all BS, and has been since they began outsourcing their insurance and claims process. They know, I know it, we all know it.
Here is the solution:
Once you receive their BS decision, call them up and request paperwork to file an appeal. Tone and attitude are everything. In a joking attitude, mention how they always deny claims by default. Joke about how they denied your last claim, even when the shipped item was returned to you with boot prints staining the box. Ask them if they can just expedite the appeal process, and ask them to send you a letter indicating your appeal was denied(in advance).
Joke how you always knew their claims policy would lead to meeting them in court, and are eager to meet them in small claims court, but you really just need them to help expedite their BS administrate process. Mention how funny it will be seeing one of their 6 figure salary C-level executives in court to challenge their illegal, in-enforceable claims process that nobody has ever won. I actually won a $100 bet with a co-worker last time UPS denied my claim. They always pay ME. I even made them repay shipping cost, but it all comes down to tone and attitude. I do expect, one day, that I'll have to make good on my threat to sue them, but for now, they have always paid.
seeworthy
Madison,Wisconsin,
USA
So warm and cozy.
#3Consumer Comment
Tue, November 20, 2012
Pillows and a blanket. I've owned a shipping facility for 11 years that utilizes all major carriers, and I've never seen that done before (though I've seen some pretty strange stuff...). I can accurately state one fact regarding this sort of packing. If any professional packaging business packed like that, they would soon be out of business as the claim ratio would be through the roof.
Blankets/clothing shift. Pillows, even memory foam, have very little compression strength. The weight of the printer would have prevented 2-3 inches of protective distance between the unit and the sides of the box. This packaging alone inevitably left voids within the box, further allowing shifting and greatly reducing the strength of the corrugate. (The rating, printed on the bottom of the box, was not listed here. All carriers requires a minimum rating of 200ECT.) Rather than pillows, inexpensive shipping peanuts would have significantly improved the packaging integrity. Perhaps the logic of using pillows was that the pillows could also be used to sleep on later, where as the peanuts would have to be stored or tossed. If so, unfortunately, that would have been an inadequately irrational decision.
And I am confused about one detail. The complaint states, "4 comfy shock adsorbent pillows at Walmart to cover the 4 major sides." Most boxes that I have seen have six sides, not four. In the photo, the four pillows are 'fluffed' into the four smaller sides. Disregarding the ommitted critical corner padding, what was used for the 2-3" of padding on the two additional larger surfaces?
If you want to ship with FedEx, that's cool. Perhaps, however, you should do what you still haven't done with the UPS website information: Go to Fedex.com and read about packaging guidelines. You'll learn that the packaging for shipping used here is grossly inadequate and would also void all damage claims with FedEx.