I had a dispute a year ago which took 3 or 4 weeks to resolve. A UPS 2 day envelop was shipped to my home with some time sensitive material inside, dropped off by UPS, and we never saw it. It’s a safe area and the weather was stormy, so the envelop could have blown away. Lots of landscaping workers as well, so it also could have walked off. Or just stayed with the driver.
During the dispute, UPS deliberately misrepresented my conversation with them, declaring to the vendor I had confirmed receipt of the product and agreed the case was closed, both of which were untrue and impossible to conclude from my comments.
When I disputed payment with the CC, they refused. Their position was that “I had agreed that UPS dropping off the envelope was equivalent to my taking delivery”, I therefore took delivery, and the subsequent loss was my personal problem. This was never resolved, even though no such agreement exists.
The vendor eventually agreed to refund the purchase, which they should have done when first made aware of the loss. They suffered no loss if the contents were unused. I’m not sure why they agreed, but my complaint to the state attorney general consumer protection office may have influenced them.
Leaving packages on a doorstep is a labor saving device for the shipper to lower cost and shorten delivery times. Loss or theft should be between the vendor and shipping agent, but it’s no surprise they will make every effort to push that onto the consumer.