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Thread: New UPS Practice (U.S. Deliveries)

  1. #1

    New UPS Practice (U.S. Deliveries)

    It seems that actually delivering packages is way too much trouble for UPS these days. So they've decided to cut back on deliveries in some circumstances. If a package requires someone to accept it, e.g. a signature is required or a COD charge applies, they will make one attempt to deliver and if no one is available, they divert the package to an "Access Point" for the consignee to pick up on their own time and at their own expense. They leave a little post it note to tell you they didn't deliver your package.

    This applies even if the failure of the one delivery attempt is a UPS error. (I learned about all this when a delivery person wrongly thought my package was due a COD payment and I was not available to deal with the delivery. Might not have made much difference if I had been there, since I knew there was no COD payment due, while the driver somehow thought there was. Of course the attempted delivery was on a Friday and the package didn't get forwarded to the designated "Access Point" until Monday. Between drive time and standing in line at the "Access Point" I invested just over an hour of lost productivity.)

    Through the years I've generally had good experiences with UPS. Better than with FedEx (which may be a local variable). This new policy, however, is likely to be problematic for home deliveries and small businesses on occasion if vendors require signatures or for those who make COD purchases. It will also be a problem whenever UPS makes an error in delivery. In my experience, UPS customer service was not much help. Rather surly, too (but that may be a local issue).

    I would say, whether you're buying or selling, don't go for "signature required" or COD deliveries or any other features that require personal interaction unless you have someone sure to be available to receive a delivery. Otherwise, unhappiness will ensue and undoubtedly you will be blamed.

    My vendor is probably more upset about this than I am. They have more to lose than I do. They are pursuing the issue with UPS.

    I hope this is not a trend setting development that we can expect FedEx, DHL and USPS to follow. And I am looking forward to the new Amazon delivery service. More competition can't hurt.
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

  2. #2
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    My only thought on this is I had a Dewalt DW735 planer delivered for Christmas. The company chose to deliver signature not required. I am retired and I was setting by a Window over looking my front porch where the planer supposedly was delivered by the FedEx guy at 2 in the afternoon. Luckily I paid using PayPal and they made it right. The second time my planer was sent using signature required and I received the planer with no problems. I really don't want all these issues again that I went through to get a planer. It was stressful as I did not know if I was going to end up with a planer, maybe just out all the money with no planer. It took weeks to resolve the problem. If I ever order again a new tool I am going to require a signature. I like old iron and I think it works better to go pick it up.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
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    Longmont, CO
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    I hate UPS.

    1 package was signature required. they tried to deliver it when we were not home. I called and they said they would not try to schedule a delivery when we would be home or reattempt after 1 try. they could leave it at their facility that is about 30 miles away on the opposite side of Denver (even though there is a customer facility just about 5 miles from my house) or for 5 dollars they would deliver it to the ups store that is literally a 5 min. walk from the house. so I pay the 5 dollars and get on with my life. I go to pick up the package and the UPS store clerk tries to charge me another 10 dollars to pick it up there. I grabbed the box and walked out. I have avoided using UPS as much as possible since.

  4. #4
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    This is controlled by company policies as well as the individual drivers. Our current UPS driver is a very friendly person and considerate. Before him one of the drivers tossed a package into the bushes at the foot of our driveway. It was just luck that I spotted it while walking by. We have a long driveway in a rural area.

    With FedEx Ground the drivers are not employees of FedEx. Currently our driver lives two doors down so they know where we are. In California the FedEx driver delivered an expensive purchase to some unknown place. There was always a problem with them finding our home address. When I was doing field service work I would have packages sent to the closest FedEx office to the work site. This worked quite well as long as the shipping party got things right.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    This is controlled by company policies as well as the individual drivers. Our current UPS driver is a very friendly person and considerate. Before him one of the drivers tossed a package into the bushes at the foot of our driveway. It was just luck that I spotted it while walking by. We have a long driveway in a rural area.

    With FedEx Ground the drivers are not employees of FedEx. Currently our driver lives two doors down so they know where we are. In California the FedEx driver delivered an expensive purchase to some unknown place. There was always a problem with them finding our home address. When I was doing field service work I would have packages sent to the closest FedEx office to the work site. This worked quite well as long as the shipping party got things right.

    jtk
    It is just another sign of a company with more business than they need. I am personally liking how so many of my purchases are being delivered by the local post office. They always take extra care, leave the dogs biscuits with packages and generally just are nice and friendly.

  6. #6
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    I use USPS when ever possible. Always polite, never had a problem with shipments or picking up at the post office.

  7. #7
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    My experience with USPS is just the opposite unfortunately. A few months ago they shredded my copy of Fine Woodworking. I requested a replacement copy from Taunton which they processed quickly. A week or so later I came home to find a cardboard wrapped replacement copy of FWW in the drainage ditch near my delivery box which is on a post on the street. I called the local USPS office and reported it. The person on duty advised me that the substitute delivery person (who is not a USPS employee and drives a red CJ-5) had left it on top of the round top mailbox and that it must have fallen off. The regular delivery person who is also not a USPS employee will normally drive into my drive and honk the horn if they have a package for me. However, due to some apparent physical problems she is nearly unable to get out of the vehicle so if I am not at home, delivery normally occurs at a later date.

    Service economy? I don't think so. There are some very good people at all the delivery companies (my UPS and FedEx drivers are excellent) but also some who just don't care.
    Last edited by Chris Padilla; 05-25-2017 at 5:34 PM.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Al Weber View Post
    My experience with USPS is just the opposite unfortunately. A few months ago they shredded my copy of Fine Woodworking. I requested a replacement copy from Taunton which they processed quickly. A week or so later I came home to find a cardboard wrapped replacement copy of FWW in the drainage ditch near my delivery box which is on a post on the street. I called the local USPS office and reported it. The person on duty advised me that the substitute delivery person (who is not a USPS employee and drives a red CJ-5) had left it on top of the round top mailbox and that it must have fallen off. The regular delivery person who is also not a USPS employee will normally drive into my drive and honk the horn if they have a package for me. However, due to some apparent physical problems she is nearly unable to get out of the vehicle so if I am not at home, delivery normally occurs at a later date.

    Service economy? I don't think so. There are some very good people at all the delivery companies (my UPS and FedEx drivers are excellent) but also some who just don't care.
    My former USPS carrier was an independent contractor and would drive down our long driveway to deliver a package. He did not drive a USPS vehicle. He did love to talk to people along his route which made the mail very late at times. Currently our USPS carrier is an employee. When they are driving what they call "tuna can" vehicles they are not supposed to back up since there are no rear or side windows. This doesn't stop most of the UPS drivers. We have a tee at our end of the driveway and most folks can figure how to use one of those to turn a vehicle around. For the USPS carriers we need a loop at the house end of the driveway if the driver wants to be within the letter of their rules.

    the local post office. They always take extra care, leave the dogs biscuits with packages and generally just are nice and friendly.
    It is unlikely there is a recommendation in the letter carrier's book of operating procedures calling for the leaving of dog biscuits. This is how a real person adds their own personal touch to brighten the days of their customers and their customers' best friends. Surely this could also be a reflection on how the local manager treats employees and the position. In some cases if a person mentioned this and it got back to management the person might be told to stop the practice. In other cases the manager might see it as worthy of a compliment.

    jtk
    Last edited by Chris Padilla; 05-25-2017 at 5:34 PM.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
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    My USPS mailman is very nice and delivers lots of Amazon Prime stuff. I make certain to give him the Macau gift every Christmas and also make something for him. Last year, it was a turned screwdriver set in a nice wooden box.

  10. #10
    My favorite UPS story involves a purchase of some live quail eggs. This was back before tracking numbers. The UPS guy put the eggs (in a plain cardboard box) on top of a stack of plain cardboard boxes in the carport. So no one would steal it I guess. Suffice to say my eggs were not so fresh when I finally found them.

  11. #11
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    My mailman (Gary - a fine mailman name IMO) is great too. Always on schedule, friendly, and as I'm usually playing outside with my daughter he always honks and she yells "Hi Gary!" He delivers a lot of Prime packages also, and walks the packages and mail to the front door.
    UPS has been slipping for a while. Most boxes seem to be beat up somehow. I dislike the new rule the OP posted about. How do they know when you'll be home when they attempt delivery?

  12. #12
    fedex is so incompetent in my area so far this year they have lost 2 table saw blades a leigh jig and a bed frame. the blades and the jig showed up after a few days but the bedframe is gone. only thing worse is amazon delivery i have 2 gates and a road around my house so far one got inside gate backed into tree getting out and one got trapped inside the loop after i left, gate says open 1m must have slipped in came back to the police jumping my fence trying to find way to open it hahah this lady was trapped for like a hour and a half thing is if they had just called me i could have opened the gate from my phone .....

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Frank View Post
    I make certain to give him the Macau gift every Christmas.
    We have a very nice mailman. There is a rule that we cannot give him a gift valued more than $20. At Christmas, we make it a point to break that rule as we are not "rule people".

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by David T gray View Post
    fedex is so incompetent in my area so far this year they have lost 2 table saw blades a leigh jig and a bed frame. the blades and the jig showed up after a few days but the bedframe is gone. only thing worse is amazon delivery i have 2 gates and a road around my house so far one got inside gate backed into tree getting out and one got trapped inside the loop after i left, gate says open 1m must have slipped in came back to the police jumping my fence trying to find way to open it hahah this lady was trapped for like a hour and a half thing is if they had just called me i could have opened the gate from my phone .....
    At our old address my standing shipping instructions for on line vendors was to not ship via FedEx.

    Did the lady who was trapped have your phone number?

    In panic situations people often forget the simple solutions to their predicament.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    I don't think the policy described by the originator of this thread is anything new. I have always had to pick up signature required packages at the terminal. They can't guarantee what time they will deliver and I can't always be certain when I will be home. Those two facts point to multiple failed attempts. I would prefer to pick the item up over the uncertainty of multiple attempts. The confusion over COD delivery is a special case.
    Last edited by Art Mann; 05-25-2017 at 12:33 AM.

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