UPS lies, Shipping Issues and BAD customer service

My latest issue with UPS is a warning to anyone who uses UPS, especially if you use the UPS Store.

I dropped off a package at a local UPS store using a return shipping label. I guess the first warning I should have had was that the person was a bit rude when I asked for a receipt. He stated that they did not get any money for dropoff packages and so that they would not print out "thousands" of receipts. I then asked him to enter it into the system, which he claimed to have done. The problem is that the package was dropped off on Thursday and on Tuesday the UPS tracking does not show that the package was received. In calling UPS, they say that there is nothing that can be done until after a week, when the package should have arrived. They also say that any issues have to be dealt with "The UPS Store". I called The UPS Store customer service (a misnomer if I ever heard one). The first call resulted in my being transfered back to UPS. On the second call I was told that there were no supervisors, that there was no one other than the person who answered the phone to deal with and that any packages left at the UPS store are left at the shipper's risk. When I said that there is nothing which says that in advance, the "customer service" person said that is just the way it is. I believe it to be a lie when the person claimed that there were no supervisors and quite clearly it is a lie when he said that there was no one else who I could call to complain about this problem and the lack of customer service. To me, it is also fraud to claim after the fact that they are not responsible for the package. I believed that I was giving the package to UPS and there was no disclaimers to say that I was doing so at my own risk.

I called UPS back and the most that they will do is to track the package after it is overdue, but I have to get the company who issued the return shipping label to do that. I get the impression that if it does not show up the most that I will get is the tracking showing that it is missing.

UPS does not stand behind their name, so don't expect any help from UPS if a UPS Store steals your package. The UPS Store won't help either since they say that each store is independently owned. I was told by UPS that maybe I just got a bad store, but that does not help since the next store might also be bad.

The bottom line is that it is risky to ship using The UPS Store and that UPS will not really help. It seems to me that in many respect it is best to avoid UPS and The UPS Store.

Past issues:

The most recent bad experience I have had with UPS occurred on 13-Jun-2006. While this started with an incompetent substitute driver, it has lead to extremely poor customer service and lies by UPS employees, which there is no excuse for. So far the matter has not been resolved at all as UPS chooses to fail to do the right thing, continues to lie and has no concept of customer service at all in my opinion.

I have a locked gate on my property and have never had a problem with deliveries by UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL or other delivery companies. Most drivers have some common sense and know how to use the door bell on the gate or use the horn on their vehicle. Unfortuantely on this day the driver did not have any common sense at all. She failed to figure out how to use the door bell, could not think to use the horn and also failed to leave a notice regarding the package, but that is not the limit to her stupidity. What really annoyed me was that this driver marked the package as:

This marking was COMPLETELY false and I think it amounts to fraud on the part of UPS to make such a claim when it is not true, especially when they continue to make false claims about it without making ANY effort to confirm that it was correct.

I called 800-PICKUPS (742-5877) and was lied to about this marking. It was marked with this message at the same exact time as when the driver was at my house. I was told that it was an outside request, which has since be shown to be false. If the request had come from an outside source, then the time stamp on the notice from the web page would have been different. This means that UPS did not bother to do any checking at all, but instead looked at the marking and continued the lies about it. I logged a call, which is the only thing which UPS allows you to do. This sends a message to the local UPS office, but as is typical, I never got a call back

I called the local UPS office, which is really hard to do since UPS refuses to give out the office phone numbers, but I managed to get the number years ago. I talked to a supervisor by the name of Maria, several times. Maria talked to the driver, who admitted that the marking was because of the locked gate and not an outside request. I have this message on my answering machine and have saved the message for proof of the lies by UPS.

I requested a refund of the money for shipping due to the stupidity of the driver and the lies by UPS, but was told that the shipper had to make the request. I called the shipper to make the request and confirmed that they called, but the lies of UPS continue and it was again falsely claimed that the marking was correct, which obviously means that UPS did not bother to call the local office nor did they talk to the driver. UPS made no effort to check the accuracy of the marking and did not do ANY investigation in the matter. UPS prefers to do nothing and places the complete burden on the customer to prove what occurred and to force this issue.

I talked to Joe Tuaone, a supervisor at the UPS call center today, 27-Jun-2006. UPS refuses to give out the phone number for corporate, basically making it difficult to get complaints dealt with. I was told that you can not call UPS, but instead have to send a written letter to the corporate address. It seems that even though the shipper actually called, UPS either did not document the call or I was lied to again by UPS. In either case it is unacceptable behaviour on the part of UPS.

Additional: I just called the 800 number again, to try to get them to correct the false marking on the package tracking so that it would be easier for the shipper to request a credit (since when the shipper called they were lied to). What is quite interesting is that I was transfered to the local UPS office. What makes this so interesting is that in the past when I talked to the people at the 800 number they claimed that they had no means of calling the local offices, that they could only send a message. Add to that, the person I talked to, Cesar, said that he needed to talk to Maria about a refund. He said that she can issue refunds, at least in some cases, which conflicts with what she said when she said that she could not. Why am I not suprised that once again it has been proven to me that UPS lies time and time again? I am not sure that they know what the truth is. I guess UPS is just so stupid and/or just does not care that they will get caught lying to customers. After all, what can the customer do about all the lies? One thing a customer can do is to let others know about the lies.

Update: I talked to Maria again and she said that she never talks to Cesar, so someone again lied since Cesar said that he would talk to her. Later, I got a couple of phone messages from UPS. Maria called and said that a credit had been issued, although I have not seen it yet. It is amazing that her story changed from not being able to issue a refund, to only being able to issue a refund in certain cases. It also conflicts with her statements that the shipper has to call to request the refund. Although the shipper did call, the refund was denied because UPS lied and failed to look into the matter. I was trying to get the false information corrected so that the shipper could call and get the refund. The tracking log has not been updated or corrected. Cesar also called and left a message saying that a refund had been issued, so perhaps it is true, then again who knows considering how many times UPS has lied.

UPS uses the fire to NOT deliver and other Shipping Issues Due to the recent fires in the Los Angeles area, I have had some problems with UPS failing to deliver the packages as guaranteed and in addition they have lied to me. I can understand some issues with the fire and some delays, but that is certainly no excuse to lie to a customer. When I called UPS to ask what was going on and when I would receive my packages, I was told that they would not deliver "until further notice". I asked for the phone number of the UPS center which is responsible for delivering the packages and was told that they were closed and also that they did not have any phone numbers. I knew this was a flat out lie because that center delivers to many areas which were not affected by the fire. While some of the roads were closed at times to my area, there were alternate routes. If UPS would not deliver, then I would drive to pick up the packages, but they would not even help me with that. UPS said that they would send a message and that I would get a call back, but that has not happened. I managed to get the phone number from other means and called. They were far more helpful and honest, not to mention open, contrary to what the people at UPS's 800 number said. It turns out that the communication is quite lacking within UPS since what is really going on is unknown to the people who are at the 800 number. The UPS center had sent out the trucks on Monday, but some drivers complained about the smoke (which is quite understandable). UPS recalled all the trucks, even though some drivers were not affected. On Tuesday, they sent out the trucks again, now with a large backlog, and told the drivers that they could return if they felt that there was a problem. Because I have a really nice driver who serves my area, I managed to get 75% of my packages, but I am still waiting for the last package (the most important, of course). I did manage to get the last package. I got it the next day, it turned out that it was on the truck the previous day, but placed on the wrong shelf.

Recently I have heard of other issues with UPS which are not positive and which people should be warned about. This involves what UPS charges for customs. One person said " I have seen packages with $3.00 in Federal (GST) taxes, another $3.00 in Provincial, and ~$50 in UPS charges. The same package, sent via US Post / Canada Post will incur only a $5.00 Customs/Brokerage surchage, just a fraction of what UPS charges."

"UPS breaks out their billing, and makes it perfectly clear that the vast majority of the costs are their own internal charges - absolutely no conjecture or guesswork needed!"

All of this for filling out one form, which one person did himself and it took around 40 minutes. Since UPS has a person to do this and does many packages, the hourly rate must be very high. Many people responded to the discussion, so it is not just one person who has an issue with them.

Recently I have heard of other issues with UPS which are not positive and which Just before UPS went public, they changed their shipping requirements for firearms, handguns specifically. It was kind of funny since they said that they did not have a theft problem, but that requiring 2nd Day Air meant that the firearm would be in their system for less time and therefore would reduce the chance of theft, or something like that. They did not have the same requirement for long guns since the package was bigger, which means that it is harder to steal. UPS also restricts shipping of other items with firearms, thereby making the package smaller and easier to steal. This does not make sense, unless it is a money issue.

The UPS web site now says that handguns must be shipped Next Day Air, or if that is not available "In locations where a UPS Next Day Air service is not offered, you must ship your packages that contain handguns with the most premium domestic air service available". Yep, it seems clear to me that it is a money issue.

UPS has also added the rule that shipments must be from licensed parties, whereas the law allows shipments by unlicensed parties, but requires shipments to be restricted to license parties, with some exceptions, like returning a firearm from a gunsmith.

UPS Shipping Fireams"

There are also some other pages regarding the UPS policy on shipping firearms, just search for them using the word "firearms".

In the case of FedEx, FedEx Ground will not ship handguns period. This means that you also have to use their air services, which are much more expensive. FedEx Ground does allow for shipping of firearms by non-license people, where not prohibited by law, but only for repair and/or customizing.

FedEx Ground Firearms and Ammunition Policy

The USPS does allow licensed dealers to ship firearms, but you have to fill out a form. You are not required to ship it overnight or other expensive means. Non-license people can ship long guns, but not handguns.

I received a shipping notice last Friday for a package that was attempted to be delivered. It needed a signature, so the package could not be left. The slip listed the next delivery attempt, but it was marked for the delivery time to be 10:30-2:00 and also 2:00-5:00. So far it has not been delivered and it is well after 5pm. I called to check on it and the UPS person said that it would be delivered today. I asked if she knew the status of the truck, but she had no idea. This is called misrepresentation, making a statement when you have no facts to back it up. The UPS representative has no idea if the truck or the driver had a problem, but makes claims just the same. Of course UPS does care if they waste the time of people because there is nothing that you can do about it. They are not going to pay you for your wasted time or anything else, nor will they reduce the shipping cost. It is just a prime example of poor customer service. So, instead of doing all the things I needed to do, I waited for the UPS driver and so far is a no show. This just convinces me that FedEx is now doing a better job than UPS, not to mention they seem to have closer locations for pickup, whereas UPS has decided to not use the closest UPS office to deliver to my area and instead use one further away and just talk about changing it, which would make it easier to pick up the package from them. FYI, just before 6pm the package arrived.