oilman_15106

I have slightly calmed down but UPS S**ks. Got a bike shipped from Idaho to PA and looking forward to adding to the bike collection. Here is the problem and any additional advice will be appreciated.

UPS driver arrives with the package which is totally open at the bottom. Physically throws the thing into the front office of my business. Bike is upside down. Says to one of my employees, if anything is missing call us and speeds off. No signature, no nothing.

The front wheel axle, bearings and dust covers are gone to the netherworld. The wheels are Easton Orion II which are no longer in production. Everything else by the grace of God appears to be in one piece. Box looks like it went thru WWII.

I called UPS to start the claim process. They tell me it is the shipper who has to make this whole.
UPS claims says they will contact me by tomorrow, fat chance. I told them the drive should be fired. I have emailed the seller with the issues.


So should parts for the wheel not be available, what should I do? A wheel with no bearings and axle is not really a wheel and a mismatched front with a rear is not acceptable to me. Do I have grounds for a claim for a new set of wheels?

Dchiefransom

If everything was shipped in the box, then UPS should have to make it up. They accepted something for shipment and failed in their obligation. The arrogant protection of the shipping industry must stop, and they should be held just as accountable as any other industry for failing to do the job correctly.

BluesDawg

This really makes me appreciate my usual UPS driver. He is a really good guy and takes very good care of my packages. Sounds like your guy is a bad one. I hope you are able to get it settled to your satifaction.

alancw3

i have used ups many times over the past ten years to ship bikes but never again. they are brutal. from what i have heard fedex is much better and actually i have heard good things about usps.

PlatyPius

Fed Ex is much, much better. The few times I've filed claims with them, they've covered it. I have NEVER successfully filed a claim with UPS.
Once, when I had my computer business, I ordered a 19" CRT from my supplier. It arrived with all of the other parts I ordered. I built the computer, and shipped the whole thing off to my customer. When it arrived, the monitor was toast. I filed a claim with UPS. They told me I had packaged the monitor insufficiently (their standard claim). It was in the FACTORY packaging AND inside of another box! That's when I dropped UPS and started using DHL and Fed Ex.

pastorbobnlnh 

I would think a new set of wheels if you can't find the parts. Ebay can be your friend. Good luck.

https://sporting-goods.shop.ebay.com/...eel&_sacat=382

BlazingPedals

You didn't sign for it, right? Ask the shipper when your bike will get there. That should start the paperwork flowing.

stapfam

In any case- Any shipper is obliged to deliver the goods in the condition in which they were supplied for shipping. A broken carton and parts missing would not be as the supplier shipped. May be that the shipper has to make the claim as they arranged the shipping but It will not be down to you to pay.

Lots of Shipping in this reply--Thats a Sh*t response. Or just normal UPS service.

bikinfool

Having spent my life in the freight business, the usual culprit is the shipper doing a lousy job of packaging, which sounds like the case here. When I pack something up it stays packed up unless you really go out of your way to mess it up, but then I'm experienced (for a variety of goods). Likely the delivery driver had little to do with the actual damage but no excuse for running off either (but if the shipper didn't require a delivery signature or your office has previously waived such, that can make it more difficult claim-wise), but who knows how busy a route that driver has...

Just how much did you pay the shipper for packing? What was the value of the bike? Unlikely you'll get any more in a claim than the damaged goods. How the hell did the axle come out of the wheel just from shipping? You mean skewer?

BengeBoy 

If your business has a business account with UPS, I would call the local manager/district manager/etc. and let him know that given this very poor experience on a personal shipment you will be shifting your business account to FedEx ground. If UPS makes a daily pickup at your facility, canceling the daily pickup will get their attention.

If you only want to make one phone call, that's the call to make.

Retro Grouch 

During the time that I had my bike shop we received over 1,000 factory packed bicycles via UPS. Zero damage claims. That's a pretty good sample size.

wrk101

+1 Original shipper probably did a mediocre job packing the bike.

What was the condition of the bike when it fell out of the box? Were the frame tubes wrapped in foam insulation? Shipper should have wrapped the frame tubes, and tied parts to the protected frame.

+1 Good luck getting anything out of UPS. At least you have a business, so you can lean on your rep (which should help a lot).

merlin55

I say call BS on UPS. I shipped a bike UPS, and they removed the bike from the box and repacked it...UPSIDE down. UPS stated that they reserve the right to open and inspect the contents. I said fine, but your inspection resulted in several hundred dollars in damages, I can fix it...or replace the bike for $1400. OK they bent the chainrings and rear der. I filed a claim and they paid for new Dura Ace stuff. File the claim, give them the old wheels and replace with new carbon Easton wheels.

bikinfool

Professional packing work pays off. Last year at the bike shop (my one and only year in the bike biz), even though we got many bikes in mangled packaging, the insides were done fairly well and the only real damage/loss we had the shipper just sent spare stuff for no charge, so no filing claims with the carrier. That's a lot different than a used bike (as am pretty sure is the case for the OP).

FWIW most claims in my freight career I saw were from used or household goods or goods in inappropriate packing for the type of transit needed, but also from some big outfits trying to save money on packaging or farming it out overseas without proper supplies or training. I dealt for 25 years with a variety of mostly internationally shipped goods, via airfreight, oceanfreight, railfreight, you name it, literally millions of packages. One of the biggest problems when I first got in the business (72) was the union guys just totally ripping stuff off like it was their right to tribute, well packed goods didn't matter when that happened (and I don't think that sort of rip-off happens a lot with Fedex/UPS by comparison at all).

I'll shut up now. Thanks for listening.

Beverly

Your UPS driver sounds similar to mine. If there are no cars in the driveway (unusual event at my house) he puts the package in the patio enclosure on the back of the house

Doohickie

A little preachy there. It could be that the box was sealed when handed to UPS, but the shipper didn't properly pack the contents and the fork popped through, leading to the missing parts. And although the driver's attitude wasn't too pleasant, there is no way to know whether he had anything to do with the box coming open.

That said, go through the process with UPS and with the person who shipped it and hope one of them makes it good.

NOS88

First let me say that I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. While I don't have the depth of experience of some others who have posted when it comes to shipping, I have some experience. In the last two years I've received four bikes/frames via UPS and FedEx. I was fortunate in that all arrived safely. However, I was amazed at the difference in how each was packed for shipping. In one instance the contents were packed so securely that short of something running over it, it would be just fine. At the other end was a bike frame that arrived in a box with nothing to secure or pad it at all. It was just rattling around all by itself. I was lucky that it didn't get damaged. I suspect that those who have indicated that your situation was most likely a packing problem and not a shipping problem may be correct. Good luch in getting it resolved.

oilman_15106

In response to some of the questions about the packing. The packing of the bike itself was one of the best bike packing jobs I have ever seen. This is most likely why the frame itself and other components appear to be intact. I say appear because UPS told me to not unpack the rest of it until they inspect it. The box was ripped open at the bottom. The big copper staples were all ripped off with a large hole in the bottom/side of the box. It would be hard to buy that anyone would ship anything like this. The shipper is a LBS.

So when this came off thier truck the box was totally open and the bike was upside down. The driver opens our office door. Actually throws the box(6-8 feet) into the room. Yells at my guy "If anything is missing, call us". Jumps in his truck an speeds out of our lot at 2x the speed limit?

UPS called to say the someone would call me today to set up an appointment to look at this. It is after midnight, I am still waiting for the call from UPS.

Dchiefransom

I deliver mail for a living. I see first hand the lack of proper attitude by delivery companies. What the public doesn't know is that their package might end up on the bottom of a shipping bin with a couple of hundred pounds of parcels on top of it. If we hand something unbroken to a company, it should arrive in the same shape it was received for delivery, or the company should replace it.

ollo_ollo

I once received a vintage wheel via U.S. Postal Service in a badly damaged package that had a tire track running diagonally across it. I complained & got the famous "shrug". It was well packed, but ruined. Insurance wasn't much consolation.

gcottay

Ouch!

Years ago an experienced hand taught me about packaging items for shipping. "If you are not perfectly willing to throw the item six feet or so onto a concrete surface and then walk all over it," he said, "then repack."

mountbkr

When you ship UPS you get the 1st $100 insured . The shipper or buyer depending on the circumstances must pay for additional insurance . UPS is only responsible up to the insured value...

oilman_15106

The shipment was insured for the value of the bike, $3,000! I paid for it as part of the deal.

I called UPS today to let them know that nobody locally has called me to try to resolve this. They "guaranteed" that someone would call me by the end of business today!

I am not going to "take it in the shorts" over this! Our business does not ship much out in the way of small packages but we get plenty of stuff inbound. If they don't resolve this in a timely orderly fashion, I am going to ban UPS from our property. It seems to be the only leverage I have in this matter. When you sign the checks sometimes you have a say in things.

wrk101

This is the main reason I only buy bikes on ebay that I can pick up in person. Yes, it greatly limits my selection, but after batting 0/100 on shipments, I am batting 100% on pick-ups.

bikinfool

I still want to know how the axle came out I've seen LBS guys pack stuff up, they still have limited experience IMHO. OTOH when you have a forklift or a box at the bottom of a big stack, lots of things can happen.