A friend of mine, asked my to help her with a problem with UPS. She sent a 5.7 pound package via 2-day air on Thursday (May 25), paid extra for Saturday (May 27) delivery (about $50 total) and UPS failed to deliver the package until the following Tuesday (May 30) - a full five days after drop off - as it was a holiday weekend.
She tried to get resolution at the UPS store, and with the people at the 800 number of UPS, and was told it was none of their business by the manager at the store, and the number told her there was nothing they could do, to go to the store. She even asked for the difference between ground and the 2nd day air and saturday delivery back. She was refused outright. Since her accent gets in the way of her communication, particularly when she is upset, she enlisted my help.
The tracking report said on Saturday that it had arrived in Poughkeepsie (the destination town) at 9:31am, even though it had encountered "adverse weather conditions." The cut-off time, I was told by the UPS customer service supervisor, is 10am, to make it onto the truck for home delivery. Still, 45 minutes is enough time, right?
After speaking with, respectively, a customer service rep, a customer service supervisor, a technical support person, and another customer service rep, we were told that the weather delayed the package, so there was nothing UPS could do, as the guarantee did not apply to "Acts of God." And not only that, but the tracking information you get online doesn't ACTUALLY reflect the packages real progress.
The first CSR told me that the package didn't even do through the Windsor with the fog - it was just sent straight from the distribution center in Kentucky to Poughkeepsie, and that there was adverse weather conditions somewhere that delayed the plane. I asked to speak to a supervisor.
The supervisor said that the package actually, according to her system, arrived at 10:15 (because of the adverse weather conditions), didn't make the cut off time, and therefore couldn't be delivered. I asked that a hardcopy of this information on the package's ACTUAL progress be sent to my friend, so she could see this for herself, in black and white. The supervisor said she didn't know how to print out the information. She said that would be a matter for technical support. I asked to be transferred to technical support, and the supervisor said, well, I don't know if they can help, since you aren't the shipper and all... I explained that if I could speak with someone in technical support, get a specific name and number of a person that my friend could talk to, then that would work, too. It's all about finding the contact information.
The tech support lady was totally upfront and honest. She looked up the informaiton, after I explained the different stories of the package's progress so far, and she said, "What program was the supervisor talking about?", I didn't know, then she said something along the lines of, "I see what you see, and I see the package arrived in Poughkeepsie at 9:31am." and sounded very confused as to why the supervisor would have told me differently. She asked to put me on hold for a while, then came back on and said she wasn't able to print out this information (mainly because I suspect it wasn't there) and she would have to transfer me back to customer service, but that she would try to stay on the line.
I as transferred, but the tech didn't seem to be on the line.instead, I got a very loud CSR who stonealled and kept saying, I don't know what you want me to say, but the package was delayed due to adverse weather conditions and there are no refunds" over and over again. She said the shipper was the UPS store, and she couldn't give me a refund anyway, couldn't process anything, and if the UPS store tried to get the refund, they wouldn't get it because UPS wasn't responsible for again, acts of god.
So I say, that if UPS is right, and the package's actual progress is different that what is reported online, then isn't it fraud to post the "tracking information as "proof"?
Or if UPS is wrong, and what is reflected online is correct, then I was lied to, by every person in customer service, and they refuse to live up to their "guarantee."
The questions I would like answered:
Why is there no one above a UPS store owner in the chain of command that is responsible for customer service? (I had another UPS store owner tell me to get the number for the area manager, but I have been told repeatedly no such person exists.)
If the package was in the town of delivery in time for the cut-off (on a beautiful sunny day), and no one delivered it, can UPS fairly claim "Act of God" because allegedy somewhere along the way from Los Angeles to New York, a vehicle carrying this package ran into some weather that delayed, but did not actually stop the shipment from arriving in time for the cut-off?
And what of all the other packages that should have been/were delivered that day in Poughkeepsie?
And what of the $50? (Not a lot of money to a big company, but it means a lot to my friend, who needed to get something to her sister, and spent a day's pay to do it)
Was it beacuse she is, although a legal US citizen, Taiwanese and has an accent, and is therefore easier to rip off?
Is it because we are women?
Why would technical support say that the online information for track a package is correct, then customer service say it isn't, and chalk it up to some alternative information in another "system" what technical support knows nothing about, and they cannot/willnot provide hardcopy proof of?
Are UPS CSRs instructed to lie outright to deny refunds at any cost?
How many refunds are actually given over the course of a day or week? What's the percentage? (I cannot help but remember the scene from the Rainmaker, with actual number of claims paid versus claims filed)
Our committment:
We will not ship anything via UPS again. I may use the services of the store that is closest to me, because the owner is honest and fair (and I can ship through USPS), but UPS has lost my business, and that of my friend. I will tell all of my friends about the horrible experience we had, and my family (which is quite large and extended). This bad news will travel fast in my circles. I hope anyone else that finds the actions of UPS as contemptible and reprehensible as I do will deny UPS their business, too, on priciple.
All to keep $50 from a hard-working woman of Asian decent.
I wonder how long before I am blacklisted by UPS?
Virginia
Anaheim, California
U.S.A.
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