UPS and UPS Stores are on my Shit list

On a regular, sporadic basis I send letters that I have to prove got there. When I do, I use UPS or Fedex. I got used to using UPS since Big Tony was a vendor. Before him and since his passing, I’ve not had a problem, other than the fact that the UPS Stores that I’ve gone to have no bedside manner.

That changed starting a little less than two weeks ago. I sent a ground letter from the UPS Store at Toco Hills here in Atlanta (yes, I’m naming names) to a lawyer’s office about ten miles away. The address it was being sent to was 6000 Something, 325 Something, Atlanta, Georgia 303something.

Tuesday, I got an Email from the lawyer asking when he could expect to see what I’d sent him sometime before. I called and told him I’d sent it via UPS and asked him to check around the office. He called me back and said he didn’t have it. I went on line and found out that UPS had the package, had had the package since the day I sent it. UPS tracked its incompetence quite nicely. I seemed that it couldn’t deliver because it didn’t have a suite number, which it had, see the paragraph above. It nicely told via the website that it sent a POSTCARD to the recipient the second day, not calling me, the UPS Store, or Emailing either of us. Each day it updated the fact that it was waiting for a good address. (The recipient never got a postcard.)

So, I called the UPS Store and talked to a nice lady named Susie (not her name, she was the only polite person in this story). Fast forward, she told me on Wednesday that UPS, she thought, would be returning the letter yesterday and she would have it resent and call me

No call. I called the store and left a message. No return call. I went over this afternoon.

The two women there had little interest in my problem as I explained it. The one with an attitude cut me off in my explanation saying that Susie was not there, that I should come back on Monday and “file a claim.” She also made quite clear that the UPS Store was not responsible for the problem since UPS had picked up the letter.

I told her that we were going to solve the problem while I was there. “Susie’s not here.” “Give me the owner’s name and number.” The non-attitude woman said she’d call him. I explained the problem, he asked me to hand the phone back to his employee. She said uh huh a couple of times and hung up.

She called Susie who did not answer the phone. That was pretty much all the two ladies had for me.

Steaming, I left the UPS Store at Toco Hills. Keep that name in your head - don't go there. I got back to the office and had a voicemail from the owner. The letter was at the store, he was very sorry, though he clearly said I couldn’t have a refund because, the letter wasn’t resent to the recipient at the time it was sent back to his store (because his employee didn’t do that). I called him and he had no explanation as to why Susie hadn’t called me, why the letter had not been resent, why his employee was rude, why neither knew the letter was in the store. He offered to find out the answer to these questions. I told him to forget it, I’d go back over and pick up the letter and get it to the recipient on my own.

I drove back over and walked to the counter, “I believe you have a package for me?” The rude woman walked as slowly as she could to the package, picked it up and walked as slowly as she could to me. I took the package and walked towards the door.

She said, as sarcastically as I’ve heard in a long time “you’re welcooooome.”

I called the owner when I got to the car and described his employee’s conduct. He was apologetic saying his employee’s conduct was not acceptable. No it wasn’t. Is that the employee’s fault, or his for hiring someone with an attitude? I’m thinking more him than her, she’s just got an attitude, he’s running a lame business.

Boycott UPS and UPS Stores! There, I’ve got it out of my system.