UPS Employees Stole My Wife's Engagement Ring

Sorry for what happened here. I personally don't care for UPS or FedEx
for various reasons, mostly because I've been lied to by both of
them.

Your problem is also a classic example of why our company stopped
letting employees send out personal packages unless they had the
prepaid return labels on them. We were getting hit with too many
claims of the packages not getting to where they were going or
packages just ending up missing.

I realize that you used your company's account for convience sake, and
yes I did read the comments. I also used to use our company's UPS
account when I had to ship items to my sister, but I stopped when the
depot in her area got lazy and would try to tell me or her that her
address didn't exist. I finally started shipping USPS when the office
by my work started having later hours. Not once has she been told by
her postal carrier that her address doesn't exist.

Hopefully this will all work out for you. Please let us know.

Gaithersburg, MD?

NO WONDER it got STOLEN!

(To those who don't know, the crime rate in Gaithersburg has become
increasingly high in recent years, I used to live there myself as a
child. Now I don't dare go out there at night.)

Did the insurance policy you took out work out for you?

To the OP, I agree with what some others have said. DO NOT accept
payment on any claim (assuming UPS offers one) if you ever want to see
the ring again.

Do you happen to have a picture of the ring you can give to pawn
shops? Maybe i watch too much Law & Order, but someone might try to
pawn the ting and get caught that way.

There have been two comments removed from this thread; both from the
same person and both accused the letter writer of illegal behavior.

Our comment system is set up in thread form so if a comment is removed
from the site, any comments which responded to it also disappear even
though there may have been nothing wrong with them.

Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion.

This is not the first time I have heard of UPS doing this. A few
months ago, a co-worker of mine had ordered something it was shipped
thru UPS. They had the gall to deliver the item (well, just the box
actually) to her front door damaged and opened with the items
missing!

When she called to complain, they also gave her the run around and
refused to accept any responsibility for it whatsoever.

Our original wedding bands were stolen from the house. They were just
cheap gold bands, easily replaceable, and we obviously weren't even
wearing them at the time, but I always felt bad that we no longer had
them. So I can imagine how sick you and your wife must feel about such
a special ring. I hope you get the insurance money you're entitled to
and use it to have another ring made. I know it won't be the same, but
try not to let this one memory overshadow everything the ring stands
for.

I'm very sorry that this happened.I can only imagine if this happened
to my wedding ring. Also congrats to your wife's weight loss. My only
thought is why didn't you just drive to a local jewerly store? I would
never ship anything worth so much and with so emotional ties.

You really should get the police involved, because many insurance
companies require that a report be filed before entertaining a claim.
Contacting law enforcement is also essential because they can put it
on the "hot sheet" that pawn shops receive and are supposed to
cross-check before selling property.

I would recommend contacting the non-emergency number of the agency
that would have jurisdiction and asking to be directed to their
property crimes unit. They can assign a detective to your case who
should take the report. Some agencies will also have the option of you
coming in to fill out a report.

Good luck, and I really hope you find it. I know I would be devastated
if this happened to me.

How do you know it was someone from UPS that stole it? I might be
someone from the place you sent it to and they are trying to blame the
UPS guy. It's hard to say WHO stole it.
You might want to see if your local news has a "On Your Side" thing.
They may want to hear your story and maybe put it on the News.
Someone might see it and know where the ring is. Also, check around
the local pawn shops. It might be there. Hope you do find it.

LAUREL,
MD, US 08/06/2008 5:18 P.M. ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED WITH
CUSTOMER

Looks like they're working on something for you.

I notice that this was sent from GAITHERSBURG, MD to LAUREL, MD.
That's about a half hour drive, according to Google. For $10,000 and
something irreplaceable, I'd drive it there. Again, sorry to hear
about this and I hope they pay the claim quickly.

One warning: if they do pay the claim, you can never get the ring
back. So, if it turns up, they're allow the sell it someone else
without notifying you. I recent saw this on a Travel Channel show
where they had a store that sells the stuff that turns up on airlines.
Once they pay the claim, you lose all rights to it. So, careful
about accepting a payment if you have hopes of it ever being
recovered. You might want to demand that the insurance company allow
you to purchase the ring back for the $10,000 they pay you, if it ever
shows up.

True, it was shipped from my warehouse, I am the supervisor of the
warehouse, and due to my hours, I could not get to Bethesda in time
(which is where the jewelry store is), due to the store closing and my
work schedule, I never though UPS would lose it. The store said it
happens all the time, and I should have used registered mail. I have
the local security and I am going to call the police to see if they
take a report.

I'm very sorry this happened, I would be just as upset and I do hope
UPS gets right on this for you. I'm so glad you purchased insurance! I
kind of want to point out that the ring wasn't necessarily stolen - I
deal with UPS on a daily basis and have seen some VERY mangled
packages - it's a result of the handling rather than anyone actually
opening it. The ring could have easily fallen out. But then I happened
to look at the information on the tracking number in your letter. I
don't know if you're even aware of this, but as a "reference number",
which is printed right on the package label, UPS has "ENGAGEMENT RING
FOR RESIZING". Yes - that was printed on the outer label of your
package. Which makes me suspect that you're probably right and it WAS
stolen. I don't know if you entered that as a reference or UPS did,
but if they did that, then I think that adds to your case against them
significantly.

Good luck, and very sorry about this.

Wow. Sorry to hear. I'm confused about what you want them to do. I
don't think they can waterboard every UPS employee that may have
handled this package. I think they need to contact their insurance
company to get you paid. Unfortunately, that can take time.

How they handle their employees is not something that they'll subject
you to. If you really want, you can call the police and press charges
against a specific person, if you think you know who did it.

Again, sorry that this happened. If something was irreplaceable and
this important, personally I wouldn't just take out insurance. I'd
want to hand carry it to someone, watch them while they worked on it.
I know my wife would be devastated if her ring was lost.

My class ring only cost $400, yet if anyone stole that I'd be laying a
beat down on someone for sentimental value alone.

Is there any way to get the police involved with this? After all, if I
remember correctly, tampering with packages is a federal felony, and
$10 000, not to even mention the emotional attachment, is no laughing
matter. Although it might sound a bit dramatic, I might even get the
local media involved. Every station loves a story about an everyday
person getting shafted by Big Business.

I hate to say this but I've heard of jewelry thefts with UPS before,
only because my hubby works there. They do investigate it and
sometimes they even set up suspected employees, and they HAVE
successfully caught thieves inside the company. There are also
theives that watch/case the jewelry stores to see what is going out to
be shipped. It's a horrible shame.

I hope you get this resolved and Im so sorry to hear about this.
Congrats to your wife's successful weight loss. Good luck with this
entire situation, and please keep us updated!

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear what's happened. I trust UPS, but I know
there are bad apples in every company. I've never shipped something
that expensive before and it's not your fault just because you shipped
by UPS.

I would be upset too, I think, if this happened to me. I don't think
it's just because of the value of the item...it's more that I placed
my trust in someone and a company and I got ripped off and stolen
from. That would make me more angry then actually losing the item, if
that makes sense.

I'm glad, though, that you bought insurance for it. I hope that UPS
comes through for you and also that the ring is recovered.

Should you get the police involved? I think maybe I would...but I'm
not sure with the procedure with this sort of thing.

BTW, congrats to your wife for her awesome acheivement.

You did the right thing -- purchased insurance. They should just cut
you a check right now. And start following the "chain of evidence."

Good luck to you.

I wish I could tell your wife to stop crying over a ring, but I
suspect that I'd be pretty upset as well.

Congrats to her on losing 100 pounds! That's awesome.

Call me crazy but I just cannot imagine taking that much of a chance
on a "one of a kind" piece of jewelry and ship it via UPS even though
you insured it for the $10,000.
What stopped you from taking it to a local jeweler to have this sizing
done? It's not something that will affect the setting by any means so
its not like the store where it was purchased HAS to do this.

Keep us posted.

Wow. Just....wow. I don't even know what to say except wow.

I know someone is going to come along and ask why you shipped such a
high-value item in the first place. I'll answer that by saying it's
not an uncommon practice. My boss had several pieces of high-value
artwork shipped from Washington DC to Milwaukee WI last year because
it was less of a risk than taking it on an airplane. It doesn't negate
the complaint.

Also, I could see why you want to use the same jewelry store that you
had used in the past. It's a trust factor. There is a jewelry store in
my city that we use exclusively only because of the excellent service
we have always received.

I also think theft by carriers happens more than people realize. Two
years ago, a friend of mine was living in Atlanta. Her mother shipped
two books to her for Christmas via regular mail. Only one book was in
the box by the time the package arrived.

As the owner of a one-of-a-kind wedding ring myself, I hope you get a
resolution to this. I would be irate as well.

What a mess, I hope you did get some compensation for that one.

There are many local jewelers that could have easily sized the ring
while you watch in most cases.

Let us know how it turns, Sorry about your loss.


Good Day