UPS Insanity_Instant-15 day delivery over almost 280 Miles!

Creekateers,

I sometimes have to remotely organize online orders for my mother in southern Virginia. I was concerned when learning the shipping would be by UPS. I've had problems with UPS before: damaging a computer sent to California, damaging a computer I sold on Ebahhh, and damaging a computer sound system I bought on Ebahhhh, and a Steelcase Leap chair damaged by them as well in CA. This totaled about $1,300 damage. UPS does appear to like to enjoy dropping sensitive electronics and office chairs from great heights. However, this 3oz package from Charlotte, N.C. to Newport News, VA by UPS is in a new league:

Attachment 403973
Notice that the package, ordered on 2.3.19 and was promised in 3 days, was sent on 2.4 and proceeded from Charlotte, N.C to Raleigh, N.C., to Newport New, VA the destination, but was then sent away for another vacation in Louisville, KY, then to South Charleston, W.V., to Richmond, VA, then to Newport News, VA on 2.7- the destination-again. On 2.8, the package was transferred to the U.S Post Office.

As the USPS tracking number never worked, the package was declared lost and a replacement sent on 2.13 arrived on 2.16. On 2.18 there was notification that the original package was in the Newport News P.O. found and there were various emails on the subject, including notification that it would arrive on 2.25:

Attachment 403974

The package left for one more holiday from Newport News to visit scenic Norfolk and then back to Newport News.


Then, the delivery date was changed from 2.25 delivery to the 19th. It arrived on the 19th, the first true statement in the saga. The saga continues as the original shipment will have to be returned to Charlotte. It will be sent by mule train to get it there in a timely manner.

Another example of punitive "free" shipping.

I wish I had the time to tour seven cities (including three times in the destination city), in four States!


Alan

P.S. Before we proceed with Artificial Intelligence, can we learn to deliver parcels?.

Probably too small of a package?

That's pretty funny, frustrating for you, but funny. I have had a bunch of similar incidents over the years.

One which i thought was funny; i purchased two transformers, probably about 18" square ish. They were picked up from the seller, about 5 hours south of my place, they drive right past my town another hour north to the big city, where their distribution center is, then the next day they drove back past my town, all the way back to the seller and told him that they weren't packaged properly and would need to be crated. They are transformers, they are in a heavy sheet steel box! And they had already transported them. anyway they left them with him, he made a wooden box for each one, and they went back the next day and picked them up, and drove all the way north back past me to the city distribution center , then drove them back south to my town the next day.

Don't know how they make money.

If, in fact they are making money, there's an opportunity for the competition.

I bought a trickle charger for car batteries from a company in NJ that I have used many times, the package was ordered after the Xmas rush and sent USPS 2 day from NJ to Charlotte NC.

The total distance from the vendor in NJ to my home is about 700 miles, the package took about 10 days to get to my home, the USPS tracking kept saying ‘package is in transit to next location’, finally called the vendor and asked them to put a tracer on the package at day 8, I still don’t think I would have gotten the package if I didn’t ask for a tracer. I think carrier pigeon would have gotten it here faster.

Before I retired I would often have items shipped to my office if they were valuable. Despite that, UPS drivers would often deliver them to my house 6 miles away, even though the addresses are not the same. Sometimes, they would deliver packages for the house at my office. One day, I ordered a muzzle loader pistol and the UPS driver left it out side in the rain next to the unlocked lobby door of the building. I found it there on my way out to go home. Fortunately the rain had not soaked through the plastic surrounding the inside box, but it did soak through the outer cardboard box. They also left two boxes of expensive blue print photo copy paper sitting out in the snow once. That was for another business in the building and that shipment was ruined.
My wife ordered a new desk chair two weeks ago. It was supposed to be delivered, requiring an adult signature, (an option we requested) on Monday Feb 11th. We waited around until 2 pm when we got an email from UPS that delivery would be delayed until Feb 12th. We had snow over night, so I plowed the driveway extra wide for the UPS truck. The driveway is 1/4 mile long, but the UPS guys have been back here many times. They know I have a wide area to turn around, etc. So around 3 pm, we get an email that the delivery will be before noon on Feb 13. I wait until 1:00pm and run to the convenience store 2 miles up the street to get a 5 gal can of diesel for the back hoe. I come back home and over the crest of the hill, I see a strange car parked across my driveway. It immediately swings out and drives on up the road. I get closer and see a cardboard box sitting in the driveway only 8 or 9 feet off the road. The SOB driver left it out along the road. I suspect the strange car was porch pirates about to steal the chair. So I send the local UPS terminal an email complaining and attach a photo of the thing sitting in the driveway next to the road. I get a huffy response telling me that it was up to the drivers discretion. I write back telling them there was a reason for the adult signature restriction and I expect a refund of that part of the shipping cost. As well as I will be notifying the local police that UPS knowingly left a package containing gun powder out along the road. I got a call within 20 minutes from a regional investigator at UPS. He was all upset that no Hazmat fee was paid on the package. I told him what really happened and that I lied about the gunpowder just to get somebody's attention. He was fuming mad when I asked why the driver didn't just call the porch pirates to unload the box for him. He asked what I wanted. I told him a refund of the shipping costs. He says but you got your package. I told him we specifically paid for the adult signature option and did not get it. He as much as told me where I could place that request. Under my state's consumer protection law, if a company charges for a service it does not deliver, the consumer can get 3 times the charge plus attorney's fees. I am tempted to sue the SOB's just to make it cost them some money.

My company ordered a part from a place in Connecticut and it ended up going to Germany and then back to North America.

Before my stroke I was into astronomy especially astro photography. I ordered a 6 inch newtonian astrograph from Orion telescopes being ship by Fedex that somehow ended up in Tokyo Japan. The person that recieved it called me since my phone number and address was on the label. I contacted Orion Telescopes and Fedex to see about corrected the problem. Fedex and Orion telescopes contacted the gentleman in Tokyo to arrange for Fedex to pick up the package and it got to me a week later.

I use to work in a shipping department.
I got a kick out of trying to file a damage claim. They always came back with item was not properly packaged. How do they know? Because if it was properly packaged it would not be damaged, LOL!!!!

I have had plenty to do with
claims / Deny and delay departments.
It is very frustrating to deal with.
Someone skewered this one i had delivered ( not UPS) with two fork lift holes right through the crate and into the machine.
Then the company denied all accountability for a year, until it was court time, then settled. It seems that is the business model that works.

Attachment 404256

I had an interesting one the other day. I ordered a book through Amazon but sold by BooksRunner. The "promised" delivery date was just over a week. They sent an apology saying they had accidentally shipped it from the wrong warehouse and the new delivery date was at least THREE MONTHS from now! Yikes, where IS that warehouse, in the middle of Antarctica? This is a book on incubating bird eggs which I wanted to read now, before peacock mating season.

Amazon said to wait until three days after the promised delivery date then file a non-delivery claim. When BooksRunner said there was nothing they could or would do to get it to me faster I canceled the order and reordered another for about the same cost but with Prime delivery, coming today. I buy a lot of books and will be careful to look for the BooksRunner name in the future. They were very polite, though, telling me how wonderful it was to forgive. I agree, but it doesn't hatch a peahen egg. :)

JKJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John K Jordan

I had an interesting one the other day. I ordered a book through Amazon but sold by BooksRunner. The "promised" delivery date was just over a week. They sent an apology saying they had accidentally shipped it from the wrong warehouse and the new delivery date was at least THREE MONTHS from now! Yikes, where IS that warehouse, in the middle of Antarctica? This is a book on incubating bird eggs which I wanted to read now, before peacock mating season.

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Did they give you a tracking number if it actually shipped? Why wouldn't they just re-ship it from the other warehouse instead of making you wait three months?

I suspect the real answer is they didn't actually have the book and just expected to get it from the publisher when they got an order. The publisher may be out of stock for several months.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brian Elfert

Did they give you a tracking number if it actually shipped? Why wouldn't they just re-ship it from the other warehouse instead of making you wait three months?

I suspect the real answer is they didn't actually have the book and just expected to get it from the publisher when they got an order. The publisher may be out of stock for several months.

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No tracking number and I suspected the same thing - they just sold a book they didn't have and were not honest about it. Perhaps they sell all of their books that way, get the order, then order it themselves.

I got the one directly form Amazon. For anyone looking for a good book on incubating, hatching, and raising birds (that's most everyone, right? :)) this is the best one I've seen so far, over 200 pages covering everything I didn't even suspect I need to know! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612120148

JKJ