HELP ! UPS is holding my manifolds hostage

[TLeBlanc]

I shipped my exhaust manifolds to Jet-Hot Coatings last week to have them coated. Unfortunately, they made it as far as Jackson, Mississippi and have been held up there because of the storm damage Pascagoula incurred. I have made several calls to UPS trying to get them redirected to Jet-Hot's Arizona location, but continue to be told there is nothing they can do until it gets scanned "out" enroute to Pascagoula. They are holding steady on this position even though their website indicates the zip code where the package is going has been suspended indefinitely.

Does anyone in this forum work for UPS, or know someone that can help me with this situation ????

 

[Mac]

I don't know how UPS can justify holding the package... Aren't you the paying customer?? Isn't it your property they're shipping??? There must be some method of recourse but I have no idea what makes UPS tick...

-Mac

 

[67HEAVEN]

At the very least, they should return them to you for re-shipment.

 

[Erik S. Klein]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. UPS wears brown for a reason.

My advice would be to keep working up the chain until you find someone with a brain who cares. You've got your work cut out for you.

Best of luck!

 

[TLeBlanc]

Checked with Big Brown this morning and they informed me the packaged shipped out to its destination at midnight last night. I had contacted Jet-Hot and they informed me their Pascagoula facility did not receive much damage and would be up and running once power was restored. Here is a pic of one of the manifolds. I spent about 5 hours on each polishing them in preparation for the coating.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Nice job. Don't you just love the taste of iron dust?

Tom

 

[firstgear]

Checked with Big Brown this morning and they informed me the packaged shipped out to its destination at midnight last night. I had contacted Jet-Hot and they informed me their Pascagoula facility did not receive much damage and would be up and running once power was restored. Here is a pic of one of the manifolds. I spent about 5 hours on each polishing them in preparation for the coating.

wow....that is pretty nice.....what steps did you have to go through to do that? how long did it take? any other pictures to share?

 

[TLeBlanc]

Nice job. Don't you just love the taste of iron dust?

Tom

Yep, had that stuff all over the place. When I realized that was what was causing the rust stains in my driveway around where I was doing most of the work, I had to break out the power washer and wash down the area before the stains got to the point of no return.

I think my wife ended up trashing the clothes I wore while doing all the polishing work.

 

[TLeBlanc]

wow....that is pretty nice.....what steps did you have to go through to do that? how long did it take? any other pictures to share?

Hi FirstGear,

I started with an angle grinder to knock down the rough and high spots. Then went to a die grinder with a medium grit (round) stone. From there I used a Dremel tool with smaller stones, and finished it out with a buffing/sanding wheel I got at Home Depot. It was rubbery black material with a fine grit to it. Man, it is really what brought out the shine too. All in all, I think I spent 4 to 5 hours on each manifold. Unfortunately I did not take any before pics, but they were about 1 year old manifolds. I'll post the finished product...... if they make it to Jet-Hot and find their way back home :L

 

[reefdiver]

I shipped my exhaust manifolds to Jet-Hot Coatings last week to have them coated. Unfortunately, they made it as far as Jackson, Mississippi and have been held up there because of the storm damage Pascagoula incurred. I have made several calls to UPS trying to get them redirected to Jet-Hot's Arizona location, but continue to be told there is nothing they can do until it gets scanned "out" enroute to Pascagoula. They are holding steady on this position even though their website indicates the zip code where the package is going has been suspended indefinitely.

Does anyone in this forum work for UPS, or know someone that can help me with this situation ????

I'm going to hide under my desk and admit that I do work for UPS. I'm only a lowly driver, but I do know that we were informed that delivery to several areas of La, Ms, and Al, were suspended last week. If you called the 800 number, I'm afraid you got stuck talking to someone that probably has no idea of UPS policys. We use temporary agencys to staff those lines. I always give my customers a phone number that will put them in touch with someone that actually does know whats going on. I have to admit that there's not much love between UPS (the corporation) and it's employees. Anyway, back to your problem.....when they told you there was nothing that could be done untill the package is scanned outbound, they were somewhat right. You have to understand that at any given time, and at any given facility there are thousands of packages traveling on belts to hundreds of different locations. To find a particular package at a moments notice is like looking for the proverbial needle in a hay stack. Add to that, the number of packages that were in transit to the affected areas, and had to be halted, and the problem gets worse. I havent heard what we are planning on doing with those packages yet, but my guess would be that they will be returned to sender as undeliverable. If you could contact the Jackson Ms facility directly, you would have a MUCH better chance of getting the manifolds re-routed to the Arizona location. The people that work there could do this with minimal problems. The difficult part is getting the phone number for the facility. Perhaps if you called the 800 number again, and insisted that they give you the phone number for the Jackson hub, you could see some progress in getting your package where you want it to go. I've worked for UPS for over 25 years now, and believe me, when I say that I can't wait for retirement day to arrive. But to be completely honest with you, this is a huge problem for us now, but one that we will eventually sort out. If you'd like to send me a pm with your email address, I'll see if there's any way of getting you a phone number for the Jackson hub. I can't promise you anything, but I can try. If I were a betting man, I'd say that your manifolds will be returned to you shortly. Best of luck.

 

[TLeBlanc]

Hey Reefdiver,

There is no need to hide under your desk, but if you see a package under there going to Jet-Hot, send it back to me

I just sent you a message with my email address

 

[TLeBlanc]

Update on Status !!


I think I left off on last Friday when I was told they had departed Jackson, MS headed for Jet-Hot in Pascagoula. Checked back on Tuesday, no change only a departure scan from Jackson. Called their 800 number and was told it had been shipped back to the UPS Store where it was shipped from, and would be delivered that day. She also told me if it was not delivered then, I could have a "tracer" initiated by the UPS Store. I called the lady that worked there and she informed me the system indicated it was enroute to Gautier, MS just outside of Pascagoula ??? Yesterday, still no package so I asked for a tracer to be initiated. She told me it would take 1 to 8 business days. Stopped by today since it is on my way home and she had forgot to start the trace process. She called UPS while I was there and get this..... they told her a Trace could not be initiated because it had received a "Natural Disaster" scan. They also informed her that the insurance I took out on the package might not apply in this case ????????????????

I am hoping Reefdiver can get me information that will help me contact someone that can track this package down. I am willing to be patient because it will be a couple of weeks before I am ready to install them, if I could only get a "straight" answer from someone. Not ad yet, but getting close !!!!

 

[JohnZ]

Have you checked with the Jet-Hot facility in Pascagoula to see if they're even operating? A friend of mine lives there, and had six feet of water in his house

 

[reefdiver]

TLeblanc............ you have email. BTW.... the natural disaster scan was the reason that it was not delivered to it's original destination. That should have no bearing on tracing it, or being able to collect a claim on it.

 

[TLeBlanc]

Reefdiver, I just sent you the tracking number.... there was a new entry in the package tracking website, it looks like the manifolds decided to spend the holiday weekend in Louisville Kentucky :L the comment says they are being sent back to the ups store where it was shipped. Thanks for any additional information you can find out.

Johnz, I called Jet-Hot's main office on Wednesday right after the storm and they said the plant had minor damage and was basically waiting for the power to be restored, I called back yesterday and they told me it would be shut down for a while...... if I am lucky enough to get them back, they are going to their Arizona plant.

 

[TLeBlanc]

Thought I'd post an update with the outcome, at least for now.....

The package containing my beloved manifolds traveled for days, going from Jackson, MS to Kentucky, then back to Mississippi (getting within about 20 miles of their intended destination, then to Sweetwater, Texas...... to Baytown, Texas..... the final posting on the tracking page really said it all (for me) it departed Houston, going to Houston. They actually toured Houston for 2 days trying to reach (I was being told) the UPS Store where they were shipped from !! I felt totally relieved when the UPS Store called me on Friday morning and informed me they had spoken with the Hub facility and the package would be delivered later that day. I was in Louisiana attending some job related training and called that afternoon when I got on the road back to Houston. You can imagine the anger I felt when she informed me that the package showed to be delivered, but it was not at her store. I spent the better part of the 5 hour drive home on the phone with everyone I could think of trying to find out what was going on. UPS could not tell me exactly where they were delivered. They were trying to contact the driver but were not having any luck. I offered up a case of beer to the person(s) that could facilitate getting this package back into the hands of their rightful owner. I had visions of seeing my well polished manifolds on eBay !!! Well after 3 tense hours I managed to speak to somone that had "information" and the told me they were delivered to a Spring, Tx address. I asked if they could tell me the address and when she did, it turned out to be my home address !!

Today I re-shipped them to Jet-Hot's Arizona facility....... guess who I did not use to ship them this time Oh, yea one more thing. UPS informed me I would not receive any sort of refund or credit for them keeping my package for 3 + weeks.

Thanks go out to Reefdiver for trying to help locate the package..

 

[reefdiver]

Boy did we drop the ball on this one. I am truely ashamed of the service you received. I can't fathom why we couldnt send your pkg back to you in a timely manner. Sometimes I wonder how we've managed to stay in business for 98 years. I think one of UPS's main problems is that we have too many chiefs and not enough indians. I don't blame you one bit for using FedEx to reship your manifolds. Actually, I won't buy anything online if it is going to be shipped by UPS. Please accept my apologies for all the hassles that you have been forced to endure.:W

 

[TLeBlanc]

Hey Reefdiver, how ya doin ??

Too many companies, my current employer included could fall in to the too many chiefs category. I personally believe that if UPS would listen to employees like yourself, along with the most important aspect of a service provider (the customer), it would not be hard to be successful in business. I do believe, based on the markings that were on the package, that it was a "driver" that made the discovery of my personal label which contained my home address and got the package back to me. The label generated by the UPS Store contained many errors. Anyway, they should arrive at Jet-Hot tomorrow, and back to me in about 2 weeks. NOW..... if we can just make it through the wrath of Hurricane Rita, I can get back to what I enjoy the most..... working on my Vette.

C Ya