UPS - Unbelievably Poor Service. Avoid this courier...

[PatrickJ]

16 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

I do think about running an elite courier agency just for the UK, for Basschat sales only.

I’d quit my day job, switch the Volvo to a transit connect...

it’d be dearer but your gear would arrive in one piece.

Man and Van - bass guitar department.

I reckon you wouldn't be short of work shipping all the basschat marketplace transactions..  growing market too, what with guitarchat coming on line!

[Reggaebass]

24 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

I do think about running an elite courier agency just for the UK, for Basschat sales only.

I’d quit my day job, switch the Volvo to a transit connect...

it’d be dearer but your gear would arrive in one piece.

Man and Van - bass guitar department.

You may have something there Andy  might be worth looking into 

[AndyTravis]

11 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

You may have something there Andy  might be worth looking into 

Hahah. Yeah that’s what concerns me...

if the education sector goes belly up - i’ll Go for it.

[Dood]

Right then! Week three. Lets see what those cheeky chaps at UPS have for us. Who wants to lay bets?

[MrCrane]

1 hour ago, Dood said:

Right then! Week three. Lets see what those cheeky chaps at UPS have for us. Who wants to lay bets?

Oh dear, the cat ate it.

 

[taunton-hobbit]

1 hour ago, Dood said:

Right then! Week three. Lets see what those cheeky chaps at UPS have for us. Who wants to lay bets?

The bloke that's dealing with your problem is off sick & we can't touch his paperwork............

[Grangur]

I've not read much of this thread, but I've sent LOADS of basses by UPS through Interparcel. They're great. Never had a problem.

I've Never had to claim, never any damage. But I always pack anything with the idea that I'm expecting:

1. it will get dropped from a modest height.
2. It will get slid across the floor of a truck for the next guy to stack. 
3. In a stack it could be at the bottom of the pile with other stuff on top

Yet, I also use tape round it that says "Fragile".

Billy Connolly says, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes".

I guess too many get damaged goods and blame couriers, when it's really down to bad packaging.

When you think about the vast volume of goods handled by any courier, they do an amazing job for the price; getting stuff from one end of the country to the other end for £15 + insurance. If any of you want to take that on, good luck to you coming from your place of abode to Hertfordshire, to take a bass to Wales/Scotland/Manchester for £20.. good luck to you.

[discreet]

3 hours ago, Dood said:

Right then! Week three. Lets see what those cheeky chaps at UPS have for us. Who wants to lay bets?

My buttocks exploded and I had to go to hospital. Big boys came and ruined everything. My Mum died and I have a bad cold. Your package was sent to the moon by mistake. A leprechaun put a spell on us. There was a bomb scare. We had a change of management. A ghost ate my homework. God made me do it. I don't know what you're talking about. I've got diarrhoea. What's your name again? I'm sorry I don't work here. A bus ran over my knob. I'm sorry, I don't speak English. Look! What's that over there!? *Points, then runs away*

Good luck!

Edited September 10, 2018 by discreet

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Grangur said:

...I guess too many get damaged goods and blame couriers, when it's really down to bad packaging...

No dispute here, but what about 'mislaid' goods..? Should the packaging be fluorescent day-glo orange..? Fitted with a GPS tracking device..? Pre-loaded with indelible die that'll stain the hands and face at any unauthorised opening of the packet..? Handcuffed to a wide-shouldered stern-faced Hire-A-Thug 'protector'..? Hmm...

[Grangur]

39 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

No dispute here, but what about 'mislaid' goods..? Should the packaging be fluorescent day-glo orange..? Fitted with a GPS tracking device..? Pre-loaded with indelible die that'll stain the hands and face at any unauthorised opening of the packet..? Handcuffed to a wide-shouldered stern-faced Hire-A-Thug 'protector'..? Hmm...

Yes, @Dad3353. Undeniably so, in fact. 

OK, so that's what happened here in the case of @Dood's parcel.  What can have happened is if you only use 1 label, and that label gets damaged or falls off, is you have no other identifying information, then you're up a gumtree. 

So, the thing to do is have 2 labels and 1 further one inside the packaging. It's a pain you can't stick tape over the bar-code to make the label stronger against being rubbed or scratched. I honestly don't think UPS are any worse than any other courier. In all organisations All ( or most) workers want to do a good job., but stinky poo happens sometimes.

[AndyTravis]

2 hours ago, Grangur said:

Yet, I also use tape round it that says "Fragile".

Ive been told separately by a TNT driver, a DPD driver and a Lynx (now swallowed by UPS) that “fragile” tape/signage may as well be a drawn target on the parcel.

”they kick f*ck out stuff with that tape on down the depot mate...”

 

[fleabag]

45 minutes ago, Grangur said:

@Dad3353

@Dood

It's a pain you can't stick tape over the bar-code to make the label stronger against being rubbed or scratched

You can stick selotape over the label and bar code Gran.  I do it for every printed label on every package i send, and also labels where i've written the label.

Scanners can all read barcodes through seloptape

[fleabag]

17 hours ago, T-Bay said:

I used to work for Pony Express in the summers when I was a student, that was essentially what they did. You paid to have one person pick up your item and take it straight to someone else. I was on a motorbike so did smaller items (although you would be amazed what people would claim would fit on a bike to try and keep the cost down). I carried some very expensive things and on one occasion about two grand in cash and a passport to Heathrow for a guy who had left them at home.

I've been there too, as a London motorcycle courier, and that is it to a T.

I've taken some important stuff in my time as a courier too.   I've delivered to Steve Strange of Visage, and Keith Emerson of ELP, and a very unique irreplaceable 2" master tape of a film.

Phew - never dropped a thing or failed a delivery

* puffs out chest *

[Hellzero]

@Grangur : I always put tape over the bar-code and just like you said at least one more printed label on the parcel and one inside. Plus, most of the time I put tape all over the parcel, in case they leave it in a puddle of water or outside when heavy raining.

Having worked as a logistics clerk for the Belgian railway parcels facility, I can tell you that people working at the depot absolutely don't give a sh*t about your parcels, especially when labelled "Fragile". They always throw them, play football with them and if they land in the wrong rack, your parcel will stay there. It's a real pity working with such persons.

And they have no excuses for this behaviour, they are just stupid.

Sorry to be harsh, but that's the plain truth.

So knowing that, I take the greatest care when making parcels, even taking pictures during the process and ALWAYS take the extra insurance, because I know it will absolutely not be handled with care.

[discreet]

8 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

...they have no excuses for this behaviour, they are just stupid.

There was a time when you could say if they weren't stupid they wouldn't be in that job, but now people have to take what they can get.

And the truly stupid get promoted way beyond their abilities. What's that, Prime Minister? No, of course not.

[Chezz55]

To date I've had 4 basses delivered by UPS and in each case there has been no problem and no damage.  I've also sent 3 basses by UPS and in each case the buyer has confirmed on-time delivery and no damage to the instruments.

Having said that, I will be thinking long and hard before the next courier transaction.

Chris

BTW - and slightly away from the main topic, I just found this little article about a potential 'Delivery Theft' by another courier company - except this one was captured on a door-bell camera ! ! !   Follow the link below and try to ignore the adverts

Doorbell camera captures delivery theft

 

 

[Dood]

All of your guesses are of course absolutely brilliant, but I'm sorry, I can't tell you which one is correct as UPS couldn't be bothered to be in touch today to tell me what they have been doing.

[fleabag]

Ouch

I've just found out that UPS are collecting my bass tomorrow , sometime

* PANIC *   !!!

[Dood]

48 minutes ago, fleabag said:

Ouch

I've just found out that UPS are collecting my bass tomorrow , sometime

* PANIC *   !!!

Oh.my.chuffin.christ

Make sure it’s a successful scan.. and have the address in huge marker pen letters written on the box. Hell, you might need some big arrows and flashing lights on it too.

[bazzbass]

Down Under in Oz, the best thing couriers have done is make Australia Post lift their game. Twice I've had parcels delivered from North Queensland ,up near the top of Oz, to me in South Australia, within 24 hours !

[BassTractor]

10 hours ago, Dood said:

have the address in huge marker pen letters written on the box. Hell, you might need some big arrows and flashing lights on it too.

If possible, also write the scan code from the sticker with that same marker. 

Once, with a particularly expensive item, instead of big arrows and flashing lights, I equipped the box with a GPS tracker, which the buyer then sent back again. Gave some ease of mind to both him and me.

That said, my experiences with both UPS and DHL have been perfect through a few hundred transactions.

[ambient]

On 09/09/2018 at 21:00, PJ-Bassist said:

I reckon you wouldn't be short of work shipping all the basschat marketplace transactions..  growing market too, what with guitarchat coming on line!

I wouldn’t be in too much of a rush to start that business, you’d go bust pretty quickly if you relied on just items sold via Basschat. With the exception of a strap everything I’ve sold over the last 12 months has been through Facebook or Bumtree.

Anyway back on topic. Like has been said earlier, you’ll hear horror stories for most couriers. Parcelforce are invariably called Parcelfarce, yet I’ve never had a problem with them. I mentioned in another thread recently how they went out of their way to locate a missing parcel and return it to me, they did the same for my brother recently too. They just delivered my new monitors; I had a text about 7.30am to inform me that they’d be delivered between 8.20 and 9.20, they arrived at 9.30. 

I’ve always had good service from DPD too, and was surprised when I read bad things about them.

I would always, always, always avoid the likes of Yodel and My Hermes, it’s just not worth the risk of using them to save a few pounds. My Hermes use drivers delivering from their own cars.

With Royal Mail I tend to use special delivery, they’ll accept items weighing up to 20kg and 61x46x46cm. Which would certainly include small and medium size amps etc. Tracked all the way, signed for and insured I think up to £500.

[Dood]

Ok! Today’s guessing game! Considering it’s now Tuesday, not “first thing Monday morning.”

How many times this week do you think UPS have been in contact over this, that they refer to as an “urgent enquiry “?

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Dood

[Geek99]

On 06/09/2018 at 11:18, la bam said:

Good luck with that.

No courier will wait, and it's just another disguised tactic from the courier company to say you agreed it was in good condition when you signed for it, so if it's not you can't claim.

I always Write Not CHECKED 

[BaggyMan]

Ermmmm sorry but UPS has been the only courier I have trusted over the years.  Hermes...omg never. That said I always pack basses industrially protected so it could be even the dumbest courier  can't break the contents.   And always insure.