This is, unfortunately, more commmon than we expect. I once had a client
that had outsourced box storage to a vendor that had "temporarily misplaced"
a lot of boxes. The client referred to them as "phantom boxes" because they
were supposed to exist, but in reality, could never be seen. There were
"clues" and "evidence" to the boxes' existence in reports from the off-site
vendor, because the storage vendor insisted on continually billing the
customer for their storage. But the boxes themselves seemed to be a mirage.

Eventually, I believe the customer realized the value of the information was
low, and the risk of retention debacles (hold orders, etc.) was low. So they
just documented the situation and eventually directed the off-site storage
to destroy the boxes, there by eliminating their own records management
risks. That effectively meant that the off-site storage vendor now had to
figure out a way to destroy the phantoms, or be haunted by them.

John

********************************
John T. Phillips
MSLS, CRM, CDIA, FAI
Electronic Records Management
Consulting, Education, Research
Information Technology Decisions
www.infotechdecisions.com
865-966-9413


-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Ian Janssen
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 9:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Missing Boxes

Recently, this institution made a transition from one records storage vendor
to another, with approximately 14,000 cartons of records moved between the
two.  Out of that number, 30 remain with the original vendor and were not
moved for reasons unknown.  That vendor is searching for cartons, but is
beginning to indicate that the boxes were sent to the university, which they
most certainly were not; likewise, they never were sent to the recipient
vendor.  The vendor's own systems indicate that the cartons were withdrawn
but not shipped.

I have tried every trick in the book, so to speak, to obtain these 30
cartons from the original vendor, without success to date.  Short of
litigation, what options as a departing customer do I have?  Has anybody
else experienced a similar situation, and if so, how was it resolved?

If you wish to contact me off-list, please do so at [log in to unmask]  
Thank you.

--
Ian Janssen
Director
University Archives and Records Management University of Delaware
002 Pearson Hall
Newark, DE  19716-0501
Phone: 302-831-2750
Fax: 302-831-6903
Email: [log in to unmask]

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