UPS. Friend Or Foe?

Many years ago I bought, from a private seller, a used pair of (in excellent condition) B&W Matrix 802 speakers. Since it was before Pay Pal and Zelle and as the seller had an excellent rating with Agon and Ebay, the speakers were paid for plus shipping, and insurance, into his account. The seller brought the speakers to UPS for packaging and shipment. Long story short, both speakers were completely destroyed in shipping. UPS said they would only pay 1/2 of the cost of my speakers and only to shipper. After going round and round with UPS for a week and getting no where, I called my lawyer. For $50. he sent them a letter saying that since the speakers were bought and payed for by me, they were legally my property, regardless of who sold them or payed for ins. He said if payment, in full for the speakers wasn't immediately rendered, we would sue them (UPS) for improper handling and destruction of My Property in their care. and would be for full amount of the speakers plus expenses and layer fees. I had a certified check in three days for the full amount I payed for the speakers.

The problem is: they count on the fact that most will not take action agains them and their refusal to go good for the damage caused by their carless handling of our valuable goods - even when the items shipped are fully insured.

Even if one in ten stands up to them and follows through with a suit, they know they are by far the winner and have no intention of changing the way they handle our precious goods - the faster and more careless, the better for them. By and large, insurance is just a ploy to make you think your merchandise is fully protected against breakage or loss when, from the beginning, they have no intention of making a reasonable, much less a full settlement, regardless of fault.

Unless it is something unbreakable and of little value, or can be packaged good enough to survive a ten foot toss from the back of a truck out onto the pavement - I’ll not ship anything UPS......Jim

In my situation, I was the buyer. I took photos of the crushed boxes and speakers and refused the shipment and they were returned to UPS for inspection. After a couple of weeks of run around with both the seller and myself, UPS confirmed that they were damaged beyond repair, but they would make a settlement only to the seller and for less than 1/2 half of the $2,400.00 that I had paid for the speakers, shipping and insurance and claimed I would have to get settlement from the seller. My lawyer said differently and sent a letter to UPS, CC to the affiliate company that packaged and shipped the speakers, threatening litigation for the mishandling and destruction of my property.

As the seller I’m not sure if your recourse would be the same. You may have to work with the buyer to get some action, but I’m sure UPS is counting on you rolling over and taking whatever offer they hand you.

Best of luck.....Jim