UPS Fumbled The Ball

seekermeister · 04 Mar 2011

When I checked the tracking on a shipment that was supposed to have been delivered yesterday, it said that the delivery had been refused (it was never refused by me, because they never knocked on my door). So I called UPS early this morning, and the rep said that the package was already on it's way back to the shipper, but that they would try to reroute it back to me. I was promised a call by 10:00 AM, to advise me on the status of the situation, but I never received that call.

This leads me to assume that they failed on the rerouting, and it will be returned to the point of origin. I sent the shipper an email advising him of what had happened, but have not received a response from him either.

Since the price included free shipping, I certainly do not want to have to pay to have it reshipped, nor do I feel that the shipper should have to pay either. Under the circumstances, will UPS bear the cost of their own mistake?

EDIT: I thought it curious that the tracking info said that there were two attempts to deliver it 3 hours apart, and it was refused both times. I guess that the driver just went around knocking on doors...either that, or he lied, as happened once before, when the driver couldn't figure out how to use the call box to gain entry into the building.

seekermeister · 04 Mar 2011

It gets better...since UPS didn't call me as promised, I called them again and the rep said that she would place an urgent message for them to call me. This time, they called back quickly, but I was told that the reason that the package was returned was that the driver said that it was obvious that the package was damaged, and contrary to the tracking info, no attempt to deliver it was made. That is very strange because tracking claims that 2 attempts were made. Why would that be, if the package was so severely damaged that the driver felt that it should not be delivered?

Now I'm waiting on a response from the vender, who hasn't bothered to do so yet.

pparks1 · 04 Mar 2011

I once ordered a part, it shipped from California to Michigan, got marked as undeliverable by the US Postal Service, sent back to CA where it got marked as undeliverable there, who sent it back to MI, who shipped it back to CA, who finally shipped it again to MI and while it was back on it's way to CA, I managed to get it held at a postal office. It was shipped via Priority Mail with a tracking number, but nobody in the post office could tell me where it was shipped from (what address) nor where it was going (my destination)...as those aren't recorded in the computer...so they claimed that it could not be changed. Rather it might just bounce back and forth a half dozen times before being placed in "lost mail". And the reason it couldn't be delivered to me the first time was that I was in an office building with 5 suites...and the suite # was not listed on the package...but the company name was. Rather than come in our lobby and find out suite, the driver just said, "undeliverable". The thing that really irritated me with the USPS, was the fact that they could not tell me where it was heading, but rather only where it had been. They couldn't stop it, couldn't find it, etc. By time it showed up on the website and I contacted the facility, it had already left.

In fact, my coworkers got ahold of my tracking numbers and fashioned up a cool bill from the US Postal Service for excessive shipping and claiming that I had refused shipping and mailed it to our office as a joke.. They paid attention to the names of the people that I called, they knew where I ordered said part from and they knew about each stop along the way.

seekermeister · 04 Mar 2011

That would be funny, as long as it wasn't one's self involved. Actually, I have an easier time of believing that USPS would do something like that, than UPS, but then again, I have had some problems with all of the carriers that I've used. With UPS is seems to be which driver is on duty the day that a package is to arrive, as to the odds of whether there will be a problem. Some of the UPS drivers are real knuckleheads, others are quite good.

pricetech · 04 Mar 2011

Sadly, the people we depend on for such things are recruited from the human race.

My Wife gets medication via UPS. (we insist on UPS since DHL was always a joke and FedEx is bad to throw packages in the yard) Her regular driver is a gem. He makes sure the package is put in someone's hands and never even thinks about leaving it on the porch. My Wife has a lot trouble getting around, so sometimes it takes a few minutes for her to get to the door, but he waits patiently on her when that happens.

Substitute drivers aren't as conscientious. We've called UPS to brag on him and probably will again because we appreciate him and want the company to know how good he is.

I have no complaints with USPS. I just wish we could do something about the vandals and thieves who throw things at my box and steal anything of value out of it.

seekermeister · 04 Mar 2011

Each person experience varies, due to the difference in the drivers involved. I've only had one problem with a Fedex delivery, generally they are the most dependable for me. I use UPS more often, simply because many of the shippers offer no other choice, except USPS, and that is the one that I consider a joke. I have had too many packages lost due to misdelivery, or whatever the case may be. Even when they do deliver it to me, they have too often left it in the hallway, outside my door, sometimes without knocking. With the neighbors that I have, it is a wonder more packages haven't been stolen than there has been. I think that those problems occurred when my regular mailman was off duty, but that is only a guess, since I'm not sure of his work schedule. Even when a package is delivered properly, I dislike using USPS because their tracking system is a joke. About the only thing that it is good for is learning after the fact whether a delivery attempt has been made, and the package returned to the post office, because the mailman usually forgets to put a delivery notice in my mailbox to notify me. If I always had a choice, I would never use USPS for package delivery. I've even had a couple of items that could go into my mail box that never arrived, but then I can't be sure that was USPS, or simply the shipper lying about having sent the item. At least in those instances, I got a refund.