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.

My fiance (who lives in CA) and I are preparing for our wedding this summer, and decided that I would take care of some of the invitations. I teach at a University in Ohio, and I’m off for the summer. However, I’m also traveling for the next month. In that small window of time, we found it necessary to put any risk of Bridezilla to sleep and give me most of the invitations.

We spent $62 mailing them to me via UPS’ 2nd Day Air service on 5/3. As it turns out, the UPS Store employee that took the package, wrote the return address as the mailing address. UPS was confused by this, called the UPS store and the employee there confirmed this to be the case. So, on 5/4, they sent the package on it’s way from California to Ohio, to sit in a different city in California.

I checked the status on 5/5, caught the error and called UPS. They explained that it was the UPS Store’s fault, that they cannot give a refund of the money (UPS Store is not affiliated with UPS in terms of finances. They are a separate organization), and that the package would arrive on Monday 5/7. I asked that a note be placed on the account to make sure the request gets expedited.

The package then got stuck in Louisville, KY due to “bad weather,” according to a CSR. That same CSR also told me that the package could have been sent to an alternate location and delivered on 5/7 if someone had noted the account properly so that alternative plans could have been made for the package. This is when Groomzilla made his appearance.

I was notified that the package could not be delivered on 5/7, and that it would be shipped to an airport only 4 miles from my house. However, even though it was in the neighborhood, I would not be allowed to pick it up. It would have to be delivered by the end of business on 5/8 (a full 5 business days from the shipping date). In fact, they couldn’t even promise delivery until 7pm, approximately 10 hours after I leave for my travels.

So, UPS wouldn’t fix their mistakes, wouldn’t let me fix their mistakes, and is now saying that I have to take up the refund with the UPS Store, because they have nothing to do with refunds.

I find this all to be absurd, and would like to know from consumerist readers what they think would be a good way to get back at UPS. Thanks for your help.

An update: as of this morning, the package is being held for pickup at a local UPS facility. Hope Gus is able to pick it up before he leaves on his long voyage.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.