[sdiy] Oscilloscope

[Terry Michaels]

Message text written by INTERNET:christian at dslab.com
>> In case anyone is planning on sending thousands of dollars worth of
> equipment via UPS without insuring it, take a look at this FIRST:
>
> http://homepage.mac.com/simonster/PhotoAlbum3.html

hehehe... but if you insure it, and they can break it, it wasnt packaged
properly, and they wont pay for it.

If they damage it, they tell you it wasnt packaged right.  Then they stick
another sticker on it, put your gear back in the SAME (damaged) box, and
ship it BACK to the person that sent it.  They give you some bullshit story
about how they're gonna send it to regional headquarters to "evaluate" the
damage, but you call the shipper and they've aleady made plans to ship it
back to him...

They insure it, they damage it, they decide whose fault it is, they decide
if they will pay for it or not (NO).  I even videotaped myself inspecting
the box, opening it, and the damage to the item... this dosent help one
bit.

I had to cause a scene at the UPS depot to get my dented, insured, gear
back... gear which I had prepaid for and was being sent back to Texas by
the
same trolls that screwed it up in the first place... ok... drop it on the
tarmac again why dont ya?



I took a weapon with me... I almost had to use it.

Christian.

<

Hi Christian:

OK, here's my UPS story...

Some time back I sold a spare electromagnet for a high power argon laser,
and shipped it in the manufacturer's original shipping carton with
"delicate instruments" labels on it, to the buyer.  He reported back the
electromagnet was non operational and sent it back to me.  Upon arrival I
inspected it and found internal structural damage consistent with excessive
forces being applied to the unit (it was probably dropped from a
significant height), and was unrepairable.  The carton did not show obvious
signs of mishandling.  I filed a damage claim for $900.00, which is the
amount I sold it for.  UPS rejected the claim, stating I didn't prove to
them the electomagnet wasn't already damaged before I originally shipped it
!!!   I called UPS and complained but they didn't budge.  So, I filed a
small claims court action against UPS for the amount due, and they were
served notice to appear in court.  At the appointed time, I appeared before
a court commissioner along with a district manager for teh local UPS
office.  At first the commissioner sided with me, she seemed to be
surprised someone would have to take UPS to court just to get them to pay a
damage claim.   She asked the guy from UPS why they wouldn't pay, and the
UPS guy went into the "no proof" issue again.  I pointed out it was
unrealistic for everyone who ships via UPS to take pictures of every item
before shipping it to prove the item was OK, in fact, probably no one does
that, so what other proof do they need?  With that line of reasoning,  why
would UPS ever pay any damage claim, because someone could take a broken
vase, for example, ship it somewhere, and the recipient could file a damage
claim and get the value of the vase from UPS.  UPS must pay out on at least
some damage claims, so the excuse of "no proof the item wasn't already
damaged before being shipped" can't be their excuse every time. 
Unfortunately, the court commissioner decided I couldn't proved the item
wasn't already damaged before shipping it, and ruled against me.  That only
made me more determined, because I knew I was right.  So, I filed an
appeal, which meant the claim would then go to a jury trial.  When it got
down to two days before the trial, I got a phone call from the legal
department at UPS' corporate headquarters.  They offered to settle the case
for my original claim amount, I accepted, they sent me $900.00, and that
was the end of it.  They probably figured it wasn't worth it to pay their
corporate attorneys to defend their position in front of a jury for a
damage claim, not to mention possible bad publicity.

Terry Michaels