My partner, Phillip is a Native American artist. He was one of 36 artists juried into the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian holiday market in New York City the weekend of December 6 " 7. Just for emphasis, let me say that again " only 36 artists juried in. It's a major opportunity for artists to sell their art and be seen by collectors. He shipped $18,000 worth of art to New York City for that show: via UPS. He shipped it 2nd day air on Wednesday. And it did arrive in two days. It got into New York on Friday and was on the truck before 9:00 A.M. And out for delivery.
But then the lazy, incompetent driver apparent couldn't find the GIANT STONE BUILDING that says Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian at ONE BOWLING GREEN. So he drove the artwork around New York all day long and then took it back to the warehouse. Both Phillip and the director of the Smithsonian made numerous attempts to contact UPS to find out the location of the boxes. They were told it was on the truck and out for delivery. No one attempted to do anything besides repeat their scripted information.
Let me mention, the depot where the box was taken is not open on Saturdays. So, $18,000 worth of art sat on a dock in New York City while the art market was happening. I called everyone Saturday morning, but no one could help. Two art collectors came by Phillip's booth with the intention of buying his work. He had to send them away empty handed instead of with the pieces they came to buy. Each was interested in a medium-sized piece, which sells for between $3,000 and $5,000. Those two lost sales alone cost Phillip somewhere between $6,000 and $10,000. That doesn't include the dozens of first-year Christmas ornaments, the jewelry, the first-run bronze masks, the mini-masks, and the pins. With lost sales, we estimate that we lost at least $10,000 in income that weekend. What's an artist to do when he doesn't have art work to sell???
I contacted UPS starting at 8:00 Monday morning to try to talk to someone. I left contact phone numbers. I spoke with three different "managers" in Atlanta, and a woman in New York. The Business Manager in New York never did give us the courtesy of a return call. I got jerked around all day by UPS employees in Atlanta. On Wednesday, a "co-worker" of the Business Manager called and told me there was nothing they could do. I never did get to speak to anyone else in Atlanta. I guess perhaps we should just be grateful that they reimbursed our shipping costs. For those of you thinking it we did call an attorney " who said that UPS is a limited liability corporation and since their 2 day guarantee is not IN WRITING they aren't responsible for anything at all.
Our combined income is not large. That show was a very sizeable part of our 2007 income. So, the short-term repercussion is we lost a HUGE amount of income because of the incompetence of UPS, and Phillip lost the opportunity to sell to two collectors. The long-term repercussion is that when we try to buy the larger home with a larger studio this coming Spring, or if Phillip tries to apply for a business loan or a credit card or anything, that loss of 2007 income is going to have a tremendous impact on our ability to get any of that financing.
I hope those buttheads at UPS are very proud of their business practices. And that driver, whoever he is, I hope he thinks about what his lazy incompetence cost two people in Oregon every time he sees the Smithsonian, artwork, the word Oregon, or the name Phillip.
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