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 DELIVERY

Do 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

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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
(Photo: belleutti)

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