When should I panic?

[SVanderkolff]

UPS HAS LOST MY KNIFE!!!!!!!!!!!

The knife that I made for Dr Darom's book has disappeared into UPS space. I had shipped it down to Blade for a future publication and it was in the process of being shipped back. They attempted to deliver it once on Dec 30th but since then it has simply disappeared from thier radar. They assure me that they have the tracking started to try and find it but.....

It was well insured but I had planned to take it to a few shows to enter in to "Best of" competitions and eventually sell it to someone who would appreciate it, not have it either lost or stolen.

Has anyone else been in this predicament and if so do you have any suggestions as to how to ensure that UPS is sufficiaently motivated?

Thanks
Steve

[AUBE]

yup ive been there twice with ups...one time the item turned up a few weeks later and one time it was gone for good. i just drove them nuts on the phone. i called the local ups center and requested a manager...then called near daily. when the one item turned up the manager called me right away..probably so i would stop annoying him.

two things i do when shipping are never label a knife as what it is on the box..it might be tempting to thieves..and i use a good sized box for everything. even if its a tiny 4" neck knife i put it in a box thats about a cubic foot. i worked for ups for a short time and the packages get pretty abused in transit. small items can easily get swiped, damaged, or overlooked.

i hope it turns up for you steve!

good luck,
-jason

[Drac]

Steve,

I not only am I always using UPS for knife stuff but mail a flag all around the country so I deal with them a lot. Jason has got it right. Get away from the customer service people they are trained to make as much problems to make you give up . The customer service center will try to tell you that they have no supervisors so you can't go above them. Always get the name of the person you are dealing with for your records. Get to the manager of the responsible local center. That's were you find people willing to work with you.

I've never had a problem with the local ####### or the managers but customer service is complained about by there own people.

Jim

[cavetech]

Hi Steve:

UPS stole a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 magnum from me once. They paid up, but the customized revolver couldn't be replaced.

[mrmanners]

I learned that important lesson with the Post Office over the summer. I had sent a knife out to Etch-o-matic so they could give me some good directions for using their etcher. Knife never made it out west. They received an empty package and I didn't think to insure.

[Buddy Thomason]

I was in that position with an award winning knife just a few months ago. I shipped it via DHL and it never arrived at its destination. DHL admitted responsibility but in 'the small print' of the shipping contract it stated clearly they were only responsible for $100 (knife value was $1,500).

I had insured it for the other $1,400 but didn't realize that it was the package store I used to ship that carried the insurance. So I didn't know to notify the store right away. That delay almost cost me big time! Luckily things worked out, but you should definitely not get yourself into the position I was in by not knowing how things work. Tripple copy all the paperwork for your file and all the folks who will need copies before this thing is over. Read and understand every word and realize that UPS may have limited liability. If you mistakenly rely on their motivation to find the knife (like I relied on DHL) you may be sorely disappointed in the end.

From a liability/guarantee standpoint the USPS seems to be the best. I know lots of folks that are using them exclusively now for shipping knives.

[SPryor]

Long story short: UPS sux, USPS good.