Which company do I sue?
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Which company do I sue?
I sent an autoclave via UPS through a UPS store in Michigan to a repair facility in
Colorado to have a steam leak repaired. I built a crate to house the unit, strapped it
down with ratchet straps inside the box, and packed the sides with rolled up
blankets for padding. I paid for 2500 insurance, and they took my money, and
shipped the crate without inspecting the crate at all. The autoclave was damaged in
transit, and the repair facility notified me when it arrived. UPS picked the crate back
up from the facility, and took it to their facility in Colorado to inspect it. After
inspection, they denied my claim for what they deemed to be insufficient packing as
the crate was only minimally damaged. They then sent the crate not back to the
repair facility, but back to the UPS store in Michigan. Who knows how much more
damage it incurred in that process. So now I have a damaged autoclave that I paid
500 to ship to Colorado sitting back in Michigan. Aside from the fact that I think the
insurance claim is valid, I believe that the contract has not been fulfilled since the
package is not in Colorado at the repair facility that it was sent to.
Im told by the UPS store that they are not responsible as tgey are just a middle
man. Who do I sue, UPS, or the UPS store? And if it is UPS, where would I sue
them, in Michigan?
Asked on May 3, 2018 under Business Law, Michigan
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Since you don't know who exactly caused the damage through shipping, sue both UPS itself and the UPS store in question: let them argue or fight it out over who is responsible, and in the course of the litigation, information should come out to help fix liability.
You can sue UPS in your state: multi-state entities may be sued in a state where they do business, so long as the action leading to liability occured or at least started (e.g. shipping started) or otherwise took place in part there. You would need to up their "registered agent for service" (the person or entity they designated to receive service of legal papers) through your state's department of state (you can generally look this up on the department's website) and serve the designated agent.
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