UPS - "Lost" Artwork and Jewelry

I had a special, highly unique engagement ring designed in Hong Kong. It was hand-carried by the jeweler to Dallas where a diamond was mounted. I was flying from Santa Clara to meet my soon-to-be fiance in DC for a romantic vacation and wanted to have the jeweler bring the $15K ring. However, I was convinced otherwise.

I was very hesitant at first, but UPS and the jeweler assured me that it could be sent with insurance and electronic tracking and that the UPS overnight service was excellent. My agreement to this proposal was the biggest mistake that I had ever made. The morning that I arrived in DC, the ring was guaranteed to arrive at my hotel by 10:30 AM. I waited patiently, but it never arrived. UPS said that they changed the commit date to the following day. I was concerned, but said, "no problem".

The next day was a total disaster. The ring never arrived, and I spent the next two days of my vacation talking with UPS "security" who repeatedly informed me that it was missing or potentially stolen from their facility ... and that they are looking into the matter. A very romantic symbol and precious moment was stolen from me and my fiance. The vacation was ruined, and we spent the entire time worrying about the ring.

In my conversation with UPS security, I asked, "what are you going to do?". The response was, "we're calling all the places that it was last tracked, and making sure that it wasn't lost." Apparently, the sophisticated tracking system that UPS utilizes only detects what facility had last scanned the package, but not necessarily who could have walked off with it. As of today, the jeweler is still working with UPS to recover the "insured" items. Who knows when they'll get their money!

My fiance and I will never be able to recover from that weekend ... and we certainly will never use UPS for personal or professional purposes again. Economic consequences ... 6 months worth of planning and searching and designing the perfect ring was lost. $15K physical valuable property was lost or stolen, not to mention all the money invested to get the ring made and brought to the US.

When I had my first problem it was with a $5000 sculpture. The sculpture was in perfect condition when I cartoned it. Because of the high value I shipped it in a carton within a carton with padding to ensure no part of the inner carton could touch the exterior carton. I used strapping tape to cover the exterior carton with particle board for protection against punctures. The exterior carton measured two feet by two by four feet. Nothing could move in the carton. It was packed solid; it did not rattle.

UPS returned it to me in a two by two by one foot carton. I could scarcely believe my eyes at the number of pieces the sculpture had been broken into. The worst part was the stonewalling on UPS part. They literally refused to talk to me. They simply said their agent in Seattle refused my claim because of improper packaging. They would not allow me to contact this elusive person - the only authority to consider a claim.

I'm out a $4600 refund to the customer plus a $920 commission paid to the La Quinta, CA Arts Council plus a $184 discount to my credit card service provider and $368 sales tax. The small claims court limit in Iowa is $4000. I've filed suit for the maximum, but am less than optomistic about recovering anything.

On June 14, 2000 I shipped a quilt to a national quilt show using UPS. In the box were the quilt, return shipping instructions, a check for return shipment and the entry form. The quilt arrived at the show (and received second place) but somehow all of my instructions became separated from the box on the trip to the show (I got them back from UPS 24 days later).

Because the quilt organizers did not receive my instructions, they shipped the quilt COD back to my house.

Unfortunately, we were on vacation and there was no one to pay the COD charges so after three attempts the quilt was shipped back to Omaha, NE. During the return shipment it has been lost! We have not been able to uncover any information on the quilt through the traditional channels.

This is not a "normal" quilt like grandma makes and it is not a quilt like you get for $30 at a department store. This is a one-of-a-kind, show quilt. It is a piece of artwork. It looks just like a fireplace complete with photos on the mantle. It is 40'' x 50''. It received Best of Show at my quilting guild's show. It received a second place in a national show. A publisher wants to put it in a quilt calendar which will be distributed world-wide. It is currently entered in another international show and I am hoping I get the quilt back in time!

I am heartbroken. Each day seems to get worse. There have been many nights I could not sleep due to my worry over getting this quilt back. I feel like a mother with a kidnapped child and no one cares and there is nothing I can do! I have been calling the shipper in Omaha, NE one to two times every day to see what she is hearing from UPS. I am going through as many backdoors as I can find in hope that UPS will actually LOOK for this quilt.

Follow-up. On Aug. 19,: I wanted to notify you that after nearly two months of being lost, UPS delivered my quilt just this morning! The box was badly beaten and heavily taped, but the quilt is undamaged. They delivered the quilt just as if it had been shipped yesterday and offered absolutely no information on how or why it was lost. The internet tracking information showed that it went on a little side trip to Anaheim, California at no extra charge! Thank you for your help.