UPS ground doesn’t give refunds during the holidays.

That’s what reader Brian found out after a UPS package didn’t arrive. He checked the tracking code to find “someone” requested it held for pickup.

Brian called UPS. They said that if a driver can’t find the apartment, he will put a hold on the package and a postcard gets sent out. Brian found this odd as UPS delivered a package to him the day before (perhaps by a different, less lazy driver?)

Brian asked for a refund. UPS said they don’t give refunds on packages delivered December 11-26 due to:

• weather
• “driver flex time”
• high volume

Ergo, because UPS is busy, it can’t be held accountable for flubs.

If you’ve still got some packages to ship out, you might want to consider something other than UPS ground. — BEN POPKEN

Brian’s letter, inside…

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Brian writes:

“I just had a weird conversation with UPS. They had a package scheduled to be delivered to me on the 14th. It hadn’t arrived so I checked the tracking online. It said that at after one delivery attempt, SOMEBODY called to ask that the package be held for pickup. That person wasn’t me… I hadn’t received any notice of an attempted delivery. I called them.

The first woman I spoke to let me know that sometimes the delivery men can’t find the apartment, in which case they place a hold on the package and, I suppose, never tell you. She said something about sending out a postcard, but I haven’t gotten one yet. She didn’t know if one had been sent, just that sometimes it happens. The whole thing is weird because they had delivered a package to me the day before.

When I asked for a refund she gave me a more interesting answer: We don’t give refunds during the Holiday season. When I asked why she said because of the weather (it’s been 45 and sunny in DC all week) and, due to the quantity of packages in transit, because of “driver flex time.” I couldn’t get an exact clarification of what that meant.

I asked for a manager who confirmed that between December 11 and December 26 (he wasn’t sure about the ending date) packages shipped by UPS ground were not eligible for refunds due to the high traffic of the holiday season. I pointed out that it seems like the holiday season would be the most important time to offer refunds due to the personal importance of delivery. He agreed, but said that it was the policy of the company regardless.

They were both, however, very friendly and got on the phone quickly. So +1 for phone staff, -1 one for strange policies. Oh, and -10 for never bothering to deliver my package or to tell me that they weren’t going to deliver it.

I’ve got their names, but it hardly seems important. The no refund policy just seemed weird and crappy. They ultimately said that I’d have to get the shipper to ask for a refund anyway, as I hadn’t paid for the shipment (seems sort of reasonable), so Amazon will be my next phone call.”

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