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i__jump OP t1_j26nhi6 wrote

Reply to comment by gommerthus in My new iPhone was stolen by UPS. by i__jump

Exactly. I was told by the Verizon store representative that they hire seasonal outside help for the influx of holiday orders, which apparently explains a lot of the theft according to them.

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J_NQ t1_j278t9t wrote

I worked in a FedEx Ground hub. 99.9% of thefts are always in the warehouse before they even get to the trucks for delivery.

I’m sorry for your stolen phone. It happens a lot in the warehouses.

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s4tyric4l t1_j28nkfl wrote

This is most industries in general. If you’ve ever worked retail and paid any attention you’ll notice there are more cameras on staff than customers. Shrinkage from shoplifters is expected and built into the system/budget. It’s harder to catch and prosecute and often enough too dangerous to stop in the moment. They also know staff is going to steal but internal thieves are often brazen and think they know how to cheat the system. Lots of places have fake camera domes to draw the attention of internal thieves to one area while having hidden cameras elsewhere.

Source: worked LP and Security for many years.

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i__jump OP t1_j29shb4 wrote

This is actually super interesting, thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge! I guess it makes sense though. I have heard of people who worked retail who had to get searched before going home.

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i__jump OP t1_j29sbq3 wrote

Thank you for your sympathy, I appreciate it. I can’t help but feel like this is somehow my fault, it’s my first phone buying experience and my first time having my own line (I was on a family plan previously).

I think it was definitely stolen in a warehouse at some point in processing and shipping. I don’t think it was stolen at the original Verizon warehouse, because they use brown tape, and the store associate told me that clear tape on the box indicates it was tampered with. The shipping box had clear tape, so I’m thinking maybe at some point in some UPS processing center, it was opened and stolen, then sealed back up.

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Crispynipps t1_j27ymon wrote

Drivers aren’t stealing phones. They make a fuck ton of money. It’s the employees inside. Your phone never made it to the package cars.

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pauldeanbumgarner t1_j282c0t wrote

The drivers are more closely tied to the deliveries as well. But I have seen drivers drop a package, take a picture of the delivery, then take the package and walk away. With all the cameras, though, it’s getting tougher. What’s needed is a secure handoff, with no way for the packages to be stolen.

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frontflipryan t1_j28sadk wrote

UPS doesn’t take pictures that is Amazon. There’s idiots everywhere but a UPS driver is 1000 times less likely to steal than an Amazon driver because of the difference in pay and benefits. Amazon driving is a bullshit medium tier dead end job and UPS driving is a high end middle class career.

Like someone else said tho UPS requires signatures for Apple. Doesn’t stop warehouse people from stealing but it’s also possible the box ripped and the phone got lost. I’d personally not tape an empty box but I’ve taped a lot of ripped boxes as long as the contents look intact. The conveyor belts are no joke. Someone I worked with had their arm pulled off. Imagine what they do to boxes.

It is worth filing a claim and mentioning it to UPS though. They do take theft seriously and investigate it if it’s possible.

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Ecsta t1_j28zhng wrote

FYI Fedex takes pictures now of high value items since no one wants signatures anymore due to covid.

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i__jump OP t1_j29t3uz wrote

Thank you for your comment! I would like to say, I don’t think I worded my original post well about which box was which.

It was the white iPhone container box (you know how they come in new white boxes with a picture of the phone on the front) was empty. It was still inside a brown shipping box. So someone opened my shipping box, grabbed the white iPhone box out, opened it and removed the phone, then put the iPhone box back in the shipping box.

I had grabbed the iPhone box, from the top of the brown shipping package, and ran to the phone store with it, and opened it there in front of the associate, where we found it was empty, so clearly deliberately stolen.

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Crispynipps t1_j28o6cs wrote

Apple products typically require a signature anyways.

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i__jump OP t1_j2837rs wrote

That’s what I’m thinking, especially since it was re-taped. I ordered via Verizon and in store today I was told they use that brown masking tape for packages, and clear tape means it was opened and re-sealed outside of the Verizon warehouse. My shipping box had clear tape on it. So maybe at some processing center or something like that, it was stolen. I guess I’ll never know.

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