Wherein I once more don't really like UPS

[fma_fanatic]

(I wasn't sure if this should be in Sightings or General Work)

One of our managers has been waiting for a package. I had to call UPS because the sender didn't note what floor we were on, despite the fact that we're only on one floor. This happens a lot. The driver noted that they needed a suite number, yet he didn't bother to ask me if a package was for us.

I called and gave them the correct info, and it was supposed to show up today. It didn't at his scheduled delivery, so I called again. The following ensued. My head still hurts.

Manager: Well, the driver hasn't delivered yet.
Me: Oh, he did. Eight packages, three of them ground.
Manager: That's not possible.
Me: I'm looking right at them.
Manager: I don't think so.
Me: Are you saying that he didn't when I'm looking at them. I can even read you a tracking number.
Manager: Fine. Read it *she said it in a way that pretty much said "I dare you to prove me wrong, biatch*
Me: *reads tracking number*
Manager: Oh..well..I guess I'll have to figure out where it's at then...

Later, the manager calls back to tell me that it was misplaced on another truck and that they'll try to make it out before we close. When I left, the package still hadn't arrived.

I'm sure it'll arrive tomorrow, but it's irritating that the manager would try to tell me that I didn't know what I was looking at.

[Moosenogger]

I would have never said this during the call (cause I'm not one to say what I'm thinking xD), but it would have been fun to throw her attitude back at her.

"Are you saying that he didn't when I'm looking at them. I can even read you a tracking number."

Manager: Fine. Read it *she said it in a way that pretty much said "I dare you to prove me wrong, biatch*

*reads tracking number*

Manager: Oh..well..I guess I'll have to figure out where it's at then...

"Yeah, you do that."

[wagegoth]

UPS told me they didn't deliver multiple packages because they didn't have a street number. I told them that was impossible as how would they know which truck to put it on without an address?

"uh, um, we'll take care of it and get it taken care of."

Yeah, they didn't. They returned the items to the senders. Where we are FedEx is better than UPS. I know that in some areas UPS is better than FedEx. It's got to be the management.

[ReverendBSB]

I had a package I was returning to Williams Sonoma, I called them up last Thursday, they were sending UPS to pick it up Friday. I put the package by my front door 7 am on Friday. UPS never came. Saturday around noon I finally put it back in the house and went to check the mail. The shipping tag in a door hanger was in my mailbox. The lazy UPS driver never got out of his truck, just pulled up to the mailbox and stuck it in. My neighbors were expecting a package the same day that according to UPS was delivered, but they have never seen it. I had called Williams Sonoma before I discovered the label in the mailbox and they were sending UPS back out on Monday, so after calling the corporate line and complaining I waited for the driver Monday and after confirming that he worked Friday I bitched him out in a major way. Made all the better that he had a trainee that day.

[PepperElf]

what a way to show the trainee how to do a job.

and...

Manager: I don't think so.

yep cos you obviously are mistaken by the package in your hand

[Teskeria]

Usually I have good service from UPS. This year? umm no. My daughter didn't get her package last Friday (grandkids presents!) So I checked tracking. Note read 'Need correct street address (from driver)' next note read 'driver error redelivering monday (from depot)'. Monday it didn't arrive.
Anyone surprised the notes were exactly the same?

Tuesday they apparently found a competent driver as it was delivered AND the driver actually knocked on the door (didn't wait, but did knock).

Worst part is I have sent at least 2 previous packages to the exact same address. I'm hoping it was just seasonal help issues. Normally I mail my package(s) to the Grands by December 1st. It's just been a hard year and it took a while to squeeze out their presents.

[Mystic]

I live in a rural area so we typically have a good driver since they usually stay the same for years at a time, but in the past few years I've occasionally worked for UPS to get out of the house since I work from home. Here's some things I really think people need to understand about this company and this time of year.

1) We're aware you want your package in a timely manner... you and the 160+ other people we're delivering to every day this time of year. The problem is that it doesn't always work out to plan. My route was very rural which means we can do a few blocks, then have to drive miles away to get to the next set of deliveries. This alone is time consuming. In large towns and cities, you also have to deal with traffic and other delays that take up time. It's not uncommon for a driver to be working 12 hours strait in a day this time of year because there is simply so much volume going in and out. Not only is their holiday packages, but also the regular deliveries to businesses to contend with.

2) The company tries to stay as organized as possible, but when you're dealing with 10's of thousands (hundreds of thousands in cities) of packages every single day, there is bound to be screw ups. Packages get put on the wrong truck for delivery occasionally. The company does it's best to remedy the situation by having drivers meet up and pass packages, but sometimes it's just not possible. If you have someone elses package and are 50 miles away from the driver who should have it, then that package is not getting delivered that day. The drivers have hundreds of other packages that are equally as important and what doesn't get delivered that day due to whatever issue is just added to the numbers the next day.

3) Because of the volume, drivers don't have time to wait around or try to figure things out. There is a reason that they have such a complex shipping/tracking system: to minimize confusion and issues. If street numbers are missing on packages, then that package isn't getting delivered because the driver simply doesn't have the time to try and figure it out. They may call the depot and let them know so they can try to figure it out there, but when you figure how many issues between workers and customers there are during this season, it's a safe bet that they won't get it figured out till the following day when it can be traced with the sender.

ReverendBSB mentioned the issue with pickups... it all goes back to what I was saying about lack of time. There is a good chance that the driver was so overloaded the first day that he simply didn't have time to come pick up the package. We had several pickups we had to dump because we simply couldn't do it. Plus, as bad as this may sound, unless you're paying for next day or second day air, your package isn't as much of a priority. Corporate I'm sure would disagree with that statement, but they aren't the ones in the field. There is a reason that regular shipping is given a time line of 7-10 business days, and this is part of it.

In regards to the label, it wasn't being lazy as you may think. There may have been a good reason for the decision being made that way. Regardless of the issue, it certainly wasn't reasonable to bitch him out in front of his helper. You have no idea the amount of stress drivers are under this time of year and it seems to me you were pulling the same crap that we all bitch about on this site and being the SC. If you need to make sure a package goes out in a timely manner this time of year, your best bet is to take it to a customer center yourself. If a truck is too full when they go past your place to do a pickup or if they are having issues with something else and can't pick it up, then you're pretty much out of luck. One thing I can guarantee though is that your driver now cares a lot less about you or your shipments on a personal level and will put a lot less effort into anything having to do with you and your deliveries since you attempted to humiliate him. Chances are they were both laughing at you after they drove away, anyway.

I really can't stress enough about the time issue because every single day is like chasing your own tail at times. You'll do a block and get 5 miles away before realizing there was another stop you missed, then have to drive all the way back to it. You have a certain amount of time to get businesses done, so those usually take a priority. You can deliver to someones house at 8pm, but usually by 5, all the businesses close up for the night.

4) Management is often an absolute fuster cluck. Sometimes the management in many depots are new and slightly clueless. It use to be that UPS hired from within the company, but now it seems that "hiring from within" means they hire someone with the intention of putting them into supervisor/management positions. They work for the company for a few months doing various things till they can promote them to the job they had intended to hire them for. The problem is that these people have no experience with the company at all and a couple months doing various jobs isn't enough time to learn the ins and outs of why things are done the way they are done and when they take position, they tend to change things thinking they know better and that things will work out perfectly... which apparently they never do.

This year, we had less drivers, less trucks, and less routes. The supervisor at our depot believed there was no need, then would bitch when drivers were getting back at 10pm because the trucks were so overstuffed with deliveries that they were out all day long and only just finished by the time they got back.

Also in their infinite wisdom, they decided to delay the pack. Where in previous years, the trucks would be out of the depot no later than 9am, they weren't getting out until 11am this year. Supervisor though he was doing everyone a favour, but what he was really doing was messing with a system that worked fine. Drivers were getting to work this year and their trucks weren't finished with their packs which delayed things further.

4) There will be casualties of war. I can't begin to tell you how many smashed boxes I saw this year. I can only hope that the majority wasn't the typical Amazon packaging (small object in a giant box with no inner pack, just flopping around in an empty box). Simply put, shipping things this time of year always has some risk when it comes to receiving your items in one piece. Things get shifted and crushed because of the weight of everything on top of pallets that stack to the ceiling due to the volume/storage ratio being unbalanced. We do our best keeping everything together as much as possible till it gets to your door, but there is only so much that can be done. I suppose this is why there is shipping insurance though. However, don't take it out on the driver. Chances are that damage was done long before he had it on his truck.

Remember, most of these people have families as well and rarely get to see them this time of year because they are out playing Santa Clause for all of you. Just some things to think about.

[raudf]

I'm pretty much so rural that you'd be better just chucking the GPS out the window. Google Maps is.. okay for getting to my house, except it calls my driveway a road (there are three houses all related) and routes the addy to the closest neighbor's house.

Rarely ever have a problem with Fedex or UPS, since the drivers know that they can pull up to the middle house (mine) and any one of the three will get all packages and sort it from there. Only a couple of times has there been delays, mostly due to weather and/or dirt road conditions. And only once has something arrived shattered and that wasn't even UPS fault!

My problem child is our USPS. On my driveway, there are three houses, my parents, mine and my sister. At the street end of our driveway is the mailboxes on a single pole, like this X__X__X. Our carrier used to be horribly bad about this, but his idea of "driving up to our house" was to drive up to the mailboxes (which is out of line of sight of the houses), honk (small horn + distance = we can't hear it!) and wedge the package between the mailboxes.

His reasoning? Dogs. My parents have them and since we're boonies, they're free range unless we get warning of package. They keep the wild animals out of the yards and allow the kids to play in peace. I can understand if he's afraid of hitting them with the Jeep, but my 'rents aren't gonna sue him for it. It's a hazard of free-range. But no.. he's afraid of the dogs, period.

The reason this is kind of silly? Well, we don't require anyone to get out of the vehicles, whether we get the dogs put up in time or not. Fedex guy gets guard treatment if he's not in his normal truck, because the dogs LOVE people, but we don't trust 'em to always be on good behavior. (He's got them bribed however, so they love him!) UPS guy just opens whatever door needs to be opened and package delivered. All he'd have to do is drive up, honk and never have to get out of the vehicle. But nope, that wasn't good enough.

Took a squashed power supply, documented with pics and all, plus my dad's multiple complaints and the threat of going higher up the food chain that got him to *gasp* drive up the drive. And now, he's realized we WILL come out or if we don't, he can leave a tag down in the box.

And I won't go on a rant about the free-range dogs. I'm not thrilled with it. But soon, as soon as my 'rents and I get some bills squared, we're gonna chip in and get the land properly surveyed and fenced.

[Sandman]

Mystic.. what happens to those packages which are NDA Early AM which don't get delivered by the correct time? Does UPS eat the cost?

[bainsidhe]

My UPS story involves both a mis-ship and a d'oh moment with the call center. Our company was shipping to *random company* 3 states away. Driver does the daily pickup and a few hours later, a local resident calls to explain UPS just delivered a package, which was supposed to go to *random company*. The guy wasn't expecting any shipment, so it isn't like a package was switched. No idea why UPS delivered a package they had just picked up, especially when it was going to a completely different name/address/state.

Weird, but fixable. I call UPS's call center and spent five minutes trying to explain to their associate why it was a problem if some stranger received *random company's* package. After all, it was delivered, right? Below is a shortened version of the convo:

CCL (call center lady): I see it was delivered this afternoon at 3:23pm.
Me: Yes, but to the wrong address.
CCL: I show it was shipping to such-and-such city, America.
Me: Correct, but UPS delivered it to a residence in *my city* instead.
CCL: Was there a problem with the delivery?
Me: .....
Me: Err...it was supposed to ship to *random company* in such-and-such city, not *my city*
CCL: I see it was delivered today.
Me: Yes, but to the wrong location.
CCL: Was there a problem with the delivery?
Me: *sigh* Okay, what was the shipping address on the package?
CCL: Such-and-such city.
Me: Where was it delivered?
CCL: *my city*
Me: Do you see how that's a problem?
CCL:...... We can issue a call tag.
Me: Thank you.

[fma_fanatic]

The package did show up. The manager waiting for it decided to call and made a huge fuss. I got a call yesterday from the manager at the depot who told me that she was so sorry, she didn't mean to get me into trouble, etc.

I just sat there thinking,"oookay.."

I didn't know until the manager waiting for the package came in and handed it to me and said he'd given UPS a piece of his mind.

[ReverendBSB]

Mystic, if the driver had time to stop and put a shipping label in my mailbox (illegal btw, only real mail is allowed to be put in a mailbox, he had 30 seconds more to come to my door and pick up the package.

Don't forget, my neighbors next door were expecting a package that day that UPS claims was delivered, and they have never seen. The company they ordered it from had to send out a new one. So if the driver was doing his job he could have parked in front of our houses, dropped off their package at the front door, walked a few feet to mine, picked up my package, and been off in less than 2 minutes. As it was, he put a slip into my mailbox and who knows what happened to their package.

And I could care less what the driver thinks of me. I have his name, I have made several complaints about this at every point in the chain of command I can get through to. If he pulls any shit with me I will not stop till I have his lazy ass fired. If he can't do his job then he needs to find one he can handle.

This is not an SC rant. I am not expecting the driver to have done anything unreasonable or beyond his duties. His job is to deliver and pick up packages. He failed to do both that day.

[fma_fanatic]

My UPS story involves both a mis-ship and a d'oh moment with the call center. Our company was shipping to *random company* 3 states away. Driver does the daily pickup and a few hours later, a local resident calls to explain UPS just delivered a package, which was supposed to go to *random company*. The guy wasn't expecting any shipment, so it isn't like a package was switched. No idea why UPS delivered a package they had just picked up, especially when it was going to a completely different name/address/state.

Weird, but fixable. I call UPS's call center and spent five minutes trying to explain to their associate why it was a problem if some stranger received *random company's* package. After all, it was delivered, right? Below is a shortened version of the convo:

CCL (call center lady): I see it was delivered this afternoon at 3:23pm.
Me: Yes, but to the wrong address.
CCL: I show it was shipping to such-and-such city, America.
Me: Correct, but UPS delivered it to a residence in *my city* instead.
CCL: Was there a problem with the delivery?
Me: .....
Me: Err...it was supposed to ship to *random company* in such-and-such city, not *my city*
CCL: I see it was delivered today.
Me: Yes, but to the wrong location.
CCL: Was there a problem with the delivery?
Me: *sigh* Okay, what was the shipping address on the package?
CCL: Such-and-such city.
Me: Where was it delivered?
CCL: *my city*
Me: Do you see how that's a problem?
CCL:...... We can issue a call tag.
Me: Thank you.

That's why I usually bypass the regular 800 number and use the uber customer service number (as I call it). I learned from a rep when I called one day and complimented them on their help that the only way they get to this particular center is if they actually get good reviews when they're helping customers. Which is saying a lot.

[wolfie]

Packages get put on the wrong truck for delivery occasionally.

I can vouch for that. A couple years ago, I was doing the linehaul from Massachussets to Quebec for an LTL company, and after a quick check of the manifest I asked the dispatcher if a certain shipment was supposed to be on the truck. Cue a frantic call to the shunt driver to get the trailer back in a door (fortunately the shipment was right at the tail of the trailer).

The Massachussets terminal handles a lot of freight going to Ontario via Quebec (in Quebec, it gets transferred to a Toronto-bound truck). This shipment, however, was going to the city of Ontario, California (near Los Angeles), and wasn't supposed to make a detour through Canada.

[Mystic]

Mystic.. what happens to those packages which are NDA Early AM which don't get delivered by the correct time? Does UPS eat the cost?

Usually they have to take that up with corporate as they are the only ones who can do something about it. Usually they give a partial or total refund of the cost if it was NDA and they miss it unless it was NDA because of the location being closed or recipient not there. Something along those lines.