what brown can do (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stieg]

But it is true. I work for UPS and the drivers are held responsible if something happens to their delivery; it comes out of their paycheck.

So Micah, maybe you can understand why this guy doesn't want to just leave your package lying around.

 

[Charles J P]

If that's true then I wouldn't leave ANYTHING on someone's door. I'd be surprised if Micah would either. That's a HUGE financial risk to a guy making driver's wages. No way!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Ditto in my neighborhood. Our local UPS guy has rock star status. He bends over backwards and knows most people by name. Little kids say hi to him at the grocery store. He gets gifts at Christmas time. When it was discovered that he had a son in the Army who was stationed in Afghanistan, the people on his route hung yellow ribbons on their doors to show support. It even made the local paper.

I've never had a problem with a delivery. Most are left at my back door, hidden from the street. Any that need a signature are left with the condo association, locked up tight. He just delivered some contact lenses I ordered last week. Since it was raining and windy, he put them in a big plastic bag and tied the loose end around my deck chair to keep the small box from blowing away. Because of this kind of care, I've never had a damaged, lost or soaked item - ever. Brown is just fine with me, YMMV.

 

[Charles J P]

Jeff, that's awesome that your guy goes out of his way but it sounds like he's breaking every UPS efficiency rule in the book. I've heard they have rules about leaving the keys in the ignition or holding them in your hand so you don't have to dig them out of your pockets and that they strive for certain step sizes so you are walking at the appropriate speed etc. Maybe its an urban legend but I've heard it many times.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I don't know how inefficient he is; maybe he preps himself with a lot of plastic bags when it is raining and is real good with knots. All I know is you probably aren't going to get fired after the local newspaper does a story about your route customers hanging yellow ribbons in support of your soldier son. Not very good PR to can that guy.

 

[Micah Cohen]

Let me be perfectly clear: I would never ask the guy to leave my package lying around. I live in the city, I have no storm door, I wouldn't leave anything on my front step I didn't want to lose.

That's why I write, "Please leave with neighbor." (Not, "Please leave on step.") That's pretty clear, you know, when there are two neighbors connected to my house and both within about an arm's length of my front door.

Matt, since you work at UPS, why is it that no one at UPS Customer Service wants to actually help me get my package in a safe and convenient way? Why can't I have the phone number of the local facility, and the name of the supervisor so I can call and get some help? I mean, I'm not grousing just a day after missing a delivery, you know. I'm grousing after four idiotically botched "attempts" to deliver a package I needed a week ago. I think I have a legitimate problem, yet there was no real solution from UPS Customer Service, no help, not even much of an understanding about the problem.

I work from home, so if I make my home address into a business address by adding some faux business-sounding thing like "Suite 200," maybe I will get better, business-class service, no?

Are my priorities all screwed up?

MC

 

[MichaelBA]

Different policies for different places?

I'm in Long Island, New York.

I get a UPS delivery and if nobody's home, the guy leaves it behind the storm door. Usually. I've had stuff left outside, beneath the awning, depending on the size.

I also know somebody in this area who gets regular deliveries, and if she's not home the guy leaves a note on the screen door saying that he's left the package in the adjacent open door to the boiler room.

Any of this proper UPS procedure?

 

[Jimi C]

Why not just make sure you are home during there delivery hours?

 

[Micah Cohen]

That would be easy... Except, one, there are no "delivery hours," it could be anytime during the day, and, (b) obviously none of this would a problem if I could divine when, via the alignment of the stars and planets or the damned "info notice" that isn't filled out correctly by the delivery guy, when exactly the delivery was going to be made.

Nothing's easy. Especially the easy stuff.



MC

 

[Malcolm R]

That doesn't make any sense if the sender (UPS's customer, who is paying the charges) does not want to require a signature delivery. It shouldn't be up to the driver to play CYA and decide that HE wants a sig, when the customer does NOT. All you do is end up pissing off both sides (sender and recipient) with a late delivery.

 

[MichaelBA]

This is from the UPS website:

>>Why was a UPS InfoNotice left on my door?

A UPS InfoNotice was left on your door to let you know that a package delivery or pickup was attempted. Your UPS InfoNotice contains information to help you complete the delivery or pickup.

If the UPS driver was able to leave your package at an alternate location, your UPS InfoNotice indicates where the package was left (for example, your garage or back porch).>Will UPS deliver my package to another address?

Yes. Simply write the address you would like to have the package delivered to on the "Comments Line" on the front of the UPS InfoNotice. Then place the UPS InfoNotice back in the same location where the driver originally left it. (This does not apply to "Adult signature required" deliveries.)

 

[MarkHastings]

As was mentioned, these places mainly do business drop offs. Home addresses are really out of the way for most drivers, so in that respect (even thought it's not completely acceptable) they aren't going to always go out of their way. If you're not home, they don't have time for alternates (even if it sounds simple enough to go to a neighbor).

I spoke to several UPS drivers in my area and the company makes it virtually impossible for them to do their job. They are timed between stops, so (often) since a home address is usually not on their typical 'route', it bugs them that they went off their route and no one was home. That's why most of them aren't so cooperative.

Again, it's not fair, but that's how the business works.


p.s. Yes, I realize that going out there again seems like more work, but I don't work for UPS, so I can only tell you what I've heard from the drivers.

 

[Micah Cohen]

MARK! Stop defending The Man! If brown didn't want to do residential drop offs, it wouldn't do them. But, it purports to be a residential delivery option, so it better buck the hell up and DELIVER STUFF TO RESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES THE RIGHT WAY.

Anyway...

6:45pm, 96+ hours from original delivery attempt, the package arrives and I am here to greet it.

Basic problem: The usual route driver has been on vacation. Tonight, the driver who is usually on this route, Mike, was back, and he handed me the package, apologized (needlessly), and said that he knows that the package does not need a sig (he didn't ask for one) and that he would usually just leave it with the neighbor if I ask him to do so on the original info notice. I almost kissed him on the mouth. (But, it was chilly outside, and, I wasn't wearing shoes and, you know, I'm kind of shy anyway...)

One good apple goes on vaca, and the whole bad apple system frigging breaks down.

End of story.

MC

 

[Micah Cohen]

[thinking...]

Hmmmm, now what else can I grouse about...?



MC

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - but that man happens to be a close friend of mine, and the other man (i.e. Fed-Ex) is my brother.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Okay, my turn to vent about brown.

I was in the process of selling a relatively expensive instrument, and both the buyer and I agree that it should be insured while in transit. I go to UPS' site and use their online rate calculator, enter in all the packaging details and the delared value. Presto, price quote, around $80, insurance included. Fine.

Deciding to be prudent, I phone UPS and talk to a nice lady who informs me that the price is wrong, and that even if I had paid for insurance they wouldn't cover a claim, since they don't insure pickups from residential addresses.

I am then told that in order for me to put insurance on the package I have to take it to a retail store (closest one is a 6 hour round trip) and pay get UPS to pack it for me - for $50-150. On top of that, the cost for insurance cost is three times what is stated on the website, so instead of an $80 shipping charge, including insurance, I am paying $250-300, since UPS' additional packing also increases the dimensional weight threefold. Needless to say, the sale was cancelled.

Thanks a bunch UPS.

But they aren't the only ones who suck. FedEx won't insure the package AT ALL. Here driver dude, enjoy your new guitar.

 

[Janna S]

For Christmas I ordered ice cream for my boyfriend from Mashti Malone's in LA (near Hollywood). It's Iranian ice cream, in very unique and interesting flavors. We'd discovered the place when we were in LA in October.

It had to be delivered to Talkeetna, Alaska. Mashti regularly ships ice cream, but had never shipped any to Alaska, and he usually uses a delivery service that isn't reliable for Talkeetna. So I set up a pick-up and delivery through FedEx. I had to deal with FedEx in Memphis to be sure I had all the right info about shipping with dry ice.

The guy in the special shipping dept. in Memphis was pretty funny. When he realized I was shipping ice cream from Los Angeles to Alaska he said, "Lady, you buy it, we'll ship it!" FedEx was great, Mashti was great, and the ice cream arrived rock-hard. A friend there kept it in her freezer (my place in Talkeetna has no power) and it was a huge Christmas surprise.

It cost A FORTUNE but it was worth it. So that's my FedEx story, and I'm sticking to it . . .

 

[Greg_R]

Hmmm, I can't find this URL at all...

 

[Micah Cohen]

Sorry. I'm a dope. It's CDROM2GO.com. Great prices, great customer service. Too bad they ship UPS. I'll have to figure out how to get around that.

Here's another goddamn thing: I just flew to Myrtle Beach from Baltimore. Cost me $400, and took over 6 hours each way, thanks to USAir and a layover in Charlotte... Crammed into a tiny plane, some fat guy falling asleep on my arm, cramping me up... And yet I see ads all the time: "Fly to Florida, $89!" It would be less expensive for me to fly to Florida and then fly to MB from Florida! Why does no airline fly direct from BWI to Myrtle Beach?!

But, I guess that's a rant for another thread...

MC

 

[JamesED]

I'm a college student, so I get to experience new drivers every year I move. This year sucks. My 2 roommates and I frequently use e-tailers for movies, books, computer parts, etc. The computer parts can lead to some very expensive parts left on the door step.

UPS will not knock on the door. They will just automatically leave packages on the steps.

FED EX will usually knock, but always leave the package on the step. Once, they delivered package to the wrong address (2808 Wyndham Court versus 2808 Wyndham Drive, the stupidest possible st. names for a subdivision).

DHL I've had two experiences with. First time, they were attempting deliveries to the wrong address, and since they couldn't, it was returned to sender. This cost me the price of two day shipping on an order ($10ish). Recently, I needed to have a package returned to sender (Dell shipped a processor 2 days after I cancelled an order, because it had almost been 4 weeks since placing the order). I had a well documented note on the door with the instructions written out. It also had my name printed,signed, and dated. He took the note, left the $300 package on my door step. This pissed me off since I had to waste another afternoon waiting on him coming to pick it back up.

So, I've had some experience with each. I prefer FED EX. I'll try to order from places with FED EX first, but UPS isn't a terrible second (Also, I've gotten every package from both companies in 2 days, and I usually always pick 3 day). I avoid DHL like the plague. USPS has delivered my packages quickly also (2-3 days).


I miss my residence for the two previous years. My apartment complex had the main office for all their apartment complexes spread around town. They had amazing hours, (I think 8am to 5:50pm Mon-Sat). The delivery guy always dropped off undeliverables to the front office. Since they had late hours, I never missed getting my packages the day the were delivered.