Yesterday I had had enough, so I sent an email to the big boys at UPS Corporate HQ to see if I could get any sort of resolution to this fiasco.
I sent this email to the following:
Michael L Eskew, Chairman & CEO - MLEskew@ups.com
James P. (Jim) Kelly, Director - JKelly@ups.com
David Abney, President, UPS International - DAbney@ups.com
Jim Winestock, Senior Vice President of US Operations - jwinestock@ups.com
Kurt Kuehn, Worldwide Sales and Marketing - KKuehn@ups.com
Allen E Hill, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary - AHill@ups.com
John McDevitt, Strategic Integration - JMcDevitt@ups.com
Alan Gershenhorn AGershenhorn@ups.com
Christine Owens COwens@ups.com
Teri McClure TMcclure@ups.com
The email:
I would like to express my deep frustration and annoyance at the UPS agents in Istanbul in their inflexibility and inability to help with a package being shipped via UPS.
On the 17th June I bought an electronic book reader from Ace Photo Digital for GBP 148.87 ($279) shipping was GBP 59.20.
So far I think it has gone-to Turkey/USA about 6 times it is now stuck in limbo because I am refusing to accept ownership.
This is due to UPS Istanbul stating the following.
a.They say approximate charges for item are in the region of 350-400 Turkish lire ($286-$327) but they cannot give me an exact figure until they receive,
a power of attorney letter, this is for various charges - holding fee, customs duty, stamp duty etc.
b.They want a power of attorney letter from me giving them permission to import the electronic book reader.
For me to give them a power of attorney letter which the will provide I need to get it notarized, this will cost me between 100-150 Turkish lire
($81-$122) plus translator fees, I cannot sign the document until it has been translated for me because it would not be legal, this will cost
me an additional 40-60 Turkish lire.
The main problem I have is that in giving UPS a notarized letter of attorney I leave myself open to any and all charges they wish to place upon me and by law I would have to pay them.
The other problem I have is that customs fees are flexible in regards who is being charged and by whom. In other words unfortunately in Turkey customs
officers will charge what they think they can because there seems to be no official guidelines, there is a long history of problems with customs and excessive and inappropriate taxes levied.
I now have become so frustrated with the matter than I have asked Ace Photo Digital to recall the package and have it sent back to them as inexpensively
as possible, but UPS Istanbul are now asking $200 for the package to be returned, in effect I have lost most of my money and do not even have the
electronic book reader to show for my troubles.
I hope you can try and understand my predicament and if possible give me some assistance to resolve it.
The UPS tracking number is xxx.
Many thanks
EF
