Currently browsing: UPS can just bite me

You’re so lucky!

I’ve been out sick since last Thursday. I came home Wednesday night and had been feeling it for most of the day … that familiar tingle in the back of my throat. My tonsils were already swollen and I had a low-grade fever.

Ah, the cold season begins!

So I made a huge pot of soup and made sure there were enough “things that I know I like” to eat. That sounds weird to some people, but I know that when I get sick, I can’t taste worth shit. I’d rather stick to foods that I know for certain that I like — though nowadays I have to stay off spicy foods when sick. (damned stomach turned on me … it’s a conspiracy I tell ya!)

By Thursday morning I was so hoarse that Jessie said I “sound like a frog.” ??: Hrm. Thanks a lot, munchkin.

So anyways … My boss is a really cool guy. We are allowed to work from home when needed, and I did precisely that. Jessie stayed out with me Friday, as she was sitting out a class field trip. (long story, don’t ask)

At one point, she walks up to my desk and peers over my pile of used Kleenex’s, discarded cough drop wrappers, and work-related papers and says to me, “You’re so lucky! You have a whole four day weekend!”

I reminded her that I was working, and this wasn’t exactly a ‘holiday’ for me. She counters with, “Yeah, but you get to spend it at home with me, and we’re going to have so much FUN!”

I said, “I hate to burst your bubble sweetie, but this isn’t exactly fun to me. I hate being sick. I feel awful, I’m miserable, and as soon as your father gets home, I’m going to bed.”

She says, “Yeah, but moms aren’t allowed to get sick; and without you, Daddy and I would starve!”

LOL! Newsflash of the century there. You can’t beat this kid’s logic. She’s a smart cookie … and I’m still hating every damned minute of this stupid freakin’ cold.

On a good note, I seem to be all out of Green Death … hooray for Robitussin. :roll:

Oh well. On the upside, I’ve had a good bit of time to update my newest hobby site while waiting on my new laptop to be delivered. I bought a new external harddrive and now have everything backed up to go on the new machine once it’s delivered …

…and God help UPS if they screw this one up!!!!

Handy dandy tracking tool!

I was reading the Download Squad feeds and ran across this little gem:

:shock: *gasp* I’m in love! :lol:

Seriously … how cool is that!!??

And *just* when I start ordering things off the net for the wedding and around the house and am in SERIOUS need of a way to track everything and keep the tracking status readily available.

Neat! :mrgreen:

You could say I’m a do-it-yourself’er

I’ll be the first to admit that some days I just don’t want to deal with people. I’m a big fan of “pay at the pump” and ATM’s. You could say I’ve always thought of myself as a “do-it-yourself’er” and sometimes would much rather deal with an automated counterpart to get what I need instead of having to interact with a human being.

And it seems I am not alone:

While a huge part of me loves the sound of that, I admit that there are times when human interaction is absolutely necessary. i.e. when there is a problem with a particular service or product, or if the ATM/machine malfunctions, etc. After reading that article, I couldn’t help but think back to my last encounter with UPS, and when calling their “customer service” line finding out that the menu presented no options except those that were automated. It was only by sheer luck that I discovered the way to speak to an actual person.

I enjoy the convenience and instant gratification of automated services, but I am also grateful for companies/services which still provide human interaction (and sometimes intervention? LOL).

Minor irritation with Zooomr

I love Zooomr and have been a big supporter of their services (as opposed to Flickr, Photobucket, et. al.), but I keep running into a problem that I had honestly hoped would have been fixed by now.

Earlier today, I created a little button for linking to Ben’s Geek on a Bike. I uploaded said button to my Zooomr account and it was resized to two smaller sizes — at first it was no big deal, it automatically creates resized versions of my photos in various sizes. The problem was that it did not keep the original size.

I’ve run into this before, prior to their recent “update” … I simply assumed that the issue was being addressed and was being fixed. Ok, that’s what I get for assuming. I surfed around on the Zooomr site, looking for a help page. Nothing found. I found a reference to their technical support personnel on one page, but there was no contact form, phone number, email address, … nothing.

At this point I’m really irritated. Honestly, I’d expect this from Google or UPS!

Either it’s a bug, or there’s a minimum size limitation that is not documented ANYWHERE on the site. I ended up putting the image on one of my Photobucket accounts that I use mostly for Neopets and free theme sharing. Searching through the last year or so’s worth of emails, I was able to locate my original signup email which listed a feedback email address from Zooomr’s owner/holding company, so I fired off an email asking to where or whom I should report problems with the Zooomr service.

After all, there is a very slight snowball’s chance in hell that they may not know this problem exists … but I won’t hold my breath.

A step in the right direction?

I’ve complained many times over the past few years about poor service from UPS. From mishandling packages (*ahem* my business cards!), to losing packages altogether, generally mucking up the delivery process. In fact, at one point, I had the local distribution center’s number taped to my refrigerator. I’ve written several letters of complaint, but usually only get the generic *lamest attempt at an apology* response.

Boy, don’t I feel special! :roll:

This morning I read via Download Squad about a new service they’ve introduced — UPS Intercept. Basically, this service would allow you to: return to the package to sender, deliver to another address, reschedule delivery, or have the package held for pickup.

Sounds like something that may come in handy to those of us who’ve had problems having things delivered via UPS. However, what isn’t noted is that if UPS has already tried to deliver your package that day, these options are to be applied the next business day. A fat lot of good that does then, isn’t it? That’s also assuming that you knew it was to be delivered that day.

EDIT: I’m reading this as it’s only for shippers. If you read the fine print: “This fee-based service for shippers allows you to request the intercept of packages prior to delivery, providing greater flexibility in managing your shipping needs.”

Well, looking on the bright side: at least it saves those of you who ship using UPS a phone call (in most cases I presume), which I’d have to say is the most irritating part of the “dealing with UPS experience.”

If you ask me, they should work on their customer service — or rather, the lack of!

What can Brown do for me?

Jack squat, that’s what.

I swear, these people are worse than BellSloth, and I didn’t think that was possible!

Like BellSouth, the basis of UPS’ incompetency can be summed up in two words: customer service. Unlike BellSouth, they have not been consistently rude or condescending. Every representative I have dealt with over the last 3 months have been courteous (for the most part). However, LIKE BellSouth, several of them would tell me whatever they thought it was that I wanted to hear in order to get me off the phone.

December 4, 2006: I had just gotten the offer from my employer and was informed that a computer was being shipped to me from Dell. It was 2 packages. Cool. By Wednesday the 13th, it was already en route and in Birmingham. I received notice that the shipment was to be delivered that day. Even cooler. I got home and sure enough UPS tried to deliver around 12pm. I signed the note and asked they come back after 6pm when I’d be home. I got home the next night and same thing: a note saying UPS tried to deliver. I called UPS, spoke to a very nice girl. I asked if I could have someone deliver after 2 o’clock the next day, when I’d be home for sure. She told me it was not a problem. I asked what if they tried to deliver early, she said they could make a 2nd round. I asked that they call me to make sure I was home before they tried to deliver. Again, I was told that it would not be a problem and I gave the girl both my home and work phone numbers. Friday, the 15th: I received no calls from UPS. I got home and they had tried to deliver that morning. I called UPS and asked the woman who answered about the shipment. I was told that not only could they not make a 2nd round that day, that they don’t ever try to re-deliver the same day, and that they could not guarantee that someone would call me before attempting the delivery to ensure I was home. I was infuriated. When I repeated everything back the girl had told me the day before, to which she replied, “Well, that’s a training issue then, because she’s wrong and she told you incorrectly.”

?

I then asked if they could deliver on Saturday — no. I would have to be at work Monday and asked if they could attempt a re-delivery after 6pm when I’d be home. She again told me no, that they cannot designate or guarantee a delivery time. She then told me that I could have a neighbor sign for the packages and hold for me — just about all of my neighbors who are normally home during the day were out of town on Christmas vacation. I told the woman that there was no one nearby who could sign for it. She then told me that they could attempt re-delivery every day, but given my work schedule, there was no guarantee that I would be home and eventually it would have to be sent back to the shipper. She went on to say that I could have the delivery re-scheduled for January, and that was probably my best option. I hit the roof — by then it would have been too late because I would have already started the new job and would NEED the computer. I explained this to the woman who then said “I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t help you. You need to choose another option or stay home to get your packages.”

Again … ?

I hung up on her before I spouted off what I *really* thought of them and their “options”. I called back Saturday morning and was told by yet another representative that I could have both packages re-delivered the Tuesday following Christmas. I had told her what the previous representative told me, and she then told me that I had been misinformed.

Gee, what a surprise.

So, I schedule to have it delivered on the 26th. That day comes and goes … no delivery. I called, and was told “I don’t know why it didn’t go out, there’s no notes or anything.”

By this point I’d lost all patience. I explained that I had been told it would be delivered on that day and I sat at home all day waiting for the delivery and it never came. I asked that it be delivered the next day and was indeed told that the delivery would be “re-attempted.” About an hour goes by and I decided to call and make sure that BOTH packages would be shipped to me. Sure enough, only ONE of them had been marked to go out, the other was put back in holding.

At this point I was ready to drive over there myself to get them, but the center closest to me was closed and apparently it’s not where they were being held.

I asked that BOTH packages be marked to go out and was assured, yet again, that they would be delivered.

The next day, I stayed home again … waited all day. When 6 o’clock rolled around I called to see where my shipment was. They didn’t know. They didn’t even know IF IT WAS EVEN ON THE TRUCK! I asked for a supervisor and the rep said, “We don’t have any supervisors here at the moment.”

I blew up … “THEN GET ME SOMEONE COMPETENT!”

Without a word I was put on hold and a lady answered and said someone would call me back within the hour with the delivery time. An hour goes by, no word, so I call again. Again, I was put on hold, then someone tells me that someone will call me back.

30 minutes later, the truck FINALLY pulls up with the computer. 20 minutes after that, a supervisor downtown called to make sure I had received both packages. I informed her that I did and thanked her for calling me back.

I have ALWAYS had trouble getting UPS to deliver things to my house. That’s why I avoid using them like the plague.

But wait, there’s more!

Last month I had ordered some ink from Staples. Staples uses UPS. And guess what? They delivered only one of the two ink shipments. The driver had to come back the next day to deliver the other. When I called to ask why they both weren’t delivered at once like they were supposed to be, I received “I don’t know” — funny, I get that a lot from them!

I ordered something small — like from Christian Gifts (I love their Celtic/Irish stuff!) — and guess what … they LOST the shipment!

I called the phone number and waited patiently for the “talk to customer service option” — They REMOVED it from their phone menu! After dirking around for about 45 minutes I finally found via Google where someone posted that it’s not printed anywhere on the site or in any customer service menu’s, but you can say “Agent” to speak to customer service.

I call back and have the shipment found and delivered the next day without incident.

Oh, but it gets so much better …

The last straw was yesterday when I had packed up the computer to go back to my employer. I had scheduled a pickup the night before. I even called that morning to ensure the pickup would be on time (by 3pm at the latest) and asked that they bring pre-printed labels, as I had specified when I placed the pickup order. 3 comes and goes. I called and spoke to a young lady who told me that “they must be running late” and took down all of my details and sent “an urgent delivery” notice to the driver asking that they come by before 5pm and bring pre-printed labels. 5 rolls around and I call back wanting to know when the UPS truck is coming by. I was told that “someone” will call me within the hour and that she would send another “urgent” notice to the driver. An hour goes by, no one calls. Around 6:30 the truck came by … no labels. PLUS, I couldn’t pay for the shipment AND I won’t get the tracking numbers or receipt until MONDAY, when the guy will come by to bring them to me.

I swear, this is the most fscked up delivery system EVER!

I asked the driver if businesses had this much trouble … he replied “No, we take care of them first, then residentials.”

There you have it … if you’re not a business, you’re not worth Brown’s time apparently.

I asked about the glaringly obvious communication problems between customer service and the drivers/delivery staff. “They are in their own world. We’re in the real world.”

I called UPS one last time, and told them that I would never use them again if I can help it. I told her that I’ve sent MANY letters of complaint over the past 3 years, and nothing has ever improved. I told her that from now on FedEx and the US Postal Service will get my business. She hung up on me.

Oh my, what customer service!