So THAT'S where my missing UPS packages went...

[Philip OKeefe]

Did you folks hear about this one? A UPS driver who was supposed to be delivering packages to a local mall was diverting them to himself instead... and then selling the contents on Ebay.

 

Apparently he had been doing it for two years, and the total value of all the goods he swiped exceeded on million dollars!

 

Link to story

[Tedster]

What a dipstick.

[Anifa]

The postal inspection service continuously monitors the behavior of employees. During Christmas where seasonal help is brought in, one year whenever the rush began to die down and the euipment began getting cleared out; there were dozens of QVC package remains that had been opened and the contents stolen found beneath stored containers and such. When they rebuilt the facility and moved the main processing center into the building; they installed 240 cameras across all sections. They've installed even more cameras since that time.

 

Sounds like the UPS driver might have been stealing the jewelry from QVC or another company of that nature that sends valuable jewelry through mail order.

[ViLo]

I use Fed X is chepaer!

[Tedly Nightshade]

God, that is appalling!

 

Fortunately my UPS driver is a very kind and honest man.

 

Ultimately, it's about the individual and not about the company.

[Philip OKeefe]

Excellent point Ted, and my posting this topic is in no way intended to cast aspersions upon UPS or the vast majority of their employees who are hard working and dilligent. Just the one yahoo who apparently / allegedly wasn't.

 

Ani, the news report says he was indeed stealing jewelry, as well as computers and electronics.

[Botch.]

If one "route" lost over a mil in two years, wouldn't there be some kind of metrics or something that some manager should've noticed? I think there should be more than one firing here...

[Philip OKeefe]

You would think so Botch... something smells fishy here. Maybe the manager was in on it? Or maybe just incompetent? Either way, IMO, that person should be investigated too, and probably fired.

[Anifa]

Originally posted by Botch.:

If one "route" lost over a mil in two years, wouldn't there be some kind of metrics or something that some manager should've noticed? I think there should be more than one firing here...

I agree! I would seem that the branch manager should have been getting phone calls as to missing packages. Whenever a certain zone becomes a target area for missing packages, there should have been observation placed on operations handling that zones mail up to the point of delivery.

 

Fortunately my UPS driver is a very kind and honest man.

 

Ultimately, it's about the individual and not about the company.

You are correct in stating that it's the individual and not the company; but the company is responsible for monitoring loss to keep it to a minimal. Two years is a long time for that many packages to disappear all within one zone... even worse... one individual route.

 

Sad thing is, just because one has an honest driver on their route; it doesn't mean that they are not subject to loss by mail order... regardless of the courrier.

 

We had an expeditor out at one of our Airport Mail Centers that was shuffling packages into a dumpster just below the dock while he was loading trucks. After things had cleared, and during times where the docks were clear of customers and employees, the guy would come back with his vehicle and lift the packages. He was terminated and brought up on charges of theft... I don't know if the charges were misdemeanor or grand theft.

 

Another man was caught stealing money from the registry section, from working within the high profile area. When he learned that the inspection service was on to his thieving habits, he committed suicide prior to termination. I don't know if his life insurance was locked up by the Inspectors or not, but .... he was actually a very nice guy and not one that anyone would suspect; his wife was also employed there and had a cronic gambling habit.

 

Over the twenty years that I've been on my job; I've seen people go down for stealing food stamps, jewelry, credit cards, misc. packages, money, and just plain old stupidity.

 

I guess people KNOW they are going to get busted at the Post Office, so they are going to work for UPS where they can go for two years without a trace

[Wooden]

They realized there was something bad until he reached the million???

[fantasticsound]

Yikes! That's right by my inlaws' house. Gurnee Mills is 10 minutes east of them, and Kenosha is the south-easternmost city in Wisconsin, nestled above Illinois and on Lake Michigan.

 

I'm surprised it took this long to catch him, but I would guess he found ways to cover his tracks. Sounds like he just became to greedy. Greedy people make mistakes.

 

You also have to understand how UPS' scanning system works. I don't know if this is the case, but if Kovarsky managed to be standing at his truck as it was being loaded, perhaps pretending to lighten the work of the loaders, he may have told them packages he loaded himself had already been scanned as loaded when, in fact, he'd put them in unscanned. At that point, it would appear they were lost in the hub, not on the truck.

 

Besides, Fedex never determined how an SKB golf club case we used for a trade show display ended up at the Nashville hub, then left, unscanned, and was returned to the hotel we'd sent it from, in Palm Desert, California. After it arrived at the hub, they completely lost track of it. Only our call to the AV department at the hotel for information for our claim brought it to our attention that they had returned it.

 

I imagine many such scenarios, on purpose and accidental, play out at all the major carriers. Sifting through claims and complaints would take time to track and then they'd want to let it go on a bit to catch the thief in the act.

[Anifa]

Sifting through claims and complaints would take time to track and then they'd want to let it go on a bit to catch the thief in the act.

This is true; there has to be a solid case against a person. However, 2 years of investigations to recover a million dollars in goods????? To me this seems a bit extreme as to HOW MUCH evidence did they need to build a solid case against this guy. To acquire that much revenue; there had to be some heavy duty stealing going on. I seriously doubt that the incidents were isolated to just a few; this guy was probably doing his lifting on a routine basis.

[flyscots]

hmm, I hope that's not where my M-Powered that UPS were supposed to deliver on Friday has got to!

 

It's increasingly frustrating because it's bank holiday here tomorrow so I wont get it until Tuesday. I had stuff planned that had to be cancelled. I wonder if I can claim any compensation from UPS?

[fantasticsound]

Ani, I'm guessing that tracking this guy down and making sure to grab anyone involved is what led to this investigation being dragged out. Beyond that, I can't think of a good reason for it to take 2 years. 6 months to a year... but 2 years? It does sound a bit long to determine this wasn't widespread abuse by many employees working separately or together.

[Anifa]

Agreed Neil! Perhaps they did take a bit longer in efforts to see if it were a "ring" of thieves in collaboration instead of just one person. Something like this is certainly something that could easily have had multiple parties involved in the promotion of the ebay merchandise.

 

With all the laws that have gone into place during more recent times, I can see legislation going into place that would force all registrant Sellers on eBay to list the serial numbers of items being sold and have those items scanned acrossed a "Hot List" prior to auctioning them off. I'm surprised that something of this nature is not already in place. eBay is a safehaven for hard core criminals to unload stolen goods onto unsuspecting buyers.

[fantasticsound]

The problem with a hot list is these are usually only kept in city or statewide databases. So the idea of a national or international check like that would seem insufficient and difficult, if not impossible, to implement.

 

I agree with the sentiment, but can't see it ever coming to fruition.

[Mr.WOW]

Shout out to TheFlyMan.

[EmptinesOf Youth]

dang i havent heard about this till now, i live in a town called winthrop harbor, right between kenosha and gurnee. kinda wierd id find out about it here........makes ya think

[Philip OKeefe]

As Craig has (rightfully) noted several times, SSS is one of THE best sources of information available anywhere... when something happens in the world, it's not uncommon for people to find out about it right here first.

http://foxtick.com/foxboard/images/smiles/Phil-Thumbs-Up-Small.gif

[mdlestat]

I'm really curious about how this loser got away with so much stealing-- as an employee at UPS, I'm furious that he did it to begin with, and confused about how he could have gotten away with something like this...

 

Unless you work at UPS, you'd be forgiven for thinking that "this could happen anytime"-- but in reality, there's a damned tight chain of tracking and auditing that's in place, along with other measures to prevent any kind of "integrity" related issues.

 

This is a huge failure that I tend to agree either A) involves more than one person, or B) resulted from a grievous level of incompetance by coworkers.

 

Seeing that it was through mall stops kind of explains how he got away with it to me, as mall deliveries are generally huge bulk stops to many stores; some places get dozens--even hundreds-- of packages every day-- so if there's only 13 of one item instead of 14, the mall store would likely just re-order the thing from their distributor for the next time around-- and if it were never scanned in by the driver, AND people in management were asleep at the wheel/complicit in the scheme, then unless the business complained directly to UPS, they wouldn't know what happened, because they'd have no reason to audit/compare the inbound/delivered lists.

 

Regaerdless of how they did it-- I'm angry that it casts an ugly shadow on a company that I know from first-hand experience holds employee integrity in extremely high regard..... I hope this piece of trash goes to jail for a long, long time...

[Anifa]

Mdlestrat,

 

I guess UPS just doesn't seem to get the publicity that the USPS gets, but this type thing goes on at all the courriers; UPS inclusive. Here is an article about a GUN Theft ring that was broken up involving UPS cargo handlers that were lifting packages right off of the belts, slicing them open to take contents, and then taking them out of the building.. When nothing was done.... they started label switching to have the whole packages delivered to their homes.

 

http://www.nerdherd.com/editorials/otsd/ups_19991227.html

 

Here is an excerpt from that article...

 

Even the men convicted of stealing guns from the United Parcel Service distribution center in Landover were surprised by how easy it was to pick them off the conveyor belt and get them out of the building. They started cautiously, slicing open cardboard boxes addressed to a Prince George's County gun shop, removing one or two handguns and taking them out by hiding them under their clothes.

 

When nothing happened, the three UPS cargo handlers one of them a convicted crack dealer grew bolder, according to affidavits filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. They grabbed entire packages filled with revolvers and semiautomatic pistols, slapped on new address labels and had their employer deliver them home for free. Before they were arrested by federal agents in March and April, the three UPS workers stole 29 handguns and sold them on the streets for $250 to $350. One of the firearms was used in an armed carjacking less than 36 hours after it was stolen from a UPS shipment. Only eight have been recovered.

 

Authorities say the UPS case illustrates how despite increasingly strict controls on gun sales to individuals package delivery firms, where security is often lax, often are an easy target for criminals intent on obtaining weapons. "Criminals are going to go to the path of least resistance," said Mike Campbell, a spokesman in the Baltimore office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which investigated the UPS thefts. "They are going to find whatever way they can to get the guns. So if they can find somebody on the inside to help them, they will." In 1998, 941 firearms were reported stolen from interstate shipments, most of them from commercial carriers such as UPS, according to ATF figures. But federal officials concede that they have no idea how many of the estimated 5 million guns that are shipped each year by commercial carrier are stolen.

 

(read the rest of the article HERE )

Notice the source of the article was originally the Washington Post.

[robmix]

Originally posted by flyscots:

hmm, I hope that's not where my M-Powered that UPS were supposed to deliver on Friday has got to!

 

It's increasingly frustrating because it's bank holiday here tomorrow so I wont get it until Tuesday. I had stuff planned that had to be cancelled. I wonder if I can claim any compensation from UPS?

Yeah right, get UPS to fork over cash ? Not going to happen. I've lost more items and more money through UPS than every other courier combined. As a matter of fact I've never lost anything through USPS or DHL. One item was busted on Fedex and they paid for repair. I can't count the number of items UPS has destroyed or lost for me. I'll apologize now to the UPS employees in this thread but that company is terrible - the worst !!! The company deserves whatever bad press it gets because for every big story there are thousands of unpaid insurance claims.

[Anifa]

I don't like the fact that the UPS drivers in my area place my shipments on my doorstep if I'm not home. There have actually been times where I "HAVE" been home where they have delivered packages without even knocking on my door.

 

I sent $1500.00 of camera gear in for repairs and the repair center will not use any other courrier OTHER than UPS to return my shipment to me. I told them that I would pay extra for them to use the USPS or FedEx to ship and insure the package back because of the lack of secure deliveries made by UPS.... they refuse to use anyone but UPS. I told them to let me know when they send the repaired camera back out so that I can be on the lookout for the delivery; I've yet to hear anything yet. It's been 8 or 9 weeks now since I know they received the camera for repairs... I need to put a call into RepairTech tomorrow.

 

I have complained to UPS about this, and nothing has ever been done about it. Of course, I do work for the USPS and I've witnessed what shipments go through on the inside.... while there are vast majorities of millions that go through daily unharmed; there ARE some that don't make it in one piece and sometimes not at all.

[Bbach1]

It's my feeling that any and every industry has dishonest employees. What is amazing is how long someone can be stealing and not get caught. What happened to checks and balances? Had those particular thieves stopped a while back, they most likely would have gotten off without getting caught. Luckily, dishonest people can also be greedy people.

[mdlestat]

Originally posted by Anifa:

I don't like the fact that the UPS drivers in my area place my shipments on my doorstep if I'm not home.

You can do a few things here:

 

1) Have the shipper designate the package "Signature Required"-- which he should be doing anyway for high-value items. Then, the driver won't leave it unless someone is there to sign for it. (If you miss it three days in a row though, they'll return it to sender.)

 

2) Have the package held at the UPS center-- you can then pick it up at your convenience.

 

3) Leave a note asking to have the package left at your neighbor's (if they'd be home to sign for it.)

 

4) Leave a note telling the driver where they may safely leave your packages out of view and secure.

 

Any of these things would solve your problem.

 

 

Originally posted by Anifa:

There have actually been times where I "HAVE" been home where they have delivered packages without even knocking on my door.

I'm not sure it's right for you to be pissed off that the driver doesn't knock on your door to let you know your package is there. I can see where you're coming from-- but you of course realize that it's our job to deliver packages-- not stop and wait until we're sure that the people that may or may not be in the house are aware that they have received a delivery.

 

When I'm delivering, I'll knock and call "UPS" as I leave if the door is open already (ex: storm door only) or if I see someone inside-- and then only to let the inhabitants know I'm not a burgler trying to break in or something should they hear a strange unidentified noise.

 

Regardless-- I'm not going to get all defensive about my company here-- I think very highly of them, and people who are going to bash it as though it is the Antichrist aren't going to let it go anyway.

 

 

Cheers--

[Phait]

MD - you actually care about your job... that's surprising.

[flyscots]

Originally posted by robmix:

Yeah right, get UPS to fork over cash ? Not going to happen.

Yeah that's what I thought, but if you don't try you don't get...

 

The company deserves whatever bad press it gets because for every big story there are thousands of unpaid insurance claims.

...and if I get nothing from them then I will help with the bad press, even if it is just word of mouth (sorry MD, nothing against you obviously)

 

What annoys me the most is the broken promises I got over the phone. I have to say though the problems all lie with the local depot. The customer service people have done all they can, but the local depot has done nothing what-so-ever. I have managed to escalate my complaint up the ladder a little bit so we'll see what happens tomorrow when the offices re-open.

 

By the way, this is the first time I have been waiting on a delivery from UPS. I didn't pick 'em, but that's who ships for Digital Village. I have never had any problems with any other couriers. DV did their job, but I'll give them a call aswell and tell them what a mess UPS have made.

 

John

[Anifa]

1) Have the shipper designate the package "Signature Required"-- which he should be doing anyway for high-value items. Then, the driver won't leave it unless someone is there to sign for it. (If you miss it three days in a row though, they'll return it to sender.)

Mdlestrat, I'm not going to bash for the sake of bashing. I have demanded "Signature Required" for all high dollar shipments... NOT ONCE have I been required to sign for the items. My camera, shipped new, that was sent "signature required" was the item that the driver left on my doorstep while I was at home. Had the shipment arrived 2 days later, I would have been out of town for better than a week before returning. It worked out great because the camera came just in time to take along on my vacation; but it could have been a mess had it not came when it did.

 

I used to date a UPS driver and I know the company is good overall... so is the USPS and FedEx..... Thing is, we all get a few bad seeds that make the whole company look bad. Considering the volumes of mails that all three courriers handle daily; it's amazing that people don't hear of more instances than they do. The USPS has been a target of ridicule for many years and has became the infamous scapegoat for people failing to mail bills on time, ship packages as expected, and such..... Lost in the Mail is so easy to say..... Thing is; although there have been instances where mails have actually been lost... considering the volumes in the multiple BILLIONS of pieces moved annually... the losses are minimal when you use a scale according to the volumes processed.

 

I'm burned out with working for the USPS right now, but it's not because the organization is bad.... it's really a great place to work overall. I'm just sick of some of the jerk-ended managers that have polluted our facility in the past year.

[Phait]

Originally posted by Anifa:

I'm just sick of some of the jerk-ended managers that have polluted our facility in the past year.

YOU'RE FIRED!

http://www.beautifulhaircuts.com/pictures/trump02.jpg

 

Can you believe this image is at a "beautifulhaircuts.com"

[Anifa]

Phait,

 

Can you believe that my sister is ACTUALLY infatuated with that man?