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Unhappy With UPS . . Again

Maybe it’s because we had the perfect UPS guy in MO.   But here, what is wrong with UPS?  The last time I “complained” about UPS on here was when folks were sending quilts for the Texas fire victims and I asked that you not use UPS.  That got the attention of a sweet blog reader whose son works for UPS and he assisted with getting the driver to figure out where I lived . . which was in the rental in a subdivision and shouldn’t have been hard to figure out.  But, the driver came by my house, introduced himself and apologized for having left my packages with everyone but me and I didn’t have any other problems with him.

Then we moved out here, behind a gate.  We have lots of UPS drivers.  I see a different one all the time.  Vince went and talked to the manager to see what they would do with our packages. She assured him that they would come through our gate and deliver our packages.  Our gate code is in their computer.  Not long after their meeting, we found a box stuck over the gate and left overnight . . where anyone could reach in and get it.  I called UPS, talked to the local manager and after a couple of conversations, she assured me that she had taken care of the issue and it would NOT happen again.

This morning when Vince was leaving for work, hanging over the fence was a plastic bag with a box in it.  A box that contained a quilt being returned to me by Quiltmaker.

It’s like I told Chad growing up . . if I can’t trust you 100% of the time, then I can never trust you.  Thank goodness he was about 99.999% trustworthy!  🙂

I called UPS again today and the manager told me she would talk to the driver who did it.  She told me “he doesn’t take criticism very well.”  You know . . how a driver takes criticism is not MY concern.  My concern is that when you tell me it will NOT happen again, and then it happens again, do I avoid using UPS at all costs or do I hope you’re right and it won’t happen again?

We get a lot of packages and most of them are things that can be replaced . . Mason jars from kmart.com, shorts from samsclub.com.  But sometimes it’s quilts and those things, I don’t want to have to replace.  Am I wrong for expecting them to do what they say they will do??  They say they will come through the gate and deliver my packages.  USPS says they will not come through my gate.  The driver calls me and I meet her at the gate or she puts a note in my box and takes my package back to the post office for me to pick up.

I appreciate my blog reader’s son helping me with my first UPS issue but I am very surprised and very disappointed, that after the manager’s assurances that my packages will be delivered, that a quilt in a box was left hanging on the gate overnight last night!

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Comments

  1. They have no idea what it would cost them to replace that item, fabric, batting, quilting, hourly rate to replace the whole quilt. This isn’t a pair of shoes or some glass jars. This is sweat and blood. Hope the driver cooperates, because it boils down to his willingness to please the customer. If he doesn’t, maybe he needs to work elsewhere because UPS is a service based company. The last word of the company name is service.

    • They would only replace it for the amount for which it was insured and they truly don’t care. It’s not like even $400 or $600 would be a big deal to them but you’re right . . for me to replace it would be a lot of work and all because some driver “who doesn’t take criticism well” didn’t do what he was supposed to do. From now on, I will request that anyone sending me anything use Fed Ex.

      It’s not like I have anything against UPS and I surely don’t want to hurt anyone’s business but I do want to feel confident that I will receive my packages and I no longer feel confident with this UPS group.

    • Me too! At least I would KNOW my packages were somewhere safe and not hanging over a fence overnight.

  3. Judy, what if you asked anyone sending you something by UPS to send it with “Signature Required”. When the package is delivered, the driver has to get a signature in order to leave the package. The driver would be forced to come through the gate.

    • Because if I’m not here or if I’m out in the garden working and don’t hear them, then I’m going to have to go to their office to pick up my packages. Why can’t they do what they say they will do and deliver my packages as they’re paid to do?

      I’m not much on paying extra to have someone do what they should be doing without getting paid extra for it.

    • Re signature required = either the delivery guy signs it himself or just ignores that (and probably signs it back at the office). That doesn’t work! BTDT

  4. “Signature Required” doesn’t necessarily work! Some years ago, my son ordered a Dell computer and had it sent to our house because he was living in an apartment in a rather unsafe area. I don’t remember which company delivered it. I came home to find two big heavy boxes sitting at the front door. When my son checked the tracking online, he found that the driver had just forged a signature. He even signed my full name, which wasn’t on the shipping label. (We live at the bottom of a steep downhill driveway, and I guess he didn’t want to haul it all back up to the street.)

    • You’re right! When I ordered the new iPad, it specifically said I would have to sign for it. There was even a form I could sign and tape to my door authorizing UPS to leave it. I followed the tracking and knew it was supposed to be delivered on a certain day and stayed home waiting for UPS. When they drove up, I went out to sign and he said “no, you don’t need to sign.” Fine with me. I don’t worry about anyone taking anything off my front porch but I do worry about people taking things hanging on my fence on the side of a state highway.

  5. I know what you mean about this whole issue. My problem with UPS is that when they leave a package on our porch they make sure it is right in front of the front door where everybody can see and steal it. If they would just learn to put the package on the part of the porch that can’t be seen from the street or sidewalk. It would just involve turning to their left and placing it on the left side of the porch. A lot of packages are stolen off of people’s porches especially around the holidays, so I think UPS should be a little more careful than placing the package in plain sight and ringing the bell and leaving.

  6. I’ve been irritated with some of my deliveries from UPS too, most of the drivers will just put the package on the porch and leave, I guess it takes too much time to ring the doorbell? We’ve been home and the package was sitting on the porch all day or all night because I did not know it was there. They get paid enough to do their job properly.

  7. I feel your frustration with UPS. It does sound like the manager you have dealt with is either not doing her job or is unwilling to do it. My feelings are that it is time to go above this manager’s head and have a strong talk with her boss!

  8. I think everyone has seen the video of the FedEx driver that tossed the computer remote over the fence last December.
    My daughter had another issue with Fed Ex. Last Feb, the bank sent a packet of papers-very important papers- out but they never arrived. Bank kept insisting they had sent the papers which were sent to daughters OLD address which is still unexplained. But no papers arrived and about 2 weeks after the new papers were finally reissued, my daughter’s former neighbor discovered the FedEx envelope in the bushes at the end of her long driveway. They were just tossed out of the truck. Grrrrrr…
    So it looks like UPS and FedEx give the same service.

  9. We use UPS at my office and it works beautifully. I also seem to order quite a few things or have legal papers, etc sent to me by UPS. A few months ago, I signed up for “My UPS”. It’s an automated service that sends you an email the day before a delivery is to be made, and also if that changes (which it does abotu 20% of the time for me), they send me an update. I believe they give me a 2 or 4 hour window of when it’s to be delivered, so I know if it’s morning, midday or late afternoon. I can go in and tell them to hold it at the UPS shipping center (no charge) or deliver it somewhere else (like my office where the reception can sign for anything)… there is a small charge for that redirect. But this has simplified my life so if I know I’m going to be home late, I don’t have a pacakge on my front porch for 12 hours.

    Granted, we live in a city, but I’m very happy with our UPS service… I wish you were as pleased with yours!

  10. i agree with the poster who said to go above the head of the manager. if she can’t get the driver into line, maybe someone else above her can. first i would tell her that was going to be your next step, just to give her a chance.

    and when did it just become accepted to expect people not to do their jobs correctly?

    • I probably would do that if I had no other options but I’ve had good service from Fed Ex so I’m done with UPS. On any shipments where I have a choice, I will now request Fed Ex and I will use Fed Ex for the shipments I send out. That’s a whole lot easier than trying to convince someone to do their job the way I think it should be done.

  11. WOW, that got people’s dander aflying and I don’t blame them. I, too, have stories meaning if we miss a delivery we have to drive across two cities to retrieve the package–not an option, thank you very much. So ours arrive, no signature, just sitting in the middle of the porch. For the person who said they hate to complain to people because someone may lose a job–it is a tough economy, people better use their smarts and provide good service. Quilts and many, many other things are irreplaceable. Does the post office provide good delivery if at all where you live or is that, too, too changy?

  12. UPS left a package on my porch (with no over hang) and it rained, and the package was ruined as were the contents. The package was resent, I complained to UPS, and 1 week later, the package was left on my porch and it rained and once again the package was ruined. They never rang my doorbell, it was late and it sat out all night. The third one came and the supervisor delivered it, rang the doorbell and handed it to me!
    FedEx left a package at my back garage door. I NEVER used that door. I reported it not delivered, the paperwork said delivered to door. It was resent and delivered. MONTHS later I found the ruined package at that door when I was doing yard work. What was he/she thinking?
    Out here, UPS is WONDERFUL, we have 2 drivers and I know them by name and they call me on the phone if they need a signature so they don’t knock and upset the dogs! FedEx isn’t bad either, and USPS is wonderful as well!

  13. I have a friend who works for FedEx, he used to work for UPS, but switched when UPS changed their driver rules. UPS is on a stopwatch schedule. There are no exceptions – they HAVE to meet their allowed time or the driver gets docked. I guess opening your gate would cost them time they don’t have. I agree that they should tell you that they won’t deliver past the gate. Then you could make necessary arrangements. On the other hand, I have problems with FedEx finding my home, even though we are on a state maintained road, so I have to use UPS or USPS. Personally, I think all the delivery companies could use an update in customer service!

    • Mary-

      It’s not just UPS that does that sort of thing. I work for FedEx and we have a stops per hour requirement of the drivers. Pretty much everything with a large corporation comes down to numbers on a spreadsheet. Even my job, which is data entry, comes with a metric I need to meet every day, and I’m the only one in my location doing it! .

  14. Oh Judy! i am so sorry you are having such a time with UPS. I have the most wonderful UPS guy! He’s kind, considerate and I’ll ask him if he wants to move out your way! I am also lucky to have a great substitute driver too! They always come over to the studio (beside the house) and come in, talk, pet the dog and ask me to sign for the package. If I’m not here, they put it in my garage to keep it safe.
    Good Luck! Like the first comment, the S stands for service.

  15. i guess i didn’t know how blessed i was.
    in 12 years i’ve only had one problem with a UPS driver. i complained to my regular driver who has gone out of his way to give me good service, and the bad driver has never delivered anything to my house since that day. The UPS drivers here work out of Newport News, VA and they’re really on the ball.
    Their excellent service makes me wish that everyone i encountered was a UPS driver!

  16. I never had a problem with UPS until now and i lived here for three years! I’ve been ordering fabric from a certain shop for probably a year and a half due to their nice 50% off sales. Anyway, I ordered some fabrics and it was sent UPS 2 day shipping. The arrival date came and went. All it said was “scanned” in San Antonio Texas. So, I notified the shop and told them it’s not critical. I checked UPS tracking again on Monday and was shocked to see it had arrived in CALIFORNIA! Sheesh! Much to my surprise, there is a San Antonio in California but still… Sheesh!

  17. Nope – you are not wrong. Our UPS driver is a gem, he knows all that goes on in my *workshop* and his wife is a quilter… his vacation driver on the other hand needs a smack upside the head (grin) But I almost have him trained to…. Good luck !

  18. You go, Girl! I am so tired of sub-standard service I could scream, too. In regards to UPS/Fedex…we keep our gate locked too and decided that it was “on us” to watch the tracking number and leave it open on delivery day. We started this when the Fedex driver did a three point turn-around IN MY FRONT yard, barely missing various sprinkler heads (nevermind we are on 11.5 acres and the driveway is not narrow. SO, my major rant is along the lines of “if you can’t drive that big truck/van in reverse, you shouldn’t be driving it”. Grrrrrr.

  19. Judy – they’re awful! When I lived in IL the driver could find me – whether it was when I lived in the country and was hard to find – or when I lived in town. No problem.

    Here I live in a city. Sometimes there are packages I’m supposed to sign for. I have yet to sign anything. Instead stuff is just abandoned on my front porch in plain view of the street where it can get ripped off by anyone. OR as has happened WHEN I WAS HOME! it was returned to the main office because supposedly no one was home! Yeah, right!

    I’ve called and complained. Does it do any good? No. Just makes the driver ticked at me and then they retaliate! Ugh! Where’s the pride in workmanship and being able to do the good job you were hired to do?

  20. How about a possible compromise solution, although it would cost a little bit in supplies and Vince’s time. Since Vince is so very handy with making chicken coops and such, perhaps he could build a small “package receptacle” with a hinged lid somewhat like postal boxes in town which would also have a door that could lock so no one could take the package(s) out that way except you. But then, if your packages are too big, the hinged door /slot would be big and someone really determined might try to go in & back out that way. It could be placed on your side of the gate/fence but right next to it so that the opening would be within reach for the driver to drop the package. Just some thoughts 🙂

  21. That just sucks. For the most part we have good service and have had some excellent drivers. Currently the driver grew up here in town so he knows where we live…his sister was in my son’s class for all thirteen years. We have also had drivers leave notes on the door saying the package went back because no one was home to sign for it….if he had knocked I would have known he was there because I was home. I’ve also had FedEx just dump a package on an unenclosed porch and drive away. The good old American work ethic and desire to provide good service is fading away.

  22. Some folks in the country will put up a large barrel with a door to use as a giant repository for packages. Vince is so handy with tools and wood and such, maybe he could build a little building or something so it would be watertight and you would have your own little package collection coop.

  23. This should not happen, the supervisor has a problem, not you, and if in fact she tells you that he has a problem with criticizm, then SHE has a bigger problem, and let him go. or at least put him on a smaller route somewhere else in the area. document I am sure you are, I sure would push the point they are in the wrong!

  24. You have every right to complain, Judy and I don’t blame you for being done with them. What if it had been prescription medication or some such thing? Hang it over the fence in a bag? I don’t think so. I hope they get their act cleaned up and hire decent people who care.

  25. I had problems with our UPS. They started out delivering my packages to my sisters house. I wasn’t happy about that but kept quiet since it kept him from having to drive another 2 miles to my house. Then, he began delivering my packages to their store which is 14 miles one way from my house. I contacted UPS via online and complained. All packages are now delivered to my door. I know the drivers have a long day and it isn’t always convenient for them to have to deliver to the house but, that is their job and their failure is reflecting badly on the company. Hope you get your problem resolved.

    Judy in MO

  26. Like CindyM, I signed up for My UPS since I’m not home most days and that has worked really well for me as they’ll provide an estimated time of delivery and I can be here if needed. Signing up for My UPS won’t fix the problem of them not coming through the gate, but you’d at least know when it’s likely a package might be out there waiting for you and you’d have the opportunity to retrieve it. They do notifiy you if they have to delay a shipment that they’ve already told you was going to be delivered. Might be worth a look see, as you don’t always get a choice of carriers.

  27. I’ve currently got great UPS and Fedex service, but the postal service has been really iffy– I get a lot of my neighbors’ mail, which I hand deliver, and sometimes I get mail delivered to me by neighbors, but I’ve missed the billing cycle on utilities a few times (never got the bill) and I had a wonderful package from ebay with a vintage quilt top go missing. The tracking number traced to the post office, then to the driver and I was told, “It just disappeared.” Disappeared? I think they kept it. It wasn’t insured, so it was a loss. The seller on ebay felt so bad she sent me a different top, but it wasn’t the same.

  28. I have horrible experiences with the UPS location in my area. The driver who has our route misdelivers packages all the time and also just leaves packages that state “signature required” without ringing the doorbell. Either my boyfriend or I are home at his usual stop time to our house, so he’s just being lazy about it.

    My worst experience happened last fall though. The company I ordered items from put the wrong address on the UPS label. So they were at fault there, but the address they put doesn’t even exist in my town. Instead of checking up on it, the UPS center delivered it to a completely different address (not mine or the one on the label), on the other side of town. The person at that address called to have the package picked up because it wasn’t theirs. I had found this out when I saw it showed delivered, but not at my house. Of course, the customer service rep told me that since it was delivered, I should have it. Finally, they told me that it was delivered to the wrong address and that a driver was notified to pick it up.

    I waited until the next day for an update. The package didn’t arrive, so I called again, only to find out that the driver who went to the address couldn’t find the box outside. So they put a claim in and also said they would call the shipper about it. The next day, someone locally called me and accused me of going to the other address and taking it off of their porch, and then also putting a claim out for a missing package. I asked her why I would go up to someone else’s home and just take something. Especially considering they never told me where they delivered it.. but that still isn’t something I would do.

    She told me that since the package was not there when the driver arrived to get it, that they were closing the case. The person at that address said that it was gone, the driver claims it was never there, and I didn’t have it either. I was pissed enough, and then after calling the shipper to get the items resent, found out that UPS never called them!

    In the end I finally got my package, but vowed to never voluntarily use UPS again.

    I do work for FedEx and can tell many horror stories about them too. I do have to say, that the drivers that I work with, do follow the rules about signatures and I haven’t heard complaints myself about them not following the directions for delivery.

  29. I feel your pain! We have the same problem with the driver in our area. He can’t seem to ever leave packages at our house…our neighbor’s houses, sure. I drove 3 blocks once and found my package on a door step. I must have looked suspicious to neighbors though, creeping around people’s door steps looking at packages. lol!

  30. I feel your pain! We live in a rural area, behind a gate & off the road about 1/10 of a mile. If the gate is open, they will come in & deliver, but if it’s closed (to keep the cows in) they do the same thing. I had a delivery from FedEx a few weeks ago & they left the box on the OUTSIDE of the gate. Grrrrrr. Fortunately we haven’t had anything go missing.

  31. I am so sorry to hear all these horror stories. We have always had professional and polite service from UPS. He always wraps the box in a plastic bag if the weather is threatening. The packages at the front door thing is not a problem for us, though it sure would be in a city, but I’m sure our guy would put them elsewhere if we asked. While I’m on it, our USPS is terrific, too, and never leaves our packages out to get rained on.

  32. UPS has a service you can sign up for that sends an email telling you they will be delivering a package on XX day. We live out in the country back off the road a half mile. We have various UPS drivers. Have you tried making a sign for the fence/gate that instructs the UPS driver to NOT leave packages at the gate. To drive to the house. That might help. I know some of our rural neighbors have a metal delivery box inside their gates marked “UPS” and the drivers leave the packages in those large metal boxes. We have the service from UPS that lets us know a package is being delivered. We have only had one mishap with UPS, and the driver left the package on top of our mailbox instead of coming to the house.

    • I think that only works if the shipper sends you a tracking number and I don’t always get that and didn’t from Quiltmaker. I’m actually a UPS shipper and have had the account for years so any time I put in a tracking number, it asks if I want to have the email sent to me and I always do.

      Each UPS driver has a computer in his truck– the little thing that tells him where to deliver packages and that you have to sign if it’s required and our gate code is in there and according to the manager, it says “DO NOT LEAVE PACKAGES AT GATE”. I’m not real sure what else we can do. It’s only one driver we’re having a problem with.

  33. I have a great UPS guy. He stops at the top of our driveway and walks down it to sit the package on my front porch. A fill in guy will drive down and then spend forever trying to turn around and go back up. He won’t do that again, walking is much faster. I get packages several times a week including monthly BOMs. Fed Ex is super good here too. The USPS? We got so fed up with the postal carriers here, we switched to a PO Box.
    As far as the driver not listening to his supervisor, that shows a poor supervisor not qualified to be one. Call someone over her.

  34. The funniest experience I have ever heard of was from my next door neighbor who had a note on the door saying their package was left on the back porch. Of course, when they looked, NO PACKAGE. Several months later, it was barbecue season and when he lifted the lid of the Weber grill, there the package was.

  35. I have a wonderful UPS driver who will come thru the gate and open and close it behind him before he comes to the house and then redo it when he leaves. He will leave a pkg in our old truck if we aren’t home. Whereas, it is FedEx that is MY problem…they don’t come in the gate at all (one did once and left the gate open while he came down the lane and seemed clueless that with donkeys and goats, he may be chasing livestock if he doesn’t close the gate – ranch/farm rules are if the gate was closed then you leave it that way and if it was open you leave it that way!). I always ask for an email notification if I get a shipping notice from a company, that way I know it is hanging on the gate at 5 p.m. But my preference is UPS (and my son works for FedEx!!)

  36. I really try hard to not be a negative person, but it seems more and more it is just accepted when people don’t do their job but expect to be paid.
    I wish people took pride in a job well done.

  37. Ahhh the UPS guy. 7years ago I didn’t have a fence around my house and the dogs ran out and the UPS guy wouldn’t deliver. I got the fence I told them….Then I started not getting packages delivered AGAIN ..after having the fence and having them deliver….I called and they told me I had bad dogs ! OK well they aren’t bad, but even if they were they are behind a fence, which UPS knew and had been delivering…?? It took several months for them to get that out of their computer again?? Now they are bringing stuff to the house… I live down a long drive, but have no gate….they have delivered to the neighbors…You just never know. It depends on who gets the route for the day. I know they a re timed and I think that is not a good thing. Good for the bottom line I guess….but not good for customer (no)service! Good Luck ….

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