bimmerlover
02-23-2006, 11:51 AM
I'm not sure if this is the place to post this. Feel free to move it if necessary.
Being an employee with UPS, I've received many PM's about their packages being lost in transit, claims, etc. so I thought I'd put together a little FAQ and helpful how-to's to lessen the possibility of your parcels being lost or destroyed in transit. I'll start with questions that I frequently get:
1) How come the tracking status on my parcel hasn't been updated in the last few days?
The main reason that tracking statuses are not updated is that the loaders who supposedly scan packages into the trailer simply do not scan them for various reasons. One reason is that the bar code on the shipping label was fudged up some how, or the shipping label was fudged up entirely, which prevents the bar code from being successfully scanned, thus the tracking status will not be updated. Another reason that tracking statuses are not updated is the fact that at the end of the sort (work shift), last minute packages are brought to the trailers (or air wing, depending which service type you purchased) and placed in there without being scanned. This especially applies to packages that are irregular in dimension or weight, such as car parts (tires, exhaust, hood, etc.).
2) Why has my package not arrived on its delivery date?
The first thing that customers must realize is that the delivery date provided on www.ups.com is an estimated delivery date. This does not guarantee delivery on that day. Now, the main and sole reason why your package has been delayed is because the package has been missorted, which means it has been loaded into a trailer not en route to the destination. For example, if you sent a package to Southern California and a loader accidently scans it in a trailer headed to New York, the trailer will head to New York which is about a 4-5 day trip, then it will be sorted there and loaded back into a trailer headed to Southern California. In total, that's about a week's delay. Another reason is that the parcel was not properly packaged and the contents were spilled (known as overgoods). This would create a delay as well. If the package was damaged as well as the label, the contents of the package will be sent to the nearest overgoods facility. For the Bay Area's case, Salt Lake City is the nearest facility.
3) My package was lost and I made a claim, so UPS sent a claim check back to the original seller and now the seller wont respond, so now I don't have either the merchandise or my money. Why did they send a claim check back to the seller and not the person who made the purchase?
Not every transaction that goes through UPS is soley seller/buyer based. The majority of packages that go through UPS is business related, so if a package gets lost, the business can notify UPS and they'll send the money back to the company, and they'll send the merchandise again to the business. How often do companies screw over businesses? They can't! So UPS doesn't know that the package is from a seller/buyer purchase, hence they can't assume that the seller will screw over the buyer.
Now that that's out of the way, I'll go ahead and introduce some things to better save your packages when in transit. Albeit these might be some things that are commen sense, you'll be surprised how many people package their goods only with wrapping paper!
Always secure packages with the appropriate box. It is so god damn simple! No, you can't use the empty waffle box from your freezer to ship out a thousand dollar car part (it happens) and certainly not the shoe box that's been sitting in your closet for the past five years. Courtesy Nissan is a prime example of how to ship packages. When they shipped out my Euro Zenki headlights, they put the headlights in the original Nissan box, then put both of the boxes into one large box with many air bags for added security. If you are shipping an irregular package(s) such as rims with tires mounted on them, secure both sides of the tire with cardboard, then use the saran wrap (not the kitchen wrap, but the wrap warehouses use to wrap boxes together) to wrap the entire rim. If you are shipping a hood, find a hood box. Don't have one? Go get one, and make sure you have layers of pillows wrapping the entire hood. Lastly, make sure there are no "soft spots" on an irregular package. You should fill every last space inside the box so a certain part of the box wont get crushed inwards.
Properly secure packages. Again, you would be surprised of how many people poorly wrap packages. Do you think that one strip of duct tape will hold that racing seat in that huge box? Don't be cheap, use half of the tape roll if you have to. Make sure it's secure, but this doesn't mean you can tape over the shipping label fifty million times. I've seen packages where you could hardly seen the shipping label anymore because the shipper wrapped it completely. This will most certainly create a delay.
Make sure you have the proper shipping label. This most certainly does not mean you could take your three year old brother to make him write out the shipping address with a crayon. DO NOT WRITE OUT SHIPPING LABELS! Get the appropriate shipping label from either online or at a UPS store. Labels look like this:
http://www.amdonline.com/aonline/images/Ups%20label.jpg
You see that big number that has the first three digits of the destination zip code? That's called a routing number, or human readable. Sorters who sort packages do not look at the zip code; they look at the routing number. Make sure that when you print out a shipping label, the routing number is the first three digits of the destination zip code. It can be one or two digits off, but not more. If you write your own labels, how can the sorter know what the routing number is? So how can they sort it? They don't, and they don't care. This causes more delays.
Do not send envelopes or letters with UPS, only packages. Letters can easily get lost inside the conveyor belts and machinery. The belts were ment to carry boxes. If shipping a letter or envelope, use the post office. Simple as that; they're cheaper, too.
I can't think of anything more. I'll come back on occasion to update this thread. You might be telling yourself that there are always alternatives when it comes to shipping companies, such as FedEx, DHL, etc. but we're all the same. I've seen the inside operations of both of those companies, and they operate with major resemblences. Don't let my signature fool you. It's a joke, sometimes.:hammer:
Being an employee with UPS, I've received many PM's about their packages being lost in transit, claims, etc. so I thought I'd put together a little FAQ and helpful how-to's to lessen the possibility of your parcels being lost or destroyed in transit. I'll start with questions that I frequently get:
1) How come the tracking status on my parcel hasn't been updated in the last few days?
The main reason that tracking statuses are not updated is that the loaders who supposedly scan packages into the trailer simply do not scan them for various reasons. One reason is that the bar code on the shipping label was fudged up some how, or the shipping label was fudged up entirely, which prevents the bar code from being successfully scanned, thus the tracking status will not be updated. Another reason that tracking statuses are not updated is the fact that at the end of the sort (work shift), last minute packages are brought to the trailers (or air wing, depending which service type you purchased) and placed in there without being scanned. This especially applies to packages that are irregular in dimension or weight, such as car parts (tires, exhaust, hood, etc.).
2) Why has my package not arrived on its delivery date?
The first thing that customers must realize is that the delivery date provided on www.ups.com is an estimated delivery date. This does not guarantee delivery on that day. Now, the main and sole reason why your package has been delayed is because the package has been missorted, which means it has been loaded into a trailer not en route to the destination. For example, if you sent a package to Southern California and a loader accidently scans it in a trailer headed to New York, the trailer will head to New York which is about a 4-5 day trip, then it will be sorted there and loaded back into a trailer headed to Southern California. In total, that's about a week's delay. Another reason is that the parcel was not properly packaged and the contents were spilled (known as overgoods). This would create a delay as well. If the package was damaged as well as the label, the contents of the package will be sent to the nearest overgoods facility. For the Bay Area's case, Salt Lake City is the nearest facility.
3) My package was lost and I made a claim, so UPS sent a claim check back to the original seller and now the seller wont respond, so now I don't have either the merchandise or my money. Why did they send a claim check back to the seller and not the person who made the purchase?
Not every transaction that goes through UPS is soley seller/buyer based. The majority of packages that go through UPS is business related, so if a package gets lost, the business can notify UPS and they'll send the money back to the company, and they'll send the merchandise again to the business. How often do companies screw over businesses? They can't! So UPS doesn't know that the package is from a seller/buyer purchase, hence they can't assume that the seller will screw over the buyer.
Now that that's out of the way, I'll go ahead and introduce some things to better save your packages when in transit. Albeit these might be some things that are commen sense, you'll be surprised how many people package their goods only with wrapping paper!
Always secure packages with the appropriate box. It is so god damn simple! No, you can't use the empty waffle box from your freezer to ship out a thousand dollar car part (it happens) and certainly not the shoe box that's been sitting in your closet for the past five years. Courtesy Nissan is a prime example of how to ship packages. When they shipped out my Euro Zenki headlights, they put the headlights in the original Nissan box, then put both of the boxes into one large box with many air bags for added security. If you are shipping an irregular package(s) such as rims with tires mounted on them, secure both sides of the tire with cardboard, then use the saran wrap (not the kitchen wrap, but the wrap warehouses use to wrap boxes together) to wrap the entire rim. If you are shipping a hood, find a hood box. Don't have one? Go get one, and make sure you have layers of pillows wrapping the entire hood. Lastly, make sure there are no "soft spots" on an irregular package. You should fill every last space inside the box so a certain part of the box wont get crushed inwards.
Properly secure packages. Again, you would be surprised of how many people poorly wrap packages. Do you think that one strip of duct tape will hold that racing seat in that huge box? Don't be cheap, use half of the tape roll if you have to. Make sure it's secure, but this doesn't mean you can tape over the shipping label fifty million times. I've seen packages where you could hardly seen the shipping label anymore because the shipper wrapped it completely. This will most certainly create a delay.
Make sure you have the proper shipping label. This most certainly does not mean you could take your three year old brother to make him write out the shipping address with a crayon. DO NOT WRITE OUT SHIPPING LABELS! Get the appropriate shipping label from either online or at a UPS store. Labels look like this:
http://www.amdonline.com/aonline/images/Ups%20label.jpg
You see that big number that has the first three digits of the destination zip code? That's called a routing number, or human readable. Sorters who sort packages do not look at the zip code; they look at the routing number. Make sure that when you print out a shipping label, the routing number is the first three digits of the destination zip code. It can be one or two digits off, but not more. If you write your own labels, how can the sorter know what the routing number is? So how can they sort it? They don't, and they don't care. This causes more delays.
Do not send envelopes or letters with UPS, only packages. Letters can easily get lost inside the conveyor belts and machinery. The belts were ment to carry boxes. If shipping a letter or envelope, use the post office. Simple as that; they're cheaper, too.
I can't think of anything more. I'll come back on occasion to update this thread. You might be telling yourself that there are always alternatives when it comes to shipping companies, such as FedEx, DHL, etc. but we're all the same. I've seen the inside operations of both of those companies, and they operate with major resemblences. Don't let my signature fool you. It's a joke, sometimes.:hammer: