Burned by UPS

[LuvOrlando]

So I mailed a key overnight to a sublet renter in Pa from Ma yesterday, they charged me $68 (splitting with renter). There was snow, I was notified that it won't get there until Monday which would have cost a lot less than $70. I feel really bad for the renter who is stuck & am irked that the guarantee means zero. There is a run around of it's not UPS it's the UPS store, no it's not UPS store it's UPS, blah blah blah meanwhile I'm out $70 and noone is going to bother trying to get stuff where it was promised on time. I should have gone with USPS, if it was going to be late at least it would be cheaper. I had no idea the UPS stores weren't UPS and am now wondering if I should have done Fed Ex or is it just as bad?

Standards are just gone now, I should have just mailed it ... what was I thinking

 

[sam_gordon]

So I mailed a key overnight to a sublet renter in Pa from Ma yesterday, they charged me $68 (splitting with renter). There was snow, I was notified that it won't get there until Monday which would have cost a lot less than $70. I feel really bad for the renter who is stuck & am irked that the guarantee means zero. There is a run around of it's not UPS it's the UPS store, no it's not UPS store it's UPS, blah blah blah meanwhile I'm out $70 and noone is going to bother trying to get stuff where it was promised on time. I should have gone with USPS, if it was going to be late at least it would be cheaper. I had no idea the UPS stores weren't UPS and am now wondering if I should have done Fed Ex or is it just as bad?

Standards are just gone now, I should have just mailed it ... what was I thinking

With the storm that went through yesterday/last night, it wouldn't have mattered. No one is going to guarantee weather won't delay things.

 

[kanerf]

We guarantee overnight delivery, except when we don't. You should definitely get some kind of refund as they were not able to deliver on schedule. Overnight goes by air in most cases and I am not aware of any airports shutting down.

 

[sam_gordon]

We guarantee overnight delivery, except when we don't. You should definitely get some kind of refund as they were not able to deliver on schedule. Overnight goes by air in most cases and I am not aware of any airports shutting down.

Airports may not have shutdown but there were definitely cancellations and delays. Whether that affected cargo, I'm not sure. But I'm not surprised a delivery didn't get made.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We guarantee overnight delivery, except when we don't. You should definitely get some kind of refund as they were not able to deliver on schedule. Overnight goes by air in most cases and I am not aware of any airports shutting down.

I was thinking the same thing it should be at least close to it's destination so the person could drive to it. If it was supposed to be there overnight it should at least be in Pa, why is it in Kentucky, this state is not between Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. $68+ is a lot of money for them not making any effort to do weekend delivery.

 

[mjkacmom]

Mailed a box to dd18‘s SC university the end of November, it’s STILL in Charlotte NC. In it is her dorm key (she will have to pay for a replacement to move back into her dorm Sunday because her roommate is coming back Tuesday $75), her airpod charger, a textbook, and her wallet. Stuff she left here over Thanksgiving. Over a month MIA.

ETA FedEx

 

[kanerf]

Airports may not have shutdown but there were definitely cancellations and delays. Whether that affected cargo, I'm not sure. But I'm not surprised a delivery didn't get made.

UPS flies it's own aircraft. They would not be impacted (much) by cancellations and delays in commercial airlines.

 

[sam_gordon]

UPS flies it's own aircraft. They would not be impacted (much) by cancellations and delays in commercial airlines.

But if commercial planes have problems flying because of weather, it's possible (probable?) UPS could also.

 

[sam_gordon]

Or it may not have been a problem with the plane. The package needs to get TO the airport and FROM the airport. With the snow that hit yesterday, I had a trip in town. Would normally have taken ~40 minutes. It took me 2 hours. There were people stuck on the interstate for HOURS to go a couple of miles. Granted, not as bad as last week in Virginia, but it still doesn't surprise me that weather delayed a package.

 

[kanerf]

The vast majority of flight cancelations this month have been due to lack of crew, not weather related.

 

[wenrob]

Fed Ex is just as bad. I learned a long time ago that overnight/next day, 2 Day Air with all of them means nothing. They charge you an arm and a leg but will not guarantee it. The odds are better with First Class or 3 day ground with UPS (which almost always gets there in 2 days.)

Maybe time to get a Smart Lock? One that you can put a code in, unlock/lock remotely and can send a digital key.

 

[sam_gordon]

The vast majority of flight cancelations this month have been due to lack of crew, not weather related.

Doesn't really matter what cancelled "the majority" of flights. What matters (sort of) is what delayed the OP's package. My only point, that you seem to have a problem with, is there was a winter storm that hit the north east yesterday evening and this morning. So it doesn't surprise me that a package would be delayed. And most businesses won't honor guarantees if there's a weather issue.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

UPS flies it's own aircraft. They would not be impacted (much) by cancellations and delays in commercial airlines.

Actually they would. UPS uses airports the same as other airlines. Impacts to an airport OR in the case of some airlines staffing issues within UPS can certainly impact delivery.

We had a derecho on December 15th which shut the airport down for a time, we've had ice on New Year's Day and then a secondary (although minimal on the ice) storm the other day. UPS has quite a lot of operations out of my home airport doing 6 flights per day at the present moment and has recently expanded for their sorting areas to allow 5 more planes to be parked and that expansion will allow for 5,000 packages per hour to be sorted.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

UPS does advise that things beyond their control can affect their service guarantee. It does suck OP but it sorta happens. I'm going to disagree with a refund here. If you or they can prove it was negligence on their part vs out of their control (like weather) then yes I would request something but not as it stands. Doesn't mean I don't sympathize with the paying extra part when it didn't end up working out.

 

[LuvOrlando]

The weather thing I get but I don't think burning customers with non-existent guarantees is smart, it's just not good business. They DO have Saturday delivery so they should absorb the difference and get it there tomorrow as an act of good faith, this was $68, so it's a substantial premium, or reimburse for the difference (overnight -4 day) for not doing better forecasting. This is not smart business for repeat customers, it is a great way to lose a customer though. From a strategy point of view, I ask which is cheaper keeping a customer by absorbing stuff like this, or trying to go out and catch a new customer with marketing dollars used to lure them away from a competitor? Me they had & lost for whatever the difference is in 4 day and overnight, marketing money may or may not work on the new person, it's a fools decision, it's nearly always cheaper to keep a customer for repeat business than to try and lure a new one.

 

[spiders]

The service guarantee never applies when it is due to weather, government imposed restrictions or acts of God.

Also, one should also note that only UPS Next Day Air (all levels) and FedEx Overnight (all levels) have had their guarantees restored. All other service levels remain suspended.

FedEx’s main hub is in Memphis with a significant operation in Indianapolis. UPS’ main hub is in Louisville. Icing to any of those cities will significantly impact operations.

 

[sam_gordon]

The weather thing I get but I don't think burning customers with non-existent guarantees is smart, it's just not good business. They DO have Saturday delivery so they should absorb the difference and get it there tomorrow as an act of good faith, this was $68, so it's a substantial premium, or reimburse for the difference (overnight -4 day) for not doing better forecasting. This is not smart business for repeat customers, it is a great way to lose a customer though. From a strategy point of view, I ask which is cheaper keeping a customer by absorbing stuff like this, or trying to go out and catch a new customer with marketing dollars used to lure them away from a competitor? Me they had & lost for whatever the difference is in 4 day and overnight, marketing money may or may not work on the new person, it's a fools decision, it's nearly always cheaper to keep a customer for repeat business than to try and lure a new one.

Not knowing how the business exactly works, I don't know whether it's reasonable for them to change something from "Next Day" to "Saturday Delivery". It's possible that's realistic, but I couldn't say for sure. I don't think it's unreasonable to ASK (not demand) for a discount because of the delay. The answer will probably be "no", but it can't hurt to ask. Or would you accept credit (not sure if you ship a lot or not)? "I needed to get this to it's destination on Friday, and I chose UPS. I understand weather prevented it from being delivered, and you aren't responsible for the weather, but $70 is a high price to pay for something that takes four days to be delivered. Is there anything you can do on the cost? Or do you suggest looking at other shipping companies in the future?"

They might come back and say other companies can also be affected by weather, which my response would be "True, but there's a chance they'd be willing to work with me on the price. You're telling me UPS won't, so it's better to at least have a chance of a discount than none."

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not to be flippant here but you're not really a customer in the sense that you might think. It's the larger companies that shipping matters the most. You and I in the grand scheme don't really matter as much. I def. don't think I'm important enough to throw weight around and say I'll go elsewhere to ship my items, TBH they probably wouldn't bat an eye at that. But that's just my viewpoint on it.

 

[spiders]

Not to be flippant here but you're not really a customer in the sense that you might think. It's the larger companies that shipping matters the most. You and I in the grand scheme don't really matter as much. I def. don't think I'm important enough to throw weight around and say I'll go elsewhere to ship my items, TBH they probably wouldn't bat an eye at that. But that's just my viewpoint on it.

Well to The UPS Store you are — if you’re willing to go there and actually pay counter rates which is why he is partially getting the run around because the store is the actual shipper for billing. Remember Mailboxes, Etc? That’s what they became. Independent franchises that make a lot of money if you go there and have them actually generate your label.

It’s a moot point now but it’s a lot cheaper to create your own label at UPS.com and a lot cheaper than that to setup a free personal account and apply a discount code. You can then drop it off at The UPS Store without paying them anything. Had this happened them he would be the actual shipper regardless if he dropped it at the store, a Dropbox, etc.

That $70 Next Day Air label would be around $30-40 if you do it on your own.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Not knowing how the business exactly works, I don't know whether it's reasonable for them to change something from "Next Day" to "Saturday Delivery". It's possible that's realistic, but I couldn't say for sure. I don't think it's unreasonable to ASK (not demand) for a discount because of the delay. The answer will probably be "no", but it can't hurt to ask. Or would you accept credit (not sure if you ship a lot or not)? "I needed to get this to it's destination on Friday, and I chose UPS. I understand weather prevented it from being delivered, and you aren't responsible for the weather, but $70 is a high price to pay for something that takes four days to be delivered. Is there anything you can do on the cost? Or do you suggest looking at other shipping companies in the future?"

They might come back and say other companies can also be affected by weather, which my response would be "True, but there's a chance they'd be willing to work with me on the price. You're telling me UPS won't, so it's better to at least have a chance of a discount than none."

They just disavowed any responsibility in the situation, everyone all around just absolved themselves with gibberish. To me, this is unacceptable. Now, what can I do about the protocol being unacceptable is limited. I am powerless since they have my money and are free to pick and, apparently, choose how they honor their own policies at will so I either accept this and continue to do business with them or I do not.

Alternative s are Fed ex & USPS, not sure about Fed-Ex, they are more expensive so do I want to throw more on the roulette table? USPS is spotty but even if they do hiccup the service is a lot less expensive, so a lesser potential loss to me. This is a $68 loss, apparently anytime I try overnight it is a potential loss since guarantees have no teeth so why not just put less cash up? I don't see a benefit to paying more without value added.