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UPS Sucks...

e²Studios

e²Studios

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 12, 2005
2,104
5
I ordered a Canon Digital Rebel XT and a microdrive from Amazon for my cousins birthday that is next weekend about 10 days ago. UPS shows a "on time" delievery for today, but the last scan i see is from the 11th when it was arrived in Illinois. Illinois is a bit far from California...

I called UPS today and they said it was showing as on time and being delievered today, and to call Amazon if it didnt.

Called Amazon and they told me that sometimes if a scan is missed it wouldnt show up until they actually deliever... with a box that is essentially holding $915 in items I am considerably worried with the outcome of this.

I just love how UPS has no explaination on why it isnt tracking but yet can sound sure enough to say it is on time...

I just hope it isnt lost and i will end up waiting 3 weeks for amazon to even send out a replacement..

Ed

Edit: has anyone else seen this with UPS package tracking? I seem to remember it kinda (my memory isnt too good right now) when i ordered 2 LCD panels from Amazon a year or so ago.. just adds to why they suck in my opinon, i hate using UPS and cringe when i order online for fear they will use UPS...
 
I know how you feel, but you can never give up hope. I think they can feel confident b/c they (FedEx and UPS) are almost always pretty good about giving worst case devlier by dates. I can't remember how many times I've had something still be in Timbuktu according to the system and in my hand according to my 3 senses (I usually don't taste or smell my electronics). Usually they will git it right, but there is always that moment (and it is always for the stuff that you need the most).

Keep the faith - it will arrive.
 
Ed H said:
Edit: has anyone else seen this with UPS package tracking?
Click to expand...
their tracking system isn't the best. yeah, when a scan is missed, it messes up the whole thing. on the whole, i reluctantly think that UPS is the best of the big 3 (fedex, dhl being the other 2).

dhl, in fact, kindly delivered my ibook to a dell repair center. it took over a week to get it delivered to apple, when it should have been overnight.
 
I've never had that experience of a missed scan, but I've had the experience of a missing package for something I bought on eBay that was shipped via UPS. Unfortunately, UPS said they could only help me if I had the tracking number (which I didn't because the seller didn't send it to me even after repeated requests), and that there was no way to look it up any other way. I still can't believe that's the only way they can look something up. Luckily, the buyer refunded my money in the end.

In addition, the driver that delivers in our area has been notorious for not actually coming to our apartment. Either he came by, we didn't hear him knock, AND the sticky he's supposed to leave got misplaced or he lied about stopping by. I think that happened once or twice. Another time I think they just cut off our apartment number from the address. Of the three big carriers UPS has been my least favorite. DHL, which is what I use for work, has been very good, and FedEx has been decent.
 
I have never had such a problem with UPS. I always use them to ship packages (sometimes USPS). FedEx is not as good, they always are late on delivery and I have never used DHL.

By hte way you are a really nice guy to buy all that for your cousin.
 
floriflee said:
In addition, the driver that delivers in our area has been notorious for not actually coming to our apartment. Either he came by, we didn't hear him knock, AND the sticky he's supposed to leave got misplaced or he lied about stopping by.
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happily, the UPS driver i have now is good. and it helps to make friends with them, if you can.

the previous driver, twice, ran up to my door, put on a yellow sticky, and drove off. i know, because i was home and came to the front door when i heard him. i complained to UPS (who suggested i didn't hear the doorbell), not sure it did any good.
 
zimv20 said:
happily, the UPS driver i have now is good. and it helps to make friends with them, if you can.

the previous driver, twice, ran up to my door, put on a yellow sticky, and drove off. i know, because i was home and came to the front door when i heard him. i complained to UPS (who suggested i didn't hear the doorbell), not sure it did any good.
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Yeah, I had a guy who did that with a UPS Red Label once. He never knocked - I just heard him drive off. He's gone now. :D
 
From a former shipping goddess..

UPS likes to "blanket scan" their packages. Packages don't get shipped loose like they are in the trucks. They're shrinkwrapped together with hundreds of other packages into a "container". When packages are ready to go out for delivery, UPS will scan a barcode on the container and claim all the packages are out for delivery without scanning them individually. This is why you can never really trust the out for delivery scan. Maybe your package was entered into the container after the label was made, or UPS was forced to hand-scan every package (it happens) and just missed yours.

In any event, I'd wait and see if it does get delivered. They have up until midnight to deliver it, though they usually arrive before 7pm if they're going to be delivered that day.
 
right now i'm pissed at FedEx.

UPS on the whole is much, much better than FedEx or DHL. fed ex tracking is a nightmare.

i was supposed to get my new iMac today. i was home by 1pm. i expected to see a sticky saying i was missed. no such thing. i go track it. delivery already attempted. wtf? okay, shouldn't there be a notice? looks like it was put on the truck at 4:30am to be sent out for delivery :eek:

i was gone from 8:30 - 1 so i i don't mind that i missed him. but give me a break, why is it being put on the truck that early? don't they deliver during the afternoon?

UPS Tracking tends to be more detailed than FedEx as well. and subsequently gets messed up easier. Fed Ex only has two scans on my iMac, there are no scans indicating that it came into a hub in the chicagoland area. and its being delivered out of the Carol Stream hub, why not the closer Franklin Park? we're talking about double the distance. i don't get them.

i know i'm ranting, but its annoying.
 
PlaceofDis said:
i was supposed to get my new iMac today. i was home by 1pm. i expected to see a sticky saying i was missed. no such thing. i go track it. delivery already attempted. wtf? okay, shouldn't there be a notice? looks like it was put on the truck at 4:30am to be sent out for delivery :eek:

i was gone from 8:30 - 1 so i i don't mind that i missed him. but give me a break, why is it being put on the truck that early? don't they deliver during the afternoon?
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Don't worry about the 4:30am. They normally go out for delivery early in the morning (or even the night before at 11:30pm or so), but aren't delivered until late. That just means it is on a truck.

I don't know if you are basing your delivery attempted off of the site saying that or saying out for delivery - if the former, hopefully you get it tomorrow; if the latter, you may just get it later today.
 
PlaceofDis said:
right now i'm pissed at FedEx.

UPS on the whole is much, much better than FedEx or DHL. fed ex tracking is a nightmare.

i was supposed to get my new iMac today. i was home by 1pm. i expected to see a sticky saying i was missed. no such thing. i go track it. delivery already attempted. wtf? okay, shouldn't there be a notice? looks like it was put on the truck at 4:30am to be sent out for delivery :eek:

i was gone from 8:30 - 1 so i i don't mind that i missed him. but give me a break, why is it being put on the truck that early? don't they deliver during the afternoon?

UPS Tracking tends to be more detailed than FedEx as well. and subsequently gets messed up easier. Fed Ex only has two scans on my iMac, there are no scans indicating that it came into a hub in the chicagoland area. and its being delivered out of the Carol Stream hub, why not the closer Franklin Park? we're talking about double the distance. i don't get them.

i know i'm ranting, but its annoying.
Click to expand...

They all suck in one way or another. Which iMac are you getting?

I'm sure you all remember my 6:00 in the morning deliveries from FedEx.

Um, duh.
 
nbs2 said:
Don't worry about the 4:30am. They normally go out for delivery early in the morning (or even the night before at 11:30pm or so), but aren't delivered until late. That just means it is on a truck.

I don't know if you are basing your delivery attempted off of the site saying that or saying out for delivery - if the former, hopefully you get it tomorrow; if the latter, you may just get it later today.
Click to expand...

its already been returned to the hub today. which i don't quite understand.

i'll have to see what i can do tomorrow with work to be here when they try to deliver in the morning. frustrating.
 
Pick your poison

At my old address my UPS guy always showed up around 5:30pm so I hardly ever missed a package. One time I was walking home, he noticed me and stopped his truck to give a package I'd just missed. Best ever.

New address one zip code over? Miss UPS all the time. Part of it is the company, but part of it, as others have alluded to, is the driver.
 
I called and talked to a manager who then called the UPS facility that would be handeling my delivery. She said they would be calling me back within the hour but miraculously the status changed to "out for delievery".. maybe a coincidence, but still interesting to me... The IL one was the only thing i saw till about 10 minutes after the phone call..

CA, US 02/16/2006 6:48 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY

IL, US 02/11/2006 5:57 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN


Oh well at least i know its not lost now

Ed
 
nbs2 said:
Don't worry about the 4:30am. They normally go out for delivery early in the morning (or even the night before at 11:30pm or so), but aren't delivered until late. That just means it is on a truck.
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i used to work near the main UPS facility in chicago. their trucks went out en masse around 9 am. i suspect you're right that the 4:30 a.m. "out for delivery" updates are when they're placed on the truck, and not when it's actually left the facility.
 
ChrisK018 said:
One time I was walking home, he noticed me and stopped his truck to give a package I'd just missed.
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a benefit of knowing the driver. i got one the same way.
 
PlaceofDis said:
its already been returned to the hub today. which i don't quite understand.

i'll have to see what i can do tomorrow with work to be here when they try to deliver in the morning. frustrating.
Click to expand...
How far is the hub from you? When UPS was doing their "we knocked, you just didn't hear us" bit, I could usually harass the rep into having it available for me to pick up from the hub. Of course, the hub was only a few miles away, but at least I had a chance to get my package. Our hub was open for those pickups until 9pm, so that may be worth it for you...
 
It's very strange. The company I work for now uses DHL to deliver most of their packages. Whenever I've had to send something to headquarters or vice versa, it's always arrived on time. I'm practically on a first name basis with the driver in my area because of how many times he's had to come--even had to carry an extremely heavy computer up three flights of stairs with a smile. I don't envy the day when he has to bring the next one (a Unix machine, yea! yea! yea!). I hope he doesn't quit because of all the exercise I make him do because he's been really good so far.
 
nbs2 said:
How far is the hub from you? When UPS was doing their "we knocked, you just didn't hear us" bit, I could usually harass the rep into having it available for me to pick up from the hub. Of course, the hub was only a few miles away, but at least I had a chance to get my package. Our hub was open for those pickups until 9pm, so that may be worth it for you...
Click to expand...

oh i would just go and do that, if the hub wasn't so far away. its much further than it needs to be too. i guess ill just have to see if i can be here tomorrow.
there are closer hubs than this one and its well over an hour away in this weather and chicago traffic.
 
UPS certainly isn't consistant. Where we used to live we knew our delivery person through work and we got pretty friendly. He never let us down. Since I've moved they have an annoying habit of leaving just the ticket. No knocking, no doorbell. My mother (who lives across the street) was complaining of this. One day I happened to be home and I saw a UPS truck pull up. He exited the truck with NO PACKAGE in his hand. He stuck the ticket on the door and took off. A different time the delivery person left my $1090 Powerbook on the porch, didn't knock or otherwise try to deliver it in person. Just last week they left a $300 iPod on my front porch, again, with no attempt to knock or ring the doorbell. The kicker is, I received an email about my $15 iPod screen protector. They said 3 attempts were made (I'm home all day long) and I am to go to UPS and show an id to receive what I paid shipping for. I called them and when I asked why they are so insistant that someone sign for a $15 product but completely careless with a $1090 computer and $300 iPod??? I heard a click and then the dial tone. Exemplary customer service, if I do say so myself. Yeah, UPS sucks.
 
i think it's possible to request UPS leave your package at one of their consumer stores that are popping up all over the place. if they'll do it, it's easier than having to run down to a distribution center.

if they don't do it, they should.
 
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