Why UPS is not my favorite

I keep giving UPS an opportunity to earn my trust and time and again I’m kicked in the shin. 8 years ago, when I was in the middle of planning a wedding and loads of happy little gifts were arriving in honor of our new family union, the local Mail Boxes, etc. “never received” 3 wedding gifts we were sent. We were able to prove what the items were and when they should have arrived, yet all we were given was a non sincere “sorry” and an offer for $50.00. One item alone was purchased for over $125.00. The $50.00 offer did not make me happy – money can’t buy apologies, not in my book anyhow.

So I stopped using the local shipping store and vowed not to take my business there again. I didn’t completely stop using UPS, just that particular location. I figured it was the staff, not the company. Since then, UPS has turned that location into a UPS store. My husband now has a mailbox rented there for his business and frequently (as well as successfully) sends and receives packages right on time.

Now, keep in mind, I love our UPS delivery man. He is a great guy… every year he has to come to our door 900 times in December because I avoid shopping locally for Christmas.

This past Wednesday, I finally decided to give the local store another try. I shipped off 3 packages… 1 standard mail and two via UPS. One package in particular had an important deadline. It needed to arrive no later than July 3rd. So, I chose 2nd air just to make sure it arrived before the deadline.

I left town for the holiday weekend without a single concern, this is UPS and I was confident they would handle my package appropriately.

I just arrived today to find I was kicked again and I am now confident that it must be some kind of weird cosmic karma issue… I should not be using UPS to ship my packages. Not only did my package not arrive by Friday as planned (and paid for), it’s been rescheduled to arrive tomorrow, July 6th.  The interesting thing is that the package billing information was input on the 30th, and there there was scanning silence until the 2nd where the package wasn’t scanned until almost 10pm. How does one deliver a package on time so late? What happened to July 1st?

Oh and UPS is closed today in observance of the Independence day celebrations. I think everyone deserves time off for a number of reasons.. but don’t blow off your customers so you can enjoy your hot dogs and warm beer.

I also don’t see an email or a phone message saying my package is delayed. Why do they want my contact info if they aren’t going to use it?

Sure, I shouldn’t have waited until the 30th to send my important package when I knew it was due by the third… had I known they’d be late, I would have planned accordingly. If they told me it wouldn’t arrive until the 6th, I would have gladly paid for overnight shipping. If I pay for a package to arrive in 2 days, I expect it to arrive… in — 2 — days.

Although I like to think of myself as a giving person, I’m not so generous as to randomly overly pay for services. I also don’t intentionally sit around coming up with ways to complain about other people. However, I’m not working my butt off so someone else can fail at doing their part and slow me down. It’s ridiculous, and for a company as old and supposedly well oiled as UPS, it’s uncalled for.

In the future, I’ll happily pay FedEx or DHL more if it means I can have peace of mind and my packages arrive on time… Heck, last I checked the good ol’ USPS delivers rain or shine, they haven’t failed me yet.