Friday, October 26, 2007

UPS is a negligent and irresponsible company!

Back in August, our studio sent a package to one of our customers in Fremont, CA. The package was insured for $950 and contained a 30x40 enlargement picture that was mounted and laminated and also framed. We sent it to them using UPS Ground. The package was delivered in promised time, but when the couple received the picture at their door, they noticed that the package had a huge break/dent in it all the way down pass the packaging and on to the enlargement itself!

The damage to the package was so severe that the original 2 layers of 1.5" foam layers were crumbled like cookies and more than half of the packaging material has already been lost by the time the package was delivered!

Luckly the frame that the enlargement was in was unharmed and was in perfect condition. They immediately told the UPS driver that they wanted to file a claim with UPS, but he refused to accept their claim because they are not the Sender. NO SH*T they're not the sender, but they are the people paying for this precious wedding enlargement portrait and why would they want a big whole in their wedding portrait!?!

2 Phone calls later from us, the sender, UPS has agreed to accept this claim and has sent a driver to pickup the damaged package to get it checked out and possibly issue a check to cover the damage that was done.

When the driver went to pick up the damaged package, he insisted on taking the frame that was undamaged and shipping it in the originally damaged packaging that CAN NOT provide any protection for the frame in transit! We had no choice, it was either all or nothing the driver told them, so they reluctantly let the driver take the package.

2 weeks later, we receive a beated up box with a frame in it that didn't even resemble the original frame that we originally shipped. I asked our driver what happens now, he told us that if they returned the packaging to you it must mean that they've approved of the claim and a check should follow shortly.

We thought, great news! So we didn't call anyone at UPS and just waited for our claims check to come.

Today, I called UPS and asked for the status of this claim and gave them the tracking number of this package. The person on the phone asked me for my fax number and told me that she was going to fax me some paperwork so that I can get it resolved. I thought that was strange, I thought it was already taken care of....? I get the fax and it says that it was not packaged properly and that the claim has been denied.

WTF?

They will not pay for the damage done to the picture. But more unbelievably, they will not take responsibility for the complete destruction that they have done to the frame, which was fine!

So the latest is that NO ONE from 1-800-PICK-UPS can help me anymore since it has already been denied. And one of my LOCAL rep's will contact me before the end of the day Monday.

I think you guys have already stopped reading this junk 8 paragraphs ago, but I'll still keep you updated on this......

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Been away for too long...

Hello my blog readers, I know there are probably less and less of you guys "stalking" my BLOG since I haven't updated anything since a little more than one month ago. But like always I will be back very shortly. As always, I like to provide some excuses for my long absence and I think this time it'll hold it's weight.

Since last post, I've:

Shot 4 weddings.

Had one of my server somewhat crap out on me (that holds ALL of the wedding day photography that I do right! But luckly, I have 2 backup servers setup so in an event like this, I just have to replace a few drives and avoid the cold sweating!).

Got a flat tire on the freeway (and it didn't have a puncture or anything, just decided to give us problems. So after this experience when people tell me that they had a flat on the freeway and will be late, my first response won't be Bullshit! anymore, because it's a pain in the ass to get it changed and get back on the road).

Spending ~$800 for new set of tires (they were almost due for change. Good and Bad reviews for Costco, they had the $60 off 4 tires coupon so that was great, but the BAD part is after 6 hours of wait (i went back to work) they didn't even took the time to properly put my spare tire back in it's place!).

Spending $1300 more at the Acura dealer to fix the SRS light.....plus a whole slew of others (Thanks JC for taking off some of that $, but hey, when I picked up the car, the plastic thing they put on the seat was still there along with the rest of the tags and floor junk! No "great"s on the telephone survey this time).

Entered a bunch of prints into my very first 8x10 print competition (fingers crossed, I totally procrastinated on this one too, almost didn't make it for the deadline of the competition).

Getting ready to shoot my very 1st Destination Wedding in stunning Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!!!.

And did I mention my birthday is coming up this Sunday.

But I don't think any celebration is happening soon for the big 29 (feeling old outside, still feel super young inside!) because I have a 12 hour wedding on the 27th at the Universal Hilton, then on Sunday the 28th, I have an engagement lunch to shoot in the morning(This couple is actually a real treat to shoot because I'm doing their wedding in June or July `08, but shot the bride's sister's wedding around 3 or 4 years ago, then after shooting that she referred around 5 or 6 brides to me so I love her for that!) then a sorority event to shoot from 3~9 in Tarzana. So......Happy Birthday to me! But I'll probably get some celebration in after I come back from Cabo San Lucas because Megan's birthday is 11/6, she's turning 1! or as some parents would put it, 12 months, or 52 weeks, or 365 days...? Okay, I'm pushing it...

phew, such a long winded post, but hey I've been away for a while :)

So thanks for sticking around and I promise there will be more imagery created by yours truely very soon...ok, give me about a week!