Lost or Never Sent!

[Lost520]

Hi, I have a detective story I need solved. I believe my ex is somehow taking advantage of a UPS system he knows so well by claiming he sent me something he never did. I just don't know and nothing adds up. So I'm hoping I can get some assistance.

A package was at the UPS store with the info "BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED." It was like this for quite some time. It never showed as being scanned at that location. A tracer request was placed on it but over two weeks later it never showed up.

I'm wondering what is the process where billing information is received and a tracking number exists but no package. How far can this package go?

As proof he sent it he showed me the pickup summary report. The pick summary has a "DRIVER SUMMARY" and "Total Number of Packages = 25" and all 25 packages' tracking numbers are then in a list. The main question, as this is the best piece of evidence, is this: MUST a physical package have existed at this point? Since I know you can get a tracking number without having a package perhaps this was was the driver EXPECTED to pick up or perhaps once a tracking number is created something physical is created at the store but its not necessarily with the package. I just want to know if its possible he did not send this package. Please help me!

 

[grgrcr88]

Anything is possible. Hard to say. Can a label be printed and a tracking number created without a package ever being sent? Absolutely. Does he have a receipt from the shipping location? Is the pickup sumary barcode signed by a UPS Driver and show a piece count picked up?

It is unlikely that a package never gets a physical scan at UPS after being picked up, but I have seen it happen. I have seen packages never scaned going thru 3 different hub locations and then get a delivery scan.

As I said, hard to say what actually happened.

 

[Lost520]

The pickup summary barcode is signed by a UPS dirver and shows a piece count and the tracking number of the alleged package is included in it. But perhaps this is what he was SUPPOSED to pick up because maybe the package was ordered by phone or online (hence Billing info received). That evidence is not good but the evidence in my favor is that the package never scanned in when it was immediately received. So I'm wondering if somehow it could have gotten this far somehow by someone who has sent literally hundreds of packages and knows the system by heart and discovered a great little wrinkle.

 

[Dagoof]

When the driver picks up the pkg from the UPS store he doesnt scan the pkgs individually. He scans the pick up summary with a bar code that has all the pkgs imbedded into it. The pkg then gets scanned when it gets loaded into the feeder back at the center at the end of the day. It should show a pick up scan if the driver scanned the pick up summary. You might try to call the UPS store that he shipped it out of with the tracking number. If they are nice they should also be able to tell you the contents of the pkg. Also you say he knows the system is he the driver that picks up that UPS store? The pkg could of always got lost on the way back to the center.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Billing information received means that the shipment was created. The fact that there was no physical scan at any point along the way tells me that the package was never in our system. It does appear that your ex may be trying to pull a fast one.

 

[bigbrownhen]

How big is the package? If it is really small, like an envelope or very small box, then it could be stuck in the conveyor belt system, or if there is a tote in the truck for supplies, then behind or in it.

This the only way I can think of there never being any scan if it was actually sent. It seems more likely that said package was never put in the UPS truck.

 

[scratch]

Why would your "ex" have access to a UPS Store Driver Summary Report? That is not available to a walk in customer shipping something over the counter, they just get a receipt with the package info in it. Is he a UPS driver? Sometimes labels do come off of packages or they have a bad bar code that doesn't scan. Sometimes somebody doesn't send that child support or alimony check either.

 

[Lost520]

Upstate NY said "Billing Information Received" means the shipment was created. What does that mean and is it possible for this created (but non-existent) tracking number to get checked in on the Driver Summary Report? (Lets just assume, no loss and no theft, etc. Just in the course of ordinary business can a package with Bill Inf Rec get scanned in on Driver Summ).

I'm so glad this forum is here so I can get answers!

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Upstate NY said "Billing Information Received" means the shipment was created. What does that mean and is it possible for this created (but non-existent) tracking number to get checked in on the Driver Summary Report? (Lets just assume, no loss and no theft, etc. Just in the course of ordinary business can a package with Bill Inf Rec get scanned in on Driver Summ).

I'm so glad this forum is here so I can get answers!

What it means is someone took the time to go to ups.com and create a shipment--in other words, they entered all of the address information (from/to), the weight and the level of service. This is called creating a shipment. This then generated a tracking number, which we call a 1Z as those are the first two characters of a UPS barcode. At the point the shipper is asked if he wants to print a label and/or receipt. This is where your ex may have gotten creative--he may simply have chosen not to print either the label or the receipt--or he may have printed them but threw them in the trash.

I don't think your ex ever gave the package to a UPS employee.

 

[RustyPMcG]

Long-time lurker, first time poster, and owner of a The UPS Store here. I just wanted to clarify a couple things.

The system that The UPS Stores use is a bit different from Worldship or UPS.com. Plus many of the packages picked-up at a TUPSS can also be drop-offs billed to some other account. It would be highly unusual for anyone other than the owner of TUPSS to have a copy of the pick-up record, which is just a single barcode, and some package counts. It would be even more unusual for someone to print-out the list of tracking numbers picked-up that day.

Let me describe how the process would work: An employee at TUPSS would process a shipment in their system. That would create a Billing Information Received entry on the tracking. The driver comes in, picks-up all the packages, scanning none. S/He scans the end of day barcode, and drives off. Nothing happens on the publicly displayed tracking. The next thing that should appear would be an Origin Scan at the hub.

The status after Billing Information Received will be Manifested until the Origin Scan at the hub. The UPS Store will be billed for the shipment even if it never shows up scanned anywhere in the system. If the shipment was created in error, it can be voided, and the status will change from Manifested to Void.

If the tracking information shows Billing Information Received, but doesn't show a status as Void, then The UPS Store is paying UPS for the shipment. Any claim or tracer on a package shipped at a The UPS Store should be initiated by The UPS Store, but they act on the request of their customer.

So if the tracking information shows Billing Information Received, but not a status of Void, The UPS Store is paying for the package, and I don't know any store owner that's going to pay for a package if s/he didn't get paid by a customer. They would void the shipment if they didn't get paid.

Did an actual package exist? I hope so! Otherwise the store is participating in a fraud. But they're not going to file a claim or request a tracer on the word of anyone other than their customer. So if the customer doesn't care that the shipment is essentially lost, that's as far as that goes.

The package could really have gotten lost between the store and the origin scan. Or it might have been taken. But if it wasn't voided, the store got charged for it, and if their customer doesn't object to it disappearing, that's the end of that.

BTW... Check with your attorney, but I think their responsiblity is to make sure something is delivered to you, not just sent to you. If it got lost, that would normally fall on them. It doesn't matter if they could prove they sent it. They have to prove you got it.

 

[Catatonic]

Long-time lurker, first time poster, and owner of a The UPS Store here. I just wanted to clarify a couple things.

Welcome to Brown Cafe and great first post.
Look forward to your future posts and a perspective that we have little or no exposure to here.

 

[toonertoo]

And a check sent through UPS is only insured for the paper it took to print that check, not the amount of the check. If someone was trying to get UPS to pay that child support, that duck wont fly.

 

[UPSGUY72]

Hi, I have a detective story I need solved. I believe my ex is somehow taking advantage of a UPS system he knows so well by claiming he sent me something he never did. I just don't know and nothing adds up. So I'm hoping I can get some assistance.

A package was at the UPS store with the info "BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED." It was like this for quite some time. It never showed as being scanned at that location. A tracer request was placed on it but over two weeks later it never showed up.

I'm wondering what is the process where billing information is received and a tracking number exists but no package. How far can this package go?

As proof he sent it he showed me the pickup summary report. The pick summary has a "DRIVER SUMMARY" and "Total Number of Packages = 25" and all 25 packages' tracking numbers are then in a list. The main question, as this is the best piece of evidence, is this: MUST a physical package have existed at this point? Since I know you can get a tracking number without having a package perhaps this was was the driver EXPECTED to pick up or perhaps once a tracking number is created something physical is created at the store but its not necessarily with the package. I just want to know if its possible he did not send this package. Please help me!

I can solve your question simply ask ex for the tracking number for the package (it will start with 1Z then have total of 16 more numbers and letters). That is the only number that you want. The piece of paper/ label that the driver scans on pickups means nothing most places I go to throw them away or don't have the driver sign them. Then take that number go to UPS.COM and enter the tracking number in where it say track package. If it only says "BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED." and nothing else than that means someone made up a label and payed for it. It doesn't mean a packaged got picked up or sent.

If he sent the package from a UPS store he got a receipt ask for a copy.

 

[Big Babooba]

I can solve your question simply ask ex for the tracking number for the package (it will start with 1Z then have total of 16 more numbers and letters). That is the only number that you want. The piece of paper/ label that the driver scans on pickups means nothing most places I go to throw them away or don't have the driver sign them. Then take that number go to UPS.COM and enter the tracking number in where it say track package. If it only says "BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED." and nothing else than that means someone made up a label and payed for it. It doesn't mean a packaged got picked up or sent.

If he sent the package from a UPS store he got a receipt ask for a copy.

This is not always the case. ASDs, GSDs and Prepaid Letters can use a different format

 

[Catatonic]

This is not always the case. ASDs, GSDs and Prepaid Letters can use a different format

While a true statement that is not the case here.
It would receive an origin scan at air recovery and the "Billing Information Received" would not be the message under tracking response.

 

[DS]

Thanks for the great post Rusty.I think upsguy72 has your answerLost520.Ask for the tracking number.If s/he can't give you one,s/he is lying.I often have to cover a fairly large volume ups store,and they have an agreement with ups that every pkg gets scanned @ the time of pickup,including drop offs.If the # don't jive,the manager
freaks out,so diligence is required by the driver if he ever wants to get out of there.

 

[UPSGUY72]

This is not always the case. ASDs, GSDs and Prepaid Letters can use a different format

That is true however it would not apply in this case since the ex is trying to use a EOD (summary report) print out to say it got sent.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

I learned a lot on this thread. Poor DS having to scan all the packages at a high volume UPS store.

 

[RustyPMcG]

I can solve your question simply ask ex for the tracking number for the package (it will start with 1Z then have total of 16 more numbers and letters).

If she's seeing tracking information with "Billing Information Received", then she already has the tracking number. She couldn't see tracking information without a tracking number, right? And she says that he's showing her a reconciliation report from TUPSS that shows the tracking number was included in the package count on the EOD. So we're way beyond that point already.

The barcode number from the EOD report will bring up nothing in tracking, so we know she's not using that number, too. She has to already have a tracking number.

My point was that if the tracking number doesn't show that it's been voided, TUPSS is paying UPS for the package, and they wouldn't do that unless they got paid to do so.

As someone else mentioned, UPS Capital isn't going to pay a claim for the value of the lost check. It's limited to any check writing fees and any stop-payment fees.

Whether it's lost or stolen really doesn't matter in the end. But I can tell you that TUPSS paid to ship it.

If it never shows up, TUPSS can file a claim for their customer. They can collect back what they paid UPS for shipping, plus check writing or stop payment fees if the guy provides them with proof of his payment of those fees. If it shows up late, but before a claim is filed, they can request a GSR (they aren't automatic), and the retail shipping price minus any fuel surcharge, processing charge, and declared value premium payment (which shouldn't even apply to documnts), will be sent by check directly to the store's customer.

But if we're talking about child support, his responiblity is to see that the money arrives, not just to show he gave it to someone/company to deliver. If it doesn't arrive, he still owes it, and it was still due when it was due. At best he's delaying penalties, but that's about it. If he shows his receipt from TUPSS to the judge, the judge will say, "So what? She didn't get it. Cut another check, and stop payment on the lost one."

 

[RustyPMcG]

Welcome to Brown Cafe and great first post.
Look forward to your future posts and a perspective that we have little or no exposure to here.

I'll be happy to chime in once in awhile, but I'm going to try to keep my big mouth shut. I have a tendency to be a little too dominating, and this is really a forum for the real UPS'ers. I'm going to try to be a gracious guest.

BTW... I once was a truck driver for a large company in an entirely different industry. I even was a union officer back then. So I can empathise with a lot of things said here. And that's even before considering how as a franchisee my relationship with UPS is... well, let's just say it's not one of equals.