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

[discreet]

Looking at it from another angle... courier service in general is poor. This is because it's a highly competitive industry and costs are cut wherever possible. This means that your friendly neighbourhood courier (of whatever company) is likely working for minimum wage - which means that no matter how hard they work, they won't be able to afford somewhere to live and to lead an independent life. This shouldn't make a difference to their service of course, but it does. It's hugely depressing.

The other problem is that they are under extreme pressure to deliver an unfeasibly large number of packages in an unfeasibly short space of time. If they lavished as much attention on your parcel as you'd expect, they'd NEVER get home and would be out delivering parcels 24/7. You're thinking about one parcel - he has to think about 240 and how he's going to deliver them and get home in time for some kind of life. So inevitably, corners are cut and even if the guy started out wanting to do a good job, the pressure and reality of the work means that it just isn't possible. I really don't blame the guys at the sharp end. It's the business model.

If you want a valuable and irreplaceable bass guitar (for example) to arrive in good order then don't entrust it to someone else. Either the buyer needs to collect it or the seller needs to deliver it in person. That's the ONLY way you can 100% guarantee a delivery.

/sermon

Edited September 6, 2018 by discreet

[Dood]

A message back from someone at UPS. They still haven't been able to identify the parcel they found earlier yesterday. It also seems that they are now providing the excuse that it takes up to 8 days to investigate anything. Including the previously mentioned derrière and elbow situation. 

Who do I escalate this to? Who is willing to actually do something for me? 

[Newfoundfreedom]

I would just like to point out that it can be done well If the will is there to do so. Here in Bulgaria we have a courier company called Ekont with offices in pretty much every town. 

A seller sends the goods via their local office. The buyer then receives a text message telling them when their item has arrived. You (the buyer) go and pick up your goods from your local office (or delivered direct to your door for a small extra charge) where you are able to open, examine and fully assess the goods before paying the courier directly for them. The seller is then texted to say that you have paid for the goods and they go and pick up their cash from their local office.

It works amazingly well, it's cheap, fast, and extremely reliable. UK couriers could learn a lot. 

Combined with another independent courier I use in the UK. I can get up to 5Kg of goods sent from the UK to Bulgaria for 15 leva. Which is about £6.50. I couldn't send goods down the road in the UK for that, and even if I did they probably wouldn't arrive. Never any problems with things getting "lost" or damaged. In fact I'm currently waiting for an AB-Y pedal which I bought from eBay and should be arriving in the next couple of days. 😁

Edited September 6, 2018 by Newfoundfreedom

[cheddatom]

2 minutes ago, Dood said:

A message back from someone at UPS. They still haven't been able to identify the parcel they found earlier yesterday. It also seems that they are now providing the excuse that it takes up to 8 days to investigate anything. Including the previously mentioned derrière and elbow situation. 

Who do I escalate this to? Who is willing to actually do something for me? 

take it to Twitter like Geek99 did

[Dood]

1 minute ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I would just like to point out that it can be done well If the will is there to do so. Here in Bulgaria we have a courier company called Ekont with offices in pretty much every town. 

A seller sends the goods via their local office. The buyer then receives a text message telling them when their item has arrived. You (the buyer) go and pick up your goods from your local office (or delivered direct to your door for a small extra charge) where you are able to open, examine and fully assess the goods before paying the courier directly for them. The seller is then texted to say that you have paid for the goods and they go and pick up their cash from their local office.

It works amazingly well, it's cheap, fast, and extremely reliable. UK couriers could learn a lot. 

Combined with another independent courier I use in the UK. I can get up to 5Kg of goods sent from the UK to Bulgaria for 15 leva. Which is about £6.50. I couldn't send goods down the road in the UK for that, and even if I did they probably wouldn't arrive. 

And, if the will is there, it is actually possible to put in place failsafes which could ensure parcels won't get lost. A reasonably simple system that would pay for itself by cutting down on administration required to sort out these fairy dust coated packages. If I understand correctly, all 'lost and found' packages get sent to a new location for further admin!! Wha?? -  Given that, in the words of the "customer service" person I've heard from that a lot of packages were delivered to their lost and found warehouse yesterday, you have to wonder why they aren't doing more to fix this situation. *needs a facepalm emoji to fill the page*.

[Dood]

6 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

take it to Twitter like Geek99 did

I'm not a twitterer unfortunately, but that would seem to be one possible action. I've asked the "customer service" operative to give me the details of the person I should be escalating this to. I suspect I might not get a reply!!

[Twincam]

Dpd and amazingly Parcelforce have never let me down. Including a few heavier amps to other countries. 

No package really is 100% safe. No matter how good its packaged. They should have a fragile package service option. I would happily pay extra. Infact with the ever ongoing expansion of online shopping I would of thought such a service would be profitable. 

[bubinga5]

I just don't use couriers to post basses full stop.Unless its in a flight case. A lot of the drivers/sorters(not all) just don't give a monkeys.. This is disgusting. Its not just UK mail either. I deal with couriers daily, and the things I see.. Opens your eyes to what goes on in one of the biggest parcel depots in the UK. 

 

Edited September 6, 2018 by bubinga5

[la bam]

If the courier company werent so greedy they'd see there is enough work for all the companies to deliver parcels, carefully and respectfully, and all make a good living. Instead they're all trying to take over the entire market, under cut each other and deliver in completely unrealistic timescales.

[Dood]

2 minutes ago, bubinga5 said:

I just don't use couriers to post basses full stop.Unless its in a flight case. A lot of the drivers/sorters(not all) just don't give a monkeys.. This is disgusting. Its not just UK mail either. I deal with couriers daily, and the things I see. 

 

I've actually seen this happen with my own eyes. I once watched someone playing football with a small parcel trying to 'score a goal' in to the back of a van. They tried several times whilst a "colleague" stood there laughing. Of course, I reported what I saw. 

[Dood]

1 minute ago, Dood said:

I've actually seen this happen with my own eyes. I once watched someone playing football with a small parcel trying to 'score a goal' in to the back of a van. They tried several times whilst a "colleague" stood there laughing. Of course, I reported what I saw. 

Actually, I wondered where the company went to, so I checked google. They went bankrupt in 2012. Well, that's one less to worry about.

[taunton-hobbit]

All the above is the reason that I drove 300 miles to Matamp (Meltham) to personally pick up my two new amplifiers.

🤨

[Dood]

 

 

[Dood]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3SRG7D21Y 

Edited September 6, 2018 by Dood

[Skol303]

4 hours ago, Beedster said:

There are good and bad people, and good and bad practices, in all courier companies.

^ Absolutely this. A mate of mine who works in logistics once summed it up thus: any courier company is only as reliable as the local depot and delivery teams dealing with your order.

We've been using UPS for over 16 years at work and not had a single bad incident with them (he says touching wood...); and we use them for shipping delicate items around the UK and Europe.

Every courier company has a terrible TrustPilot score and all are subject to public complaints of poor service (rightly so in most cases, of course). But if we took heed of every instance where someone declares "don't ever use this company, they're terrible" then we would literally have no options to choose from.

Some are, however, better than others in my own experience. And those I've always have a consistently good service from are UPS and DPD.

Sorry if all this sounds unsympathetic!  I really do understand the anger and frustration that's caused when deliveries go wrong, especially if it's something personal like a musical instrument.

[discreet]

15 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

...if we took heed of every instance where someone declares "don't ever use this company, they're terrible" then we would literally have no options to choose from. I've always have a consistently good service from are UPS and DPD.

I've had consistently good service from UPS, too. Of course that doesn't mean I'll always have good service from them, or from any other company. The way that delivery services are run is fatally flawed, mainly due to financial and management issues. Pretty much a microcosm of UK plc, unfortunately. And the upcoming 'national mental aberration' in March 2019 is surely going to be no help in this, or indeed anything else.

[Monkey Steve]

1 hour ago, Dood said:

I'm not a twitterer unfortunately, but that would seem to be one possible action. I've asked the "customer service" operative to give me the details of the person I should be escalating this to. I suspect I might not get a reply!!

I was going to suggest using Trustpilot instead - I've given seriously awful reviews against companies where their CS depts are messing me around and they almost always respond at lightening speed to public criticism.  Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the latest thing that companies have decided to care about, effectively the difference between good and bad publicly posted comments, which indicated whether somebody doing a Google search will see that they are great and everybody loves them, or everybody hates them and they are not to be trusted.  If it makes you feel better, the amount of negative comments on this thread will not be doing UPSs NPS figure any favours.

Then I read Skol's comment and he may be right - if all couriers are bad, they may not worry too much about awful Trustpilot feedback.

Still, nothing to lose - log on and give them one star

[Dood]

16 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

^ Absolutely this. A mate of mine who works in logistics once summed it up thus: any courier company is only as reliable as the local depot and delivery teams dealing with your order.

We've been using UPS for over 16 years at work and not had a single bad incident with them (he says touching wood...); and we use them for shipping delicate items around the UK and Europe.

Every courier company has a terrible TrustPilot score and all are subject to public complaints of poor service (rightly so in most cases, of course). But if we took heed of every instance where someone declares "don't ever use this company, they're terrible" then we would literally have no options to choose from.

Some are, however, better than others in my own experience. And those I've always have a consistently good service from are UPS and DPD.

Sorry if all this sounds unsympathetic!  I really do understand the anger and frustration that's caused when deliveries go wrong, especially if it's something personal like a musical instrument.

It does make you wonder though, how courier firms have been able to get away with such poor service for years? People aren't making up their reviews after all. Yup, I really do feel like we "literally have no options to choose from."

Yes, couriers do hundreds of deliveries a day, but I am sure that a Dentist wouldn't last long if he'd managed to mess up 10 people's mouths out of every 100 check ups. A cashier in a bank wouldn't last long if they were handing out the wrong amounts of cash. example, example, example.. yet we are all happy to keep playing courier lottery. Too many people are having bad experiences verses those who are lucky enough to have never had a problem - and man, genuinely I am pleased that you have received a great service!!

I welcome the balanced discussion and there are certainly points to be taken from it. @discreet's post helps to paint a wider picture that sadly will probably never get addressed, much like this situation. For this particular situation, We're all playing the game of "well it might turn up", if it hasn't found its way to CashConvertors yet?

[fleabag]

I guess what happens is that individuals vote with their wallets.   If some courier loses your parcel, damages your parcel or their customers service sucks when trying to get compo, then that individual will move on to a different courier.  It seems poor service is not going to be addressed by legislation, as has been achieved with the likes of Wonga.

It seems to be down to the individual to use a different courier.  But until 1000's and 1000's of disgruntled customers all vote with their wallets, i doubt we'll get better service

[Dood]

1 minute ago, fleabag said:

I guess what happens is that individuals vote with their wallets.   If some courier loses your parcel, damages your parcel or their customers service sucks when trying to get compo, then that individual will move on to a different courier.  It seems poor service is not going to be addressed by legislation, as has been achieved with the likes of Wonga.

It seems to be down to the individual to use a different courier.  But until 1000's and 1000's of disgruntled customers all vote with their wallets, i doubt we'll get better service

Indeed, countless millions play the National Lottery every week in the hope that the odds of winning the jackpot (in which you stand a greater chance of dying in a 'plane crash) turn in ones favour. I'm willing to bet the odds are similar!  😂😂

[Hellzero]

When I'm shipping things, whatever they are, I don't play the lottery nor Russian roulette, I take the extra real insurance because guns don't kill people, people kill people.

[ambient]

39 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I was going to suggest using Trustpilot instead - I've given seriously awful reviews against companies where their CS depts are messing me around and they almost always respond at lightening speed to public criticism.  Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the latest thing that companies have decided to care about, effectively the difference between good and bad publicly posted comments, which indicated whether somebody doing a Google search will see that they are great and everybody loves them, or everybody hates them and they are not to be trusted.  If it makes you feel better, the amount of negative comments on this thread will not be doing UPSs NPS figure any favours.

Then I read Skol's comment and he may be right - if all couriers are bad, they may not worry too much about awful Trustpilot feedback.

Still, nothing to lose - log on and give them one star

I left a bad review of a company that scammed my mom. They complained and Trustpilot removed my review.

[Dood]

As yet another business day draws to an end for those busy tikes over in UPS-land, we can all remain confident that nothing took place to rectify this mess up!

[discreet]

Just now, Dood said:

As yet another business day draws to an end for those busy tikes over in UPS-land, we can all remain confident that nothing took place to rectify this mess up!

Really sorry to hear this, Dan.  But at least we all had a good moan about couriers...

[bubinga5]

Amazon are one of the worst. Because they outsource there couriers. Ive had drivers knock on the door. If not answered within 30 seconds they just leave it on the door step in the rain. I have a very ill father in law that just can't get to the door that quickly. Ive also heard of couriers from Amazon that are under so much pressure to deliver a certain amount of parcels in one day that they don't have a break, and go to the toilet in bottles because they don't have time to go to the toilet. WTAF. !!!

Edited September 6, 2018 by bubinga5