UPS claim issue

[MACKIN]

Hoping someone a UPS driver will chime in here.




A friend bought a set of Smittybilt tube fenders for his Jeep.
http://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/55.htm

When they arrived they were damaged do to poor packaging of the shipper. Had some scratches and light gouges. Really not to bad . So he called the vendor and sent him pictures explaining that it was NOT UPS's fault but the shipper. The vendor said put a claim in with UPS.

Back up for one second they were signed for crushed box and acknowledged that it wasn't UPS's fault between driver and friend.

Since my friend didn't want to wait two more weeks to put his Jeep back together he went ahead and installed the fenders and touched them up and they look pretty dam good.In addition what are the chances that the replacment set would have not come in damaged do to poor packaging ? Also what if UPS denies the claim and my friend is stuck in limbo for weeks?

Four days pass and UPS shows up at his house to pick up the damaged fenders. Keep in mind my friend DID NOT submit a claim with UPS!

He told UPS forget it they were already installed and toss the return slip out. He stated that the fenders and packaging would return to UPS for evaluation of the claim.


So three more days pass and my friend arrives home and in the driveway is a box with two new fenders? So my friend now has a set of damaged fenders installed and a fresh set in a box that is damaged BUT not as bad as the first set. Soooo he is in a sort of dilemma

Now don't bitch-slap my friend he is a really good guy and hasn't decided YET to do the honorable thing . What my friend would like to know is what is UPS's process on damaged claims? From MY experience with Fed-Ex once I had a damaged piece of equipment come in once again was poor packaging but they excepted the claim and I asked them what they were going to do with the item and they said scrap it . I asked if I could have it and they said sure take it!

What does UPS do with their damaged items?

My friend assumes that UPS accepted the claim and that is why a new set was sent. Second if my friend gives the NEW set of fenders to the driver and they are inspected they wont see any damage! I suppose my friend could break his balls and swap fenders but that will be a real pain in the ass!

I've advised my friend to just sit and wait things out.

Why you might inquire is because IF UPS paid the claim the only one out is UPS and they'd probably just scrap them. IMO if he does the honorable thing of returning to the shipper or vendor they will just turn around and resell the new set anyway after receiving UPS's claim check.

 

[TheBac]

I have delivered much the same item to a customer from SmittyBilt, and have to say they cant box their items worth a crap.

1) the SHIPPER is the party who files the claim. It does take a couple days to initially process the claim and get a driver to you to pick up the damaged item.
Your friend should have called SmittyBilt back and told them to hold off on the claim (since he ended up using the items). Because he used the items and told the driver that, UPS should no longer have any responsibility in this issue, and the claim should be nullified.

2) He should call UPS and have them come back and pick the second set of fenders up and send them back to Smittybilt. As long as he hasnt opened them, we can ship them back as "refused". We can do that up to a couple weeks after the original delivery (that has been my experience -- Ct may be different).
He should also call SmittyBilt and tell them he is sending back the second set of packages. (Make sure to give them the right tracking numbers).
MAKE SURE HE KEEPS A RECORD OF THE TRACKING NUMBERS OFF BOTH SETS OF PACKAGES, and what he did about each delivery.

UPS has what's called "Overgoods", which are warehouses where unusable or lost items are stored. I believe we get rid of items after 18 months.

Lastly, Smittybilt must have decent customer service, because they realize a claim thru UPS can take weeks to process completely. If they waited til the claim was done to ship new fenders, then their customer would be doubly pissed off. So they ship the new ones based on the fact that the claim being processed should pay them back for the first set, and they have a happy customer to boot. In this case, though, the first fenders were used, and the second set will be sent back, so its like the claim never existed, and nobody is out money.

Hope that helped.

 

[MACKIN]

Sure does thanks.

They didn't come direct from Smitty-bilt but anyways the packaging that I say was HORRIBLE there was no chance of them making it with-out damage and why he decided to use the original ones assuming the next set would be as bad or worse.

I did ask why he didn't just refuse the shipment , but had no chance as the driver dropped when he wasn't home.

I wonder if the box that the new ones are in is going to make the trip back undamaged.

 

[TheBac]

If the driver is smart, when he picks that second shipment back up, he'll give it to the clerks at the center to repack before it gets into the system.

Glad to help.

 

[UPS DRVR]

I wonder if the call tag was a damaged call tag or did the shipper issue a RS3 type call tag to get the fenders back.

 

[59 camaro]

im a fedex driver/contractor and if we pick up a package that was damaged we pick it up and send it back to the shipper and the shipper sends a new shipment

 

[TheBac]

I wonder if the call tag was a damaged call tag or did the shipper issue a RS3 type call tag to get the fenders back.

My bet is that it was a damage tag.

 

[UPS DRVR]

I have a table manufacturer that if a customer complains about a table being scratched or dented they will issue a call tag RS3 . And send them another table. When they get the other table back they will sell it for a scratch and dent.