Not Much to UPS. It should not be my burden to pay for their inadequacy to do their job.
It seemed simple enough. Seven glasses needed to go from Tucson to Akron, from storage to my cupboard. Years ago I had bought them for my parents. My mom saw the ones I had and liked them so I got her eight. One didn’t make it through three moves, the final move being storage in my sister’s garage.
I was going to hand carry them on my next trip. Instead I gave my sister money and she would do the leg work of taking them to be shipped to me. The UPS shipping store said, “Guaranteed” to get there in good condition.
Good condition is a matter of opinion. Six of the seven did get to me in good condition. The bad news is that one was shattered. The good news is that I am back to an even number of glasses, since I can add six to my existing stable. The bad news is that I will not, according to their archaic rules, be compensated for the glass they poorly wrapped which led to its demise.
So I took pictures of the shattered pieces and texted them to my sister. I took pics of the unbroken glass for comparison, although shattered glass is pretty self-explanatory. I took the broken pieces of glass; put them in the garbage in a way no one would get hurt by broken pieces extruding through the plastic garbage bag. Mission accomplished or so I thought.
First it started with the shipping store in Tucson asking for more pictures. Then they asked for the item to be seen by their people here in Akron.
Let’s first go back to the word GUARANTEE. The Webster definition of the word is a formal promise or assurance (typically in writing) that certain conditions will be fulfilled, especially that a product will be repaired or replaced if not of a specified quality and durability.
Let’s say you are in the “shipping” business. NOT like Onassis who owned fleets of ships, but a store that ships product. In this day and age, what more could you need than photos immediately taken upon delivery?
Is it reasonable to expect the recipient of a package to pick up broken pieces of glass, go to a store or wait for the UPS store people to come to my house?
Is that reasonable? I think NOT.
Do people try to scam a company? Sure.
Is it reasonable to think that I would break a glass solely to be compensated? I think NOT.
My 8th grade teacher Mr. Dzuro said it was better for a few guilty people to be let go than a few innocent people to serve time or death.
I am the innocent person here, punished for others abuse.
In this day and age, a picture of a damaged product should be sufficient to be compensated.
UPS is more financially able to bear the loss than I am. It is a glass for goodness sake.
But it is a glass that UPS guaranteed me would arrive safely.
It should not be my burden to pay for their inadequacy to do their job.
