Posts about UPS

UPS And UPS Store Awaken Reader's Inner Groomzilla
Gus's fiancée shipped the invitations for their upcoming wedding to him in Ohio from her current home in California. Only they needed to arrive before Gus leaves for a long trip today. Sending them 2nd Day Air from a UPS store, the future Mrs. Gus didn't expect them to be held for a few days to a different city in California. It was finally on its way and... delivered to the wrong place yesterday. More »

UPS MyChoice Feels More Like A Protection Racket
The UPS MyChoice program is supposed to be a good thing - it lets customers tell the company in advance whether to deliver packages without a signature or deliver them right ot a UPS store. But Holly ends up clicking in circles trying to find out how to sign up for the (free) program. The useful options, like redirecting packages to a UPS store or getting a delivery window, cost extra money. More »

UPS And My Dog Turn Cupcake Boxes Into Expensive Chew Toy
Crystal's delivery from a third-party Amazon vendor was already more than a week late, and she lives in Hawaii. When UPS finally showed up with the box, the driver simply pitched it over the five-foot fence and into her yard. The good news is that there was nothing breakable in the box, so the act of hurling the package didn't damage her purchase. The bad news is that her dog was chilling in the yard at the time, and thought that the box of boxes was for him. To chew. More »

Worst Company In America Round One: UPS Vs. USPS
We hope these two parcel-punting pugilists know how to deliver the punches, because they both seem to have a problem delivering your packages. More »

Welcome to Consumerist's 7th Annual Worst Company In America tournament, where the businesses you nominated face off for a title that none of them will publicly admit to wanting — but which all of them try their hardest to earn. So it's time to fill in the brackets and start another office pool. That is, unless you work at one of the 32 companies competing in the tournament. More »

UPS Fails At Not Only Delivering Package On Time, But Also At Reading Comprehension
We've got to hand it to Nichole — when faced with a frustrating issue and three chat conversations with UPS customer service reps who don't seem to understand the simplest of sentences, she remained cool as a cucumber. She says she attempted to resolve a situation wherein UPS failed to deliver an important package, but no one seemed to get what she was saying loud and clear. More »

UPS Plays Blame Game After $5,000 Package Gets Damaged
Mike owns a small business, and he ships a lot. He mostly used UPS, and says that he probably spends $12,000 on shipping annually. Of all of the company's items to get damaged in transit, it had to be the one worth more than $5,000 that was insured, but not for the full value of the package. That's just how the world works. UPS claims that the item was damaged due to improper packaging, which is interesting because the item had been packaged at a local UPS Store. But loyal Consumerist readers know that UPS Stores are franchises, not owned by UPS. This means that UPS can blame the damage on Mike, since he's the one who paid someone else to package the item. More »

Adidas Ships My Package To A Bar Instead Of My House & Expects Me To Be Okay With That
We've got to hand it to our reader Christopher — although he's unemployed and says he spends his time filling out job applications, he's got a pretty good sense of humor when it comes to the misadventures of his merchandise. In this case, it seems Adidas decided a delivered package means the job is done, no matter who it's gone to. More »

UPS: Pay Up And We Might Not Make The Same Delivery Error Twice In A Row
Keith's brother gave him an old desktop computer as a Christmas gift, but this gift came with a catch. He had to ship it to himself, a few thousand miles away. Since packages can't be delivered to his door at his apartment building, he sent the package to a nearby UPS store, flagged as "hold for pickup." Naturally the UPS store refused the package and sent it back. Now UPS wants Keith to pay the shipping fee again. For that, they might actually deliver it to his house this time. Or they might send it back. Isn't the suspense exciting? More »

EECB Scores Hit On T-Mobile, Saves Customer $400 Charge For Phone UPS Lost
When Jeffrey received his replacement smartphone from T-Mobile, he packed up his old one, used the enclosed prepaid UPS label, and dispatched it using a UPS drop box. From there, the phone disappeared. One customer service rep after another assured him that the lost phone situation would be resolved...and then a $300 charge for the phone appeared on his bill. It was time to escalate. It was time to use a powerful tool he learned about from this very site: the executive e-mail carpet bomb. More »

UPS Won't Budge On Refunds For Packages That Didn't Make Guaranteed Christmas Delivery In Colorado
There are several thousand irritated UPS customers in the Denver area this week. They paid for UPS' guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery but Big Brown was unable to make good on its promise and 50,000 packages didn't make it under the tree in time. Now UPS is saying these customers will not be getting refunds because the delay was snow-related. More »

Couple Takes Advantage Of UPS Laziness, Steals Over 100 Packages From Doorsteps
We've certainly written enough pieces over the years about how some UPS, FedEx and USPS carriers would rather fling your package somewhere in the vicinity of your house rather than knock and wait to see if you're home. Now the police in Somerville, MA, say a couple took advantage of drivers' willingness to leave packages out in the open by swooping in to steal the deliveries right off folks' doorsteps. More »

It's About To Become 5% More Expensive To Ship With UPS
In news that must surely have folks at the Postal Service cackling with delight — or at least it would if it weren't after 4 p.m. and they hadn't all gone home for the day already — UPS announced that it will soon be raising its published rates almost 5% on all domestic ground, air and international shipments that originate in the good ol' U.S.A. More »

UPS Knows Where Misrouted Package Is, Shrugs
Claire, the manager of an apartment building, went above and beyond the scope of her job duties to attempt to re-route a package destined for a former tenant. UPS didn't really do anything wrong in this case: the wrong address was the shipper's fault, or maybe the former tenant's. But since too many days have passed since the box showed up on the wrong person's doorstep, it's no longer UPS's problem. The package, we assume, will just be written off as "lost." More »

Apple Makes Me Stalk The UPS Guy At My Old House
Samantha has moved since registering for an account on Apple.com. That's not unusual. Her problem is that Apple is somehow unable to deal with this reality, and she isn't able to change her address in their system. This means that they can't ship her freshly ordered iPhone 4S anywhere but her old address. "Maybe I will show up at the house and ask them to please not steal my new iPhone," she muses. More »

This UPS Driver Needs A Review Of The ABCs
It's not that the UPS delivery driver who brought George's wife's Avon order to their apartment is stupid. He just has a very poor understanding of how the alphabet works. That's the only explanation for why he brought the package to vacant apartment A instead of George's apartment C, and how the package later ended up re-routed to another woman in a different town. Clearly letters are just symbols without meaning. More »

UPS To Launch Service That Gives Customers 4-Hour Delivery Window
Basically admitting that its system of "driver doesn't actually check to see if you're home and either tosses package into the bushes or leaves a useless infonotice," doesn't quite work, UPS has announced the launch of a new system that would alert customers of a parcel's impending delivery and give them a four-hour window for delivery, along with other options is that window doesn't work for them. More »

UPS Won't Leave Packages At My Apartment - What Can I Do?
Emmy and her partner shop online a lot, and they're also not home much during the day. Historically this hasn't been a problem: UPS leaves an InfoNotice on the door of their four-unit apartment building, then returns the next day and leaves the package. After a management change, the delivery policy to Emmy's neighborhood changed, too: they would have to fetch their packages from the depot ten miles away or have all packages delivered to Emmy's work. They don't like either option, but what else can they do? More »

UPS Drives To Your House Specifically To Not Deliver Packages
The UPS driver servicing Valerie's neighborhood has a very shaky understanding of what his or her job actually entails. Every time that a package is Valerie-bound, on the very first delivery attempt the driver slaps a final notice on the door and returns the packages to the sender. (She didn't mention whether they even bother to ring the doorbell.) Local management doesn't seem to care, UPS corporate doesn't seem to care, and Valerie can't even avoid ordering things through UPS, since her baby registry is with a company that only uses them to ship. More »

My UPS Driver Is Either An Unfrozen Caveman Or Animal From The Muppets
Consumerist reader Morgan doesn't quite know how to feel about the words her UPS driver chose to describe her. More »

The Experience Of Not Receiving A Package From UPS, In Comic Form
Popular geeky comic xkcd turned this week to the topic of package delivery. Specifically, UPS package deliveries. More specifically, UPS delivery notifications that appear out of nowhere when you were home and totally would have run to the door if anyone had bothered to ring the doorbell. More »

UPS Appears To Have Stomped On This Package, Then Left It In The Rain
You can't blame Ju for being disappointed in the condition of the package that UPS left for him. They didn't just abandon it on his doorstep on a rainy day. They also appear to have drop-kicked it and had a few elephants stomp on it for good measure.
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My UPS Package Was Delivered, Just Not To Me
UPS claims that it has done its job: Adam's package, a gift that his wife got for him from Gamestop, was "delivered." And it was. Just not to him. Or to his house. Or, as far as he can determine, to anyone in his neighborhood. See, he was home, and a large brown truck is hard to miss. More »

Why I Will Never Ship With UPS Again
Reader Tyler shares the list of reasons he will never use UPS again on purpose. A shot-putted package, $1,000 of computer parts left outside the wrong house with no signature, customer service shenanigans and finally, a smooshed box. That's it! He's had it! Brown is no longer welcome in Tyler Town. More »

Target & UPS Try To Destroy My Dyson During Shipping
It's a conspiracy! At least according to Consumerist reader Terrance, who says Target's poor packing job combined with UPS paltry efforts to handle his Dyson with care resulted in a sham of an attempt to deliver his product intact. More »

LAPD Falls For Internet Hoax, Sends Out Misguided Alert About UPS Deliveries
Internet hoaxes are capable of tricking not only your grandma, but also the Los Angeles Police Department. An 8-year-old yarn about terrorists — dressed as UPS workers thanks to uniforms bought on eBay — who could deliver explosives disguised as packages spurred the force to send out an alert to residents. An unidentified state law enforcement agency passed the info to the police department. More »

UPS Sends Yet Another Package Back To 2009
For me, half of the fun in ordering things online is watching the package find its way to me through the shipping service's online tracking system. The UPS package that Dean is waiting for won't provide him with that pleasure, though, because it has apparently been sent back to 2009 for delivery. Well, that, or UPS continues to recycle its tracking numbers. More »

T-Mobile Isn't Sure How It's Going To Replace Phone Stolen In Shipment
Hey, T-Mobile, why is Autumn paying for service when her phone never reached her in the first place? She and her husband ordered their shiny new devices online, and one mysteriously disappeared while the package was in the hands of UPS. Well, not so mysterious: someone opened up the box and stole the phone. Two weeks later, she's still waiting for the phone, a consistent answer from T-Mobile, or—let's go crazy here—maybe both. More »

Brian Regan Doesn't Know How To Use UPS
Comedian Brian Regan talks about how he's really bad at using UPS. If you've ever wondered why UPS operators sound like they're both bored and on the verge of killing you, it's because of jackasses like this who call up and give fake information because they're too lazy/stupid to figure out how to perform basic measurements. Is it really that hard to weigh yourself on a scale, then weigh yourself on a scale holding the box, then subtract your weight from the you + box weight? But once you get past the basic "customer is a moron" premise, the bit is pretty funny. More »

$700 In Citi Rewards Gift Cards Stranded In New Jersey
Yuriy traded in 70,000 Citi credit card reward points for $700 in gift cards. He intended to use the cards to buy a new laptop for his mother—how sweet! But something has gone horribly wrong, and the package of gift cards is stranded in Secaucus, N.J. It will take seven weeks for Citi to believe that the cards are really missing and issue replacements. More »

Don't UPS Drivers Realize Customers Have Security Cameras?
A California man knew he wouldn't be home when UPS was slated to make a delivery so he left a note for the driver saying the package could be delivered to his next door neighbor's house. What he didn't know was that UPS thinks "deliver" means "throw it over a fence and onto the neighbor's porch from 10 to 12 feet away." More »

Giant UPS Ink Crash Turns Highway Technicolor
A stretch of Massachusetts highway has been drenched in the colors of the rainbow after a UPS truck carrying industrial printer cartridges rolled and spewed out its beautiful cargo. No one was hurt, but Skittles really needs to reign in these guerrilla marketing campaigns. More »

At UPS, 'Improper Packaging' Means 'Someone Cut Open Your Package'
Michelle sold her engagement ring to a friend, and shipped it from a UPS Store in the Midwest. The ring was valuable, so she purchased $200 worth of shipping insurance on the ring and sent it on its way to New England. When the box arrived, it had been cut open and the ring removed. Michelle's insurance claim was denied because the item was "improperly packaged." More »

The Home Theater System, The Day Off Work, And The Lying UPS Guy
Jonathan was waiting for UPS to deliver an important and expensive package to his house. He even took a day off work, in order to make sure that he didn't miss the delivery. The UPS site said that the package would arrive by 7:00 PM, but that time came and went. Not only did the package not show up, the driver pretended that he had tried to deliver the package, and logged it in the system as such. Nice try: Jonathan was at home, with his door open at the time. More »

In The UPS Time Zone, End Of Business Day Is Midnight
When you order something for "next day" delivery, what constitutes a day? Travis wrote that his very important package didn't arrive that day. Normally not an issue, but he had taken a vacation day from work to wait for it. UPS told him that the package absolutely would show up by the end of the business day, where "end of the business day" is defined as "midnight." Not only does Travis find this a strange way to define "business day," but the package didn't show up then, either. More »

UPS Delivers A Monitor Only Aquaman Could Appreciate
H ordered a computer monitor online, only to see it show up at his door in this moisturized condition, courtesy of UPS. He says it came in a box large enough to hold five of the monitors. More »

This UPS Center's Package Pickup Could Not Be Much Less Pleasant Or Efficient
Chantell thought that it would be simpler and more efficient to pick up a UPS package declared "undeliverable" at the shipper's local facility near her home—a large city somewhere in the southern half of the country. Her experience at the local distribution center could be described as many things, but "simple" and "efficient" are not even close. More »

My Online Order Didn't Get To Me, But GameStop, UPS Say It Was Delivered
Bruce ordered an Xbox 360 bundle from GameStop, but says the package never arrived. UPS says it left the package at his door and told Bruce to complain to GameStop, which isn't responding. More »

Retailer Makes Up For UPS's Botched Delivery Of My Laptop
M ordered a MacBook Pro as a Christmas gift, but he says it didn't show up when it was supposed to, despite UPS's online report that it had been delivered to the "front door" of his apartment. More »

Who Screwed Up And Sent Me Some Other Guy's Deodorant?
Last week, Jon kept receiving packages from drugstore.com that he didn't order. He was confused, until some detective work solved the problem: a man with the same (relatively common) first and last names as Jon was staying at a nearby hotel, ordered the items, and an overzealous address correction system at UPS assumed that the package really belonged to Jon. What he wants to know is: who screwed up here? More »

Man Rigs UPS Package With Car Alarm In Attempt To Catch Thief
After receiving a box full of sheets and soda cans instead of a laptop, a man in California became convinced that someone at UPS had opened and stolen his computer. So he took matters into his own hands in an attempt to catch a thief in the act. More »

Beat These Deadlines To Ship Your Gifts On Time
If you're shipping out gifts to friends and family, you may have to start sending out packages this week if you want to get them to their destinations by Christmas. Here are links to domestic shipping deadlines for some of the more popular shipping services: More »

Now You Need Photo ID To Ship A UPS Package
Because there's nothing that stops fraud or terrorism like being made to show a photo ID, UPS has announced that customers will need to show a government-issued ID when shipping that tin of cookies to their Aunt Mable for her 90th birthday. More »

What Did This Woman Do To UPS To Get On Brown's Blacklist?
An Oregon woman whose medical problems leave her unable to drive thought that being able to buy almost anything online would make her life easier. That was before UPS began its mysterious war with her. Now, she's forced to either buy from stores that use a different carrier, or have her packages delivered to a neighbor's house. Why? The Oregonian tried to find out. More »

Why Do Stores Keep Sending Me Someone Else's Stuff?
Consumerist reader Valerie is in a bit of a pickle — over the last couple of weeks, packages have been piling up at her doorstep, which would be nice if she had actually ordered them. More »

Ticketmaster Won't Refund Shipping Charge For Unshipped World Series Tickets
As mentioned earlier, the World Series starts tonight. Consumerist reader Louis is doubly ticked-off because A) his Yankees aren't playing and B) Ticketmaster is still holding onto some of the money he paid for tickets to a game he'll never see. More »

UPS Shatters Precious Sam Adams Utopia Bottle, Dreams
Z. bought a wonderful gift for his sister while in New England: a bottle of Sam Adams Utopia, a strong, expensive specialty brew that you can't exactly buy at the corner liquor store in California, where she lives. To Z's dismay, the package seemed to make the cross-country journey just fine, only to have the bottle break shortly before reaching Z's doorstep. More »

UPS Refuses To Listen To UPS, Won't Release Package To Authorized Person
What is the standard for a UPS store pickup center to release a package to someone who is not the addressee? Ace writes that apparently, one needs more than a signed note authorizing the pickup and an order from a UPS call center. What should have been a routine package pickup turned into a bizarre slap-fight. More »

Gymboree And UPS Worked Together To Make My Life Incredibly Awkward
Caitlin has a bit of advice: if you plan to order from Gymboree and have some items shipped to you and other items shipped to a friend as a gift, don't order all of the items in the same transaction. Maybe not on the same day. She writes that the company messed up her order in every way short of losing it or sending the wrong items, and has put her in the awkward position of having to ask her friend to send what appeared to be a gift, but was actually Caitlin's order, to Caitlin. Gymboree, for its part, blames UPS. More »

UPS, UPS Store And Repair Shop All Blame Each Other For My Missing PS3 (Updated)
John sent his broken PlayStation 3 off for repair, but the game console has vanished thanks to either UPS, a UPS Store, the repair shop to which he sent the device or some combination of the three. More »

New UPS Envelope Has 2nd Tape Strip So You Can Use It Twice
From the department of "of course!" UPS has introduced a new reusable express envelope. It's got a second adhesive strip that lets the recipient reuse the same envelope on a new shipment. More »

UPS Wants To Replace Your Luggage With Their Luggage Box
As checked baggage fees continue to rise — and with nickel-and-dime carriers beginning to charge for carry-ons — it's becoming more and more popular for air travelers to ship some of their belongings directly to and from their destinations. Now, UPS has taken it to the next level, introducing a cardboard suitcase that gives you the options of checking, carrying-on or shipping. More »

UPS Overcharges Art Gallery $650, Offers $160 Refund
Hang needed to ship three large pieces of art to Japan in time for a gallery opening, but UPS had other plans. Rather than weigh the boxes properly or fill out the right customs forms, UPS decided to charge Hang $1,600 for a job that should've cost $950. Because the customs forms were improper, one of the boxes was returned as undeliverable, while another was stuck in customs and didn't arrive until after the opening. Hang only wants UPS to refund the $650 overcharge, but UPS thinks Hang is being greedy. More »

UPS Calls You For Directions To Your House, UPS Store
Sounds like it's not just Megabus drivers who need to invest in a GPS. Alphonzo tells Consumerist that his local UPS drivers are evidently unable to locate his house. It sounds like some of his local drivers have no sense of direction whatsoever. More »

UPS Plays Hide And Seek With My Packages
Ben says UPS is making a game of finding his packages, but it's no fun because the carrier leaves him no hint of where he might find them. More »

UPS Sent My Package Back To Sender Without Telling Me
Samuel says UPS gave him no notice before returning a package meant for him back to the sender. Through the tracking number he discovered he missed the requisite three failed attempts at delivery, but says he was never notified. More »

Should I Have Given Back The iPad UPS Delivered Early?
Frederick tells Consumerist that he had an interesting dilemma yesterday. Another member of his household ordered an iPad, which showed up yesterday due to an error on UPS's part. He accepted the package, then gave it back when the driver returned 45 minutes later, explaining that the delivery was a mistake. Would you have given it back? More »

UPS Charges You $11 To Fix Zip Code Mistake
Richard has a warning for the Consumerist community: he writes that if you mess up a zip code on an overnight UPS package, they will charge you an $11 "address adjustment" fee to fix it. Excessive? Richard thought so, and UPS was nice enough to waive it when he asked. More »

UPS Refuses To Leave Package Without Signature Despite My Wishes
Sue has the whimsical idea that she can receive a package shipped via UPS by not waiting at home all day to sign it. She took a step to sign the InfoNotice that the driver left, authorizing UPS to leave the package for her without a signature. But the driver wouldn't comply. More »

Cruel UPS Store Employee Drives Me Back To Post Office
Evan says a UPS store employee was so annoyed he wanted to ship packages at her store that she muttered about him under her breath to coworkers and even suggested he use USPS instead. More »

UPS Guy Outwits Thieves With Clever Hiding Place
Sometimes a reader writes in to complain about how the UPS guy left a package in full view of anyone passing by. Not Nick, who was at work yesterday when he saw that UPS had delivered his shipment from from Amazon. Usually the delivery guy hides packages in Nick's bushes, but this time the notice said, "FD MAT." Nick writes, "That worried me a bit, as this is a pricey piece of electronic equipment. But my worry was misplaced; the clever UPS man hid this package extremely well." More »

Amazon Most Trusted Brand Of 2009; Toyota Was Seventh Most Trusted
All the money that Amazon has sunk into infrastructure and rapid fulfillment has paid off—the online retail giant was the most trusted brand of 2009, according to a brand study released by Millward Brown. The market research company spent 2009 asking consumers questions like, "How trustworthy is this brand?" and, "Would you recommend this brand?" More »