Anybody had anything stolen by UPS?

[Carbonita]

I had a box of air delivered to my home Depot, supposed to contain a Simpson strong tie steel brace. Clerk shrugged and said it happens!

Originally Posted by zmudshark

One thing I have been hearing a lot of, is people buying expensive items at Lowe’s or Home Depot, or even Amazon ending up with a brick or bag of sand.

I just saw where someone bought a generator at Home Depot, didn’t open it for a few days and when they did, it was a bag of sand. Same with tools and getting a brick.

If you are buying an item at the store, ask them to open it before you leave.

[Quadzilla_Jr]

In my line of work, I have been inside dozens of USPS hubs and multiple UPS and FedEx hubs.

While it is certainly possible and does happen, outright theft is impressively rare when considering the throughput/volume these places process. On the whole, USPS employees seem to enjoy their jobs and would never jeopardize their employment over a possible “score” via theft/fraud. Again, it’s happened, but it’s rare. UPS and FedEx are a similar situation, though I’d say their employees enjoy their jobs a bit less.

Additionally, as some else noted above, a pair of skis would be processed as an “irregular” or “unsortable” and be processed in a different manner than 99% of all other throughput.

An honest “lost” is a higher likelihood than theft. I’d also bet that the majority of theft/fraud occurring in mail/shipping is on either end of the process and not the shipping companies themselves, ie a seller sending garbage or buyer claiming they never received it.

[tellyho]

My immediate thought was no, but then I remembered a pair of Doc Martens I sold on EBay long ago that did not reach the buyer. The package was found empty and open at a USPS facility. This is out of MANY sales that I have made, so I take that as a fractional percent chance.

[Tony T]

I had a UPS (not USPS) package sent to me once that never arrived. Sender filed a claim and sent me a replacement
Four months later, the original package showed up at my door.

[pedalwildrako]

I ordered a roof rack through Amazon. UPS delivered an empty sleeve of a box- I had had it delivered to my workplace, and received other packages at the same time without an issue.

UPS wasn't of much help, but Amazon rushed a replacement to me at no extra cost but time.

[Mr. Pink]

Found it. Delivered. Sorry, UPS folks.

[truth]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Small manufacturer powder skis with a lot of carbon fiber. Manufacturer is out of business. Very desirable among the in crowd.

I'm more curious what skis they might be. PM Gear?

[unterhausen]

I have the most bizarre USPS tracking I have seen on one of my packages that was supposed to arrive today. The tracking said it was here in town this morning, but at the same time it was 200 miles away in West Virginia. I feel like sometimes Amazon does some hinky stuff with their shippers and I am the victim of it this time.

USPS is usually pretty good, amazon says it will get here Friday, but I mostly expect it to get here tomorrow.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by truth

I'm more curious what skis they might be. PM Gear?

Si. Love those things, but, now I live in Maryland. Only good if you live next to a big powder filled mountain. Too big for Vermont.

[.RJ]

Bringing this one to the top as I'm sitting here waiting for a bike that I bought on Pinkbike seems to have disappeared into the bermuda triangle of a UPS hub in PA. Scheduled delivery was a week ago - I called UPS last Friday and they said since the package had not moved in 24 hours they need to open an investigation, but so far, nothing.

The seller is aware and responsive but I dont think he bought the insurance - said he bought the shipping label through paypal which doesnt carry much insurance. I wonder if it was insured then UPS might move a little faster since they're on the hook for paying up if they dont find it.

Now what? Wait? Is it gonna show up 4 months from now?

[benb]

FedEx is the one I fear. I've never really had a single instance of trouble with USPS or UPS.

FedEx seems to be used more frequently when things are expensive and/or sensitive and yet Fed Ex seems to really be careless, losing things far from where they were ever supposed to be, shipping things a thousand miles out of the way of where they needed to go before turning them around and sending them back in. Delivering signature required items to the wrong place and getting a random signature. Delivering sensitive/fragile things signature required to the right address but not getting the signature so they could have gotten lost.

[.RJ]

Anything important or expensive I receive from FedEx, I redirect the shipment to the FedEx store nearby. Far fewer delivery issues that way.

[cash05458]

Originally Posted by benb

FedEx is the one I fear. I've never really had a single instance of trouble with USPS or UPS.

FedEx seems to be used more frequently when things are expensive and/or sensitive and yet Fed Ex seems to really be careless, losing things far from where they were ever supposed to be, shipping things a thousand miles out of the way of where they needed to go before turning them around and sending them back in. Delivering signature required items to the wrong place and getting a random signature. Delivering sensitive/fragile things signature required to the right address but not getting the signature so they could have gotten lost.

The problem with FedEx is that they will hire pretty much anyone off the street for their ground stuff...which I think is now about nearly all of their work besides a few express things (those folks actually work for FedEx btw). Ground is now and has been for last 5 years or so just contracted out. SO a contractor will hire whomever he wants really...they may wear a fedex shirt but they don't really "work" for fedex if you get my drift. The background check to get into Postal when I first started took them over 5 months...it was like getting a CIA security thing or something (I kid...).

I worked as a carrier for postal for 15 years, took some time off and then spent two years at FedEx ground....the differences are enormous really. Basically at FedEx, if you had a driver's license, the contractor would hire you and you would be out on the road that day....zero training, just nothing. And the turnover rate on those ground jobs is crazy high as well. No one stays long enough or they bounce you around mostly to even learn a route unlike at Postal or UPS.