UPS rant...

[wyvrn]

[rant mode on]
I hate these people. There cannot be a less customer oriented service than UPS. I ordered computer parts from two places, compgeeks.com and tigerdirect.com . The compgeeks order had 2 monitors, one 15" and a 17". I had cancelled the compgeeks order because they had "inventory" and took over 10 days to ship. The guy on the phone at compgeeks told me he would stop the order at inventory and refund my credit card. The next day I received a notice that compgeeks had shipped my order and they provided me with UPS tracking. I called them and they said they had made a mistake and could issue a stop order on the delivery, and credit my CC for the amount. At this point, I thought that was all cleared up.

The order with Tiger was placed several days later. I recieved the same tracking number for both monitors, which I did not think was strange since they were on the same order. However, the 15" came last week and today I still had not received the bigger one. I checked with UPS tracking and it had a delivered status. Tiger actually had a different tracking number for the 17" which they failed to email. No problem, I check the status on UPS website and come to find that order had been "refused by shipper" and sent back to tigerdirect. I was pissed! At this point, I think the idiots at UPS had taken the Compgeeks cancel order to heart and cancelled ALL my shipments through them. Tiger Direct conferenced called UPS and the UPS lady insisted that someone physically refused shipment of the 17" monitor at my residence yesterday at 9:14 am. Everyone in this house works and is out of the house by 7:15 am every morning. Plus I talked to everyone and they said they had not talked to the UPS delivery guy in a week (acceptance of the 15" monitor, which I have on my desk now). ARRGHH! Now that the 17" is on its way back to Illinois, UPS says they cannot redirect it. So Tigerdirect is gracious enough to ship it back to me once it gets to there warehouse. But I have to wait probably another week to ten days before I get it! This is inexcusable on UPS part. I have had problems in the past, mostly with them dropkicking a box and destroying something, but now they screw up orders from two differnet companies! I hate those guys. And to top it off, a lot of online retailers will not give you a choice of shippers. I think I am about done with online ordering (with exception of Axiontech whom I have never had a problem with) because if something goes wrong, it could be 2 weeks or more before you ever see your order.

[rant mode off]

If you have a UPS horror story, please post it here so I can feel better about not being the only one screwed.

[HomeYield]

My parents live so far out in the middle of nowhere that for years, UPS wouldn't deliver up there. They would drop it off at one of the neighbors' houses or the post office. Then when they finally would come up to the house we had such a big dog that they must have had a flag in the system that when it showed our house it said, "Deliver to neighbors, dog is too big!" I actually saw this once. The brown van was pulling and when our dog stood up, didn't bark or approach the guy but he still put it in reverse and left. We got a call 10 minutes later from the neighbor that said they had gotten another package for us. So we knew he must have been up there for us but just didn't deliver it. They really do have just terrible service, and I have rarely (if ever) heard anything good about them. Maybe somebody has had a good experience but I just sort of grew up disliking them.

[crazyray]

Sorry to hear your tale of sadness and woe. I suspect that Tiger, Compgeeks (and you) will have to take some of the blame. Similar items, cancels, etc make for confusion. UPS cannot be blamed for more than one monitor being shipped.

I think what you may find here is that Tiger tried to do an end-around and screwed things up as a result. The refusal that is at issue may very well have come from Tiger, an attempt to get you only the monitor you wanted and not the other. Let us know whatever the truth turns out to be...

I worked for UPS part time while in college and delivered for a year after graduating before returning to school. This was in the early 70's. The service I saw and participated in then was outstanding.

The general feeling I get as I hear others talk about the company now is that things are not as good as they once were. My experiences have been nothing short of positive.

[This message has been edited by crazyray (edited 07-24-2001).]

[wyvrn]

I think what you may find here is that Tiger tried to do an end-around and screwed things up as a result. The refusal that is at issue may very well have come from Tiger, an attempt to get you only the monitor you wanted and not the other. Let us know whatever the truth turns out to be...

I think you misunderstand. To be more clear, I wanted BOTH monitors from Tigerdirect. Tiger originally screwed up in not emailing me the shipping number for the second monitor, but they were part of the SAME order. I never refused anything from them. I only refused the order from CompGeeks because they were taking too long to get it shipped. Compgeeks screwed up in shipping the order when I called to cancel it, and got confirmation from them it would never be shipped in the first place. The reason I included Compgeeks in this at all is because I think that cancel order affected UPS delivering one of the monitors from Tiger. In other words, they fscked up and do not want to admit it. I certainly do not see how I am to blame for this. And I am NOT going to let UPS off here, once cancel order should not affect all items being shipped to a location, should they?

I am happy that your experiences with UPS have been good. However, MANY people here have not had all that good experiences. About the 10th time UPS screws up an order, for no obvious reason, you would be pissed off as well. I think maybe your past employment with them has clouded your judgement, they obviously screwed up here. And no one is to blame but UPS!

BTW just to add some more information here, I used to be the shipping agent for 3.5 years at a company I worked for in college. We used UPS of course. I think we filed over 25 claims with UPS in that 3 year period due to lost packages or damaged ones, and every time UPS reimbursed us, admitting fault. They did this of course because we were one of their top 5 clients. I hardly think they treat individuals the same though, regardless of who is to blame.

[This message has been edited by wyvrn (edited 07-24-2001).]

[Warthog]

I and no one in my household has never had any probs with UPS. We're actually somewhat friends with the local UPS delivery dude.

I think they did screw up on your order, though.

Warthog

[HfdWolfPack]

I think UPS knows when I myself order something.
Example;
When I order something online for the company, the items come on time.
When I order something for myself, however, there is always problems.
Heres an example:
I ordered a UPS (isnt it ironic?, dont ya think?)on a tuesday and paid extra so that I would get it before the weekend.
I check the tracking, and its scheduled to be delivered on Thursday. Great!, Im thinking.
I get home on
Thursday: check the front porch, nothing,hmmmm.....check the back....nothin'...WTF? No note?....
I hop online to check the tracking. It says No receiver-1st attempt. Now I realize someone would have to be there to sign for it. I need to be at work. Wifes workin'hmmmm.
I leave a note on the door-"UPS Delivery:Please leave package on rear step as I will not be able to be here when delivered".
Friday Afternoon: Eagerly awaiting my UPS, I get to the front porch...Yup...Nothin'...maybe they delivered to the back like I instructed. NO UPS!, But aha, A note this time. It says 2nd attempt-no receiver and now I will have to pick it up at there warehouse or whatever ( approx 20 miles away)
GRRRRRRRRR
I call them up and finally someone picks up the phone.
I get them to deliver it to my work.( i dont like to do this)
They said it will be here on Monday.
It got here on tuesday, box mauled like Ace venture delivered it himself.

7 days it took.....not 2 like i paid for...7
and they would do nothing about it.
----------------------------------------


Another story: (Ill keep this one short)
UPS Online software
I had to juke the secretary's PC (which had UPS Online version 8)
Somehow they lost the disk(they took it from my desk), and could only find v7.5.
OK Ill just call UPS and have them send me v8.
They send me Worldship version3.1 :|
I call them , they say they got rid of Online Office and are no longer supporting it, and I have to uninstall Online Office 7.5 and switch to Worldship 3.1
Well, i decided to stick with Online Office 7.5 ( like the rebel that I am)

Guess what arrived in the mail a month later?
yup, Online Office version 8


Hay dios mijo

Go Fed Ex http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by HfdWolfPack (edited 07-24-2001).]

[wyvrn]

Ok update from UPS:

Debbie from my local office admitted they screwed up on the Tiger 17" monitor and refused it when the other Compgeeks order was refused also. In other words, it was never attempted delivery to my house. So we know that they screwed up AND LIED to me about attempting delivery at 9:14 am yesterday morning. They are also going to pay Tiger back for the shipping charges. And they are shipping it back NEXT DAY AIR!!

Buahahah! Justice is served and I feel better now. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by wyvrn (edited 07-24-2001).]

[Ed_S]

We deal with UPS daily at work, and find them great for business-to-business shipping.
But for personal stuff, they stink.

One driver told me why, confidentially. He said they really don't want that kind of business, that residential deliveries take too much time and are not profitable enough.
They'd rather just run their regular routes, making the same stops daily, which is predictably and timeable.

This is supported by the FACT that their rates for residential are higher.

Every time they bring something here, there's a problem of some sort. I've actually called at lunchtime & complained, & they rerouted the package to work, and I got it that same day. Packages sent directly to work always arrive on time. From same shipper, & work is 1.5 miles from here!!

Have your packages delivered to your work, you'll have MUCH less problems, if any at all!!

[Goldwingnut]

Here in sunny/rainy Central New Mexico, UPS is beyond friendly.

They know where I work. If they can't deliver the package to my house, they just bring it to work.

We use a PO box for an UPS address at work. Felix the driver knows where to bring it. It can be Hell to explain this to a shipper, especially if they're from New York or some other paranoid place.

[emcron]

I love UPS; never had a problem. I order so much stuff that they know me by name. One time I was walking down the street going coming home from work and a UPS truck actually stop and gave me the package right there. And he even thanked me for saving him some time.

[Gutter Ball]

I'm with Eli, if you're Canadian, UPS screws you over big time with "fees" that are astronomical!!! They like to snoop through your stuff too. :/ I BEG people to use regular USPS, it's cheaper and I've never had a problem with them. With regular postal service, sometimes you can avoid duties. You always have to pay if UPS brings it to you..

[crazyray]

Glad to hear everything is going your way, wyvrn! Please understand that I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or failure of UPS. Nor am I challenging you in any way. I'm just curious as to what has occurred. Perhaps myself (and others) will learn something from your experience.

"Debbie from my local office admitted they screwed up on the Tiger 17" monitor and refused it when the other Compgeeks order was refused also."

1)The Compgeeks order, which was cancelled, arrived at your door and was refused? UPS took it upon themselves to refuse the other delivery for you and falsified the delivery document?

2)Did anyone (yourself or CompGeeks) call UPS with regards to refusing an expected delivery?

As you can see, I'm still too stupid to understand the chain of events. Again, for our edification only, can you give us the facts in order?

THANK YOU

[Warthog]

I have ordered to Dell computers using UPS ground shipping from Texas. NEVER had any issues with those huge boxes. The only little thing that was stupid was with the first computer, the monitor and speakers were delivered the day before the pc itself http://www.sysopt.com/forum/biggrin.gif

HfdWolfPack - they were SUPPOSED to leave a message on your door saying that they tried to deliver it and were not home. After that it gets shady (in my experience)...with Airborne Express they leave a note and have a place on it where you can check a box saying you won't be home tomorrow and then sign your name. With UPS...hmmmm I recently had something delivered to me. I wasn't there the first day, so they left a note BUT didn't have an option like AE. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

Warthog

[vtruty]

I was home, I ordered my CPU and a mobo.

UPS delivered. On the box it says 'Signiture Required" I did not even hear a doorbell. They just left it on the porch and left. What if someone "took" that nice, expensive device?

Just my $5

[Eli]

You think you have it bad with UPS? Try living in Canada. I bought a beaten up R/C car from a gentleman in the States for $50 US, which was a great deal for that car. I told him to ship the cheapest way he could, since I really didn't care how long it took as long as I didn't get any more fees. When it arrived not only had those UPS idiots opened the package and made a mess of things inside it, but they charged me around $60 Canadian to do it! Then they actually sent me an invoice saying that I owe the $60 after I had already paid it! They also charged me like $30 in fees for $25 electric motors befoe this, and charged me a few other times as well. They are a bunch of crooks and I certainly will not use them again.

[thekingofpain]

My only UPS snafu in 100 deliverys was also on a 2 day guarantee shipment which arrived 2 days late---no explanation---contacted UPS and was told to contact shipper which would put in the chargeback to my M/Card, contacted M/card and was told to wait till bill cycle was over to verify chargeback, 15 days later bill arrives with no chargeback, told to contact UPS again who tells me there is a 14 day limit to file a claim, hmmm dammit...

[krusty the klown]

Hmmm... I don't like Useless Parcel Service... I ordered a PowerLeap Slocket from the 'St8s (ages ago, when you couldn't get them in the UK). The thing was about $20... then there was tax & shipping... paid on the web site.

The thing arrived and the UPS guy wanted about £17 cash on delivery for some BS 'administration' charge. So the $20 item ended up costing me over $50!!!!!!!

Yet I ordered a tube of Arctic Silver (non UPS delivery) and the shipping was $1.50... it was here the same week!

[wyvrn]

crazyray

I called Compgeeks because they sent me a shipping notice in email, AFTER I had cancelled the order with them a day earlier. Compgeeks accidentally shipped anyway. Anyway, once I received the UPS shipping notice, I called them on the phone and they issued the stop order to UPS. The packages never arrived at my house. Never at any time in this did anyone at my house EVER refuse any shipment. So yes, they must have falsified documents saying I refused shipment at 9:14 am 2 mornings ago.

Debbie realized this (did not admit it though) and that is why she very quickly offered to pay return next day shipping to get me my monitor. I could have pushed the issue further up the food chain if I had wanted, but it probably was not Debbie's fault and I was getting what I wanted. No need to go further. However, I have been contemplating writing a letter to UPS corporate office with my experience, noting how helpful Debbie was, but also detailing the falisified records, etc... I think if enough people complain to the higher ups, they will do something about it, whether on a case by case basis or in overall quality. I don't know. But my friends have written letters in the past to companies and gotten good results out of it, so I think I am going to give it a shot.

I was home, I ordered my CPU and a mobo.
UPS delivered. On the box it says 'Signiture Required" I did not even hear a doorbell. They just left it on the porch and left. What if someone "took" that nice, expensive device?



This has happened to me so many times, I lost count. UPS signature is a joke.

[This message has been edited by wyvrn (edited 07-25-2001).]

[HfdWolfPack]

Warthog-
That was the first time ever, where it needed to be signed for before leaving it. Ive ordered many things UPS and I think only once, everything went smooth.
One time I ordered mobo, cpu, and Hdd from MWave. UPS left it on the front porch. With "MWave Computers" tape all over the box.
The way I found out that it was delivered was when I checked the shipment tracking on the website. It Said "Delivered". I was like ??????
I checked the back steps(like i filled out as " additional address info")...nothing.
Lo and behold there it was, on the front porch for anyone walking by, to pick up and take home. Oh yeah on the shipping label it did say "Back door on steps".

So true ( at least in my experience) Residential deliveries are treated just as Jim Carey portrayed in ace ventura ( which I thought was hilariousand unfortunatly probably not far from the truth)
Business deliveries are fine and on time with no problems.

Guess Ill have to have everything delivered to work http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[crazyray]

"Compgeeks accidentally shipped anyway. Anyway, once I received the UPS shipping notice, I called them on the phone and they issued the stop order to UPS. The packages never arrived at my house. Never at any time in this did anyone at my house EVER refuse any shipment. So yes, they must have falsified documents saying I refused shipment at 9:14 am 2 mornings ago."

You are absolutely correct, wyvrn, things were done here that shouldn't have been done. When Compgeeks called to "stop" the shipment, they should have been told NO. (There is no such thing as a "stop order"). The correct procedure would have been to make a delivery attempt. If you were not there to refuse this cancelled order, a delivery notice should have been left and another delivery attempt made. But a clerk took the call from Compgeeks and thought he/she would take care of this. So, since no one there refused the delivery, they did it for you. And apparently did the same with the other package as well. You can expect that person(s) are already in hot water over this. And they are in trouble because just the sort of thing that has happened CAN happen when the guidelines are not followed.

Lessons for everyone...DO NOT attempt to interfere with the normal flow of things. If you cancel an order, EXPECT it to be shipped. You can blame computers for this. Most of these companies want that item shipped immediately. The order goes in the computer and the box is filled right away. (BTW, I had to cancel an order at Staples recently. Even though I e-mailed AND called within 20 minutes of placing the order online, both packages arrived. I refused both, order cancelled.)

It is interesting and sad that the FUBAR occurred because someone took it upon themselves to try to go out of their way here. They should have known better.

Regarding the "packages left" stories, you should know that many shippers elect to allow the driver to do this. In those cases, the driver enters a number where the signature would go. The package always has the notice about the signature being required anyway. Do some drivers leave packages without such authorization? ; I'm sure it happens. I never did.

Just for your own amusement/amazement, I worked the receiving counter for a while when I was in college. The rate of claims at such counters at the time was several times the rate of companies shipping via UPS. I was ordered to refuse to accept anything that obviously didn't meet minimum standards at the counter. I found the public to be the biggest bunch of liars... Again, I don't know what is occurring now, but the company did not actively pursue this business because of the problems associated with it. I suggested that people take their shipping needs elsewhere on a daily basis. Politely, of course. Common problems? Inadequate packaging. Multiple labels on the box. Shipping illegal items. Upside down labels (the delivery address above the shipper's address).

It's a free world. Choose to do business with whomever you want. Best of luck.


[This message has been edited by crazyray (edited 07-25-2001).]

[Warthog]

I ordered RAM earlier this year. It was backordered for a week or two so I decided to cancel it. Sent them an email and they sent one back saying they canceled it. Next day, I get a notice saying it had shipped (UPS). But I didn't have a problem with this because I wanted the memory.

Warthog