Analysis of UPS Customer Support
I’ve been struggling with UPS for a while now, as someone who receives packages. Just a person who has an address, but does a lot of traveling.
My specific scenario is that someone sends me a package that requires a signature. UPS attempts to deliver the package when I’m not home, so they try again, and again. I assume at some point they give up and I lose the package?
Fortunately that hasn’t happened yet, due to extreme persistence on my part.
Of course I get notifications of these failed delivery attempts, and in theory I can help resolve the situation via the UPS app or web site or phone system. Let’s go through why these systems fail.
UPS App
The UPS app allows me to track the package via its tracking number. This gets me to a page where I can click a button to change delivery. That button requires an InfoNotice number, which is on a slip of paper plastered to my door hundreds (or thousands) of miles away.
Dead end.
UPS Web Site
The UPS web site allows me to track the package via its tracking number. This gets me to a page where I can click a button to change delivery. That button requires an InfoNotice number, which is on a slip of paper plastered to my door hundreds (or thousands) of miles away.
Dead end.
UPS Call Center
The UPS call center is answered by an automated system. This automated system:
- Asks if I’m a sender or receiver: I answer receiver
- Asks if the tracking number starts with “1Z”: I answer yes
- Asks me for the last 6 digits of the tracking number: I provide them
- It tells me we need to find the package a different way
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- It says it can’t understand
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- It says it can’t understand
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- It says it can’t understand
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- It says it can’t understand
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- It says it can’t understand
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- It says it can’t understand
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- I ask to speak to a human representative
- It says it needs a tracking number before it can connect me to a representative
- Asks me for the full tracking number (which is alphanumeric): I say it
- I ask to speak to a human representative
Dead end.
In the past I’ve managed to get good support for this situation from UPS via Twitter. Today, beyond Twitter itself imploding, UPS support has failed me.
In the past they’ve had the local UPS distribution center call me, and we’ve solved the issue over the phone. Keep in mind that this is a small rural area, where folks actually help each other out as part of our culture - unlike (it appears) the big city UPS culture that doesn’t care.
Sadly today the twitter people are telling me to use the automated voice system, which is a dead end as described above.
Dead end.
Delivery Hold
Oh, I just found a part of the web site where they’ll charge me $10 per package extra to hold all packages.
I don’t even know how many packages might be shipped while I’m gone, so this is a really terrible “deal” for me as a customer. Heck, they’ll save money by holding packages.
How? By avoiding long rural drives to an empty house. It is around 45 miles one way from their distribution center to my address. Between the fuel, wear and tear on the truck, and paying a driver to go 90 miles round-trip for nothing - multiple times - I’m sure they can recoup that $10 fee without me having to explicitly pay it.
The fee feels like the bad old days when you’d have to pay $0.10 per text received, even if you didn’t ask for the text. Someone could cost you a lot of money by spamming your phone with dummy texts. UPS seems to be where cell providers were back in the dark ages.
Summary
The UPS systems are not designed to accommodate someone who has been shipped a package while they are not at home. There is literally no way to reach UPS to tell them that the package needs to be delivered on a specific date.