Have to vent (trade woes)... Help?

I like this idea: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/so-fedex-just-called-me.62705/#post-854007

 

That is absolutely terrible. I realize that this will not help you at all with your current problem but I always write the tracking number and ship date on the box incase the label mysteriously rips off. Your situation sucks and I hope everything works out.

 

In my short trading history I've had two boxes go "missing" according to FedEx. Both sent by me. On both occasions, I told them it was collectable glassware and they reimbursed me $106.50 exactly (I claimed $100 value but they gave slightly over that for packaging). Luckily, both packages contained beer I was able to replace. Hope all ends well, but I think that Bourbon Kriek might be pretty hard to get again.

 

Lesson here - tape the shit out of labels. My labels are printed at home and completely covered with clear tape, so that not one spec of paper is uncovered. Someone would have to go out of their way to rip that sucker off.

Sorry for your loss - hope it shows up!

 

How did you attach the label to the box? Did you use one of the plastic pouch things or did you tape it? A good piece of advice I read on here was the write the tracking number on the box. I do it with most of my boxes now.

 

I worked at UPS as a loader for 2 1/2 years, and then supervised loaders for another 1 1/2. Writing the tracking number or a name and address on a package won't get it to you any easier without the label. The label is all we're supposed to go off of.

If you print your own label, make sure you waterproof it by covering it with tape or sealing it with one of those plastic envelopes. The docks where trucks are loaded and unloaded are susceptible to the elements. Label gets ruined, your package is lost.

Also, make sure all the different codes on it can be easily read. Most of the time, the package isn't even touched by human hands until it gets loaded onto a truck, so if a laser can't read that label, your package is lost.

The only time I can see info written on the box being useful is in a situation like yours where they already lost the package. Hopefully you can use that to identify it without them having to open it, but odds are, they already did.

They're not trying to "trap" you though. They can't arrest you, it's just against their TOS. Their options are to deliver it anyway, return to sender, or destroy it.

Hopefully it turns up. Good luck.

 

I'm getting in the habit of always including an extra copy of the label inside the box. Place it right in the middle where it would immediately appear if it's opened and on top of a sheet of bubble wrap or layers crumpled newspaper or whatever, so they don't need to do any digging around in the box at all and the contents are hidden from plain view.

 

Thanks for the info, dvelcich.
Definitely helps with upcoming shipping plans.

 

So if a label comes off a box and it has the tacking number on the side, you can't use that number to print another label an slap it on the box and send it on its way?

If that's true, that's ridiculous.

 

I drop my boxes off at the store, decline the "Adult Signature Required" option, pay, and leave.

I don't have a printer at home. If I did, I might bother to get the UPS account, but I don't.

 

With all the writing that can be on a box, how are the employees to know if that is the most up to date tracking number? They could be sending it to the wrong place, which will cost them extra money for the shipping and return shipping, or even a $100 claim if the package gets lost.

This on the other hand is a great idea.

 

If I saw a tracking number and typed it in and it was an active tracking number, i.e. not listed as delivered, I'd know what was the one. I mean you should be able to recognize a tracking number written on a box even if it has other writing/stickers or whatever. And by rule, isn't most other stuff on the box that isn't relevant usually marked out with a sharpie?

 

Keep in mind that if the label gets ruined, there's a good chance the tracking # gets ruined. If the box was out in the rain, for example. Or if the label gets torn off, it's probably taking half the cardboard top with it...

I do find it strange that the facility couldn't at least identify the box via tracking # if it exists and you call it in, but it doesn't shock me that they wouldn't automatically punch it in. (If they even could...)

 

OP >>>>

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/misdelivered-new-glarus-box-wi-bas.65219/