Bay Area viewers question UPS explanation for 'lost items' now for sale online
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- There are more questions from Bay Area residents about UPS shipping practices when it comes to lost items.
Last month, 7 On Your Side told you about a Hayward man who claimed that UPS lost a unique guitar he had purchased, then offered several different explanations, including that it was destroyed in the Southern California wildfires. The guitar ultimately appeared for resale online.
RELATED: UPS tells Bay Area customer his guitar is destroyed and discarded, but he then finds it for sale
Now, two other viewers say UPS told them the one-of-a-kind items they were shipping were also lost, and the shipping containers discarded -- one of those items now possibly for sale on eBay.
A Bay Area bike builder has been working on a '70s-style show bike for Derek Kriebel, a motorcycle enthusiast in Ohio.
"I play with them and then I sell them," said Kriebel.
His newest toy was supposed to have a supercharger. "The supercharger theoretically doubles the horsepower of the motorcycle," said Kriebel.
Kriebel convinced Mike La Marca in New Jersey to sell it to him.
"He explained he was building a bike for a bike show and I had sold some superchargers that were put on bikes for that bike show previously, so that's how we struck a deal," said La Marca.
However, when La Marca shipped it with UPS -- fully insured -- to the bike builder in the Bay Area, it never arrived.
"Ugh, my heart sank," said La Marca. "Number one, just because the rarity of the supercharger."
"I think somebody definitely stole it," said Kriebel.
Months later, La Marca spotted the supercharger for sale on eBay.
MORE: Push to combat Bay Area mail theft gets attention at federal level
He says it's definitely the same one and sent 7 On Your Side pictures showing similar markings between the one he shipped and the one now for sale.
"It's too many coincidences," said La Marca.
La Marca reached out to the eBay seller, who told him, "We buy lost freight from shipping companies."
"So maybe the box was torn open and missing some parts, and UPS sells them off. I don't know at this point," said La Marca.
La Marca filed a police report he sent us, but the seller told him police have not contacted them.
A UPS spokesperson would not answer 7 On Your Side's questions about UPS selling lost freight to other companies. However, they released the following statement: "We're committed to delivering excellent service. Issues with shipments are uncommon, but when they happen, we work with our customers to resolve them."
Last month, 7 On Your Side covered the story of a lost guitar shipped via UPS. UPS told the shipper the shipment burned in a California wildfire, fell off a truck, fell off a train, the package was damaged beyond repair, and all contents were destroyed and discarded.
But then the guitar turned up for sale on a Guitar Center website.
"I just had an intuition that the guitar was stolen and that it wasn't damaged and destroyed," Tony Diaz of Hayward previously told 7 On Your Side.
La Marca saw our story.
"That's when I kind of put two and two together, that this was in the same area, and that's when I reached out to you," said La Marca.
The shipper of a one-of-a-kind painting by June Chen Ahleman also reached out to 7 On Your Side after our report aired.
Pam Daniels recently moved from the Chicago area to the Bay Area.
"On a trip back to Chicago in February, I prepared it and shipped it, and it never arrived," said Daniels.
"I mean, artwork is irreplaceable. This is not something that exists in any other form," Daniels continued.
Daniels didn't insure her shipment, saying she had never had an issue with UPS previously.
She received the same explanation as La Marca.
"All merchandise is missing and the carton has been discarded," said Daniels.
"I don't think it could disappear. It's not like it was a couple of loose bolts in the bottom of a box that fell out. I don't know how you lose something that's 5 feet by 7 feet big," she continued.
Daniels says she heard about our prior report at a makers' space in San Francisco, where entrepreneurs are working on how to make shipping more trackable.
"I was like what, is this a ring, what is going on," questioned Daniels.
Three rare shipments lost, with two of the items later appearing for sale online and a singular explanation from UPS for why: contents missing or destroyed, box discarded.
All three shipments were sent between January and February of this year.
The shipper of the supercharger says in order to insure it for full value, UPS had to pack it up and the shipper had to fill out a form declaring what was in it and listing all the components.
Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.
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