UPS Coughs Up $50 But Still Hasn't Delivered Your Daughter's Christmas Present
Reader Michael wants to know why it's taking UPS almost a month to ship his daughter's Christmas gift from Los Angeles to Seattle. Michael thinks his package might have been eaten by the snowstorm that broke Seattle a few weeks back, but UPS swears that they have the gift and that this is all a simple matter of "the driver forgot to put it on the truck." Worried that it that it might have been faster for a messenger to walk between Los Angeles and Seattle with his daughter's present, Michael decided to launch an Executive Email Carpet Bomb at UPS executives.
He wrote:
First, I'd like to start by saying that emailing UPS executives is not my first choice in customer service. However, at this point I'm at a loss for what to do and I'm hoping one of you can help. Here's my story.On December 16, a package was shipped to me via UPS Ground from Los Angeles. The package contained a Christmas gift for my daughter. The target delivery date was originally 12/24. As you may have seen on the news, there was a considerable amount of snow in Seattle at that time and when the local government decided they were unwilling/able to plow the streets most commerce stopped. I understand that this is not UPS's fault and was not upset at the time that my package did not arrive. My daughter wasn't so forgiving but it was a good lesson in the unfairness of life. I refocused her on making a snowman.
But we're closing in on two weeks past Christmas at this point, the roads have been pretty good for most of that time and still, my package hasn't arrived. And all I get when I ask customer service why I haven't received my package is an apology and an explanation that the weather is causing the delay.
This rings hollow to me and here's why:
1Z 7E0 03 4481 146 (Shipped 12/23 from Texas)
1Z 8WX 604 03 8747 (Shipped 12/22 from Pittsburgh)Both shipped after the missing package, from further away, and both are here at my house.
I've called 1-800-PICK-UPS each of the last few days as your website directs. Their ability to help seems to be limited to reading me the same information I can find at UPS.com and sending requests to the UPS facility in Redmond. My wife was assured twice that someone at the facility would call her by 4 p.m. today and then when nothing came at 4 p.m she was promised 6 p.m. It's 8 p.m. as I write this and still no call. (Her number is XXX XXX XXXX, you can check the request in your message system).
We were assured on Monday that it would arrive Tuesday. However, here's the tracking note from today:
REDMOND, WA, US
11:42 A.M. THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY / FORWARDED TO THE FACILITY IN THE DESTINATION CITY
1:19 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERYDo you know what Joe Collier (Tampa) at 1-800-PICK-UPS told me tonight this meant? The driver forgot to put it on the truck. How does one scan it out for delivery and then it doesn't make it on the truck? We're well past weather delays here. This is incompetence.
So, how can you help? I'd like my daughter's Christmas present and I would like it on Wednesday. But at this point it doesn't really even matter anymore. She's forgotten about it and the whole thing will be anticlimactic. And tomorrow the driver is probably going to figure it out and bring it here without your intervention. But I paid a merchant for shipping and still I haven't received anything except non-answers, apologies and unkept promises that it'll be here tomorrow. This sucks.
I would also like an written apology from the director of the Redmond distribution center. I realize it's been a bad month but those two other packages making it here before my daughter's present have ended my patience.
Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate any assistance you may be able to offer.
Sincerely,
Michael
Following-up: Someone from UPS corporate customer service did call me today to apologize. She told me that my package is not on a truck for today and they really don't know when it will be. Then she offered me a check for $50 for my trouble. She also promised she'd keep track of this and update me when she could but wasn't able to help expedite things.We'll see if any of that happens. At this point, I'd be surprised if I saw the package before next week.
$50 isn't bad, but you know what would be better than $50? Yes, $100, but think even better than that. How about finally delivering the gift Michael ordered nearly a month ago?!
RELATED: How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb
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How about finally delivering the gift Michael ordered nearly a month ago?
According to this it has been: [wwwapps.ups.com]
Score another one for the EECB.
Driving it there yourself > UPS
I hate UPS with a passion. Not only can they not figure out how to return to sender a package with "RETURN TO SENDER" written in huge letters on it, they just FLY down neighborhood streets like its a damn racetrack. They throw your package at your door, sprint back to the truck, and peel out. I'm waiting for them to hit either a pet or a child one of these days. Hate them!
While we're on the subject of UPS...
Is there any way to get them to come earlier than say... 10PM on a Friday night? Yes, you read that right, 10PM!
@kabuk1: No, I much rather a innocent pet or child not get hit by them.
However I'd prefer these fools to hit a telephone pole or fire hydrant. This way, they look like ass-clowns at no expense at someones health.
The package tracking information says it was sent on 12/16 and delivered on 1/7. That's 16 transit days (as UPS calls them, basically business days + Saturday). Yes, that's quite a few, but it was around the holidays AND their tracking information shows:
PORTLAND, OR, US 12/21/2008 8:43 A.M. ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
REDMOND, WA, US 12/22/2008 8:00 A.M. ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
REDMOND, WA, US 12/24/2008 11:36 A.M. EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS' CONTROL
So, minus those emergency days, UPS took about 2 transit weeks to deliver a package at the holidays. That's really not that bad, in my opinion. Now, if you paid for overnight or 2-day ground, that's a different story. The OP only specifies ground, but there is 2-day ground, 4-day ground, etc.
I think $50 is a pretty good deal.
@SabreDC:
2-day ground? 4-day ground?
UPS offers:
Ground
3 day select
2 day air
1 day air
The air ones can also have some additional detail, like Saturday delivery or early A.M. delivery.
Ground is a one trick pony, however. It takes a certain amount of days to get from A to B, no guarantees. Transit time from LA to Washington state is only a couple of days, and while there was some obvious reasons for the delays, 2 weeks is still unacceptable, despite the lack of guarantees.
This year I had trouble, twice, with UPS (once was with the Redmond shipping facility).
On the first occasion I launched an EECB, where I asked for an investigation of the situation at the Redmond facility. UPS corporate customer relations called me and put me in touch with the district manager for the Redmond location, who promised to investigate. The manager kept regular contact with me and found the root of the trouble (someone wasn't doing their job at the facility).
On the second occasion, I simply called my contact at UPS corporate (Cynthia Webb, manager for Customer Relations 404.828.7884), which netted me a $20 cheque from them.
It seems like UPS wants to do good; it's great that it's possible to contact them and they'll take appropriate actions. It is poor, however, that items aren't shipped correctly the first time.
We need to continue to hold corporations accountable for their actions, so we don't settle for mediocrity.
@John Naas: Sorry, I forgot that UPS uses this map [www.ups.com] to determine ground transit. For some reason, I was thinking that they had ground options. According to that map, it is 3 days. I do agree that 2 weeks is unacceptable, but I think just about everyone on this site has had to deal with delayed shipping in the past. My point is that a $50 gift from UPS for the delay is a pretty nice deal. How many others on this forum who have had delayed shipments have ever received $50?
@SabreDC: Where did you find tracking information? I see the two from the packages he received afterward but I don't see tracking for the package in question...
What I love is when some company says just refuse the UPS shipment, but you can't because UPS guy leaves the package on the stoop, rings the bell, and drives off before you can even get to the door.
My husband in New York sent his Aunt in Florida a lovely Christmas gift via FED EX -- a beautiful framed photograph of her hometown.
When it hadn't arrived, he called FedEx.
THEY SENT IT TO NEPAL.
Yes, Nepal. NEPAL! We're hoping to get it back....
I know this is a personal preference thing, but I never use UPS if I can avoid it. I was waiting for a package from them, it was a couple days late. I call them up , they say it's been delivered. This is an expensive package requiring a signature, so I ask who signed for it. They don't know. Hmmmm...
Long story short, I walked around the condo complex I was in at the time, and found the package in some bushes in front of a vacant unit with a similar number. No one had signed for it, and it had sat in the rain for days. Surprisingly, only some of the contents were damaged beyond repair.
Fed-Ex whenever possible.
@Radoman: That's terrible, but pretty descriptive of UPS' service. I went away for a few days around Christmas. I was expecting a package that required a signature. I was planning to return home on Monday the 29th and the package was scheduled for delivery on the 26th. I figured "OK, it requires a signature, so I'll let it go. I should be able to sign for it on the 26th, which should be the second delivery day". Not so.
When I got back the 29th, the package was on my stoop. Thankfully, as it was electronic, it didn't rain or anything. But it was a few hundred dollars of computer equipment sitting on my porch. According to my UPS account where you can see the signature - someone did sign for it. Now, I live in a single house and both my wife and I were gone, so there was no one around. The signature was a few scribbles.
I can't prove it, but I'm almost certain that the driver "signed" for it and left it there. Our driver is notorious for just tossing packages onto the porch and driving away, without even ringing the doorbell. I'll go to take my trash out the next morning and I'll see a package there from 8pm the previous night.
I agree. FedEx whenever possible. Postal Service whenever not possible.
@krispykrink: I work nights, so you'd think it'd be easy for me to intercept the UPS guy during the day ... but no. They consistently make attempts at 8 p.m.... the hilarious part is that when I used to work days, they always showed up in the early afternoon. It's like they KNOW.
@Thaddeus: Not necessarily.
I was waiting for an important package from UPS, which was delayed by weather. I watched, and even waived to the UPS driver who was apparently having trouble finding my address, even with me standing on the snow bank waving. He drove past me twice, looked around, and drove away.
So I called UPS to try to get the driver to return with it, or to hold it for pickup, as it was something I really needed. However, the system at UPS.com showed the package as having been delivered.
I explained the situation, and was initially told there was nothing they could do, and that I should look inside my front door, because the system said it was delivered.
UPS was a little better with returning phone calls. A UPS manager of some sort called and eve came out to see me, and asked a bunch of questions.
Three days later, without any explanation, the package was left on my front porch. They did call to leave me a message and to ask if I had received it, but never even offered any explanation.
My point is that just because they say it was delivered, doesn't mean it was.
fedex express if I may..
Our company had to drop fedex ground completely because they were cutting open our shipments, stealing electronics and resealing them on a regular basis..
ups is a little smarter (as someone above mentions) they'll at least 'sign for' your package before stealing it..
forget about insuring anything with them either. If you claim anything over 100 bucks they say its your fault it wasnt packaged right. Then they wipe their hands clean of it because a third party company makes the choice, not them. So I was left with a packages ups beat the fuck out of and also out the money it cost to insure it. Dont know if Fed ex is any better but ill never ship ups again.
Good gravy. Remove that tracking info from this post!
You can call UPS with a tracking number and ask them, "What was that address you delivered it to? Oh, and the name?" and they'll tell you without hesitation.
That's not the kind of info you want to wave around on the internet.
@goodcow: Which is odd, considering they'll reroute packages that are out for delivery if a corporation ask...ohhhhh
@ajlei: His tracking number was apparently in the post before someone pointed out how much you could glean from just that.
I had a somewhat similar experience with UPS about a year ago. My impression is that their tracking systems and procedures aren't sophisticated enough for their complex shipping business. I should have complained to corporate at that time, but didn't. However, that one experience was so bad I've avoided them ever since--whenever I had a choice. I used to think UPS was the standard as far as competence and reliability. I don't know what has happened to them.
@NewsBunny: I find that very hard to believe because international shipments require different documentation, invoices, and customs forms. Perhaps the computer says Nepal but it is probably floating around in some building in Memphis.
@coren: Rerouting is completely and totally at the discretion of the shipper. The contract is between the SHIPPER and UPS.
@goodcow: The only time I've ever been successful in rerouting a package is after a delivery attempt has been made, or when its sitting in their shipping facility before they try to attempt delivery.
I was told explicitly that it cannot be rerouted while its in transit. >_<
@Radoman: I had a similar experience with a very very expensive and fragile package.
No missed delivery slip on my door, my neighbors didn't have it. And yet it said "delivered".
Turns out it was on my back porch, up against my sliding glass door. The *only* way it could've gotten there is if the delivery man threw it.
Even though it explicitly said FRAGILE in large letters all over the package.
Ground is subcontracted out. They're barely even FedEx. Express is better.
I love me some UPS-bashing.
@albokay:
FedEx will not give you over $100 on a claim unless you put a Declared Value on the package. I know this NOW because they lost a $2000 package that I didn't put the value on. Declared Value over $500 means they have to get a signature. Also, adding DV makes it cost more.
Maybe they'll find it. *sigh*
Their computer was having a dyslexic moment. What they meant to say was that it is on a 'PLANE'.
@Oranges w/ Cheese: I've always had luck leaving a note on the door asking them to delivery to a friendly neighbor.
@NewsBunny: Just a guess, but does his aunt live in Naples, FL? That's the only way I could see it going to Nepal!
@purplesun: Is it really that big of a deal? I can open a phone book and say "Oh, John Smith. What's his address? 123 Main Street? Awesome! What's his phone number? (111) 555-3939? Great!" without hesitation.
@SabreDC: Perhaps not... Until Nigerian scammers take to sending packages to your house, creating a fake account in your name with a stolen credit card, then calling mid-transit and altering the package destination which results in a charge attached to "your" account.
And, since UPS does very little to verify identities for any transactions, you could find yourself in big trouble very, very quickly.
I'm unlisted, personally.
@purplesun: Just called UPS. OP, I have your name, address, and number now, as well as some additional info about your check. Consumerist, shall I pass it along?
They offered to let me change the address as to where I wanted the check sent. You'll be happy to know I declined.
@purplesun: Wow. You mean, you misrepresented yourself to obtain personal information about someone? You know that's a felony right (wire fraud)? I wouldn't go around admitting that on a public forum.
This was a very common occurence for packages shipped to/held at the Redmond, WA facility.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ups-customer-center-redmond
Attempting to contact UPS by phone simply led to promises of callbacks from the Redmond facility that never happened. Usually the threat of a trace got some sort of response at least in the online tracking info, but a call to confirm the change in status usually returned another "that package is still lost in the facility somewhere, we'll have them call you". And the cycle started all over...
@SabreDC: Considering I emailed the editors about this when the article first posted - something had to be done. *shrugs*
Try complaining at
UnitedPackageSmashers.com
@chatterboxwriting: His aunt does not live in Naples. We took it to a Fex Ed Store, they packed it up for us, labeled it, and sent it.
Next thing we know -- Nepal. I shit you not.
I've been fed the same line before. Ordered a Dell laptop for my boss, as a Christmas gift for his wife. The "didn't get put on the truck" excuse, within 48 hours of me calling Dell and having *them* ask the same questions I had asked for 3 days, turned into "one of our warehouse employees stole it". Nice...
I paid for 3 day shipping on the 26th of December. Their customer service (1-800-PICK-UPS) said I would for sure have it by Friday, the 2nd of January as I was leaving (and currently am) in London through the 24th of Jan, and the package was a pair of shoes I desperately needed for the trip. The package arrived in my area at the local shipping depot on WEDNESDAY MORNING at 6:00am. Where it sat. And sat. All day Friday too. I even went down there, but they said they had no idea where it was since it hadn't had a physical scan yet, simply a "logical" scan of the entire truck it was on. Yet, 20 minutes after I left (according to UPS.com) the package had a physical scan. And now, I'm in London, out $70 for the pair of shoes (I'm a college student here for a class - $70 is a lot and would've helped defray expenses whilst here). After exhausting all other options, I did an EECB and received a call a day later. They'll refund the extra $$$ I paid for faster shipping. The resolution was OK, but the method it took to get there.... notsomuch.
Oh yeah? Think that's mean? I went on Amazon to order the 24 Graphic Novel for myself in time for my birthday, November 7. Then I kept waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for a WHOLE FUCKIN YEAR! And at the end, Amazon said they didn't have it and they didn't give me back my money. Psh. Figures.
@I work as a meth lab technician isn't really a meth lab tec...: Did UPS eat it somehow? I'm not following.
I make a point of avoiding UPS like the plague. A short while back, I ordered a sewing machine that the company I was ordering from would only ship UPS. I kid you not, a few of the UPS guys in our town tap on the door once and then book it back to the truck before you can answer (Honest. I once watched out our door's peephole and watched the guy do it). So I missed the delivery, but didn't want to wait over the weekend to get my package re-delivered. Their website said I could call and request to pick up the package that day, since the UPS place was only a mile or so away from us. So I called and the man I spoke to said that my package would be ready for pickup by 5.
At five, I go to UPS. A kid about my age says there says all the trucks have come in, and no package for me. I go home, and around 8pm I then receive a call stating that my package has just arrived. Since I was far too tired to go back into town, I asked if I could just have the package redelivered on Monday as it was originally meant to. The man on the phone said, "No, once you agree to pickup we don't send them out for redelivery". Bleh.
So the next morning, I head back to UPS. Same kid is just standing there reading a comic book, and says there's no package for me there. I told him he had called me the night before and he said, "Well, we have another UPS facility, it was probably them"... in a completely different city 20 miles away!!!
I asked for the number so I could verify my package was there before driving (I didn't want to make a 40 mile trip just to find out my package wasn't there) and the kid said that he wasn't allowed to give out the number. I asked if he would mind calling on my behalf then and before I was even finished he said, "Fine, fine, I'll give you the number but don't tell anyone you got it from me, eh?" (wow, way to avoid doing any actual work)
My package was indeed there, and again the staff refused to send it out for redelivery; I had to pick it up. So, 20 miles I go to pick up my darn package and another 20 miles back home. When I explain my confusion at why I wasn't informed that in order to pick up my package, I had to drive to a completely different facility in a completely different city I was told, "Oh, that's Jeff's fault, he's new." and that was that. No apology, no nothing.
@I work as a meth lab technician isn't really a meth lab tec...:
I had that happen with a book I ordered once. The estimated ship-by date kept changing for about five months before I called to ask what was wrong. They apologized and said that even though the listing said ships in 1-2 weeks, they didn't actually have the book and were having difficulty finding one from the company they usually order from. They cancelled my order and gave me $5 for my trouble.
But... are you sure they didn't give you your money back? Amazon doesn't even charge your account until the item actually ships. I think I smell shenanigans...
UPS gives random checks out?
I had two UPS packages that were on their 3rd and 2nd delivery attempts but I work and they wouldn't just leave the package, so I called UPS to tell them to hold the packages for me to be picked up.
Apparently, the request wasn't processed for the package that had three delivery attempts made and they started to ship it back to the sender instead. I called and customer service said they couldn't do anything at that point.
Fuck UPS.
Postal service > UPS.