DHL cuts 9,500 U.S. jobs [CNNMoney]
(Thanks to Graig!) (Photo: Maulleigh)

2008 Holiday Ordering Deadlines for On-Time Delivery [Dealhack] (Photo: m_sabal)

Consumer Reports mailed 48 packages from Yonkers, N.Y., to 16 consumers in 12 states, using regular next-day delivery (Standard Overnight for FedEx, Express Mail for the Postal Service, and Next Day Air Saver for UPS.) All of the packages got there the next day — but the price was wildly different.

CR says:

The Postal Service was the least expensive by far for local and long-distance deliveries. For letter-size envelopes, such as the ones it gave us for sending the books, it charges a flat rate of $16.50. (Flat rates for slower delivery are lower.) The other shippers base prices on weight and distance traveled. UPS charged $62.87 to send our book next-day to Oregon and $29.55 to Manhattan. FedEx charged $54.57 and $27.48, respectively.

...Asked how the Postal Service, an independent part of the U.S. government’s executive branch, can deliver overnight shipping for less, a spokeswoman, Yvonne Yoerger, said: "We have an infrastructure in place and letter carriers everywhere. We’re simply adding package delivery to a network that already exists."

Way to go, USPS.

Overnight shipping: FedEx vs. UPS vs. the Postal Service [CR]
(Photo: The Joy of the Mundane )

Steven says:

I'd like to let you know about some extreme shipment delays with the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. My order, which was originally placed on 9-11, has been delayed something like six times — generally for about a week at a time, so it appears they were merely stringing me along so I wouldn't cancel — and now for another month until 11-20.

Do you have any suggestions? I haven't been able to talk to anyone who is knowledgeable or able to help, whether by calling their support or emailing through their "escalation service." My order has been escalated and was supposed to be expedited several weeks ago, but obviously that never happened.

I can provide more details, including exact order dates and customer service representative names — but more than anything, I really want to know if there's any advice you might have. It was originally supposed to be delivered on 9-26, in time for my girlfriend's birthday, and I'm incredibly upset at Dell for appearing to string me along week-by-week when I would have just canceled if they could have made a realistic delay/delivery estimate in the first case.

Would this be something worthy of filing a BBB report? Or, is my only option really just to cancel — Dell does seem to have been rather deceptive in their dealings with customers throughout this fiasco, I'm certainly not the only one with a delayed order.

Systemic shipping delays are always tough to deal with — because the problem is likely larger than just your order. Filing a complaint with the BBB is certainly an option, and it may help escalate your case to the next level and make it stand out from the crowd.

You do, of course, have the option to cancel and receive and immediate refund, because of the FTC's mail order rule. If you feel that Dell is violating this rule, you might want to report them to the FTC.

You can also contact Dell's executives with an EECB (executive email carpet bomb). For more information about launching an EECB, click here. Here's some Dell contact info.

Is anyone else having this issue? How did you deal with it?

(Photo: Ben Popken )

Robbie says:

1) I get a door tag on the door to my apartment with the box checked for "sign here for us to leave your package".

2) The next day there's another door tag for the same package, left right above the old signed door tag! I sign both door tags. On day 3, there's yet a door tag, this time in the entrance hall of the apartment (this time he didn't come up to my room to see the notes).

3) I call and ask about it, they say a signature isn't even required (it's a pair of shoes) and that the guy should have left it, that they will request another delivery, but "they can't guarantee anything." They take my phone number and say the guy will call me if he has any trouble.

4) I call back 3 additional times, getting the same response with a "we can ask the station to redeliver, but can't guarantee anything" each time, and with them encouraging me to call back to ask again (?!)—They take no ownership of the issue or even acknowledge that there's something wrong.

5) Finally I escalate and ask to talk to a "customer advocate", who eventually calls the station (the other operators said they could only send electronic notices) and specifically orders re-delivery, and for them to leave it no matter what. Again, I provide them with my phone number (and the apartment door system is linked to my cell phone, so if he'd have buzzed, I would have known). I leave a signed door tag and a post it note with a request for them to leave the package, both on my front door *and* in the apartment entryway.

6) I return Saturday night to find another door tag, on the outside door to the entryway. My signed door tag and note is clearly visible from the outside door. Another door tag for another resident is on another mailbox!

7) The guy littered! The paper that covers the sticky part of the door tag is discarded on the pavement.

As a frequent online shopper, I've been at this place for a year and have had FedEx, DHL, UPS, and USPS deliver at least 2 dozen packages without incident. They all seem to have the keys to the building, and our door intercom is fully functional.

At this point I'm pretty sick of talking to FedEx. I'm tempted to email this to a senior executive (or one of their competitors). Any ideas?

If you ask me, delivery people who keep neglecting to ring the doorbell and instead leave those horrific notes are the most fiendish instrument of torture ever devised to bedevil the days of man.

That's why we were pleased when Robbie sent us an update and said that he's been getting a positive response so far after emailing FedEx's executives. Good luck, Robbie.

If any of you are having similar issues, here is some contact information for you. And, of course, if you've ever had any success dealing with one of these evil, evil, note leaving delivery people, please do share your secret in the comments.

Hi, I work the counter for the United States Postal Service and right now we are in a really big financial mess, they claim to have lost about one Billion dollars this past fiscal year. I was told yesterday by my supervisor (and I saw the written memo from the District) that stated we are not to offer first class, parcel post, or media mail.

If a customer comes to the counter with anything other than a letter, we are not to offer anything other than Express Mail or Priority mail.

So if a customer comes to the counter with a 5 ounce small package I am supposed to say "Good Afternoon, would you like to ship this Express Mail overnight guaranteed, it includes $100 of insurance and free tracking for only $16.50?"—Customer looks at you like you are crazy, especially if the package is just going across town—"Ok, then we can send it Priority Mail and it should get to its destination in 2-3 business days for $4.80 and we can add insurance for loss or damage, and for an extra 65 cents you can add delivery confirmation." At this point I am supposed to shut up and let them either be duped into paying at least $4.80 or wait until they say - how about first class, or is there anything cheaper?—at that point I can offer the first class postage. For the package I described, a 5 ounce parcel, the cost would be $1.85 or almost $3 cheaper than Priority Mail. My advice is to always ask if there is a cheaper way to ship. Once asked we can tell you, but we won't volunteer the information.

Some tips if you are going to the Post Office, Express Mail will get it there overnight. Priority mail AND first class will usually get it overnight if it is going within your city or usually within your state. If the package is going farther than a neighboring state the Priority Mail will get there in 2 or 3 days, with first class usually a day or two later than Priority. We are not supposed to offer parcel post mail—I do agree with that, parcel post is usually within a dollar or two pricewise of Priority Mail and will take anywhere from 7-14 days or even longer to get where it is going. If you are only sending books, media mail is the ultimate cheap way to go, usually 1/3 the price of parcel post. A warning though—media mail can be opened, and we do open it if we suspect it is not media mail. In that case the person recieving the package will pay the difference in price.

(Photo: justmyowntwocents)

Received this in the mail this week. A very nice note from the USPS people saying just how sorry they were that they apparently decided to rip the cover off of my Rolling Stone, keep the body of the magazine, and then fold the rest into a nice little baggie and mail it anyway with their most sincere apologies.

Why do we suspect that the rest of the magazine is in a USPS toilet stall somewhere? Just kidding, just kidding.

After this experience, Joe started looking online, and he found similar stories from frustrated shoppers. A customer on Pricegrabber from this summer wrote:

I ordered two books, paid for expedited shipping, and have just received one book after 12 days. No idea where the other book is, and they did not provide tracking information (even after I contacted them 5 days ago to get tracking / shipment details). On the 3rd part bookseller website, the order was listed as being shipped / completed 8 days ago but when I checked the USPS tracking info on my package it was listed as being shipped 2 days ago. That means they falsely listed the order as having shipped 6 days before they actually put it in the mail.

There's another personal account of an Indoo shipping fiasco on this livejournal page.

We might have been willing to cut Indoo a little slack, except they never responded to Joe's follow up email, nor did they acknowledge or apologize for the misreported shipping date in the single response they did send him.

Joe adds,

Frankly, the only reason I ordered from them was because I read about a bookseller aggregator on Lifehacker or Consumerist and Indoo came up as cheapest/fastest for both books. I was a bad consumerist since I didn't do my research on them first. Would have saved me some aggravation. Maybe a post on Consumerist would keep someone else from making the same mistake.

(Photo: Getty)

Gerardo says:

About a month back I ordered a 6-pack of "method Foaming Hand Soap, Green Tea & Aloe, Case Pack, Six - 10 Ounce Bottles (60 Ounces)," I ordered this and some hair gel that I have a hard time finding in the the stores. Well sure enough as soon as I bought the soap it went on back order and so it was going to be shipped separately.

I didn't mind so much since as we all know if you order using amazon's free shipping you shouldn't expect it anytime soon. Well, after receiving the soap in the mail, I opened the box to find yet another shipping box inside. A clearly marked "ready to ship" box, which obviously wasn't ready enough as they had to ship it in a much larger box. I guess Amazon workers are on autopilot mode.

We still think this might be progress. Maybe. Ok, probably not.

I am writing to tell you about an experience I have recently had with UPS (United Parcel Service). I have had a shipping account with them for about 3 years. I use it maybe once a year to send the occasional item to family or friends. This is the story of the package that wasn’t mine.

I came home from a long weekend to find a voice mail on my home answering machine. The lady, who identified herself as Karen from the Damaged Claims department at UPS said that a package that I had shipped was reported as damaged by the recipient. It was to be sent back to me and I would have to take care of the claim. Immediately, I wondered to myself, did I ship something recently? No, I didn’t. Especially a 42” Plasma TV as that was what Karen indicated the package contained. I quickly called them back at the number provided, but the department was closed on Sundays.

First thing Monday on my way into work, I called the customer service center. I gave them the tracking number that Karen provided for me and the representative said that the call was accurate and that I would be receiving the package to fix or replace within the next few days. I told the representative (Paul) that I hadn’t shipped anything with UPS on my account in at least 6 months, let alone a 42” plasma TV! I told him this, but he didn’t believe me. I kept insisting that the package had nothing to do with me. I even referred to the tracking information (provided by UPS). I live in Medina, Ohio. Last time I checked, that is pretty far from Ontario, CA. “If I was the shipper, why would the package have come from Ontario, CA not Medina, Ohio?” I asked Paul. He told me that he would look into the situation and that I’d be on hold for about 5 minutes. I waited and waited, my morning drive was coming to an end and he finally came back on just before I walked into the office. He said that “someone had entered the wrong account information in the claim slip and that there was nothing they could do.” The package would be sent to my house, regardless of my non-existent involvement with it. I would then have to (on my own time) arrange for the package to be picked up, sign a piece of paper and hope that everything else went as planned. All I could do was agree, I had nothing to go on, nothing to say, I just said ok and hung up

Two days later, this massive TV showed up at my house. It sat outside in the rain on Tuesday night (I was at a friend’s house) and most of the day Wednesday. Finally around noon on Wednesday I made it home and made the call to customer service that the package was there and it needed to be picked up. I once again referenced the tracking number. This time, the representative apparently didn’t read the notes (or most likely there WERE NO NOTES) on this package. I had to explain the entire situation again. I told her that I didn’t care about the damage claim, I didn’t care where it was going, and I just wanted it off my porch. She made a call to the local depot, which ironically my dad has worked at for 27 years. About ten minutes later, a gentleman from Middleburg Heights depot called and said there would be someone there that afternoon to pick up the package. He said I would not have to be there to sign anything (what a relief) at least something was going right. At this point, I had spent 4.5 hours talking on the phone about, waiting at my house for and researching UPS’ problem. I thought it was over.

Two weeks passed and I didn’t really think about the situation. Until my American Express bill came. I checked the bill, as I normally do each month for the charges I made. I ran across two that immediately stood out: UPS – United Parcel Service. One charge was for 27.47 and the other was for 92.65. I immediately called American Express. The woman was so very nice (as they always are!). She said that since the charge hadn’t been billed yet, I couldn’t dispute it. Fine I thought, they’ve always been good before, I’ll just wait.

Meanwhile, I decided to call UPS to try to resolve the wrongful charges. I referenced the tracking number and again I had to explain the story. The agent was very, very nice this time. She was very helpful and understanding of my frustration. I was able to get the charges credited to my American Express and the situation was resolved.

I guess my moral of the story is that I spent over 5 hours of my time fixing a UPS mistake. And although I don’t ship thousands of dollars in packages a year, I should’ve still received better customer service. If nothing else, I would’ve expected that someone would’ve caught the error when none of the names involved with the package matched my account. In the end everything worked out ok, but it still frustrates me that stuff like this happens. I have a liking towards UPS, as I said my Dad has worked there for 27 years. However this incident really makes me want to shy away from using them again.

We sure hope the real shipper insured his 42-inch broken, drenched pile of fail.

Hello Consumerist,

I have been trying to deal with Morton Van-lines (www.mortonvanlines.com) for almost 7 months. My girlfriend and I are working studio musicians based in L.A. and were offered a chance to set up a studio in New Zealand and do some recording sessions for up to a year plus.

Because of the comparatively small market of musical instruments in the country, we realized we had to bring along most of our instruments, along with our clothing and personal belongings. We had done our research and chose the company based on our budget and the service included in the delivery.

Our equipment was picked up from my house in Los Angeles in late August and we were quoted with a 6-8 week turnaround. We left the U.S. in early September and arrived at our studio in time to prepare the room for our gear. After the 15th week passed, we wanted to know what was going on. We then had an extremely difficult time in getting any word on our shipment. Burning through countless phone cards, and infinite email messages that were never returned, we started to really fear the worst. When we did actually get in touch with somebody at the office, we were
consistently let down with numerous false promises.

We never got the tracking number that was promised, nor any insight on what the hell was going on with our stuff. This hide and seek went on for FOUR MORE months, bringing it to a total of 6 months.

Now, keep in mind, we have a business to run, and work that needs to be completed. Dealing with customer (dis)service has been a nightmare for us and has put an INCREDIBLE amount of stress on our relationship. After the 4th month, we had finally gotten word of what was going on... it was shipped to the WRONG COUNTRY and was returned to the
U.S.!!!! Imagine the soul-crushing blow to learn that if they shipped it THAT day, it would take another 6-8 weeks!!

By this time it is mid-Dec. and we were now faced with a complete strategic disaster. We had to cancel all studio bookings, and face that fact that no matter how beautiful the country is, we could not enjoy it one bit. I came back to the States on Dec. 28 (even though I wanted to stay in NZ for new years so bad) to deal with this problem more locally. But then, the fun REALLY began...

For the entire month of January, I tried to reach the operations manager by calling the office everyday. I spoke with the two shifting secretaries and left dozens of messages with them and on the operation mangers machine. For the entire month of January, I DID NOT get one call back! Not even one call back. After a particularly fiery email, she finally called me and then used every cookie-cutter excuse you can imagine. Between a string of random emails, we had gotten 6 different guaranteed, written projected arrival dates, spanning over 2 months, that were NEVER followed through. At present (Feb. 11, 2008) the current written guarantee for delivery was today, the 11th, which was
let down once again. I am STILL trying to get our stuff back after 6 months being God knows where.

At this point, I am extremely concerned whether all of our things will be in there and in what condition they will return in. After being in transit for 6 months, who knows what state they'll be in. Not to mention I have been living out the small carry-on bag of clothing that I packed to bring with me to NZ (as most of our clothing was in the container).

Morton Van Lines (or Moron Van Lines, as I like to refer to them) have pledged to a 100% refund and compensation for their inability to provide the service we hired them for. However, no amount of money can ever compensate for the hell we went through, and are STILL going through in order to get our things back. Between missed dates, stressed relationships, called off sessions, plane tickets bought, and time lost, money can only refund so much.

I wish I could conclude this story with a happy ending, but this ongoing saga of mismanagement will go on for a long time, even after we get our things back.

What a horrible experience. What a horrible company. Their website is dead now, and judging by this posting on Rip Off Report, so is the company. Looks like Daniel's stuff might be sitting in a storage locker somewhere, while the storage company waits to get paid by an insolvent moving company.

It's important to do your research and hire a reputable moving company, especially if you're shipping internationally. Movingscam.com has tips for international moves, and a roster of companies they recommend.

RELATED: Morton Van Lines Disappeared and Has Held my Household Goods for 4 Months in Oregon Ashland Oregon [Rip-off Report] (Photo: frischmilch)

An anonymous reader sent the photo in after they ordered a shipment of 50 CMOS batteries from Dell in an attempt to save time and money by asking for "fifty spare batteries instead of having them delivered individually." This is what they got, a big box with 50 smaller boxes inside.

Packing Done Right [Daily WTF] (Thanks, Everyone!)

Dear J Crew,

Re. my recent order:
1. Invoiced for $9208.50 in shipping charges. Scan of invoice attached.
2. Baby sized shirts shipped. I ordered men's medium sized polo shirts. (Size M as in the invoice). Photo attached.
3. Cannot sign into website, JSP_EXECUTION_FAILED, screenshot attached.

I would like to
1) Return the shirts for a refund - they are completely the wrong size.
2) Not be charged $9,208 for shipping
3) Not have to use the website to do this, as I can't log in

Can you reply to my email at as soon as possible? I am worried about my credit card being charged for the incorrect shipping cost.

Thanks
Per

He also attached this image of the tiny, tiny shirt that he received. How sad.

We're reasonably sure that no self-respecting credit card will allow a shipping charge of over $9k to go through without calling, but if the charge is incorrect, Per can call and do a chargeback.

J Crew Customer [Blogspot]

I opened a box I received from FedEx and pulled out of a couple of DVDs and then saw what looked like a rusty lid of something. At first, I thought nothing of it, since you can get DVDs packaged in all kinds of weird shit. I thought it might have been a fake film canister of some sort or...something. In retrospect, it might have been the Limited Edition Paint Can "This Old House: The Complete Series." But when I pulled it out I saw it was what you're seeing up there: an authentic $4.99 rusty gallon can of Satinwood Interior Latex Flat Wall Paint. (And please don't mock the wallpaper, it came with the house.)

I called the sender of the package and said, "What's with sending me a can of paint?"

He said, "What the hell are you talking about: a can of paint?" And you can guess where the conversation went from there.

It took a while for John to track down someone from FedEx to investigate, but apparently they're on the case now:

Regardless, the claims process is supposed to be underway, and FedEx Claims was helpful when I got them on the line—after they inexplicably transferred me to somebody who worked somewhere else within the company and had no idea why I was suddenly on their phone and then...on the second call they transferred me into their internal phonemail system, where I was prompted for my mailbox number. But anyway, the third call was fine. Let's just see how they react to this.

"Indiana Jones and the Satinwood Latex Flat Wall Paint" [Needcoffee.com]

We know shipping accidents happen, but what's unacceptable about J.Crew's response is how they keep putting Kimberly off instead of working with her to resolve the problem.

My credit card was charged on the day of purchase for the full amount of my order. When I first called on the 8th the rep had suggested for me to wait the full 7 days, I did not have a problem then with the wait. On the 11th I checked their website and noticed the aforementioned status change that led to another call immediately.

I was refunded $49.99 on the same day on the item that was supposedly returned but I never received, but their rep did not even want to look up my address to see whether or not it was sent to the wrong address. When I insisted that he check, he told me that they had the correct shipping address but I should wait 10 days to call back anyways.

It's not like Kim's a novice shopper who doesn't know how shipping works. Now the question is: is there anyone at J.Crew who knows how shipping works? You two should talk.

Alauna paid $26 to insure the laptop on its cross-country visit to a virus-hunting friend. When the laptop arrived, a menacing broken hinge threatened to scratch the screen.

She writes:

The United States Postal Service is falling apart. About 7 months ago, my father gave me a brand new, HP Pavilion dv9700z series (Retailed at over a thousand bucks, but it was a gift, so I don't know exactly how much it cost him). In the 7 months that I've owned it, I got a nasty bug (virus) on it, and it no longer allowed me to log onto the internet. Either way, my best friend is an expert with computers and lives in LA, so I decided to send it to him to take a look at it.

By this being such a high line item, I wrapped it in bubble wrap, placed in a laptop case, and wrapped it AGAIN in a ton of bubble wrap before placing it in a post office issue box that the clerk told me, "most people send their laptops in THIS box)". I made sure to put at least $500.00 dollars worth of insurance on the shipment (just in case).

Silly me for believing this woman as approximately a week later, I got a call from my buddy in LA explaining that the hinge of the unit was broken and it was threatening to cause further damage to the computer. He explained that if I close the laptop, the screen may scratch and cause about 800 bucks worth of damage. So I'm irritated because this company screwed me over, and some idiot ignored the FRAGILE that was placed on the box, but I'm somewhat relieved that I got insurance on the purchase.

I send my LA buddy the insurance information along with the required receipt and figure the money would be distributed in a respectable amount of time. NOT! My buddy calls me later after he received the insurance information and explains that the post office clerk in LA tells him that "without a receipt, they probably won't honor your insurance claim)". Are you serious? They weren't saying such nonsense when they sucked 26 bucks out of my pockets for the original shipment and insurance. Either way, I'm stuck with a brand new computer damaged by USPS, and the unfortunate truth that I may not receive any restitution for their mistakes. To all who read this, NEVER use the USPS to ship anything of importance. I live in a rural area (Cleveland, MS) so this was my only option, but I refuse to use this awful place again.

She later sent us an update:

So we file a claim with the Post office in April, and today I find out that they are denying my claim unless someone at the POST OFFICE admits to causing the damage! Are you serious?

I officially hate the USPS and this is what I get for using snail mail.

P.S. I don't know whether to be mad at the post office for breaking the computer or HP for making crappy hardware as I have a Compaq X1000 that wont charge (crappy HP).

We always thought the point of insurance was to protect a package in the event something happens. It doesn't need to be an abuse. If an employee admits to abusing an uninsured package, would the Post Office refuse to reimburse the owner?

(Photo: Getty)

Nathan says:

I wanted to add another example to your files of stupid shipping. I just got the microfiber clothes I ordered for cleaning my SLR's lenses. I thought it was kind of silly they used a big box and put all the cushioning on top (none below of course). But even when I took it all out I couldn't find the clothes, which had slid under on of the cardboard flaps. I'm pretty sure that alone is proof that a standard, letter sized envelope would have more than sufficed.

Thanks for letting me share.

Check out the delicious unboxing gallery below.

Last year, the Loraxes at Greenpeace accused Apple of hating trees and raping the environment. In response, Apple announced that it was transitioning to L.E.D. screens, and that they would shrink their retail packaging. Clearly, it was all for show. Welcome, Apple, to the stupid shipping gang!

I ordered a maple night stand via Amazon.com. It was actually sold/shipped by one of their vendors called Vision Decor. I was surprised when the package arrived. It was HUGE and it weighed a lot — far larger and heavier than I expected a night stand to be.

It was covered in multiple layers of cardboard and tape. When I finally cut through to the middle I discovered that the entire box had been filled with that spray foam typically used by plumbers and construction workers for insulation. My father-in-law and I spent half an hour hacking through the stuff to finally get to the night stand within. It was tough stuff. And it tended to stick to skin.

Now, I appreciate that my night stand arrived in good condition but I must say that removing the foam insulation was tantamount to carving Mt. Rushmore.

Are you sure that's a night stand and not an alien facehugger pod? Jim? Jim, are you there?

"The name FedEx Office more accurately represents our broader role of providing superior information and services,'' Brian Philips, the unit's chief executive officer, said in the statement. "We are a back office for small businesses and a branch office for medium to large businesses and mobile professionals.''

FedEx to rename Kinko's [Bloomberg via Kottke]
(Photo: cmorran123 )

David wanted a refurbished unit to test-run iPhone applications he was developing for work. AT&T gave him a a mishmash of conflicting information after he placed his order. One CSR said the unit would ship that day. Five days later, another CSR said the unit would ship within 3 days, but that was also wrong, and the package shipped that night with DHL.

DHL delivered the package the next day:

My wife calls to tell me she found the DHL delivery, but it's not a box. It's a shipping envelope. She asks if she should open it. I tell her please do.

"It's just a bag."
"It's a what?"
"It's a bag. It's an empty plastic bag."
"Well, um, er, is there anything else in the package at all? A note or anything?"
"There's a shipping label. But this is just a bag like you'd get if you bought something in their store."

When David called for an explanation, a supervisor explained that "there was a memo telling him that refurbished iPhone shipments had a technical glitch in shipping and would be delayed for a few days."

David isn't alone. AT&T's heavily moderated forums are littered with similar complaints. When David tried to post contact information for AT&T's executive office (877-734-0766,) he received the following reprimand:

Hello,

We'd like to ask that you not post contact info for the Office of the President in posts or PMs until an AT&T moderator can PM you. Failure to follow moderator directions can result in loss of posting privileges.

regards

David only wants the iPhone he ordered. The applications he designed just don't work the same on AT&T's Empty Plastic Bag ®.

AT&T is shipping empty plastic bags to iPhone customers [Where's My iPhone?]

UPS agreed to refund $300 of Nick's shipping costs and to issue "a goodwill payment to him for his computer." Here's Nick's response:

So, a happy ending (thanks, I'm sure, to your site). Today, UPS contacted me, saying that since they couldn't find my computer, they were going to pay out the claim on the package and refund my shipping charges. All's well that ends well (that is, so long as they can get it delivered to the right address this time). Thanks for help in publicizing this, and the resources your site offers. I swear, you guys are better than the Better Business Bureau.

We don't really understand how paying for an insured computer that was destroyed adds up to 'goodwill' so much as honoring a stated policy, or why UPS searched their facilities after they admitted to delivering the package to a stranger, but hey, Nick's happy, and that's all that matters.

PREVIOUSLY: UPS Breaks, Steals Computer
(Photo: The Infamous Gdub)

Gateway is advertising "free shipping," but you have to pay a $20 "handling charge." At least they're upfront that the free shipping isn't really free, but how can they get away with calling it free when it still costs $20?

Well, Holland, we guess they were just hoping that their potential customers weren't too bright. Ya know?

Gateway

My daughter and I ordered a book as a Mother's Day gift, and I was disappointed to learn it would ship late and miss the big day. I had waited until the last day of the promotion (April 30th at about 9:00 PM EST), so I didn't want to complain. Then this landed in my inbox.

Dear Daniel,
 
Thank you for your recent Apple photo order.
 
I understand that you submitted your order to us in time to be received by May 11th.  You may have noticed that the tracking information for your order indicates the estimated delivery date is after May 11th.
 
To ensure that your order is received by May 11th, your order is being reprocessed free of charge and will be sent via expedited shipping. When it ships, you will receive a separate email with the tracking number for your duplicate order. Please accept both orders as a goodwill gesture.
 
I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. I hope you continue to enjoy using Apple Photo Services for your creative projects. If you have any questions or concerns, please reply to this email and we will assist you further.
 
Thank you for being a loyal Apple customer and have a wonderful day.
 
Sincerely,
 
Sofia
Apple Photo Services Support

Apple saved Mother's Day! Landed at 10:00 AM on Friday - plenty of time to wrap it up. Very impressed that this was an unsolicited effort to make an annoying situation perfect.

My name is Matt [redacted]. Last week, I purchased a refurb iPod nano 4GB from apple.com for my mom for Mother's Day. Today, it was supposed to be delivered to my work. When I received the package, the seal was broken, and all that was in the box was the packing slip and the packing material. No iPod. It has been stolen by FedEx. I filed a claim with FedEx over the phone a few munutes ago.

What I need is for you to replace my iPod in time for me to give this to my mom for Mother's Day on Sunday 5/11/08. Please help. I am a loyal Mac user and have purchased several iPods in the past

We're not actually sure what effect emailing Steve Jobs will have in this case, but Matt's Mom... if you're out there... you have a very nice son who wants you to get your gift in time.

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Earlier this week I ordered a part from Canon USA Service for one of my Canon cameras and it arrived today. I am impressed for the fast shipping but not so much by the efficiency of the packaging.

Canon USA is headquartered in a place called "Lake Success" in New York. Out of curiosity, we checked what UPS would charge to ship a one-pound package, roughly 12"x8"x6" from Lake Success to Los Angeles. Our reader said he was pleased with the fast shipping, so let's say Canon used UPS 3 Day shipping: that would be nearly $20. We then checked how much it would cost to throw the part in an envelope and drop it in the mailbox: that would be 41¢. Well done, Canon.
(Thanks to Dale!)

Here's how it works: you drop your package off at a participating station, Amtrak ships it off, and the recipient picks it up in the destination city.

Because Amtrak always has to futz something up, express shipping isn't offered out of Penn Station, but New Yorkers can still receive packages "(or human remains.)"

Save With Dave: Amtrak Shipping [CBS 13]
Amtrak Express Shipping [Amtrak]
(Photo: reivax)

David writes:

Recently, my son Justin and I both ordered Kingston 2GB USB "thumb" drives from Dell after seeing it mentioned on slickdeals.net. My son's arrived a few days before mine, and he told me that when the delivery guy handed him the box, he asked if there was anything actually in the box because it was so light. I didn't see the packaging myself until my drive arrived the other day. I asked my other son Brett, a budding photographer, to document the "unboxing" this time.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

PREVIOUSLY: Dell: Let's Ship Tiny CDs In Massive Boxes!

Tiffany writes:

I'm writing to you in hopes (just like Dustin at the military base, but possibly a little more desperate) that some day in the near future I can get my Xbox360 back.

I sent it to Microsoft to fix on January 5, 2008 and shipped it back to me on February 2, 2008; however, FedEx shipped it to my home address and I unfortunately couldn't sign for it because I was stuck at work. I requested that FedEx change the delivery address to my work address, but they said they couldn't without Microsoft's permission. I asked FedEx to hold it at the shipping center but it accidentally got returned to Microsoft's service center.

At that point, Microsoft had done no wrong, but this is where it starts to get frustratingly nightmarish. I contacted Microsoft who assured me that they would send the package back, this time to my work address where the package could be signed for during normal work hours; however, somewhere along the line, Microsoft decided I had stolen the Xbox from the original owner since it was suspicious that I was "opening two repair orders" in such a short time. Countless (I lost track after 10ish) phone calls were made to Microsoft customer support about my case in a fruitless battle to get them to send me my console back, but they kept dancing around the reason(s) they were refusing to send it back to me. Eventually, a customer service representative admitted that all along they were unauthorized and had no means to actually help me, so all the times they claimed a supervisor assigned to my case would contact me about my case were lies. They eventually coughed up an address to the Microsoft Legal Department and said if I sent a letter their way, they would help me out. She hinted that the reason corporate had put a hold on my console may be because they didn't believe I was the original owner, despite the fact that I sent them a copy of my receipt and credit card statement as bona fide proof of purchase.

My coworker had suffered similar bad luck with his console repair and also had to write the legal department several letters before finally receiving his console back, so I felt like I finally had a chance to get my missing console returned to me. I sent a letter to the Microsoft Legal Department and CC'd a copy to the Vice President of Consumer Affairs at Microsoft 22 days ago begging for at least a response to my letter. Thus far, my e-mail inbox has remained vacant and my phone has not rung with news from Microsoft.

At this point, I'm quite at the end of my line and know that contacting customer support would just wring what little humanity I have left out of my soul. I noticed last week you posted about Dustin's grief with Microsoft not sending him a box to ship his Xbox in for repairs and also provided some links to file a small claim and contact my attorney general. I'm wondering if you can assist me further in any way, or know of someone who can since you've mentioned that multitudes of people of submitted similar complaints. Being completely left in the dark as to why they won't send my Xbox back to me after four months is making me more than a little crazy.

Thanks,

Tiffany

You can try going even higher, straight to the top, and emailing big billg@microsoft.com, but reason apparently has no home at Microsoft.

Our advice to reader Dustin, who, after three months, still hadn't received a shipping box, was to speak with his credit card company, consider small claims court, and to launch the mighty Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Tiffany wants even more, a customer service weapon so powerful, so effective, that it hides beyond our conception. For that, we're going to turn this one over to you, our beloved and infallible Consumerists. Tiffany has reasoned, waited, begged, all without results. What should she do next?

PREVIOUSLY: It's Been 3 Months And 12 Days Since My XBOX Broke And Microsoft Still Won't Send Me A Box
(Photo: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com)

Eric writes:

When you walk into a store that says FEDEX on it, one would think that the employees there would know how to ship things via FedEx. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case on Sunday night at the FedEx Kinko's on Astor Place in Manhattan.

My town is having a school board election on Tuesday. I'm in college now, so I requested an absentee ballot. The county clerk's office mistyped my address, so I only ended up getting the ballot on Sunday. I brought it to Kinko's to make sure it arrived back at the clerk's office in time.

Unfortunately, when I got there, no one at the store knew how to handle FedEx because their "shipping station was closed". Of course, the hours listed on their website don't say anything about separate hours. The employee's solution was to fill out an order form and then call the store back tomorrow to get the tracking information. Because of the time-sensitivity of it, though, I needed to know if I could sent it ground or if it had to be sent overnight. No one could give me an answer, other than that I should call 800-go-fedex. I asked 3 people in the store (Malik, Stephanie, and the manager Carlo or Carlos) if they had some kind of internal number they could call for me, but they claimed they didn't. So, while standing in a FedEx store, I called FedEx. The guy on the other end didn't seem to understand the concept of days (First he said ground would take one day and arrive on Wednesday, which doesn't make sense. Then he said that it would arrive on Tuesday but it could arrive on Wednesday). Eventually it was all sorted out and I decided to send it ground.

Then came the next issue. Since they couldn't tell me how much the cost would be, I had to write my credit card number on the order form, which presumably gets attached to the package and sent all over the place. Seems like a really good opportunity for identity thieves. And because I was just handing it to a person who wasn't actually entering it into the system, I couldn't get a receipt and there was no tracking number. The only thing I could get confirming that I had given them the package was one of the carbon-copies of the order form, which anyone could just pick up and create. When one of the nice things about FedEx is being able to track the package at every step, this didn't fill me with a lot of confidence.

This morning, I called the store to get the tracking information. I was on the phone for 22 minutes, constantly being put on hold and then being asked who I was holding for. I was worrying the whole time that they lost my package. This kept going until someone took pity on me and said she would call me back. When she did, as luck would have it, there was a tracking number and the price appears correct. Hopefully FedEx is able to deliver it better than they were able to receive it!

I called the district manager last night to complain; I left a voicemail but he hasn't called back.

That said, have some faith in the government! Hackensack is 20 miles from New York. The post office would've been up to the challenge.

(Photo: Maulleigh)

So. I've been dealing with UPS in several forms, now, for nearly six months on the same issue. Long story short: I paid them $600 to break, steal, and then give away my computer.

I was shipping it to England in early October 2007, as I was expecting to move there, and it turned out I got a customs exception that made it cheaper to ship my computer than to buy a comparable system in England (especially with the dollar-to-pound exchange rate tanking). Fine, right? So I packed it up, insured it, and shipped it out from the UPS Store in Woburn, MA the day before my flight left (total: $300 or so). For a lot of other reasons (is there a "disgruntleduniversitystudentist.com"?) I ended up needing to cancel the trip while the computer was stuck in customs limbo, awaiting several forms that I needed to fill out to get my exception. So, I talked to the customs people, and they said there would be no problem with simply returning the shipment to the sender. I told UPS to do so, and they agreed, provided I pay for return shipping (another $300).

So after some problems with the tracking info, it finally gets delivered. I'm happy - until I get home and see it. One corner is completely crushed. It's OK though: my power supply broke the fall. So the computer is now heavily dented, and refuses to start. I called and filed a claim, thinking that it was pretty cut-and-dried, especially as I had taken that handy-dandy insurance. Right?

Not so much. First, I'm later told that I committed a major faux pas by filing my own claim, rather than going through the UPS Store, as apparently he is the actual shipper, and in charge of such claims. Fine. I call the UPS store, who quickly take my number and promise to call back. A bit later, they do so - but with the most unexpected greeting of "Hold a on sec, bro, lemme finish chewing." The person calling me back, who turned out to be the owner of the franchise, set up the claim, all while berating me for doing it wrong (because heaven forbid I should want to be involved in getting my money back) and calling me bro, dude, etc. It is, by this point, November. My claim should be done processing in 4-6 weeks. Fine. I ship out the package for inspection, and I wait.

It is now December, nearing Christmas, and my list is populated by sad games that will not be played, and peripherals which will see no connections for some time yet. I call the UPS store again. They claim that I had refused to give them the package and so no work was done. Despite the fact that this was not true (he was apparently misreading the readout - I had been unavailable on their first scheduled pickup attempt, so the package stayed inside, but shipped out the next day). They also need information on the original price, so they can evaluate it. Note that this is a custom-built, two-year-old system - I don't exactly have the receipt handy. The UPS Store owner advises me to find a similar-looking product around the same price. I do so. He says that my claim will be processed in 4-6 weeks. He also mentions that he has my computer in his store, already inspected, so if it's refused, I can get it back ASAP.

Now, it's January, nearly four months into the debacle. There has still been no decision on whether or not I can get my money for the computer. I have written off the computer as a loss, and begun building another one from scratch. I assume that I will be receiving nothing from the insurance, and at this point really just want the computer itself back, just to see if there's any viable hardware left that could save me some money. I call the UPS store, and they inform me that my claim was denied. Well, fine. Return it to my address, then. They say that they can't, as the main UPS office has it. What? You had it in December, and now it's gone? They claim that they never had it in December. Of course, the main UPS office claims they don't have it, either, but interestingly they claim it was returned to someone named Ken in New York. Apparently, that was the name listed as the original shipper when they started the return-to-sender process in England. How? I have no idea. I know no one named Ken, much less one from NYC.

Needless to say, I ship FedEx now.

(Photo: zyphbear)

Fed up, he tried giving Microsoft another address (his friend's), but still no box has arrived. He just wants his XBOX 360 repaired before the warranty is up.

Dustin wrote to us on Jan 10:

Hello, I'm writing you in hopes that something can get done about this issue. I bought an xbox 360 around September of 07 and lately its been freezing up. So I called Xbox up to get a repair. On December 27 the repair was placed and two weeks later I never got my box. So I called up Xbox to find out why my box isn't here after a few CSR I was told that they would not ship to a military address.

I talked to a few supervisors and was told that military bases would not allow Xbox's to be shipped. I called UPS as thats what Xbox uses to ship out everything and they said there was no such rule and that empty boxes get brought into the base all the time. A CSR said I would get a call back on Saturday so maybe that will solve my issue. I just really want to get my Xbox repaired and not have to go through all these hopes and loops just for them to fix my stuff.
-Dustin

Dear Consumerist,
A few months ago I sent an email about Xbox not being able to setup a repair for an unknown reason. You sent me suggestions on how to contact the higher ups, and within a few days I was contacted by Becky from the Xbox Escalation team. She has very kind and sorry about this issue Months passed by and still no word on why my address was not working with their system. Around March I got tired and just gave them a friends address. She put in the repair and everything seemed to work. Here I am 2-3 weeks later and still no box and the tracking number they provided is not valid. I don't know why my address isn't working or why my box isn't getting here but all I'm trying to do is get my Xbox fixed before my warranty is up. Any suggestions on what to do next?

Thanks
Consumerist Reader,
Dustin

If your credit card can't help you out, you might want to try small claims court. File a case against Microsoft for breach of warranty. This is a "worse case" scenario, however, because filing a small claims case (while cheap) isn't free.

For more information about small claims court and how to prepare your case, click here.

If you're still willing to beg Microsoft for a shipping box, you should try launching an EECB on them. For more information about how to learn to launch your own EECB, click here.

We've been hearing a lot of similar complaints, Dustin, so you're not alone out there. In fact, it might be a good time for people who are having this issue to start complaining formally to their state's attorney general. To find your state's attorney general, click here.

(Photo:dirtyblueshirt)

I know shipping products can be expensive, what with the rising fuel costs and all, but this shipping charge from the UK to Utah is ridiculous! Maybe the seller's just padding the fee, I don't know. :)

Dear Xbox,
 
On Easter Sunday of all days my xbox elite died. (I wish it would rise from the dead) It would power on but never boot. No red ring stuff? just nothing. The green light in the middle turns for about 5 minutes then turns off. This is my second one, my first died 1 month before they announced the 3 year red ring warranty.
 
All I'm asking is for a little help to get a repair shipping box. I've called every few days for the past week and every time I call there's a issue and they have to recreate the order. I just want a shipping box. I not mad or a some crazy blogger (just sad) about this I just know overseas support is broken and I just need a little local help. I do have admit now I worried that if/when they get xbox to the repair depot it if I will ever see it again.
 
The worst part is I convinced all my friends four of them fresh out of school and poor to buy Vegas 2. (one friend just had his first child and the other just married I cant get them to buy anything, but I got them to buy this game so we can all "Jump in") I had to find the hard way that easter night when they were all playing together that I can't "Jump In" anymore.
 
Thank you
 
David

This one really left me scratching my head. Not only did [Sears] send me the wrong item, they charged the wrong prices on everything I ordered. I ordered an air blow gun and got a jigsaw instead. I submitted this order during the 20% off/free shipping promotion. The total in my cart at checkout was $26 less than my card was charged, and I was charged for shipping as well.

Half an hour of arguing on the phone with a Sears rep and I was able to get the discount credited back to my card, but no free shipping, and it could take 10-14 days for them to "trace" my $20 blow gun. I am filing a claim with my credit card issuer just to be safe. This is the same company that sends me a free ratchet in the mail every time I exchange one in the store, so I can't complain too much.

1. Add the secret code
After you search on Amazon for what you want, add &emi=ATVPDKIKX0DER to the end to find an item that gets you Super Saver Shipping.
2. FillerItem
Put the amount you need to spend to reach SSS in the box and select the categories to search within.
3. FreebieVille
A list of fillers from $1-$5.

Filler strategies for Amazon's Free Super Saver Shipping [WiseBread] (Thanks to Chris!)
(Photo: funny strange or funny ha ha)

I ordered a new 50 inch plasma tv on Sunday march 2nd from Newegg.com. We decided to get a PS3 to go with it so we could watch Blu-Ray movies. The PS3 was listed as SONY PlayStation 3 w/Spider Man 3 40 GB Black - Retail [link] [Ed. note: the current product listing does not mention Spiderman 3, but it may have been updated since this customer's order was placed.*]

I recieved the PS3 and TV on Wed March 5th. When I went through the package I noticed there was no Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray disk. I called NewEgg to see what they would do for me.

The lady their said it should have been in the box, and stressed that they do not OPEN that packages. I stated that in addition to their being no movie in the box, the box I recieved was also different than the one advertised on thir site. The box on the website shows a Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray disk on the box, and the one I recieved does not.

I have attached pictures of the 2 boxes.

What he ordered.

What he got.

She said that it is not her problem if Sony does not include the movie anymore. I responded that I did not order a PS3 from Sony I ordered one from NEWEGG.COM and that NEWEGG says i'm getting Spiderman 3. Also, as the box I recieved is different from the box pictured, they should have known that the movie was not included, and not advertised it as such.

She ended with, "Not our problem, call SONY" I ended with "I will call Sony, but it is not thier job to resolve this, and if they do not, I will be calling back and you WILL be making this right!" (At this point I have not yet booted the PS3 and was not 100% certain that the movie was not on the pack-in disk of trailers and such)

I called Sony, and after a 10 minute hold I got a nice guy who listened to the compliant and said "No Problem, I can resolve this for you" So I had to fax Sony my reciept, name, address..... and an Authorization # he gave me, and they said they would mail the movie within 2 days of recieving the info.

I do not believe Newegg.com will be changing their listing to reflect that Spiderman 3 is no longer included (in their inventory anyways), they will just wait for people to call, then say screw you. [Ed. note: well, actually it looks like they already have—see link above.*]

I called Newegg back to let them know that even though they screwed me over, Sony has stepped in to make it right, and that they are false advertising their PS3 w/ Spiderman 3 and that I was letting the Consumerist.com know about it. Her response was to tell me that they could only talk to the account holder (My wife) and goodbye. Funny they didn't mention having to talk to her last time I called, and before there were complain notes in my case.

*Note: Since I began writing this post around 7pm EST, the link referenced above has stopped working. Before 7pm it led to a product page for an ordinary 40 gb PS3 with no mention of Spiderman 3. It now returns the following message: "We apologize for the inconvenience, but the item you are looking for has been deactivated."

(Thanks to Terry!)