I Will Never Use United Parcel Service (UPS) Again!

I am not a difficult person to do business with. In fact, I have been told that I am often too easy going. However, today, the "other side of me" showed up and it was "not pretty." Then again, had United Parcel Service (UPS) done what we had asked, this would have been avoided.

The other day, I ordered expensive equipment for my business from an out-of-state company. This company apparently has a shipping contract with UPS. Yesterday, UPS attempted a delivery, but my wife and I were not home. We live in a rural area and it takes us both drive 45 minutes to an hour to get home. I got home first to find a note from UPS on our front door, stating that a delivery was attempted and that they would deliver again tomorrow (meaning today)...in the same time frame. That's the problem! We work today, just like yesterday, at that time. Since it is expensive items that are being delivered and we don't have next door neighbors, we did not want the items left outside unattended.

We wanted to work something out that would be convenient. Now, I am not one of those people who believes "the customer is always right." My wife and I have held customer service jobs over the years and can both attest to that firsthand. However, we always tried to make things as easy and convenient for the customers as was reasonably possible.

NOT UPS!

After telling a UPS customer service,probably minimum wage, employee, about our situation, he told us that the packages could be left outside of our house........this AFTER WE JUST TOLD HIM THAT THIS WAS NOT A VIABLE OPTION.

Then, he told us that we could pick up the packages at one of their places...No Good! It is thirty miles away from our house (note again: we live in a rural area, which we had told him already as well).

Lastly, he said that we could schedule an appointment...at OUR expense. Strike Three!

At this point, we asked to speak with a supervisor. It is my understanding that a supervisor is supposed to have more "authority" than a phone representative. Apparently NOT AT UPS. This "supervisor" (note the quotation marks for irony) gave us the EXACT THREE OPTIONS that the pone rep gave us. When we told him this, he refused to work any further with us.

The only option we had left was to leave a note on the slip that the drive left earlier in the day, asking that the packages be left with someone we know who lives about four blocks away. There was a chance that this person might be home to sign for the items.

Before I left the house this morning, I left note taped to my front door. I returned home from work several hours later to find my note still taped to the door.................WITH ANOTHER SLIP NEXT TO IT FROM THE UPS DRIVER!!! This note said again "attempted delivery...YADA YADA YADA." And that he would try again tomorrow....guess what? DURING THE SAME TIME THAT WE WERE NOT AT HOME THE PREVIOUS TWO TIMES!!!

The driver left his name and phone number on the slip. I called him to ask him why he did not stopped at our neighbor's house as we requested on the note. He said he did not see the note - LIAR - it was RIGHT NEXT TO THE SLIP THAT HE LEFT ON THE DOOR! When I told him that, he said he didn't have time to stop at that house. So, which one is it? When I asked him where he was presently, he told me that he was only about 15 minutes from my house (and he was actually heading back in the direction of my house), but when I asked him to come back up, he refused and made me meet him at a local business and further inconvenience us!

Needless to say, I was "not a happy camper" when I met him for my packages. Then when he refused to give me his supervisor's name and number upon request, that "sealed the deal!"

You may not have had a bad experience with UPS before and quite honestly, I had not had a bad experience with them...before now. However when you are not "the only game in town," my policy is "ONE strike and you're OUT!" I have also dealt with Federal Express recently and had NO trouble at all. So, FedEx has my business from now on.

Can one person's voice make a difference? Maybe. Suffice it to say that this is NOT the ONLY place where I will be expressing my displeasure with United Parcel Service. I write other blogs and know people who host radio and televison programs who often address the issue of "Customer NO-Service." They will be hearing from me, too.

If you have had problems with UPS before, feel free to comment on this post. Thanks for letting me rant!