COD dispute

[CTOTH]

A driver in our center delivered a COD package about 2 months ago. He delivered the parcel and collected a check from the company. The check bounced and UPS is holding this driver accountable and are trying to make arrangements to deduct it directly from his check. They are saying they(UPS) had to pay the shipper the specified amount and now he has to either collect the spcified amount form the consignee or face a deduction from his pay. He's obviously fighting with the union steward in his corner.

What do you all think about this? Should the driver be held accountable in this situation? Anyone else ever had this happen?

 

[pt_oms]

was the pkg marked money order or cashier check only? if it was not then the driver does not have to pay

 

[brownISer]

he absolutely should NOT be held accountable...I worked in COD (accounting office) for 3 years and we never held a driver responsible for a bounced check....there must be more to the story, as the prior posting mentions.

 

[Enigma]

Thats complete crap, no way should he be held accountable.

We have the same here, if the pkg hasnt got a tag on it then we have to go back and collect the money even if it wasnt our fault in the first place. Its one thing that really bugs me as it makes more work for us who are already over dispatched and it makes us look extremely unprofessional going and asking for money for a pkg that was delivered a week or so ago, needless to say most refuse to pay and its then passed to a collection agency.

I had similar a few years back, delivered some kind of garden hammoeck that had come from the US, a few days later i delivered another one to the same person. about a month later i was asked to go back and ask for one of them back as the shipper had sent 2 by mistake. I refused and was threatened with a disaplinary. Any idea how stupid that sounds to go and ask for something that was delivered over a month before? Like it going to be sat in the hall after all that time.

 

[C.O.D.]

If the package was marked certified check or money order and driver collects a personal check or company check and it bounces than yes they are responsible for the amount. That's how it has always been around here.

 

[rngri4]

If the package was marked certified check or money order and driver collects a personal check or company check and it bounces than yes they are responsible for the amount. That's how it has always been around here.

It doesn't even matter if it bounces, the driver is responsible for collecting what is on the label/C.O.D. tag. If the collect the wrong thing, a personal check in lieu of a cashiers check or money order as listed on the label or tag, the driver will be docked pay for that. End of story, I have seen it happen many times, and it is always a driver who was in a hurry, and didn't pay attention to the fact it said cashiers check or money order.

 

[hoser]

I had similar a few years back, delivered some kind of garden hammoeck that had come from the US, a few days later i delivered another one to the same person. about a month later i was asked to go back and ask for one of them back as the shipper had sent 2 by mistake. I refused and was threatened with a disaplinary. Any idea how stupid that sounds to go and ask for something that was delivered over a month before? Like it going to be sat in the hall after all that time.

Go the house.
Tell them how stupid your employer is.
Being they don't believe you, tell them how your employer wants you to get the merchandise back.
Be laughed at and told no.
Leave the house.

There, you did everything you could.

 

[over9five]

Hoser's right.

 

[Cezanne]

As to the orginal post, there was not enough information given to see if the driver will be held responsibe. Was it certified funds or not? If the driver took a company check instead he or she will be required to make good the COD. If the drver has to pay, make sure that they get all the paperwork or documentation done over this matter. The driver might consider taking the company or the individual to small claims court to recover their losses. Not sure how far the company has to go through the legal system to collect the insufficent funds before they require the driver to start paying. Experiences from past incidents simular to this one is that the company will follow up with forcing the guilty party to pay up, and reinburse any employee payments. After all passing bad checks is kind of against the law last time I checked. Believe there is contract language over this kind of action requiring the company to pursue all legal recourse in recovering the funds.

The whole electronic tagless COD system really needs work to provide more safeguards with required payments. With this upgraded technology why in the world would they not create a complete service level scan for cash only CODs'. Instead of the "72" code that all CODs are collected at change it to lets say "74" for Cash Only ones, and make a warning appear on the diad directing the employee to make sure they collect certified funds only.

In the past with COD questions the employee could get some information as to whether the COD was cash only. With this tagless system off the diad is there any recourse for the driver to fight the claim over the shipper that they created a cash only requirement?

Also from the information from the first post, it appears that the company cashed in the company check, it bounced. They made it good to appease the shipper. If it was for certified funds only, why would the COD department try to cash it before sending notification to the center that the driver failed to collect the required certified funds. Questions should be directed to the proper steps of the COD departments to how they handled this problem. What is the timetable for them to follow up with the center when they discover a COD mistake, is it two months later after they try to cash in the bad check?

 

[speeddemon]

This is BS. Obviously, if UPS is trying to make him pay for it, he took a form of payment that was not authorized originally. Come on guys.

 

[CTOTH]

I'm not sure if it was cashier's check/money order only. I didn't run into him yesterday to ask but if that is the case, I can understand why they would hold him accountable but to deduct it from his paycheck still seems outlandish.
If he loses the fight, he's going to refuse to deliver CODs from here on out.

It seems like this dispute should be between the consignee and the shipper. UPS is just the middle man. We deliver the parcel and collect the check. The check isn't or shouldn't be made out to UPS.

 

[CTOTH]

Should the cooks at McDonalds have to pay for the burgers they drop?

 

[Enigma]

Should the cooks at McDonalds have to pay for the burgers they drop?

I thought they got put straight in the buns

 

[VoiceOfReason]

Go to the local police department and ask them about serving whoever it was with some paperwork for bouncing checks. You have to fill out some stuff about the situation and then the nice police man serves whoever it is. Its a criminal offense, they pay or go to jail. I'm serious, we just started doing this in my center and we are 2 for 2 on collecting.

 

[yoyoyoyoyoyo]

If he loses the fight, he's going to refuse to deliver CODs from here on out.

That's a good plan.

One potential problem with it is that the hired help doesn't get to pick-'n-choose what they'll deliver.

That's how UPS drivers become ex-UPS drivers.

I love experiments though. Tell him to do that and stick to his guns. Report the results here.

 

[CTOTH]

That's a good plan.

One potential problem with it is that the hired help doesn't get to pick-'n-choose what they'll deliver.

That's how UPS drivers become ex-UPS drivers.

I love experiments though. Tell him to do that and stick to his guns. Report the results here.

He's been in the union about 30 years and a driver 25 years. He could murder the customer and still get his job back.

 

[rngri4]

Go to the local police department and ask them about serving whoever it was with some paperwork for bouncing checks. You have to fill out some stuff about the situation and then the nice police man serves whoever it is. Its a criminal offense, they pay or go to jail. I'm serious, we just started doing this in my center and we are 2 for 2 on collecting.

This is a good idea, but won't ever work for the long term, because UPS is to business and sales orientated, like they should be, and granted if I had an account and used UPS a lot, the first time I was served with a warrant, my next call would be to FedEx to divert my business. It's a good idea though, but I just see that being the potential downfall for it the first time it happens.

 

[traveler]

Should the cooks at McDonalds have to pay for the burgers they drop?

He11 no! They should, however, wash them off before putting them on the bun and wrapping them.

 

[VoiceOfReason]

This is a good idea, but won't ever work for the long term, because UPS is to business and sales orientated, like they should be, and granted if I had an account and used UPS a lot, the first time I was served with a warrant, my next call would be to FedEx to divert my business. It's a good idea though, but I just see that being the potential downfall for it the first time it happens.

Well you don't do this to the Target Corporation or anything like that, they would pay anyways as would any reputable person/business making an honest mistake. Getting the cops involved is for the lowlifes who won't pay and purposefully bounced a check. One of the ones we served the guy didn't sign the check on purpose, driver didn't catch it and then the guy sat there and said we should eat it for making the mistake.

 

[rngri4]

Well you don't do this to the Target Corporation or anything like that, they would pay anyways as would any reputable person/business making an honest mistake. Getting the cops involved is for the lowlifes who won't pay and purposefully bounced a check. One of the ones we served the guy didn't sign the check on purpose, driver didn't catch it and then the guy sat there and said we should eat it for making the mistake.

So what you are saying, is that most times, when a large customer has a COD, they alway pay correctly? That is dead wrong, I have had large customers try to pay me wrong when I drove, but I guess if they did, from what you are saying.....we only arrest the small frys, the big customers can get away with it? That would be a typical UPS mentality.