Why to avoid shipping by UPS

wsuffa

wsuffa

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Bill S.
So I have patiently awaiting a shipment that was made by UPS to my home address. It was due today.

Arrived home tonight to find the dreaded door tag. No problem, you might say: just call them and pick up at the depot. Not so fast, cardboard breath!

I call UPS at 6:10 and request to pick up tonight. No problem, they say, it's before 7 PM. The call center says I'll hear back in an hour as to where to pick up the package.

An hour goes by. No call (no surprise, this is "service America", so my expectations were low). I call again. No record of the request, and it's past 7 PM so I can't get the package tonight. Escalate to a supervisor. THey call the local office, who is unapologtic and won't help. I must call tomorrow to arrange a pickup. They can't tell me why there is no record of a pickup request for tonight.

Supervisor gives me the local depot number. THey tell me to call corporate office and hang up on me.

I call the corporate office again. They tell me they can hold the package for pickup, but I have to pick it up between 10 A and 6 P tomorrow - nothing earlier or later. But if the package comes back out on the truck, and I call after delivery is attempted, they can try and make arrangements for me to pickup between 6 and 7 PM tomorrow night. I won't be able to pickup until after 6 PM, due to my schedule tomorrow. But I'll have to wait for the magic call to find out where to pick it up at the depot. Oh, and there is no record of my earlier calls.

Wanna bet they screw it up again tomorrow and I don't get the package - again?

I've never had this kind of problem with FedEx. Never. Customer service out the wazoo, and great pickup arrangements at the depot... even same day.

Folks, UPS is customer unfriendly and doesn't deserve your business. SOmeone might be able to convince me otherwise, but it's going to take a mighty amount of convincing.

/rant off
 
wsuffa said:
So I have patiently awaiting a shipment that was made by UPS to my home address. It was due today.

Arrived home tonight to find the dreaded door tag. No problem, you might say: just call them and pick up at the depot. Not so fast, cardboard breath!

I call UPS at 6:10 and request to pick up tonight. No problem, they say, it's before 7 PM. The call center says I'll hear back in an hour as to where to pick up the package.

An hour goes by. No call (no surprise, this is "service America", so my expectations were low). I call again. No record of the request, and it's past 7 PM so I can't get the package tonight. Escalate to a supervisor. THey call the local office, who is unapologtic and won't help. I must call tomorrow to arrange a pickup. They can't tell me why there is no record of a pickup request for tonight.

Supervisor gives me the local depot number. THey tell me to call corporate office and hang up on me.

I call the corporate office again. They tell me they can hold the package for pickup, but I have to pick it up between 10 A and 6 P tomorrow - nothing earlier or later. But if the package comes back out on the truck, and I call after delivery is attempted, they can try and make arrangements for me to pickup between 6 and 7 PM tomorrow night. I won't be able to pickup until after 6 PM, due to my schedule tomorrow. But I'll have to wait for the magic call to find out where to pick it up at the depot. Oh, and there is no record of my earlier calls.

Wanna bet they screw it up again tomorrow and I don't get the package - again?

I've never had this kind of problem with FedEx. Never. Customer service out the wazoo, and great pickup arrangements at the depot... even same day.

Folks, UPS is customer unfriendly and doesn't deserve your business. SOmeone might be able to convince me otherwise, but it's going to take a mighty amount of convincing.

/rant off
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Wow.. I can't believe how bad that situation is. In 2004? I worked during Christmas season as a Delivery Driver for UPS. Most of the drivers were disgruntled around other workers, but seemed pretty helpful around customers including using personal vehicles to deliver packages after hours.

If you know where the local Center is, you might be able to just show up and talk to the right person and they can pull your package off the truck. After the trucks return in the evening, a whole new shift of workers comes in and unloads the pick-ups from the day and begins sorting for the morning load-out. Stuff that goes back out on the trucks the next day just sits on the same truck until it goes out the next day unless it has a "pickup request" entered for it.

Surprising, to say the least. I have had the opposite experiences you have had with FedEx vs. UPS. :dunno:
 
I don't think I've ever had a good experience with UPS. When I order photo equipment, it usually comes "in-person signature required." I'm able to work from home when I need to and if I know something's coming I'll do that, to be around to sign for it. Not once has the driver ever bothered trying to actually get that signature, preferring instead to leave the little "unable to deliver" slip of paper. More recently, I ordered something and got 2-day shipping. It shipped on Wednesday but I didn't get it until Monday; it made it to the nearby (like 3 miles away) distribution center on Friday morning but they didn't put it on the truck apparently.
 
wsuffa said:
Wanna bet they screw it up again tomorrow and I don't get the package - again?

I've never had this kind of problem with FedEx. Never. Customer service out the wazoo, and great pickup arrangements at the depot... even same day.

Folks, UPS is customer unfriendly and doesn't deserve your business. SOmeone might be able to convince me otherwise, but it's going to take a mighty amount of convincing.

/rant off
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Having been there to hear the customer counter (which was 15 miles away) SCREAM at a customer I agree.

Your problem is living in a home. If you would just move to an office with a receptionist or a loading dock, UPS would love you long time.

Didja know that FedEX Ground actually specializes in residential delivery and the truck drivers are independent contractor route owners?

You know. You may have heard that since the 1990s people started buying stuff online on a thing called the internet and had it delivered to their homes. UPS thinks that's crazy talk.

So if you have a chance, specify FedEX Ground over UPS.
 
Interesting. We get a lot of deliveries at home via UPS and have had no problems with them. Our regular driver is a personable guy, too. YMMV
 
It all depends on where you are and your diver. Here in Madison, I haven't had any problems with my UPS guy. He is pretty good at "hiding" the package on my porch. OTOH when I lived in an apartment in the northern burbs of Chicago, I learned that it would be about 2 days after getting the dreaded door tag before the package would actually be at the will call location at the Palatine Depot. Literally every time I called in a door tag for will call, Id be assured that it would be waiting for pickup at the depot the next day. Just about every single time they would have to go into the bowels of the giant distribution center to liberate my package which would invariably take nearly an hour.

I prefer the USPS or FedEx now
 
I have employees working out of their homes all over this state that get and ship via UPS several times a week, and we rarely have problems. Most of my guys and girls are on first name basis with their drivers though, and most all of them have exchanged cell phone numbers with their drivers who are really good at calling them if they have a delivery and no one is home.

We tried FedEx and DHL. Neither of them gave us the service that UPS has.
 
wsuffa said:
I've never had this kind of problem with FedEx. Never. Customer service out the wazoo, and great pickup arrangements at the depot... even same day.

/rant off
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Ha!! By luck alone I assure you! FedEx delivering the computer I am on. I was monitoring Fed Ex all day with my status. I see the Fed Ex guy go down the other side of the street and make a couple of drops and turn around (it's a dead end road), in the mean time I've walked outside and I'm talking to my neighbor waiting for the FedEx guy to stop....and he just drives right on by me, 4' away typing into his box. I walk inside and check status, "Attempted Delivery, Unable to Access Premesis" 20+ phone calls later at 01:30 in the morning, I had to drive 20 miles to go pick it up because it was on it's way back to Kansas! Damn.
 
ausrere said:
I have employees working out of their homes all over this state that get and ship via UPS several times a week, and we rarely have problems. Most of my guys and girls are on first name basis with their drivers though, and most all of them have exchanged cell phone numbers with their drivers who are really good at calling them if they have a delivery and no one is home.

We tried FedEx and DHL. Neither of them gave us the service that UPS has.
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It really depends a lot on your driver and the management attitude at the local station.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Lets hope it doesn't get tagged "Unable to Deliver" and sent back, Bill!
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That's what Fed Ex did with mine even though I was on the phone with them before I lost sight of the drivers tail lights! There was one gal in Texas who made it her mission, and she couldn't get anyone to answer their phone. I ended up getting appologies from Fed Ex big time on that deal.
 
I never have anything shipped to my house. Or if it "has" to go there. I just put a note on my door: "Give to Scott XXXXX - he delivers to my office"

Never a problem.
 
Henning said:
It really depends a lot on your driver and the management attitude at the local station.
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That's the entire picture right there. It's also the same reason I would not apply at one school and accept an offer at another flight school back in Houston.
 
mikea said:
You know. You may have heard that since the 1990s people started buying stuff online on a thing called the internet and had it delivered to their homes. UPS thinks that's crazy talk.
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Huh? UPS runs the marketing, distribution, inventory and fulfillment portions of a significant number of the Internet storefronts in this country. I think they are aware of the phenomenon ;)

Which might explain the problem these days. UPS is no longer a shipping company, really, any more than Amazon is an online bookseller, or eBay is an online auction site.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Huh? UPS runs the marketing, distribution, inventory and fulfillment portions of a significant number of the Internet storefronts in this country. I think they are aware of the phenomenon ;)

Which might explain the problem these days. UPS is no longer a shipping company, really, any more than Amazon is an online bookseller, or eBay is an online auction site.
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As a courier, I was in the middle of such transactions for a warehouse they ran for IBM. They expected perfection but paid squat for it. While their drivers actually earn pretty dang good money, they thought a buck a mile for one-hour, dedicated service was exorbitant. Oh, and they wanted the driver to hang on scene in the ready for the deliveries without additional compensation for doing so.

UPS is cheap bastard company as far as I'm concerned. I've had difficulties getting deliveries from them as well. But, they are better than DHL.

I'll stick with Fred whenever possible. :)
 
I use the USPS priority and express mail to ship construction plans to subs and cities from here to Georgia to South Dakoka. I "click & ship" online and drop it in the mailbox. It's easy and hassle free. Express makes it in one day to most of the US for $16.00. Priority in 2 days for $4.50.

For what I do it is far cheaper, easier and better than either UPS or FedEx.
 
timwinters said:
I use the USPS priority and express mail to ship construction plans to subs and cities from here to Georgia to South Dakoka. I "click & ship" online and drop it in the mailbox. It's easy and hassle free. Express makes it in one day to most of the US for $16.00. Priority in 2 days for $4.50.

For what I do it is far cheaper, easier and better than either UPS or FedEx.
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And..USPS delivers on Saturday....
 
CJones said:
So does UPS...
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The local facility is closed on Sat. And it has the shortest hours of ANY facility in the DC area.

It gets worse.

After my last call to UPS last night we agreed to let them put it on the truck and call for a "same day pickup" after the delivery attempt was made so I can get it when the truck returns tonight. That apparently can be done between 6 and 7 PM, which would be perfect.

Instead, UPS has placed two entries in the record stating that I will pick it up at their location during normal hours - which run 10 AM to 6 PM. So I am again hosed.

I've called them to ask - again - for same day pickup between 6 and 7 PM. The phone agent has placed a call to the local facility and promised me a call back within an hour. It's now been 50 minutes and no call.

Screwing it up the first time - I can excuse. Failing to call me back - twice now - and hanging up on me when I call the local facility is inexcusable.

Anyone have a phone number for the corporate office?
 
alaskaflyer said:
Huh? UPS runs the marketing, distribution, inventory and fulfillment portions of a significant number of the Internet storefronts in this country. I think they are aware of the phenomenon ;)

Which might explain the problem these days. UPS is no longer a shipping company, really, any more than Amazon is an online bookseller, or eBay is an online auction site.
Click to expand...

If you order a pair of Nike shoes over the phone you: Talk to a UPS employee on the phone who takes your order and passes it to the UPS owned/maintained warehouse where a UPS employee picks the stock and puts it on a UPS truck where it is taken to the UPS shipping center where it is delivered via UPS.

Side note: EVERY day, UPS ships a 747 full of nothing but Nike shoes from SE Asia to Mexico (where final touches are applied), and then another 747 full of nothing but Nike shoes goes from Mexico to Memphis where they are taken to the UPS warehouses for distribution.
 
wsuffa said:
The local facility is closed on Sat. And it has the shortest hours of ANY facility in the DC area.

It gets worse.

After my last call to UPS last night we agreed to let them put it on the truck and call for a "same day pickup" after the delivery attempt was made so I can get it when the truck returns tonight. That apparently can be done between 6 and 7 PM, which would be perfect.

Instead, UPS has placed two entries in the record stating that I will pick it up at their location during normal hours - which run 10 AM to 6 PM. So I am again hosed.

I've called them to ask - again - for same day pickup between 6 and 7 PM. The phone agent has placed a call to the local facility and promised me a call back within an hour. It's now been 50 minutes and no call.

Screwing it up the first time - I can excuse. Failing to call me back - twice now - and hanging up on me when I call the local facility is inexcusable.

Anyone have a phone number for the corporate office?
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Find the number for the local dist. center. At least there you can talk to the person that will actually take it off the truck. If you tell them that corporate is screwing you over, they'll like you better and you'll both be fighting against 'the man'. Seriously.
 
wsuffa said:
..............
I've never had this kind of problem with FedEx. Never. Customer service out the wazoo, and great pickup arrangements at the depot... even same day.

Folks, UPS is customer unfriendly and doesn't deserve your business. SOmeone might be able to convince me otherwise, but it's going to take a mighty amount of convincing.

/rant off
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Suffa,

This is about the same for all of the shippers, if you do a lot of shipping (or just want to get your packages), you need to get to know how the local office operates and get their local number.

I use to be a UPS reseller and we handled several packages per day and the vast majority of those shipments worked fine, even the international ones. I also get a log of shipments at home for my businesses and rarely have a UPS problem (and FED EX is about the same, but harder to track.

I have more problems with the USPS.

As for customer service.... are you kidding... hasn't existed in any one of them for years....
 
Could it be that UPs = Teamsters?

My experience with the UPS "service center" here in Doraville (Atlanta) has been one of the few that had me on the brink of serious workplace violence. The employees went out of their way to put me in my place. They had my box, and "you will get it when we get around to it, not before", were their exact words.
 
Bill,

You could get a box at the local UPS store and have the package shipped there. You can get 24 hour access.

Another thing you can do is have the package delivered to another address. They'll tag it to be delivered to at work if that's doable. It's not for me. The mailroom rules don't allow personal packages.

I know. You should be able to pick it up when you're not working.

BTW, I was able to pick up a FedEx package on Saturday.
 
I stopped using UPS when they went on strike and left many businesses scrambling for alternatives. That was about 8 years ago or so.
I've had only two small mishaps with FEDEX, both in regard to customs, which they don't really control. Otherwise, I really like FEDEX.
 
CJones said:
If you order a pair of Nike shoes over the phone you: Talk to a UPS employee on the phone who takes your order and passes it to the UPS owned/maintained warehouse where a UPS employee picks the stock and puts it on a UPS truck where it is taken to the UPS shipping center where it is delivered via UPS.

Side note: EVERY day, UPS ships a 747 full of nothing but Nike shoes from SE Asia to Mexico (where final touches are applied), and then another 747 full of nothing but Nike shoes goes from Mexico to Memphis where they are taken to the UPS warehouses for distribution.
Click to expand...

Ummmm...FedEx is headquartered in MEM, not UPS.
 
timwinters said:
Ummmm...FedEx is headquartered in MEM, not UPS.
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http://www.memphisdelivers.com/contact/news.php said:
"Nike is pleased to increase its investment in the Memphis community with this state-of-the-art facility," said Nick Athanasakos, vice president of Nike Supply Chain. "This distribution center will be great for our employees, retail customers and consumers while expediting our time to market."
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http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=32620 said:
"Most folks think that Memphis' total reason to exist is FedEx, which is pretty much the case. But they don't understand that as an international airport, it is also our responsibility to make sure to anyone who has an aviation need, that we accommodate it," he said. "And some folks are afraid to knock on the door because we're such a large FedEx and UPS and Northwest operation.
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I didn't say they were headquartered there. :D
 
Alright, here's my UPS story for today.

The wife checked a "Kohl's" order online from UPS. The UPS site said it was unable to deliver. WTF?, she was home all day. Today I stopped at the UPS depot, but they are only open from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. I figured I'll pick it up on the way to the airport. Meanwhile, I stop at the Post Office and get the mail. Lo and Behold, they also give me the UPS package. I ask the Postmistress why they got it, she says something about the "Last Mile" and UPS pays the Post Office to finish delivering it. As it stands, we get our mail at the Post Office so they really got paid for tossing it on a shelf.

Now my question is , Why can't I have stuff UPS'ed to the Post Office? They always require a street address.

As an aside, the lazy UPS guy we have usually drops our stuff off next door at the in-laws because because my MIL is in business and gets packages almost daily. What a racket.


Mike
 
Well, I finally got the package today. Another call, and the local depot finally! called me back. It was waiting when I arrived at 6:10.

As an aside, they are open for same-day pickups until 8:30 PM. So, I really could have avoided all this had they responded promptly last night.
 
I used to have the same problems with UPS, but since I started working out at the airport I have everything that is going to be delivered UPS sent to the shop. The UPS guy comes to the shop every day at the same time. He is a great guy who works for a company that is too large to care. Once you get the company whittled down to the delivery guy who comes in every day, UPS gets a whole lot better.

Fed Ex is funny. They seem to drop in any time. On Wednesday I was working in the corner by the back door, and a Fed Ex guy came in with a package from Cessna. I signed for it, and went back to work. About forty-five minutes later, a Fed Ex girl showed up and dropped off some boxes from NOAA. So I signed for those. A side note, the Fed Ex girl who delivers the NOAA boxes is the only regular, and she won't let me hold the little thing that you have to sign. She holds it while I try to write my name on it. I don't know what she thinks I am going to do with it. OK, so not an hour later, a third Fed Ex guy shows up with another box from Cessna. I don't know about them contracting routes, because we seem to have a lot of different drivers come through with Fed Ex.

Another side note, when I was a police officer, I had a bunch of local numbers for Fed Ex. I even have a couple of home phone numbers for people over there. My wife was having problems with Fed Ex one day, and she called me up and asked me if I had a number that would actually reach someone who worked at the office here in town. I gave her a couple of numbers. She got the local guy and things got taken care of quickly. She said that he was very helpful. You just have to know how to get the right person
 
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