UPS rant

[4RNB]

Your attorney sucks for not joining the modern docusign world.

 

[EdFred]

Your attorney sucks for not joining the modern docusign world.

We just had to do actual physical paperwork with notary in regards to a property deed addendum. No way around government.

 

[GaryM]

A life re-evaluation may be in order when one needs to humble brag about the number of doors in their house.

I just counted mine. 20 doors! Do I win?

Yep, 20 doors total in the 5 homes I’ve owned in my lifetime.

 

[flyingron]

all locks keyed different...

With the exception of two sliding doors, they're all electronic locks. They are at this point keyed differently. I've got a bunch of spare cores sitting on my desk that I'm repinning to get them all on the same key, but frankly, I rarely carry actual keys.

 

[Zeldman]

You guys have USPS delivery to your house.??

Man, what luxury...

Yesterday a UPS driver pulled up to the intersection, looked to his left, then made the right turn. Unfortunately I was entering the intersection as he turned. I coulda been nice and just panic stop, but instead I passed him and laid on the horn as I passed his open door.

He saw me that time and found the shoulder. It doesn't do any good to complain, everyone drives like that here.

 

[Gary Ward]

You guys have USPS delivery to your house.??

Man, what luxury...

No we have to walk a 100' to the street and cross it to get to our mailbox. It can be dangerous.
If they are bringing something that won't fit in our mailbox then they pull in the driveway put it on the back porch.

When I was kid our mailbox was on the front of the house and the mail came through a chute right into the house. The mail man walked door to door, still do in the older neighborhoods. Crazy huh?

 

[Zeldman]

When I was kid our mailbox was on the front of the house and the mail came through a chute right into the house. The mail man walked door to door, still do in the older neighborhoods. Crazy huh?

That is the way it was when I was a kid. Our mailman smoked cigars so the mail always stunk of cheep cigars.

 

[Half Fast]

That is the way it was when I was a kid. Our mailman smoked cigars so the mail always stunk of cheep cigars.

That's your own fault. You should have given him a box of expensive cigars at Christmas.

 

[Zeldman]

That's your own fault. You should have given him a box of expensive cigars at Christmas.

I was just a kid, it would take me all month to earn a dollar for a box of good cigars...

 

[Pinecone]

Here anyway, UPS is way better than FedEx for delivery, but if I'm shipping I go to FedEx. UPS drivers are union employees, FedEx are at least partly contractors. On the shipping side, here I go to an actual FedEx owned facility to ship, where the UPS stores just rent a UPS logo and they're often not great. BUT....both are way, way better than DHL. DHL can figure out how to make a package from NJ to NY take a week, repeatably.

FedEx Express drivers work for FedEx. FedEx Ground drivers do not.

This goes back to where there was only FedEx. The express company. They bought RPS for the ground side. And for a while, you had to have an account for each side of FedEx.

But with UPS, it is cheaper to print the label at home to ship versus the UPS Store. Even if you drop it off at a UPS Store.

 

[flyingron]

On the shipping side, here I go to an actual FedEx owned facility to ship, where the UPS stores just rent a UPS logo and they're often not great.

You can go to either UPS or FedEx facilities to ship. I used to regularly run to the one at Dulles Airport as I could ship overnight stuff there, sometimes as late as 11PM. The UPS Facility was just off field (actually closer to my house) and I'd end up there regularly as well.

The "UPS Store" and "FedEx Office" brands were acquisitions of a couple of Mailboxes Etc and Kinko's, respectively. The UPS Stores are indeed franchises. Kinkos used a partnership model but you can think of all of their locations as corporate stores. There are tons of independent PMB/Shipping stores as well as other retail outlets.

 

[Shawn]

The "UPS Store" and "FedEx Office" brands were acquisitions of a couple of Mailboxes Etc and Kinko's, respectively. The UPS Stores are indeed franchises. Kinkos used a partnership model but you can think of all of their locations as corporate stores. There are tons of independent PMB/Shipping stores as well as other retail outlets.

They are a bit different as you mentioned...UPS stores was just an acquisition and rebrand of Mailboxes Etc franchise and still owned and operated by the franchisee. If you drop off a package there UPS does not even considered it received until the actual UPS truck driver picks it up and scans it it. Had an overnight refund claim denied because USP store never gave it to the driver so UPS said tough cookies cuz it wasn't their fault since they did not have it even though it was handed off to the UPS Store.

Kinkos however was purchased and is operated by FedEx and considered an actual FeEd location.

Both retail options are a complete rip off for those that take things in to be packed or don't know how to buy and print a label online...is is even cheaper if you use Pirate Ship or set up a free ShipStation Account through Paypal where you can get the the corporate discounted rates.

I just avoid the stores all together and go right to the Customer Service counter at the hubs.

OP should be able to get a FULL refund with an online form.

 

[Albany Tom]

Close to here the FedEx dropoff is actually a FedEx distribution site that also takes pickups. I know they all don't do that, and I don't know of any UPS facilities that do that around here.

One difference in how they landed might partly be that UPS always used to be a union shop, maybe still is, where Fedex never was. This is all from a good friend who spend about 40 years working for UPS as a long distance driver, or as he called the company "parcel". So a consumer drop off point might not be a fit for teamsters....but just guessing there.

 

[flyingron]

There were both FedEx and UPS at (or immediately adjacent to) IAD when I lived there. Now about 20 miles (in opposite directions) I know where the UPS and FEDEX hubs are and yes they do both have a small customer service counter (I'm about 30 miles north of CLT).

 

[Bob Noel]

This morning I saw a FEDEX package delivered to my Church (but it wasn't our package). FEDEX claims it was delivered to the actual address, even had a "proof of delivery" that showed the front steps of the house that was supposed to receive the package. interesting delivery failure.

 

[GaryM]

I finally got around to challenging the charge, figuring the best they might do for me was refund the difference between the overnight service I paid for, and the two-day service they delivered...the latter forced us to push back our home closing by a day, and ****ed off a lot of people.

Anyway, the UPS website (it was UPS's local depot in NJ that sat on the envelope for 25 hours after it made it from ID to NJ in 16 hours) forced me to create an account and go most of the way through their online claims process before a pop-up announced that I would have to file this claim on the UPS Store website. So I repeated the steps there, and got an alert that this claim had to be filed in person at the UPS Store where the shipment originated. I had to drive past it on my way to another errand, so I stopped in, and the counter guy, eventually assisted by his manager, tapped away at a keyboard for awhile and announced it was done. I asked if the refund would go back on the card I'd used, and was told no, I'd be sent a check in about two weeks. I couldn't help but wonder if that delay was expected because they'd be using their own overnight service.

Anyway, when I asked for the refund amount, and a confirmation number or receipt they said they could provide neither, but it was 'in the system'. So I'm not optimistic...