Advice re. UPS-Shipped Guitar Missing/Stolen?

[redhouse_ca]

I had (sadly, past tense) a guitar that had to be sent to the guitar maker to access/repair an issue. Thankfully the issue was resolved and he shipped it back. Three days ago I am sitting on the couch 10 feet from my front door and I get an email that my guitar was delivered. No knock and no signature but still great news, right! Wrong, nothing on my porch. I double checked tracking and sure enough, UPS said it was delivered, and what's more, I signed for it? I figured it was an error, but because of its value, I immediately filed a claim and notified the guitar maker. I have a home security can at my door so I checked that to be sure, nope, no one came by. I went to all the neighbors (I have great neighbors who put up with me and the loud music and no one got it.

Long story short, 3 days later, after getting incredibly creative or maybe just lucky, I got a human on the phone (I could probably sell the method for that, it's nearly impossible). I learn that the driver said he delivered to me personally and that I signed. I explained the security cam and signature stuff and he politely said that the driver disagrees with that version. I asked if it might just show up and he said definitively no, it's "delivered". Could it have gone to a different address? No. Can you send me a copy of the signature? No. Should I expect to be reimbursed? No, the sender will be reimbursed. Is there anything you can do to help? We will send a report when the investigation is complete. Can you tell me when it will be complete? No, sometime in the next 30 days.

Just not my day I guess.

I never had an real problems with shipping before - delays and damage a few times, but nothing like this (guitar is worth over $3k). I've also really liked the delivery people who I've met, I always offer to help bring stuff in and have had some nice chats with a few of them. It seems strange that the driver on this one would make such a strong case that I got it when I didn't, but alas.

Anyone had something like this happen? Any advice?

For anyone interested or maybe for the benefit of anyone who might find themselves in this spot, here's the sad, sad update:

It was stolen without question. I know this because someone sent me the link to the local guitar center where is was hanging on the wall for sale until we provided proof it is mine (they said they took it down today, but I'll swing by to be sure it's not on the floor).

It's a bad situation. It's now with the police and my city counsel person is pushing it along. I check in on nextdoor (my neighbor suggested that) and lo and behold, happed a number of times, all high value, all very methodical.

I tried to stay focused on the positive but reality proved that to be unwise. I am livid. I'll follow up with details when it's all over so hopefully someone can benefit. Suffice it to say that the local distribution person I spoke to was pushing me hard to close the case I opened and what I heard from her was very concerning.

 

[Boreas]

For anyone interested or maybe for the benefit of anyone who might find themselves in this spot, here's the sad, sad update:

It was stolen without question. I know this because someone sent me the link to the local guitar center where is it hanging on the wall for sale.

It's a bad situation. It's now with the police and my city counsel person is pushing it along. I check in on nextdoor (my neighbor suggested that) and lo and behold, happed a number of times, all high value, all very methodical.

I tried to stay focused on the positive but reality proved that to be unwise. I am livid.

Sorry for your misfortune. Appreciate you letting us know.

 

[PhoenixBill]

You’ve got paperwork proving it’s your guitar, then the local guitar center is harboring stolen goods. Period. I would be pressing that button very, very hard.

edit: if the police don’t want to get involved, news stations love this kind of stuff. Especially the part about “police don’t want to do their job”.

 

[redhouse_ca]

You’ve got paperwork proving it’s your guitar, then the local guitar center is harboring stolen goods. Period. I would be pressing that button very, very hard.

edit: if the police don’t want to get involved, news stations love this kind of stuff. Especially the part about “police don’t want to do their job”.

I will edit the post, I meant to qualify that by saying they pulled off the shelf today at the request of the sender. I am a bit riled up and meant to be clear on that point but will do now.

I do have proof. I have pics and the serial number. For now (I hope) it's off the floor. They will not share details of the person who they bought it from with me or the sender but our police department are good people and they will get that.

 

[redhouse_ca]

I just have to post, in contrast to the constant Fedex and other shipping services bashing I always see... and it does get ridiculously extreme...

I have not had one shipping issue in the past 10 years, at least. 15+ guitars. 5+ amps. and many other items.

I hear you, and I have also never had a problem like this, and I really went into this respectfully and with the assumption it was just an error. I wish it were an error.

One thing that a business like this can do, tho, is make it just a tiny bit easier to speak to someone. I know self service is all the rage and I prefer it if it's fast and easy, but their support is virtually non existent. The IVR (voice assistant) is so locked down that you really have no options but to follow a totally worthless path to a dead end. So it's worse than no support at all, IMHO, because it's very time consuming to get no support. Anyhow, thanks for the comment. I've abandoned the wishful thinking on this one, tho.

 

[Milspec]

So, the thief was the delivery driver?

One of the worst things that all delivery companies did years ago was adding contract help to make up for manpower shortages. They all wanted to save money by adding workers at a lower pay, limited or no benefits, and mostly outside the union contract. What they ended up with are immoral and just plain poor employees. Stealing packages, trafficking drugs, scams of all kinds....hell they even had one with FedEx kidnap a child and strangle her in the back of the truck!!

Things are not getting better either...glad you found your guitar, hopefully it will be in good shape and returned to you soon.

 

[redhouse_ca]

haven't read the whole thread yet so apologies if this has been brought up already

is it possible that the shipping label returning the guitar to you had an incorrect address printed on it? any way to track that down and double check?

i had a very similar issue two weeks ago. expensive business package that was supposedly delivered and signed for while i was sitting at home, no delivery attempt and no trace of the package. driver insisting it had been delivered and signed for. i tracked down a copy of the shipping label and our house number was missing a digit despite my information being correct at time of purchase. i walked a few blocks down to the incorrect address, and sure enough there my package was sitting unattended in the lobby.

after some research, i learned that the company involved outsources their product fulfillment to a third party, then that third party ships via UPS. either the company employee made a mistake when forwarding my delivery address to the third party, or a third party employee made a mistake when filling out the shipping label for UPS handoff. driver was fully justified in saying it had been delivered and signed for

sorry you're dealing with all this, really hope you're reunited with your guitar soon

I wish, it would be a lot easier to accept if that were the issue.

 

[redhouse_ca]

So, the thief was the delivery driver?

One of the worst things that all delivery companies did years ago was adding contract help to make up for manpower shortages. They all wanted to save money by adding workers at a lower pay, limited or no benefits, and mostly outside the union contract. What they ended up with are immoral and just plain poor employees. Stealing packages, trafficking drugs, scams of all kinds....hell they even had one with FedEx kidnap a child and strangle her in the back of the truck!!

Things are not getting better either...glad you found your guitar, hopefully it will be in good shape and returned to you soon.

All I can say for sure was no driver delivers it to me and the driver insisted he did, then a few days later insisted he delivered it to another address but doesn't remember where, then stopped commenting. I don't know who fenced it, the police will get a name and maybe a vid recording from GC but who knows if it's a legit name or anyone identifiable. Whoever it was did it fast and methodically, it appears. And it's happened before the same way with others in this area.

 

[Flyboy]

That the courier driver can't get his story right twice then goes cold tells you something.

Post-Covid, over here I've seen a common MO with certain couriers whereby they are signing your name on their DPA and leaving the package at your door if no-one in; this is fraudulent behaviour! Another tactic, which has happened to me, is that no signature forgery is made but a photograph of the item outside your door is their evidence that the item was delivered; this is unacceptable practice.

The compelling motive for couriers to dump packages at doors is because they are overloaded with work, and no-one wants to return to the depot with a package, for many of those small couriers today are paid piecemeal, by confirmed deliver. No-one wants to see a large item in their route for the fourth time.

I was once the victim of institutional theft, but thankfully it ended well for myself and the intended recipient in Spain. A fairly rare Gibson 335 CCW dropped off the tracking radar after a couple of days. After a week it had not re-appeared and I got onto Parcelforce UK. I was lucky - this is in the days before robo-assist and robo-menus - to get through to a human being who shared my concerns. Long story short, after another week he found the guitar in a corner of a warehouse, in cage full of items that had lost their tracking labels; the label on my carton had been completely torn off. My return address and the contents confirmed it was my guitar. They sealed the box up, reprinted the label, and it reached the recipient five days later.

It was my belief that the guitar had been nicked, and that it was sitting in remote corner of a warehouse it should not have been in, the thief biding his time until the heat died down.

Keep us updated, OP.

 

[Michael Smith]

That the courier driver can't get his story right twice then goes cold tells you something.

Post-Covid, over here I've seen a common MO with certain couriers whereby they are signing your name on their DPA and leaving the package at your door if no-one in; this is fraudulent behaviour! Another tactic, which has happened to me, is that no signature forgery is made but a photograph of the item outside your door is their evidence that the item was delivered; this is unacceptable practice.

The compelling motive for couriers to dump packages at doors is because they are overloaded with work, and no-one wants to return to the depot with a package, for many of those small couriers today are paid piecemeal, by confirmed deliver. No-one wants to see a large item in their route for the fourth time.

I was once the victim of institutional theft, but thankfully it ended well for myself and the intended recipient in Spain. A fairly rare Gibson 335 CCW dropped off the tracking radar after a couple of days. After a week it had not re-appeared and I got onto Parcelforce UK. I was lucky - this is in the days before robo-assist and robo-menus - to get through to a human being who shared my concerns. Long story short, after another week he found the guitar in a corner of a warehouse, in cage full of items that had lost their tracking labels; the label on my carton had been completely torn off. My return address and the contents confirmed it was my guitar. They sealed the box up, reprinted the label, and it reached the recipient five days later.

It was my belief that the guitar had been nicked, and that it was sitting in remote corner of a warehouse it should not have been in, the thief biding his time until the heat died down.

Keep us updated, OP.

About a month ago I bought an amplifer on Reverb from a seller in Los Angeles. He stipulated that the amplifier must be signed for by me, or it would not be delivered to me (for example if I wasn't home at the time). I happened to see the UPS truck park in front of my house, so was at the door to greet him before he even had to ring the bell. All he asked was "what is your last name"? So I told him my first and last name. He said he only needed the last name. I didn't sign anything, paper or on a tablet, so he carried the amp inside for me and then left. Fortunately, the amp was in good condition and I was home at the time.

 

[redhouse_ca]

I had (sadly, past tense) a guitar that had to be sent to the guitar maker to access/repair an issue. Thankfully the issue was resolved and he shipped it back. Three days ago I am sitting on the couch 10 feet from my front door and I get an email that my guitar was delivered. No knock and no signature but still great news, right! Wrong, nothing on my porch. I double checked tracking and sure enough, UPS said it was delivered, and what's more, I signed for it? I figured it was an error, but because of its value, I immediately filed a claim and notified the guitar maker. I have a home security can at my door so I checked that to be sure, nope, no one came by. I went to all the neighbors (I have great neighbors who put up with me and the loud music and no one got it.

Long story short, 3 days later, after getting incredibly creative or maybe just lucky, I got a human on the phone (I could probably sell the method for that, it's nearly impossible). I learn that the driver said he delivered to me personally and that I signed. I explained the security cam and signature stuff and he politely said that the driver disagrees with that version. I asked if it might just show up and he said definitively no, it's "delivered". Could it have gone to a different address? No. Can you send me a copy of the signature? No. Should I expect to be reimbursed? No, the sender will be reimbursed. Is there anything you can do to help? We will send a report when the investigation is complete. Can you tell me when it will be complete? No, sometime in the next 30 days.

Just not my day I guess.

I never had an real problems with shipping before - delays and damage a few times, but nothing like this (guitar is worth over $3k). I've also really liked the delivery people who I've met, I always offer to help bring stuff in and have had some nice chats with a few of them. It seems strange that the driver on this one would make such a strong case that I got it when I didn't, but alas.

Anyone had something like this happen? Any advice?

If anyone is still following this, my local police department got the guitar back for me (they have been beyond helpful and o am soooo grateful for that). The investigation is on going, and I don't want to speak out of turn but for this to be at all helpful to any of you, I think I gotta share one final thing: the guitar was stolen and fences in less than 24 hours. That's insanely fast, so clearly an established fencing operation. And no third party took it from my porch, it was not delivered to me and it was not delivered to anyone else. I'll leave it at that.

Unfortunately the guitar has some cosmetic damage. The finish is chipped off on the headstock (as if it fell over)To bare wood. There are also some other small dings. I'll try and get compensation to have repaired.

The real sad thing is I don't really like the guitar anymore. I loved it before, and this probably seems stupid, but o just don't want to play it or even take it out of its case. It feels violated. It's an icky feeling, which I know is 100% in my head and stupid, but that's how I feel. Hopefully that changes over time.

Thank everyone, I really appreciate the support and help. It means a lot.

 

[redhouse_ca]

That the courier driver can't get his story right twice then goes cold tells you something.

Post-Covid, over here I've seen a common MO with certain couriers whereby they are signing your name on their DPA and leaving the package at your door if no-one in; this is fraudulent behaviour! Another tactic, which has happened to me, is that no signature forgery is made but a photograph of the item outside your door is their evidence that the item was delivered; this is unacceptable practice.

The compelling motive for couriers to dump packages at doors is because they are overloaded with work, and no-one wants to return to the depot with a package, for many of those small couriers today are paid piecemeal, by confirmed deliver. No-one wants to see a large item in their route for the fourth time.

I was once the victim of institutional theft, but thankfully it ended well for myself and the intended recipient in Spain. A fairly rare Gibson 335 CCW dropped off the tracking radar after a couple of days. After a week it had not re-appeared and I got onto Parcelforce UK. I was lucky - this is in the days before robo-assist and robo-menus - to get through to a human being who shared my concerns. Long story short, after another week he found the guitar in a corner of a warehouse, in cage full of items that had lost their tracking labels; the label on my carton had been completely torn off. My return address and the contents confirmed it was my guitar. They sealed the box up, reprinted the label, and it reached the recipient five days later.

It was my belief that the guitar had been nicked, and that it was sitting in remote corner of a warehouse it should not have been in, the thief biding his time until the heat died down.

Keep us updated, OP.

I just posted what I think is probably the final bit of info that might be helpful. It's buried somewhere but I wanted to make sure I ack'd you post so you know. Thanks for the support and feedback.

 

[redhouse_ca]

Just saying what I was told. My friend there is a very competent, upstanding person and wouldn't lie. I don't know what your issue is or why you need to address this, especially in the way you did.

I think this is entirely possible based on my experience. I'm not saying it's true in my case or making any claims to probabilities, but this is actually a fairly sensible explication for one aspect of this that I don't want to comment on. Like a perfect fit.

 

[Milspec]

If anyone is still following this, my local police department got the guitar back for me (they have been beyond helpful and o am soooo grateful for that). The investigation is on going, and I don't want to speak out of turn but for this to be at all helpful to any of you, I think I gotta share one final thing: the guitar was stolen and fences in less than 24 hours. That's insanely fast, so clearly an established fencing operation. And no third party took it from my porch, it was not delivered to me and it was not delivered to anyone else. I'll leave it at that.

Unfortunately the guitar has some cosmetic damage. The finish is chipped off on the headstock (as if it fell over)To bare wood. There are also some other small dings. I'll try and get compensation to have repaired.

The real sad thing is I don't really like the guitar anymore. I loved it before, and this probably seems stupid, but o just don't want to play it or even take it out of its case. It feels violated. It's an icky feeling, which I know is 100% in my head and stupid, but that's how I feel. Hopefully that changes over time.

Thank everyone, I really appreciate the support and help. It means a lot.

Glad you got it back, shame that it was damaged. I think that feeling will go away in time, I would probably leave it cosmetically damaged just for the story of it.

 

[Toto'sDad]

If possible, and you can be compensated for it, if it were mine, I would have it put back to as near as possible to the condition it was in to begin with. Hopefully someone local could do the job, or within driving distance. I have driven to both Los Angeles, and the central cost here in California from Bakersfield to have work done on some of my guitars. It all depends on how much value you held for the guitar before this incident.

When I got the guitar back, I'd just put it away for a while, and put the whole thing as much as possible behind me. On so many occasions, I am embarrassed to name them, I've gotten rid of some FINE guitars that I wish I had back. It's a lot easier to get rid of them, than to replace them. One day, say in six months, take the guitar out and see how you feel about it then. Might be like an old girlfriend you find yourself on the dance floor with.

 

[redhouse_ca]

Glad you got it back, shame that it was damaged. I think that feeling will go away in time, I would probably leave it cosmetically damaged just for the story of it.

Thanks man, it's not a bad idea. I wonder if GC would give me the same price they paid the fence

 

[mixmkr 2023]

Remember Framptons guitar. Go with your story and enjoy it.

 

[Alex_C]

Sorry to hear about this fiasco. I think thieves should lose a hand on the second offense, old school and brutal but it is a better deterrent than free room and board for 3 months.
Wonder how the scumbags worked around the GC fingerprint thing. Whenever I sold gear to GC, they had my thumbprint stamp on the paper.

 

[redhouse_ca]

Sorry to hear about this fiasco. I think thieves should lose a hand on the second offense, old school and brutal but it is a better deterrent than free room and board for 3 months.
Wonder how the scumbags worked around the GC fingerprint thing. Whenever I sold gear to GC, they had my thumbprint stamp on the paper.

Thanks man, the cop said they are usually mules. I don't know if that makes them victims but I'm willing to bet he didn't get a big cut.

 

[Alex_C]

Thanks man, the cop said they are usually mules. I don't know if that makes them victims but I'm willing to bet he didn't get a big cut.

Cogs in a machine are still necessary for smooth operation.