What to do about trade damage and UPS

Commerce Corner - Wine Classifieds
1

I recently completed a trade with a guy on the east coast and the package was destroyed by UPS. His of course arrived perfectly and I feel like shit. Here is the UPS info on the package. I couldn’t label it as alcohol of course and packed it very well, as a matter of fact I double boxed it because it was only 4 bottles in a 6 bottle shipper.

What the heck is a fair scenario here?

HARTFORD, CT, US 11/03/2009 2:06 P.M. DAMAGE REPORTED / DAMAGE CLAIM UNDER INVESTIGATION
HARTFORD, CT, US 11/02/2009 7:54 P.M. THE PACKAGE WAS DAMAGED IN TRANSIT. UPS WILL NOTIFY THE SENDER WITH THE DETAILS / ALL MERCHANDISE DISCARDED. UPS WILL NOTIFY THE SENDER WITH DETAILS OF THE DAMAGE
11/02/2009 1:54 P.M. THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY / FORWARDED TO THE FACILITY IN THE DESTINATION CITY
11/02/2009 5:30 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
11/02/2009 4:10 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
WINDSOR LOCKS, CT, US 11/02/2009 3:43 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
WINDSOR LOCKS, CT, US 11/01/2009 11:21 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
CHELMSFORD, MA, US 11/01/2009 9:17 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
11/01/2009 10:51 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
11/01/2009 9:19 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
CERRITOS, CA, US 10/27/2009 3:00 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
10/27/2009 12:16 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
CERRITOS, CA, US 10/26/2009 10:53 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
ANAHEIM, CA, US 10/26/2009 10:21 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
10/26/2009 8:37 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
10/26/2009 6:45 P.M. PICKUP SCAN
US 10/26/2009 9:57 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

2

So you received wine from him, but he got nothing from you?

This is just my personal opinion. I do not like all the posts in CC which say “shipping at buyers risk”. Anyone entering into a private transaction where this might happen, for any reason that is not the fault of either party, should share in the risk. This is especially true in the case of a trade where wine is going in both directions. It was pure luck that his wine was destroyed and not yours. My opinion is that you should compensate him for part of his loss in some way. Perhaps send back half the bottles he sent you or send him something else roughly comparable to half what the worth of what you sent him originally.

My 2 cents.

3

UPS will not honor any claim so don’t expect redress from them. Sorry Capt. but you are screwed.

I agree with Ken that if you are a PC and know you are shipping illegally both parties should share the risk.

4

did you insure it ? you could report it was imported balsamic, if they’ve discarded it without proving what it is you may have some recourse, but that would only be if it was insured. Shippers are not easy people to deal with when it comes to claims.

11/02/2009 1:54 P.M. THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY / FORWARDED TO THE FACILITY IN THE DESTINATION CITY
11/02/2009 5:30 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY

the interesting part, first it was out for delivery at 5:30 a.m. and then it was left in the facility the same day and destroyed. They never make sense.

5

I accidently responded to your post on the other board instead of here. But, the substance was that while you have no legal liability, asuming correct packaging as you described, you ought to split the loss with the other guy.

6

You’re not kidding. Back when I had a regular UPS driver instead of different ones every day, I had some odd tracking statement on a box I was waiting for. I showed it to him and he had absolutely no idea what it meant. If the people that work there don’t know what some of that stuff means or why it is ona particular trackig report, there is no way we can understand it.