Whistleblower » Blog Archive » Woman’s parcel was shipped to oblivion

Woman’s parcel was shipped to oblivion

Posted on September 18th, 2008 – 2:44 PM
By James Shiffer

UPS shipped 4 billion packages and documents last year. A small number of them - a UPS spokeswoman wouldn’t say how many - get so mangled during shipping that the company doesn’t try to return them to the sender. The packages get thrown away. Maya Levitan learned this fact in April, and it still makes her mad.

Levitan has a big window in the living room of her home in Savage. She noticed that one her windowblinds wouldn’t go up and down properly because of some trouble in the mechanism. Levitan decided to ship it back to the manufacturer in Utah. She wrapped it in paper and plastic and on April 9, took it to a UPS Store in Burnsville. She turned down shipping insurance, paid her $20 and went on her way.

The blinds never reached their destination. After learning online that it was “damaged in transit,” Levitan eventually got ahold of a letter UPS had sent to the local store.

“The contents contained in the package described above were damaged,” the letter said. “We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you or your consignee.”

“The complete contents have been discarded.” The investigation concluded: “insufficient packaging was used for this shipment. As a result, UPS is unable to pay a claim for the damaged goods.”

Levitan wrote to the UPS store manager, demanding $300 - $100 for the damage to the package, $200 for the contents of the package. That didn’t work. So she paid a $60 filing fee to take the store to conciliation court (small claims court) in Dakota County. It’s true that the blinds weren’t packed in cardboard, she argued, but the store bore responsibility because it shipped the package as it was. That didn’t work either. She lost her case last month.

“It’s not the money,” said Levitan, a computer programmer. “It’s the treatment.”

UPS has a policy of returning damaged items to the senders, said Ronna Branch, a spokeswoman for UPS in its Atlanta headquarters. But sometimes the injuries are so severe that the pieces of whatever was shipped cannot be found, Branch told me. Packages can break open and items can snag on conveyor belts at the “hubs,” the enormous UPS processing centers.

“The only reason it would be discarded, is if the contents came out, and they couldn’t be reassembled,” she said.

“We always encourage customers to pack them as well as they can,” Branch said. If a UPS Store does the packing, the company will reimburse the customer for any damage. But otherwise, no guarantees that you’ll always get reimbursed, or even get it back.

“You can pay for the shipping, wrap it at home and drop it off at a UPS store. We won’t refuse it,” she said. “We are experts. If you want to ship it, we can make sure that it’s shipped right.”

If you’ve had a package that vanished into oblivion or other delivery that didn’t quite go as planned, I want to hear about it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Buyer beware, Complaint sagas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

40 Responses to “Woman’s parcel was shipped to oblivion”

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kb Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
If the customer does not follow the UPS recommended packaging standards, I fail to see why it’s their fault her item was damaged. She should be accountable for her part in the process and not blame UPS!
Ikizdim Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:05 am
She wrapped window blinds in paper and plastic and thought that would be ok? What was she thinking? Of course she lost her case.
drow Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:07 am
i’m with UPS on this one. packing for shipping isn’t like packing your car for a trip, but some people will drop off their scuba gear wrapped in duct tape anyway.
Mike Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I worked at UPS for a couple of years. The ony things we allowd to ship that were not in a cardboard box or crate of some sort were UPS envelopes and large items such as tires, plastic speedbumps, and pieces of machinery. If she dropped it off at a UPS store just wrapped in plastic and paper, by company policy they should have refused to take it. It’s still her responsibilty to make sure it’s packaged properly, but the consequences should have been a refusal to take the package.
Chris O. Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:46 am
One time I shipped my desktop computer with UPS, the hard drive arrived just fine but the monitor did not! I borrowed someone else’s spare monitor for over a month, and just as UPS was about to pay out a lost claim on the monitor, they magically found it in one of their facilities. Good deal for them, they just got to sit on it for a long time with no consequences! Though I don’t think I’ve used them since.
rick Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I had a similar problem with UPS about a month ago. I shipped a package to North Carolina and somehow they lost the package. Well almost a week later the package shows up at my door and the label was ripped of the package and the box was in terrible condition (not how I sent it). I ended up reshipping it right away to my client and payed again to have it shipped thinking I would call them and get a refund for the first time I shipped it. Well think again since I didn’t put an address on the inside of the package they can’t refund the original shipping amount. So it cost me double to have it shipped. They somehow ripped of the label, box was in terrible condition but yet it is my fault I didn’t put a label on the inside. Horrible customer service from UPS!
Jack Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I agree with UPS on this one for the amount of the damages. But I’ve had a similar experience and went to the mat against the Post office on a similar experience. I packaged a book in a manilla envelope and the same thing happened. I understood I didn’t pay insurance, ect., but I at least figured they shoudn’t be able to charge me money for the non shipping. Forty five minutes on the phone with a manager and I was returned my 5.15 I paid for shipping. Small victory, but I think companies shouldn’t be able to keep the fee paid for shipping when things go wrong.
scotty Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Zero sympathy. I have shipped tens of thousands of packages via UPS, and have had several dozen claims. “Insufficient packaging” is the number one reason for claims refusals. Pack your stuff right - it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Would have been different had she paid the store to package it for her, but she didnt so shut yer trap
Mark Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Mike is right, the package should have been refused, so I think the store clerk that accepted the package as suitable for shipment also bears responsibility. Poor training and / or minimal staffing levels cause mistakes.
Herman Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I have always marveled at the poorly wrapped and unprotected items I have seen people try to mail at the Post Office. Whether USPS or private UPS, the sender has an obligation to securely protect and properly wrap the items sent. As a taxpayer I am disappointed that “Jack” got the government to refund the mailing fee when the error was his, not USPS.