UPS

6am: First delivery attempt.
6:15am: Calling customer service:
«can you deliver in the afternoon?
No.
Can it be held at customer service center?
No.
Can it be left with the super?
No.»
Me: «how the heck I supposed to get it???»
7am: package available for pick up at UPS customer service center.
5pm: standing in line @ service center — 10 miles drive.
Clerk: «Your package is not available, trucks are not back till 7:30pm».
Wait, what???
~sticks phone with words «package available for pickup» to clerk’s nose~
Clerk: «Well, it IS available for pickup… when it gets here…»
…
…
You guys should do standup comedy instead of delivery services.

I had a great experience at this location. I had to drop off an Amazon return that had pre-​paid postage and this is nearest UPS drop-​off to me. It was pouring out and a UPS worker saw me pull in and directed me where to go, once I showed him it was pre-​paid he took the package from me, so I didn’t have to get out of the car. That was very nice! There are clear markers where to go once you pull into the large facility and they have late hours during the week, which makes it covenient for people who work.

«the receiver was not available at the time of the first delivery attempt.» the receiver was waiting for the whole day at her house for a package!
do their delivery guys know who a door bell works? was just wondering.
«a second attempt will be made.“no thank you. teach your drivers to knock on the door first!
had to go to the other end of the island to get the package because i was not going to be at home on the days ups wanted to «attempt» their two other deliveries.
use usps of fedex (!!!)

Their isn’t an option less then 1 because the i would choose it. Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! Customer Service reps. Super duper phone thugs on the phone. Driver rings to deliver once and vanishes. I called just to simply find location of driver just to meet with him and receive MY package which I PAID THEM to deliver. Stupid lady screams and says call 1 800 number and hangs up. I called plenty of times back and for some reason kept getting another rep. LOL her ass knew what was coming boy. Made my complaint to their corporate office. Might not go anywhere but didn’t hurt to add one more into the complaint jar. UPS = U Piece of S@#% corp.

If there was a minus star I would choose that. Horrible service. I can’t say enough bad things. I don’t know how they stay in business. They lie, they don’t return calls, they simply don’t care. Used to live in NJ and UPS was great there. The «service» center on SI couldn’t be worse.

The last reviewer said it all. I have a stamp I include with my eBay and Amazon deliveries (via the Post Office) NO UPS RETURNS!!! Their latest? I ordered a phone and changed my mind on. «No problem,» said T-​Mobile. «The phone requires a signature. If you don’t sign, it’ll be returned to us and we’ll give you a refund.»
Of course, though a signature was «required,» the UPS guy just left the package. I had to search him out (lucky I found his truck), and wait for him to return. Then I give him back the package to return it. An extra 2 hours out of my life.
«No problem,» he said when I handed him the package to return.
No problem for who (m)???

«If it’s brown, flush it down.»
In the struggle to find a decent package delivery company I have discovered that UPS is the worst, the USPS is actually quite good — especially if you use priority — and FedEx is the best.
UPS is union and very large with depots all over the U.S. You would expect them to be professional especially given their advertising budget and grandiose assertions (in the advertisements). Unfortunately they come in last, in my experience.
1) There is no way to request a delivery time. UPS drivers in my region seem to revel in repeatedly attempting to deliver during the work day. This is great for people working second shift. For the rest of us it is absurd.
2) The driver who «delivers» to my neighborhood — quoted as he rarely delivers anything other than post-​it «InfoNotices» — does not complete the «To: «or «From: «lines on the InfoNotice. I complained about this on Thursday 9÷8÷11 and the same driver did the same thing again — on Tuesday ⁹⁄₁₃. He’s not a quick study (incidentally UPS denies that the integer written in ink on the lower left corner of the infonotice is an identifier, I think perhaps it is).
3) UPS has a corporate policy of requiring drivers to determine if a neighborhood is «safe» — if not the driver can decide to demand a signature even if the shipper does not require one. If you live in an integrated neighborhood and have a skittish driver, your packages won’t get left — even if you have a porch and places to leave packages out of sight of passersby. No amount of complaining can alter the behavior of the driver. While it is understandable that a driver doesn’t want to get blamed if a package is stolen there is no way to request, before the first attempt, that the package simply be left.
4) When I sign a slip and ask that the package be left out of sight it is always left on my door mat. Marvelous.
5) It is impossible to request that the depot hold a package for pick up until AFTER the first attempt to deliver has failed. This is imbecilic.
6) Finally, UPS has no complaint department. This is pretty effective in cutting down complaints, however, the workaround is to contact the Better Business Bureau. It does get their attention — I’ve used this intervention with good effect.
Alternatives:
The USPS does a much better job of stashing a priority package out of sight (without having to be prompted) and will hold mail, if that service is requested. They are, however, the slowest of the three carriers when it comes to updating web tracking and often the website doesn’t show that package is out for delivery until after you have found it on your porch. Their edge — Saturday deliveries!
Fedex is not union. That is the only gripe I have with them. They are very fast, very reliable, and very flexible — at least in my region. They get the idea of customer service. If you notice that a package has arrived at the depot but is not scheduled for delivery until the following day you can give them a call. You can actually call the local office — unlike UPS. And they respond to an early pick up request (from the depot) with, «Sure!» And why not, it saves them gas and time. If you know you won’t be home you can pull a package off the truck BEFORE the first delivery attempt and retrieve it at your convenience.
If you opt for a routine delivery but miss the driver and a signature is required by the shipper the driver leaves a legible, complete delivery notice. If no signature is required, they ring your door bell and leave the package out of sight from the street but in plain sight for the resident/​recipient.
My conclusion: Fedex is preferred, USPS is a good alternate and if it’s brown — flush it down. After this most recent experience — I still don’t have my package — I won’t use UPS and won’t buy from photography houses that offer no other options.
PS — KEH camera (
) is the BEST photographers’ marketplace for used equipment. The embodiment of professionalism, KEH uses Fedex by default despite the fact that they are located in Atlanta, the home of UPS’ corporate HQ. Maybe they know something we don’t?