Solve It 7: Family Heirloom

For Taylor Sparks, a chest she received from her mother was more than just a piece of furniture.

“It used to belong to my great aunt, and when she passed, it passed down to my mother,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s mom, who lives in Boston, gave Taylor the cherished family heirloom back in February. She then had to figure out how to get it to her home in North Carolina.

“I called The UPS Store to ask them if that is something they could do for me. Could they pack it for me and make sure it got here safely? I was assured they could,” Taylor said.

She brought the trunk to The UPS Store and paid more than $200 to ship it, plus an additional $55 for the store employee to pack and protect it. She also purchased insurance – just in case.

“It’s a straight shot down here so I thought a few days it should be fine,” she said.

Taylor flew back to North Carolina and a few days later her delivery arrived.

“As I started to unwrap it, one leg after another came off,” Taylor said. “It didn’t just break. They were shattered, like splintered, like someone had dropped the box on the top of the truck or something.”

Her cherished cedar chest was in rough shape.

“I was just heartbroken. I’m like, I haven’t even told my mom,” she said.

Taylor immediately contacted UPS, filed a claim, and submitted pictures of the damaged chest and the packing materials used. She then received more bad news.

“The claim was denied because I did not use the proper packing material. The box was not sufficient for the weight of the product,” she said.

Taylor told the representative that she didn’t pack the item and that UPS did, but the representative told her that the location she went to was a privately owned franchise and that the store was responsible for paying the claim. So Taylor contacted the store’s general manager.

“She basically said to me ‘It’s not our responsibility. We did what we were suppose to do,” and I said ‘No. Corporate said you did not,'” Taylor recalled.

Determined not to give up, Taylor says she kept reaching out to both the store and UPS corporate, but after more than a month and still no answers – Taylor needed help. So she reached out to Solve it 7.

We called UPS and emailed the company all the details of Taylor’s case. The representative said she would research the incident and get back to us.

Two days later they contacted Taylor.

“They told me that they had decided to pay the claim,” Taylor said.

She then received a check for more than $550 from UPS corporate.

The company said “UPS initially denied the claim citing insufficient packaging, but after revisiting the case, they have reversed their decision and will be refunding the customer for the claim.”

“Thank you Solve it 7 team! I so appreciate all of your efforts in getting to the right people,” Taylor said. “If it hadn’t been for you guys, I don’t believe it would have been resolved.”

If you have a problem, give us call 617 367 7777 or send an email to SolveIt7@whdh.com.

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