Reader John is an Amazon Prime member who can’t get anything sent to his house via UPS without a signature after he filed a claim over a $30 DVD that never showed up. He really likes his UPS driver, but the guy says that because of the “blacklist” he’s powerless to leave packages when John isn’t home. Period. Does anyone know how to get off of a UPS blacklist?
I’m having some trouble and I didn’t know who else to turn to – I sound like a grieving widow on the A-Team – but I thought of you folks and maybe you can help me out.
My family and I buy a lot of stuff online, mostly from Amazon, so we got the Prime deal that gives you free two-day shipping. Good stuff, right? We all work and some of us don’t get around as well as we used to so it works out very nicely. Save money on your things, save gas and parking, save your back and your knees, etc.
One of the first things I bought with the Prime membership was a DVD boxed set of a TV series.
Now we’ve had the same UPS driver for many years, we know him, he’s a nice guy, and he ALWAYS leaves our packages in our front door no matter what. When it came to this PARTICULAR package the online tracking was telling me it was delivered but no one at my house ever saw hide nor hair of it. No big deal. We’ve gotten packages for other houses occasionally, stuff gets misdelivered, it happens, and after none of my neighbors brought it over for about a week I figured it was lost and made a claim with UPS. We’re talking thirty bucks here. I didn’t want blood from a stone, I just wanted my season 3 of Stargate Atlantis.
In case you’ve never done it before making a claim for a lost package with UPS is a screaming nightmare. They make it incredibly difficult, you have to go through half a dozen web pages and talk to as many different people on the phone. It’s a giant pain in the ass. I made my claim anyway.
Since I made my claim, every few days I come home and there is a “we missed you” sticker from UPS on my front door. All my lovely Amazon stuff UPS was now demanding a signature for – even when, after this happened a few times, I called Amazon and had them set up my deliveries to not require signature authorization. I called UPS and they said “regardless of the shipper’s instructions it is at the delivery driver’s discretion as to whether to require a signature for delivery.” This strikes me as absolute garbage. Like I said, we’ve had the same driver for years, he’s a really good guy and he KNOWS everyone at my house works and we can’t be home to pick up packages.
Then, yesterday, I got home from work just as he was walking down my front steps with a package and he said, “hey, thank god you’re here and you can actually get this.” I asked him what the hell was going on with our deliveries.
He explained that it wasn’t him who misdelivered the original package that I had to file the claim on, that a relief driver was doing his route that day. He went on to say, though, that since we filed a claim – a THIRTY DOLLAR CLAIM – we had been put on a “blacklist” – his words, not mine – and that he was prevented by his superiors from delivering ANY package to our house at ANY time without a signature, regardless of the shipper’s instructions.
This is a delivery driver who has left large packages INSIDE OUR HOUSE before – we live in a safe area and don’t always lock the front door, and if we get large or multiple packages he has opened our front door, stacked them inside the house, and closed up behind himself. He’s a great guy and he’s always been good to us, but I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“So you’re telling me that even if a package specifically says it can be left without a signature, you aren’t allowed to just leave it in the doorway or inside the house like you’ve always done?” I asked him.
“Nope,” he said. “You’re on the blacklist. If I leave anything at your house without a signature I’ll lose my job. Sorry man.”
I can’t start taking off work to be home to pick up packages (and neither can anyone else) and I don’t want my UPS driver to lose his job, but what’s the best way to go about fixing this situation? I don’t want any special treatment, just what we’ve always had – a good, nice delivery driver who can leave stuff in our doorway when no one’s home.
I mean, a BLACKLIST? Seriously? They CALL it that? That’s pretty dumb.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
(Photo:Northernplateguy)
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@zentec: I’ve never run into a blacklist problem personally, but I send my packages to work to not have to worry about signature-required packages, and an indoors shipping dock is a lot safer than leaving the package outside.
People here are good about sending (rare, but it does happen) internally-misrouted packages along to the right place, and if you make sure to put your lab PI’s name in the address (right under the building number/street) it’ll find its way to you the day it’s delivered. Since we’re a large university and get a LOT of shipments, the packages get delivered in the morning, too.
Not all workplaces allow it, but it’s something to look into. If that doesn’t work, the hold-at-station trick may work for you (a FedEx station is near me, but the UPS one isn’t).
@csdiego: If you don’t use the cheap shipping, Amazon doesn’t use USPS.
This story sounds a little bogus and the writting don’t get me started.
“When it came to this PARTICULAR package the online tracking was telling me it was delivered but no one at my house ever saw hide nor hair of it.”
HAIR of it? how do you HAIR of something?
And you leave your fron door open? hey thanks fo r the tip this looks like it was WRITTEN by a
12 year OLD
(I wrote the post like this on purpose)
UPS can be weird. I ordered an iMac from Amazon and was surprised when it was left without a signature requested on my front porch. Luckily I was home. About an hour later when I was happily playing with the new toy my UPS driver showed up and sheepishly asked for a signature and double checked that I was the one who got my box.
@Ihaveasmartpuppy:
yea, I had 2 phone lines at my house under suite A and suite B, the phone guy was confused when he came to the door saying he been driving around for like an hour trying to find a business complex. So I labeled the phone box outside with which line was Suite A and which was Suite B
@geoffhazel: Haven’t you notice that this whole family is lazy? proof on this paragraph.
“Save money on your things, save gas and parking, save your back and your knees, etc.”
Save your back, knees, etc? what are your knees and back going to go out on your way to Best Buy? is the box for a DVD so heavy that you might slip a disc(on your back)?
Likely best bet is to get a PO Box somewhere, or ask a friend/family/neighbor if you can send deliveries there for a a while… since I doubt it’s truly ‘forever’
Doubt there’s much of an option, since Amazon is pretty limited in shipping options.
So I’d just have fun with them.
Next time they mention “blacklist”… say something to the effect of:
“Oh, so this is a race thing?”
And make sure to make an mp3 of the fun that follows.
If you can’t beat em… have fun with the CSR’s.
UPS is acting correctly… as far as they can determine, they left a package at the door, and then a claim was filed for the package, suggesting it was stolen. If it was stolen, then that’s not a secure location to leave a package, ergo, they do not leave packages.
What else should UPS do? Continue to leave packages and eat the cost each time a package is stolen?
@missdona:
same here – i had something from amazon not show up, so i emailed them, and after a quick explanation, i got a replacement. pretty darn easy.
Have your packages delivered to your work, if you can.
Most people complain about the exact opposite problem, so I don’t think they’re really out of line on this one. Get a mailbox.
shouldn’t it be called brownlisting?
@Concerned_Citizen: Yes, I am saying it might be coincidental that a different driver delivered the package. I certainly don’t think that proves that a relief driver stole the package. Just because it wasn’t his regular route doesn’t mean that he’s a crook or incompetent. At the least, UPS would know that driver’s full history and whether he’s reliable. They concluded that this package was likely stolen after an undocumented delivery and have taken the step to require documentation in the future. I’m sorry, but that’s just not that unreasonable. They aren’t refusing to deliver to him. Just insisting on making that delivery documented by the recipient.
@acknight: “Do any of the working folks in the household have the ability to receive deliveries at work? That might alleviate the root of the problem.”
Uhh… no… what would stop them from blacklisting the work address?
Get the packages delivered at work. That’s what I do.
@Lucky225: You know, some of those UPS Stores are independently owned and operated franchises? I found that out when I had to return the *extra* laptop computer Dell sent me (alas, it wasn’t a two-fer deal, so back it went). They (Dell) set up the return through UPS and gave me some kind of routing number. I trot on down to the local UPS Store, and the guy has no clue what I’m talking about. Took about 2 hours to figure out how to set it up (cuz he wanted to charge me for shipping). In the end, that poor guy (he was the owner/manager/employee) got reimbursed less than a dollar for each package I was returning to Dell.
The point is, I’m not excusing UPS, just saying that the poor guy at the UPS Store is getting just as screwed as you, so don’t take it out on him.
@Vicky:
Use a PO Box. All my amazon packages come USPS. It’s slower, but then again, I don’t pay for Amazon Prime.
I also don’t have a problem with stolen packages since I have to get them from window clerks at my USPS.
UPS still puts packages under my doormat, I don’t live in a bad area but I don’t trust my neighbors, so I’d rather wait afew more days to know my parcel is safe.
@strathmeyer:
Somebody’s there to sign for the package at work. You can track it back to the receptionist or whatever.
@vitaminct: And then change their slogan to “What CAN’T brown do for you?”
Maybe try contacting Amazon & request that your packages go only via FedEx or USPS? I know I’ve received packages from Amazon from FedEx, USPS, and UPS, so they obviously do ship via others shippers than UPS.
I’m an Amazon Prime customer as well and use them as a FreshDirect of sorts for my homes outside of NYC. For me, using a UPS store would be out of the question. There’s a good chance that I’m ordering stuff so that it’ll be arriving at my door the same day that I fly in from out of town, usually getting in around 10pm-1am.
I’d agree that contacting Amazon is the best route for misdelivered packages. I had a printer ink cartridge that hadn’t arrived in 2 weeks. Contacted Amazon and they overnighted a new one. About a week later the original one arrived. Contacted Amazon and they gave me a pre-paid return label.
/As an aside, does anyone know of a FreshDirect-like service for Florida? I’ve seen a couple but they only deliver on particular days and are set up more for people who live only at one location.
@Lambasted: Have you ever tried to pick up a package from UPS? I’ve made that mistake in Tampa before. Drive out to the industrial part of town after dark (they “open” at 7:30pm, close at 8:30p), wait around for over an hour for them to find the package, only to be told it’s still on the truck and no, they won’t go get it for you.
@crazypants: Why should the OP pay for a drop box when he used to get delivery service for free?
@FLConsumer: I concur. Then there was the time a UPS driver lied about no one being “home” for delivery (when the package was supposed to be delivered to a business address with several receptionists). When I went to a truly scary part of town to pick up my package (a new laptop!), I had to go argue with 3 employees and 2 managers because my work address isn’t on my driver’s license, even though I had the receipt of the purchase with my home and work addresses on it, my DL and the credit card I used to purchase so they could compare it to the last 4 digits on the receipt.
The blacklist eventually goes away. We had an incident with a lost package (My mother in law had a ba-a-a-a-ad QVC habit) and all of a sudden every single package had to be signed for, even if it wasn’t from QVC (and there were LOTS from QVC). But it did eventually go away. I don’t remember how long it took, though.
my grandmother had a similar problem years ago – a sub driver delivered an order of friggin stove knobs to a house 3 blocks up for some reason, and couldn’t recover when it was figured out what was wrong. To this day about 50% of the time regular UPS shipments have to be signed for. Which is wonderful as the driver for our area the last 2 years has a problem with ringing the doorbell, argh
@missdona: If this happens, call the sender, not the carrier.
Correct, as others have successfully resolved missing packages by doing.
@IphtashuFitz: After all, it’s UPS who loses in the end if yet another package gets lost/stolen…. It’s UPS’s fault because they left the package unattended.
Incorrect.
Although it’s not of much use to him now, when the shipper (here Amazon) authorizes a package to be left without a signature (so caller shipper release), the shipper is self-insuring it against loss. UPS washes their hands of it. If the package is never received, it’s up to Amazon to send a replacement.
But, naturally, UPS would prefer that packages don’t go missing, which is why we’re here today. Getting off the list is a good question, if it’s even possible.
Did you try calling UPS and asking about it? How about placing a note on the door with a signature when you’re expectant?
The same thing happened to me when a hard drive didn’t get delivered. I had to sign for everything for awhile. I think it took a year or two but now things are back to normal with UPS.
Everybody does realize that UPS provides videotape evidence to LE of delivery locations that have a repeated pattern of fraud?
Didn’t know that?
Hint, hint, that plain white midsize unmarked car following the brown truck around your neighborhood belongs to UPS.
One package isn’t going to get you blacklisted.
@StevieD:
No, that would be a PI guy doing surveilence as you under the guise of UPS… I’d start looking for a job, workers comp check is prolly going to be going away soon, and as an added bonus, you might be going away as well — behind bars. J/K, but in all seriousness, PI’s do surveilence like that sometimes..
Why so many damn companies use UPS? I have tried to avoid them for years because they keep screwing up my shipments every damn time. If I shop online, it seems like the only shipping they offer is UPS. I prefer FedEx.
The same thing happened to me and I didn’t even file a claim, just a missing package tracer or whatever they call it. I knew it was missing because I had been tracking it, so I called the shipper to ask what I should do and they said they wouldn’t re-ship my order for 7 days because they want to give it time to show up. Immediately after that I called UPS to put a trace on the package. I wanted my stuff!
The next morning (Saturday) a lady a few blocks over was kind enough to bring my package over to me. It was misdelivered, NOT stolen. I didn’t feel like calling UPS because I wasn’t sure if they answered phones on the weekend and I didn’t want to be stuck in UPS automated hell so I was just going to wait until Monday to let them know.
Monday afternoon I arrived home (about 15 minutes after the UPS guy was there) to find two hangers on my door. One was something questioning me about the missing package and the other was a signature required hanger for something else I was receiving that day (a package from Sephora that never requires a signature). He was basically holding my new package hostage until he got word about the missing package (that UPS sent to the wrong house)!
I called UPS to tell them that I did receive the missing package (no thanks to them, but to the nice lady a few blocks over). I asked him to please release my other package and deliver it the next day without a signature.
Shockingly, that package was at my doorstep 15 minutes later. I guess he was still in the area, so that was nice, but the whole situation was still frustrating. I would be more understanding and appreciative if the package was actually stolen, but that wasn’t the case.
@potohead1: Dummy! “Hide nor Hair” is an old expression. Google it before you shoot your mouth off!
I have had great succcess, as a result of an EECB on UPS, dealing with Cynthia Webb – Manager for Customer Relations at UPS corporate.
404.828.7884
cwebb@ups.com should be the address. Good luck!
@Canoehead: Yeah, when my mis-delivered order from Amazon finally arrived, they were pretty surprised when I called in and asked that they charge my card for it. I mean, it’s the honest thing to do, but I guess few people these days are actually honest.
Why did you even bother with UPS? All you had to do was call Amazon and tell them you never got their package and they would’ve sent out another one.
I find it odd that the package dissapeared when the non-regular driver delivered it.
I’m actually surprised you were able to deal with UPS directly as UPS only deals with the shipper when a delivery goes wrong…
I completely agree. As a company they do need to have ways to protect themselves. One way is to make sure that the problem never happens again.
It may seem unreasonable to you, but I agree that UPS is doing nothing wrong here.@BStu:
Oh my god! I have been tearing out my hair over this exact issue for the past few months! I do a ton of online shopping and after I had one package go missing, suddenly I had to be home to sign for everything. It is an ENORMOUS pain in the ass, and while I get the loss prevention thing, it seems illogical to refuse to give me the same service they give my neighbors just because their driver screwed up one of my packages. I am sooooo angry about it.
@Lucky225:
I don’t think so…. unless my UPS AE is free lancing as a PI.
And before you say UPS was investigating Moi …… I self insure my UPS packages….. which means I do not file damage and missing package claims against UPS.
This is BS. UPS is just screwing with this guy.
@aka_bigred:
I have the opposite situation. I did the same trick with a big plastic tub with a lid on it, and even put a small sticker on my door asking delivery persons to use it, and almost everyone does, except the post office. They’ll lean a package against the door right next to the bin and leave it out in a driving rain, if that’s the case.
When I asked the postman about that, he said they were forbidden to put a mail delivery into anything that wasn’t approved by the Postmaster General. Anyone know where I can buy a USPS-approved Rubbermaid tub? So instead they leave stuff that won’t fit into my mailbox out in the open, and frequently out in the rain and snow.
Then there was the brand new computer that was delivered to my house by FedEx recently in a huge box that said “DELL” all over it, without requiring a signature. Too big for the plastic bin, it sat on my front steps in full view of a city street for about four hours before I could get home to claim it. It arrived a full day earlier than the tracking predicted it would. Surprise dude, you got your Dell!
@scoosdad: Brother P-touch. “US Postmaster Approved” right underneath the Rubbermaid logo.
@potohead1: Oakie, is that you?
I can’t get UPS to NOT leave things at my house without a signature, even when it’s required. Can we trade problems?
This is a reason why the Bush Administration’s desire to privatize the United States Postal Service should not be allowed to happen; it would then become a for-profit company that would blacklist people and hold your mail and packages hostage.
Actually, I think the USPS is now required to turn a profit after recent legislation, hence the closing down of “unprofitable” post offices. But it’s still far from being a private corporation.
It [privatization] is also the reason why FEMA wasn’t funded, so that it could then be outsourced when it was labeled “ineffective” even though the real reason behind its failure is bad leadership appointed by an even more useless commander-in-MISchief.
@FLConsumer: Of course I have picked up packages at UPS or else I wouldn’t have written “that’s what I always do for signature items unless it is big and heavy.”
I think there was an implied caveat in my statement that picking up packages is easier UNLESS you have to drive through a crime-ridden, drug invested, pothole laden, no light shining, always raining, swat team patrolled area to get there.
Additionally, you cannot pick up a package on the same day it was first delivered as it will be on the truck. Moreover, they will only hold it at the facility after the first delivery attempt and only then if you call and tell them to hold it. Otherwise they will put it back on the truck again for the next day’s delivery.
I learned this after one time I knew I wasn’t going to be in town for a delivery and tried to have UPS hold the package for pick up. Nope, they said. They have to attempt deliver first and then I could call to request a pickup hold. Asinine.
But anyway, I suppose I am lucky because my UPS facility is in a nice part of town. When I come home and see the delivery attempt sticky note on my door, I call UPS and have them hold package for pick up. It’s always there waiting for me. Never a problem.
The problems come in when I wait home all day for a UPS delivery and then find out at 7pm they rescheduled deliver for the next day. Or I wait home all day and at the end of the day find a delivery notice on my door when I know full well they never knocked. I finally figured out this happens when the driver doesn’t want to carry a heavy item and leaves it for someone else to deliver on the following day. UPS delivery sucks. I’ve almost always have some kind of problem when I wait for delivery. They NEVER deliver it when they say they will.
@Imafish: Those ARE paragraphs. Quite nice ones, actually.
@Lambasted: Okay.
Um.
No.
This is how it goes:
Drivers have regular routes. So it’s unlikely that “someone else” will attempt to deliver it the next day. So it’s in the best interest of a driver to get the thing off their truck in one delivery attempt. Not to mention that they have to load and unload all packages off their truck daily.
Here’s some advice for the next time you’re waiting for a package: Leave the door open when you’re on the crapper.
To say that UPS “NEVER” delivers on time. . . give me a break. You obviously haven’t the slightest idea of how complex logistical systems operate. UPS has billions of packages in it’s system each day. For every “I hate UPS” story, there’s a “G-Damn FedEx” story and probably about eleventy-billion “FFFFFFRK USPS” stories.Shipping is complicated. There’s a lot of variables. Oh, and ground packages do not have a guaranteed delivery date.
Even with the increase in home delivery, business accounts are still the main priority for UPS. Because they cause a lot less hassle for everybody involved. Businesses keep regular hours, so drivers do not waste their time attempting deliveries over and over again. And CSRs don’t have to spend time getting bitched out by all of those people who were taking a dump while listening to the new clay Aiken album and they didn’t hear the driver knocking and now they totally have to wait another day for their Ronco Food Dehydrator- FUCK!
@StevieD:
LOL
I’ve worked surveilence before, and seen investigators send b.s. packages w/ tracking, then stake out your house to make sure you sign for the package so they have due dillegence video evidence that you live at that address since you had to sign for it. As well as pretend to be with UPS or a ‘private courier’.