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ups rip off

updated mon 16 jan 06

 

Mitch Levison on sun 15 jan 06


Just to alert Clayart to the UPS ripoff.

About 6 months ago I shipped a small pugmill to Oregon via UPS. Paid $75(only actual shipping costs charged to customer) for oversize, heavy box which I had double boxed, wrapped and stuffed very well and was quite confident it could be shipped safely. It weighed about 75 lbs and was insured for the purchase (resold) price.

As you can now imagine, it arrived broken ( a cast aluminum hopper lid was broken). It was reported to UPS . UPS PICKED UP THE PUG and examined it, agreed that it was broken, and forms were filled out. the form asked if it could be repaired ( repair lid from Amaco was $134 plus shipping). I checked YES, ordered the new part and requested that the machine be returned to the customer. To make a long story short.. they kept the machine, .. claimed it was "somewhere in the system but could not be located" and offered me $150 for the repair part. I had to return the entire purchase money to the buyer, cancel an order from AMACO, then had to fight UPS for over a month until they finally returned the insured value plus shipping to me. I lost time and money through UPS, and a great pug mill was lost to all in the process.

The moral to the story... Insure the package as if it will be lost or broken, determine a value for the original goods, and then add into the value the additional costs of replacing the entire shipping contents... clay, your time, sale value shipping, packing,etc.. To my mind that should be AT LEAST 2-3 times the original sale price of the item(s). After all, your consumer paid for it once, and will not pay for it a second time, but you have to make it twice! with all the aggravations of remaking the piece at express speed and having a satisfied customer.