A mysterious sounding reader known only as “sonic boom” emailed the tipline today, asking for advice on how to get UPS to stop forging his (?) signature when leaving packages with the local florist. We say Mr. Boom should consider himself lucky… we can’t even get UPS to ring our doorbell. Ever.

I have a question about UPS it seems might be up The Consumerist’s alley:

Can they leave a package addressed to me with a third party, yet write my name in the Signature line as though I had received it?

This isn’t high on my list of world problems to tackle, but on the other hand, my polite requests haven’t yielded any results so far. To explain:

Like countless New Yorkers, I live in an apartment building. As must be the case for many who are at work during the day and don’t have a door man, UPS sometimes leaves packages with the building’s Super or, more often, at the florist’s on the ground floor of the building. This has been going on for years and seems to work for everybody; easier for the driver, convenient for us residents.

Recently, however, a new wrinkle has appeared. The driver is leaving my packages at the florist’s while I’m at work, but the tracking website each time indicates they’ve been mysteriously signed-for by me even though I wasn’t there to receive them. When I call UPS, they tell me, “Yes, I see here your package was delivered and signed for by [MY NAME] at 1:15 PM today…”

“Wha? Huh? At 1:15 PM I was at work, and couldn’t possibly have been there to sign for it…”

“Well, that’s what our system shows, sir.”

The first two times this occurred, it didn’t really bother me since I received my packages same as always and it didn’t seem worth complaining about. (I should say here that in the past, packages were always signed-for by the Super or somebody at the florist’s.)

After the same thing happened a third time, I decided to ask a few questions. The CSR at UPS said he had no idea why this was the case and agreed my name shouldn’t appear in the system when they leave a package with another party. He assured me he would forward a message to a local Supervisor, who would call me back. The Supervisor called within an hour and I explained the situation. She said she understood my concern and would “have a talk with the driver.”

When I ran into the UPS driver on my block a week or so later, I asked him about the signature. He was friendly about it and told his Supervisor mentioned it to him, but said he hadn’t entered my name on the signature line, but that it had something to do with “The System.” He didn’t elaborate. The System. I thanked him and dropped it, thinking it was over.

Until it happened again the 4th, 5th, and just today, 6th times. The same cycle repeats: I track the package online. It’s delivered to the florist’s but mysteriously appears signed-for by me. I call UPS and the CSR informs me the only option is to forward a message to the local Supervisor. When he or she calls me back, I explain I have absolutely no problem with UPS, the driver, or the delivery arrangement, except for the part where my name falsely appears on the signature line. Each time, a different Supervisor claims to understand and says they’ll address the issue with the driver.

I’m just wondering what I might do here. I mean, is it even legal to sign someone else’s name like this? Is this a candidate for the dreaded EECB?

Thank you,

sonic boom

All joking aside, we could see how this would be a little annoying– particularly if someone decides to start stealing your packages after you’ve “signed for them.” Here area few email addresses for some UPS executives so you can launch your EECB.

Good luck to you.

(Photo: zyphbear )

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