NBC 5 Responds helps to recover losses after luggage is lost by shipping company

An attempt to lighten the load while traveling turned into a heavy burden for one North Texas family and NBC 5 Responds helped them get compensation for that lost luggage.

Thomas Holliday and his family of Waxahachie recently returned from their dream vacation on a cruise to Alaska. They flew into Seattle a few days early before boarding ship to do some sightseeing. To lighten their load while in Seattle, the family shipped their luggage ahead, using UPS.

The luggage arrived 4 days ahead of them without incident at a local UPS Store. But, shipping the luggage back home didn't go as smoothly--one piece didn't arrive.

That piece contained all the souvenirs from their trip. Holliday says when they checked the tracking number, they received a message saying, "damage reported."

After filing a claim with UPS, they would only offer $100 for the loss, as no additional insurance had been purchased for the shipment.

In trying to find out what happened to the luggage, Holliday hit a brick wall spending over 20 hours on multiple phone calls, being transferred from one representative to another.

Holliday then decided to reach out to NBC 5 Responds for help. He says he'd watched some of the investigative reporting and thought, "It's a long shot, I don't know...but it was worth a shot."

We contacted UPS, who offered greater compensation for the loss at $1,500.

In a statement, UPS said in part, "The loss of a customer's package in our system is unfortunate. We're continuing to investigate and will update the customer as we gain additional information."

After this experience, Holliday says, "If you're going to send something, put a tracker on, a GPS tracker, so you can see where it is in real-time."

UPS said it recommends consumers take advantage of the UPS Store Pack and Ship guarantee, follow guidelines for shipping luggage, and declare a value for their items.

UPS also tells consumers to place an additional label inside the package so it can return the items to the correct person in the unlikely event the address label becomes detached or unreadable during shipment. UPS advises consumers tape the address label on a flat surface of the item being shipped and cover the label with clear tape. You can find additional packing tips from UPS here and customizable guidelines for packages here.

This story has been updated with additional tips UPS shared with NBC 5 Responds when the team reached out about the Holliday’s question last fall.

NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.