UPS tells Bay Area customer his guitar is destroyed and discarded, but he then finds it for sale
"I just had an intuition that the guitar was stolen and that it wasn't damaged and destroyed," said Diaz.
HAYWARD, Calif. -- A Hayward man says UPS lost a unique guitar he purchased, then offered up a bunch of different explanations including that it was destroyed in the Southern California wildfires. That is until 7 On Your Side got involved.
It sounds like Christmas came late for the Diaz family.
"It's a nice guitar. I like its tone a lot," said Hayward resident Damian Diaz in between playing.
The 16-year-old just recently received his gift. His dad Tony purchased the guitar months ago from seller Adam Hulsey.
"I shipped them all at the same time, from the same place, printed the labels right here at home," said Hulsey, Adam's Guitar Addict general manager.
The guitar was one of three in the shipment, but only two arrived.
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This Dime Slime guitar seemed to be stuck in Lathrop, California.
Calls to UPS customer service revealed all kinds of reasons it wasn't delivered.
"Burned up in a California wildfire, fell off a truck, fell off a train. So many different stories," said Hulsey.
"The package was damaged beyond repair. All contents were destroyed and discarded," Hulsey continued.
Hulsey received some compensation from UPS, but not an amount he felt was fair. UPS says it was going off the amount Hulsey insured the shipment for.
Meantime, Tony Diaz had a hunch the guitar was still out there.
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"I just had an intuition that the guitar was stolen and that it wasn't damaged and destroyed," said Diaz.
Sure enough, on a search, the exact Dime Slime guitar down to the serial number appeared on a Guitar Center website.
"21 1564," said Tony Diaz, reading it off.
"That's like a VIN number on a car and it's there for reasons just like this," said Hulsey.
Hulsey snatched it up and Diaz made the drive to Bakersfield to get it.
"It was 3.5 hours to get up there and it was 4 hours to get back. Was it worth it? Yeah, it was absolutely worth it," said Diaz.
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"When you're a small business like myself you can't afford to have these types of things happen," said Hulsey.
They filed a police report and called UPS back, but Diaz says the call didn't go great.
"UPS was kind of - hey why are you calling with this tracking number, this is already a closed case. The guitar was damaged and destroyed and I told them on the phone - well that's so funny that the guitar was damaged and destroyed because I just bought it from Guitar Center and I have it in my car with me," said Diaz.
That's when 7 On Your Side stepped in. ABC7 News investigative reporter Melanie Woodrow spoke to a UPS security supervisor who said the guitar was stolen but that UPS couldn't reimburse Hulsey for more than he had insured it. After speaking with 7 On Your Side and Hulsey, UPS agreed to revisit the issue if Hulsey provided a receipt for the purchase.
In a statement to 7 On Your Side, UPS writes, "We strive to provide excellent service. We've been in contact with the customer and have resolved the situation."
The resolution, a bigger refund that satisfied Husley and Diaz.
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"7 On Your Side has been fantastic," said Diaz.
"I couldn't have done it without you guys Melanie you've been great in getting me in touch with the right people at UPS," said Hulsey.
While the guitar which had been in mint condition prior to the theft now has a few blemishes --
"It didn't have that dent in the top before," said Diaz.
"There's a scratch back here on the back right here," he continued.
Tony Diaz and his son, are glad to have it in their hands, safe and sound.
7 On Your Side's Melanie Woodrow asked the UPS security supervisor why Diaz and Hulsey were given so many different explanations about what happened to the guitar. He said there was a "casualty code" assigned to the shipment and it's possible representatives in the customer service call center didn't know what the code meant.
