I absolutely DESPISE the United Parcel Service! (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

My main point is that package delivery people should not be leaving packages on doorsteps of obviously empty houses, whether it is at the front or the back. If no one answers the door to receive the package then it should go back to the depot or post office. A placard should be left stating the package delivery was attempted and that it can be picked up at the depot on the next business day.

Porch pirating would instantly become a non-issue if the dumb practice of leaving packages at unoccupied residences ceased.

Even now, the post service in Canada does not leave packages on doorsteps. If a person does not answer to receive it then it goes back to the nearest postal depot for pickup.

I do know that other delivery services do sometimes leave packages at unoccupied houses. A friend of mine had 15000 dollars worth of avionics left under his trailer, where they sat for three days before he spotted them

It is a good thing for the delivery service that he is honest, because he easily could have brought them in and then claimed he never received them, because there was no signed paperwork saying that he had gotten them.

 

[Edwin-S]

I decided to look up UPS delivery policy. See below:

• Delivered: The shipment has reached its destination, and the date and time of delivery have been recorded. In the U.S. and Canada, residential deliveries that do not require a signature may be left in a safe place, out of sight and out of weather. This could include the front porch, side door, back porch, or garage area. If you have instructed the driver to leave the shipment with a neighbour or leasing office, the driver will leave a UPS InfoNotice® at the delivery address.

So my theory that it could be against Company policy to deliver anywhere but the front door was wrong.
Apparently, some drivers are just being lazy. It just shows that the practice of leaving packages at unoccupied houses should stop as there is no way to tell if some drivers are actually in league with PPs and leave packages with the intent that their "partners" pick them up.

The quickest way to stop this kind of thriving is to ensure that packages go back to the depot unless an occupant takes possession.

 

[Mike Frezon]

No packages for me today.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

My main point is that package delivery people should not be leaving packages on doorsteps of obviously empty houses, whether it is at the front or the back. If no one answers the door to receive the package then it should go back to the depot or post office. A placard should be left stating the package delivery was attempted and that it can be picked up at the depot on the next business day.

The problem with this argument is that most people are working away from home during the hours when UPS, FedEx, etc. are delivering packages. Not leaving packages on the front porch would be a major inconvenience for millions upon millions of people.

I do like the idea of the Amazon locker setup, where you go to an address and punch in a code to get your packages. Combines flexibility and security.

 

[Edwin-S]

The problem with this argument is that most people are working away from home during the hours when UPS, FedEx, etc. are delivering packages. Not leaving packages on the front porch would be a major inconvenience for millions upon millions of people.

I do like the idea of the Amazon locker setup, where you go to an address and punch in a code to get your packages. Combines flexibility and security.

It used to be done like that for years and people never had an issue with it. The main problem now is we want when we want it.

Case in point, a delivery person showed up at 07:30 AM to deliver a new phone to me. I didn't get to the door fast enough and he left a note that it would be available for pickup at the Post Office the next day.

I missed him so I had to wait an extra day to get the phone. In my case, it didn't bother me as I would rather wait an extra day and pick something up myself rather than wait a week or more for a replacement because a porch pirate walks off with it because I might be Inconvenienced. To me, waiting for a replacement is a whole lot more inconvenient than waiting an extra day to go and pick something up after work.

 

[David Norman]

I'll leave another option if you ALWAYS want a package delivered to a specific spot.

UPS MyChoice has an option under Preferences for Driver Instructions which gives you a dozen choices (front door, side, back door, garage, patio, etc. This doesn't mean that the driver still won't ignore it, but if it's registered and should pop up on their little gadget to tell them where to leave it. I think that may even be under the Free Option version. The premium version (as little as $1 per month) has many other options including updated Sure Post packages to UPS ground, delivering to alternative addresses or UPS Access points, etc.

 

[TravisR]

It used to be done like that for years and people never had an issue with it. The main problem now is we want when we want it.

The other much larger problem is that people work at the same time that packages get delivered. If I worked Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 and had to be home to get packages, I would literally get nothing delivered ever. If something arrives at my house before noon, it is a minor miracle. There is no normal time for UPS delivery by me either. Sometimes it's 1:30 PM and sometimes it's 6:30. I think it's fair to say that most people can't take a day off to get a package.

 

[Traveling Matt]

I do order online somewhat, but my concern with delivery companies like UPS will be increased if I order expensive electronics online, like I may have to do at some point soon - now that so many brick & mortar stores are closing.

This is the most disconcerting thing about how so much stuff of interest is becoming only available online, and not at any local offline bricks & mortar retail stores.

As alluded to in my earlier post on this thread, there will likely be a day when there isn't any choice anymore other than to order such items online. Either that or not buying anything at all.

Agree completely. The unfortunate trend is that many specialty stores that sold electronics have either closed, or on their way out. Sure, online ordering is great & convenient for some things - but there are still products that I like to see before I purchase them, i.e. large electronics, perishable food, and clothes/shoes.

Poor shipping practices - primarily not using sufficient (or any!) padding to prevent an item from moving within the shipping box - can be okay for some things but it is entirely unacceptable for others, such as traditional hard drives and other sensitive electronics. Shipping these items individually must be done with care to prevent not only immediate damage but possible damage undetectable at the time that can affect the product later in life. In the past I've made numerous exchanges for the same order, at the etailer's expense, due to ignorance of this without even opening the products to check for damage. I refused to accept it. I got what I wanted but the process was frustrating, time consuming and ultimately exhausting. And since then I've skipped that by purchasing in person (ironically at Fry's, who look like they're about to close).

Such circumstances don't exist when items are shipped in bulk to a physical store and sold off the shelf. And of course even if there is a problem everything can be handled by driving back to the store and making an exchange. In addition to selecting your own copy in good condition to begin with. I was thinking about this when posting the other day about the Fry's situation.

I wonder if this potential standard, along with the OP's circumstance which clearly isn't isolated, doesn't eventually open up competition for both new shipping companies and new etailers. Poor customer experiences won't be tolerated indefinitely, and a greater variety of product sold online should mean greater specificity in S&H based on the nature of the items.

 

[Edwin-S]

The other much larger problem is that people work at the same time that packages get delivered. If I worked Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 and had to be home to get packages, I would literally get nothing delivered ever. If something arrives at my house before noon, it is a minor miracle. There is no normal time for UPS delivery by me either. Sometimes it's 1:30 PM and sometimes it's 6:30. I think it's fair to say that most people can't take a day off to get a package.

I'm not sure what has changed from the past. People have worked from 9 to 5 for decades and it never seemed to stop them from getting their packages. I work 9 to 5 and it didn't stop me from picking up my phone and I didn't need to take a day off.

There is one package that will require me to take a few hours off but that is only because it is going to be a large, heavy package that needs to be delivered by truck. The weight and size of it makes it not very easy for me to pick up by myself.

 

[TJPC]

I leave a note on our storm door which instructs delivery people to leave a package between the doors and take down the note.

Three things happen:
1) They do what I ask.
or
2) They leave the package and don’t take down the note and this advertises to the world that there is a package.
or
3) They stand the package upright in the mailbox for all the world to see.

So far all packages have arrived safely.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

In decades of getting packages delivered, mostly living in apartment buildings in cities with easy theft opportunities, I’ve had exactly two packages stolen, and I’m only sure of one, the other could have been a genuine mix up.

The one that was stolen was actually a signature required package (a projector and screen combo from Epson in December 2006) that the driver neglected to get a signature for. My theory is that either the holiday temp driver took it home or my shitty downstairs neighbors saw what it was and kept it. UPS didn’t have a signature so they couldn’t fight it, and the story of how Epson made it right is why I’m still a loyal customer a decade later.

The other was, of all things, a disc I was meant to review here that USPS showed as delivered but never appeared. Something tells me that my neighbors were not dying to steal a copy of the four hour version of “Tree of Life” and that it just got lost in the shuffle somewhere, small mailer in a big building, and there are also several addresses nearby that are remarkably similar to mine where it could have been left by accident.

I’d say that’s not so bad over a 20 year period.

 

[jcroy]

Poor shipping practices - primarily not using sufficient (or any!) padding to prevent an item from moving within the shipping box - can be okay for some things but it is entirely unacceptable for others, such as traditional hard drives and other sensitive electronics. Shipping these items individually must be done with care to prevent not only immediate damage but possible damage undetectable at the time that can affect the product later in life. In the past I've made numerous exchanges for the same order, at the etailer's expense, due to ignorance of this without even opening the products to check for damage. I refused to accept it. I got what I wanted but the process was frustrating, time consuming and ultimately exhausting. And since then I've skipped that by purchasing in person (ironically at Fry's, who look like they're about to close).

(As a hypothetical example of this).

Hopefully by the time my current computer abruptly dies, inexpensive solid state drives will become common enough. Even today, I still don't entirely trust traditional spinning hard drives.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not sure what has changed from the past. People have worked from 9 to 5 for decades and it never seemed to stop them from getting their packages. I work 9 to 5 and it didn't stop me from picking up my phone and I didn't need to take a day off.

There is one package that will require me to take a few hours off but that is only because it is going to be a large, heavy package that needs to be delivered by truck. The weight and size of it makes it not very easy for me to pick up by myself.

The amount of stuff being shipped to addresses has increased by a large margin from the past.

 

[The Drifter]

There are a lot of reasons for that, but I believe one of them is this: if you’re only measuring your problems based on complaint volume, you’re missing the big picture, because most people won’t bother to complain - they’ll just do something else or go somewhere else and tell their friends why and you’ll never even notice that one bad experience you never got a complaint about turned into them and ten of their friends never patronizing your business again. UPS is giant right now but all this stuff has a way of adding up over time.

Absolutely correct! There is a lot of competition out there & if someone is displeased at the customer service re: a certain company, they probably won't complain - but will just stop patronizing said company, and will probably also bad-mouth the business to their friends/family. Actions speak louder than words, so just because an organization may not actually get any complaints - this means absolutely nothing.

 

[Mark Booth]

I guess UPS's automated system got tired of being wrong...

Mark

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm not sure what has changed from the past. People have worked from 9 to 5 for decades and it never seemed to stop them from getting their packages. I work 9 to 5 and it didn't stop me from picking up my phone and I didn't need to take a day off.

Two things:

1. Thirty or forty years ago, families were far more likely to have a stay-at-home spouse than they are now.
2. 9 to 5 in the United States has become the exception rather than the norm. I would bet more people work 8-6 (or longer) than 9-5 these days.

 

[Mark Booth]

Got an email that delivery has been updated to tomorrow (Monday) between 4pm and 8pm. I won't be home and I'm sick and tired of waiting for this package to arrive. I put in a request to have the package delivered to the UPS Store near my home. I'm supposed to receive an email when it gets delivered there.

It's the first time I've tried diverting a package like this. I am not 100% confident that UPS won't screw it up somehow.

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'll be heading to my local UPS center tomorrow to see what's what.

I had the most frustrating experience tonight with Amazon customer service about the two Amazon packages that are not being delivered...but that's for an Amazon thread and frankly I'm too perturbed at their lack of caring to even want to explain what happened with that.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m kinda resigned to Amazon being “it is what it is.” I still use them for a bunch of stuff but it’s no longer a romantic or fun experience like it used to be. Most of the stuff gets here when it should in the condition it should. It’s just that they no longer seem to care or do anything about the stuff that doesn’t, where they used to bend over backwards.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It’s just that they no longer seem to care or do anything about the stuff that doesn’t, where they used to bend over backwards.

And that's the altogether sad truth of the thing.