The Consumer Complaints Blog

I need help to resolve a problem I am having with UPS and Fed EX.
In March my friend and I sent 18 bottles of wine home from Italy. Before I go any further I admit right now that we had no idea that it was so difficult to send wine to Canada never having tried something like this before. We were told in Italy that it was done all of the time and that they could ship the wine for us-and so we did. The wine cost approximately 20 euros/bottle. It cost about 100.00 Euros to ship. We thought at we were getting a very good deal. Unfortunately we were so wrong.

Once the wine arrived in Canada I received a phone call from Lynn Grant from UPS to send them copies of the receipts for the purchase and shipping charges. I was told that there were several steps before the wine could be released and that it would take approximately 30-40 days. I was told that they had to send the information on to the LCBO who would then determine a Canadian cost for the wine + taxes and then the shipment would go through customs and that they would assign customs fees. After that was done UPS would charge a brokerage fee and after all of the fees were paid that the shipment would be released and delivered by Fed Ex. for which there would be no charge.

It is now May 14. After having paid all of the fees requested by UPS I believed that my shipment would be released and that we would finally get the wine. However I received an ’emergency’ email from Lyn Grant asking me to call her. I was told that I would have to pay an additional 300.00 on top of the 561. 00 for 12 bottles and another 194.00 for the other 6 bottles which I had already paid to UPS. Having paid almost 800.00 is fees I expected that my wine shipment would be delivered.
Unfortunately this was not the case. As you can see from the attachments above I received an email from UPS asking me to contact them. I was told on the phone that Fed Ex wanted to now charge storage fees. According to Ms. Grant from UPS this has never happened in the past. She explained that they had an ‘ understanding’ with Fed Ex, that Fed Ex understood that the process to get wine through customs could take up to 40 days and that they had never been charged before. However, according to Ms. Grant, Fed Ex now wanted and additional 300.00 in storage fees and that my shipment would not be released by Fed Ex unless I paid the fees.

I could not believe this. I asked for the number for Fed EX. I called Fed Ex ( 613) 738-4501 and spoke to Roger. Roger explained that UPS was being dishonest. He said that Fed Ex always charged for storage. He said that they were told by UPS not to deliver the shipment as UPS did not want to pay the additional fee. He put me through to his manager Jason. Jason gave me the same information. He said that they always charged UPS storage fees for anything over 3 days. He explained that UPS didn’t always pay the fees. He said that they were willing to deliver the shipment but that UPS would not allow it because they would have to pay the storage fees. He explained that there was absolutely no reason why it should take 40 days to clear customs.

I called and spoke to Lynn Grant from UPS (613) 737-5935. She was very aggressive on the phone. I asked her to send me this new explanation in writing and that I would discuss this with my husband. She maintained that Fed EX was being honest. She maintains that UPS has never had to pay storage fees before. She explained that if they wanted UPS to pay storage fees then they should have filled them from the start and that they should have received a bill from Fed Ex. She maintains that they never got a bill from Fed EX. She explained that it was Fed Ex who would not deliver the shipment as they now wanted more money. Ms. Grant told me that she didn’t like being seen as a liar. That she would speak to her superiors and that they would sort this out. It should be noted that she did not send me this information in writing, and that she got back to me.

As you can imagine I was very upset by this turn of events. I told her that I had paid all of the extra fees her company working as the brokerage company had requested. I felt that I had met my end of the obligation and because of this that they should ask Fed Ex to release my shipment and that this new battle is between Fed Ex and UPS. She said it was Fed Ex who would not release the shipment, Fed EX said it was UPS.

For some reason Fed Ex delivered 6 bottles. I did not have to pay the storage fees. I thought that Ms. Grant at UPS had sorted out this problem. I was wrong. I received a note from Mr. Wagi from UPS today telling me that I had to pay a Fed Ex bill or Fed EX would not deliver the other 12 bottles of wine. It seems Ms. Grant is on holidays and Mr. Waji had taken over the file. I did not hear back from Ms. Grant. I have no idea if they tried to resolve this issue with Fed Ex or as the manager from Fed Ex explained-they were simply trying to download 1 of their costs onto the client. (Because of a delay (Ups did not process the 12 bottles at the same time) the other 12 were not delivered at the same time.) As you can see from the attached, that UPS is now telling me that I have to pay the storage fees on the 12 bottles or Fed Ex will not deliver.

I feel that I had an agreement with UPS. I paid in full the amounts I was told it would cost to have the shipments released and delivered to my home. I don’t believe that I should now have to pay additional charges because UPS made a mistake or is simply lying to me. I don’t believe I should be caught in the middle of this new battle between UPS and FED EX.

Please help me. I am getting totally different stories from both companies and UPS is refusing to allow Fed EX to deliver my shipment.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.