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I ship with UPS almost daily. I do warranty work for another company and ship on both their account and my own. While using my own account, I shipped an item to a customer of mine. It arrived in a damaged condition so I promptly filed a claim. I had paid for $1000.00 of insurance and I estimate there was $375.00 worth of damages. I was told by UPS that they would not pay the claim because the item was improperly packaged. I have sent dozens of this same item the same exact way without any damage over several years. Ok, I was mad. I had to take care of the repair myself. Money down the drain...

Fast forward a few weeks (after watching the UPS guy toss around box after box, carelessly): I receive the box in the attached picture. I inferred from the condition of the box that UPS couldn't care less about what they ship. I contacted UPS to ask why it wasn't ok for me to package something in a way they disapprove of but it WAS ok for them to damage my packaging!?!

The answer I received was startling: "You can expect external damage to your packages." Seriously, the person on the other end of the chat admitted that I have to package to their standards because they will damage the packaging! BULL$*#@!

Here's the lesson - Although UPS has me over a barrel, I will NEVER purchase insurance through them. If you ship a lot, get private shipping insurance. UPS is disgraceful and I will switch carriers as soon as a more viable option becomes available. To top it all off, I found out that a package I sent Next Day Air took almost a week to arrive! DOWN WITH UPS!!!!

Reason of review: Damaged or defective.

Monetary Loss: $375.

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.

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Guest

What does this have to do with the ups store? They are not the carrier, in this case ups.

Guest

Based on the image you posted, it looks like there is empty space in the box, so when a heavier item was placed on top of it, the box got crushed. Also, shipping something a certain way and it not getting damaged does not mean that it was properly packaged; it means you got lucky.

UPS's standards for packing exist for a reason. Shipping is not a gentle process, regardless of what carrier you use. Your package should always be packaged so that it can withstand having heavier boxes put on top of it, falling, pressure from all sides, and moving around. The item inside the package should not be moving around at all, it should be very firmly packed.

Here's a good guide on how to pack something if you want them to accept a claim, or just not have it broken it in the first place.

If it's a heavy item, bubble-wrap it with large bubble-wrap, place a piece of styrofoam at each of its corners, and put a minimum of 2 inches of peanuts around all side of it. Also, make sure that the box you are using is in fact rated for the weight in the box (you don't want to put an 80 pound item into a box rated for only 65), and that it has a bursting test of at least 200 pounds, or ECT 44 or above.

Guest

So HOW was the item improperly packaged?

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