UPS loses/steals my M91/30!

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Shweboner

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Sold an MN 91/30 on Gunbroker recently.

I packed it up and used the ups website to prepay shipping and print a label....

I take it to my nearest UPS pickup center ( actually one of those mailbox pack and ship kind of places )

So 1 week goes by and I start getting calls from my customer wanting to know where his rifle is. So upon checking the tracking number with UPS... there is no information available!!! So I call the drop off place and they tell me that the driver picked it up 7 days prior................

As of today, UPS still shows no activity on the tracking number. I still have an angry customer...

So I call UPS and tell them that they have either lost my package or that someone has stolen it. I then let them know that it was a rifle and if I do not get anything from them by this Tuesday I will be calling the ATF.

I hope they find it. I really dont want to have that talk with ATF........
 
Good luck! I believe UPS' policy is that firearms have to be dropped off at UPS Customer Service Centers and not at third party operated shipping locations. We'll be interested in hearing your follow-up report.
 
Please let us know the outcome since it is UPS policy not to accept shipments of firearms from these places. Did you declare it as a firearm when you printed the label and when you dropped it off at the shipping outlet? If not, what did you say was in the package? Were you shipping it to someone with an FFL (01 or C&R)?
 
I was being shipped to an 03 FFL in California ( I am in Oregon, usually only a few days shipping )


When I paid for the shipping and printed the label, I was never asked to declare the contents of the package.

The place I dropped it off at wasn't like a "UPS Store" so I doubt that they had a firearms policy. And I did not volunteer any information at the time.
Secrecy is your friend. Dont ask, dont tell? Also once I reported the problem to UPS, they did not say anything about it.

Part of the reason I do not think that it was stolen is for one, the package was not marked in anyway that would reveal the contents. It was also shipped "name to name" so for all anyone knew it was a set of golf clubs or something.


Here is what I suspect happened:

The driver picks up multiple packages at one location, one is a 10# 58 inch long box. The large box gets set aside, in order to scan the other smaller ones first. It is possible that it was just over looked and is now sitting at the UPS hub. But who knows.
 
One way UPS workers 'disappear' a package is to sideline it by saying the bar code is unreadable and a new bar code is assigned. The new bar code never shows up in any tracking protocol.

I had a rifle case from Sportsmans Guide disappear in this fashion.

Pilgrim
 
Declaring a package as a firearm is a fantastic way to get it stolen. UPS has a dollar amount which applies regardless of contents. In fact, FEDERAL LAW PROHIBITS marking packages containing firearms as containing such (at the very least, the carrier).

Just mark it as 'parts', or 'sporting goods', etc.
 
I've declared firearms all the time when I ship UPS. I always go to the local UPS staffed station. Not a UPS store, but an actual UPS staffed location.

I always bring the copy of the FFL with me too.

Please quote the Federal statute that indicates that it is illegal to ship a packaged marked 'firearm'.
 
I don't trust UPS at all and I don't use them. USPS priority mail has never gone wrong for me in about 100 long gun shipments over the past decade. Plus it's dirt cheap compared with UPS.
 
"No common or contract carrier shall require or cause any label, tag, or other written notice to be placed on the outside of any package, luggage, or other container that such package, luggage, or other container contains a firearm."

18 USC 922e

However, it's still stupid to mark a package as containing a firearm, so I strongly recommend against placing such a label on by yourself.
 
I had a Steelers Super Bowl IX Zippo lighter "disappear" en route via UPS. A word of caution...UPS informed me I was no longer covered by their insurance as their coverage was only good for something like 14 days. I fought it and won but they will try to renege on the insurance if you wait to make a claim.
 
Guys... Federal law requires you to declare that you are shipping a firearm...

B8) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier? [Back]


A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm.


http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/faq/faq2.htm#b8
 
They found my Kimber pretty quick when I told them that it was insured for $2k and I had a pile of recipts ;)

gun isn't worth $2k, but they didn't know that :neener:
 
I noticed a tremendous decline in the quality of UPS service over the last year or so. I've had 2 packages lost/stolen in transit in the last year. One was a replacement cell phone (by insurance claim). UPS was very slow to claim responsibility for it, and it wound up taking about 45 days to get a new phone that I was paying for a plan on the whole time. Also, Ive had various incoming UPS packages in recent months damaged in some way. Some of it is small and insignifcant damage, but two have been delivered with extensive damage that resulted in missing and damaged parts. The thing is, up until relatively recently, I always considered UPS to be the best where shipping is concerned. I don't know what's causing all this recent bad service, but it certainly does seem to be a trend in my experience.
 
Let me preface this by saying I work very closely with UPS and while not employed or payed by them I work for the Largest UPS shipping outlet in the USA.

First off You are required by UPS to declare the contents of a package. Period. It is not printed on the label at all and is used for insurance purposes. Without the contents of the package having been declared in detail you only have the stock 100 USD package insurance and then only if you can prove what was in the package. Second off, UPS only takes firearms at their Depot Customer Service Center or directly to a driver. They do not want your weapon sitting in a Mailbox's Etc, Staples, or any other store until their next UPS pickup, plus some companies have no Firearms policies with regards to shipping (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max)

When you made your label did you use UPS.com? if so did you select added insurance? I hope you did because if not you are only covered to $100. And if you shipped it through a place that doesn't except firearms you could be out of luck altogether, especially if the drop site you left it at doesn't have a End of Day slip signed/scanned by a ups driver indicating pickup of that slips assigned packages.

Secrecy is not your friend in instances like this as UPS had a high probability of denying a claim on a packaged with undeclared contents.

Here is another possibility that happens from time to time as well. The packaged was picked up and the drop site didn't release all the packages to the drivers Scanner and the package is in an "Exception" state that no one is aware of because the package didn't get entered into their system and still shows "Billing Information Received".
 
I've only used FedEx (shipped a handgun to the factory once), but my understanding is that "declaring" the contents simply means telling the guy or gal at the counter what's in the box. At least, that's how it worked for me. There was no indication on the shipping labels what the box contained. Cost a bleedin' fortune to ship it.

I hope you recover your rifle!
 
UPS "lost" 200 rounds of .30-06 ammo from CTD en route to me. I got a reshipment just fine but never an explanation of how the package disappeared in Fort Worth. Fed Ex almost gave birth to a cow when I shipped a barrel to get ported. It took 15 minutes to get it straightened out that I was not shipping a firearm in workin order.:eek:
 
Secrecy is NOT your friend when doing this type of activity. BATFE, who covers interstate transfers, has NO sense of humor!
Good thing you lost a cheap rifle, and can buy the buyer another one, unless it's a genuine 1920 Tula factory sniper with original scope?
 
When shipping firearms, instead of a rifle box addressed to Billy Bob's Guns and Stuff, I label it Billy Bob's G&S. If asked by UPS or others if you declared it as a firearm, I would just say "Yes, of course." How will they prove otherwise?
 
FYI, UPS has a bunch of lawyers that check out websites that badmouth or use any logos related, even if somewhat similar, to their own...

So thertel, do you work in the legal department?
 
I think requesting your insured amount would get UPS working fast on your shipment. I had something similar happen to me w/ UPS, but when I started the claim process, UPS was able to locate my package (pistol) pretty fast!
 
Had them "lose" a box with six 24 inch long .22cal barrel blanks on me. Actually there was a small barrel-size hole in one end of the package and all the barrels were gone. Sportsmans Guide replaced them no charge...
 
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