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.

I would be curious what others readers think of when they are told “end of day.” I recently waited all day for a package to be delivered “guaranteed” next day delivery. Normally this isn’t an issue, but a live signature was required, and for some reason the shipper told UPS that they could not just hold the package for me to pick up at the UPS facility over the weekend. So, I took off work and waited. And waited. And waited. At 6, I called UPS and their answer was simply that they package was on the truck and that it would probably be delivered by 7. At 7, I called back. This time, I was told it would undoubtedly be delivered by the end of the business day. I replied that in my mind that had come and gone, but the customer service rep replied that for UPS, they considered the end of the business day to be 11:59 pm. I was a bit taken a back, asking if she seriously expected me to wait up until midnight for a delivery man to knock on the door and get my signature, and she replied in all earnestness that yes I should. Is it just me, or is this a tad ridiculous? (And no, I waited up until midnight and the package never came, leaving me burning through a vacation day for no good reason).

Anyhow, I’ve never heard of midnight deliveries, at least not legitimate ones, and was just curious if this was a common experience for folks.

Severe weather may be a factor here: I once received a package from UPS late in the evening because a snowstorm delayed deliveries. It was dark out, but it wasn’t midnight.

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