So here's the deal: I made a purchase from a business back east. The business owner, a friend and all-around good egg, packaged my purchase and addressed it, then took it to the local UPS agent. As a gift for me, said friend paid UPS to ship the package by air so that I would have it the next day. That was Sept. 1st.
When the package didn't arrive as scheduled we checked the tracking service and found that the box was in, of all places, Kentucky. From there it was returned to its point of origin, whence it began its journey anew. Again it arrived in Kentucky. The shipper called UPS and went through their mysterious process in order to speak to a live human who told her that the package had been addressed with the wrong zip code; UPS said they would intercept the package and return it to the sender for the correct zip code information. She was told to expect the package back at her business the next day. It never arrived, but it was sent back to its original shipping office which saw no reason to follow through on the instructions. After that, all they would say is that it had been intercepted.
Then the tracking service showed that it was on its way again. It meandered across the country - by ground service - and finally arrived in Denver. This was on Sept.13th, and the new tracking information showed it was scheduled for delivery on the 17th. Now it was my turn to brave the maze in order to speak to a real person. When she finally answered, I asked her why it would take an entire week for the package to travel the final 40 miles to my home, especially since overnight air delivery had been paid for. She put me on hold, where I got to listen to their new "logistics" theme music over and over and over, then connected me with her supervisor. The supervisor told me that the original shipper, Troy, had given the wrong zip code, had requested the intercept and had only paid for ground service. Then she said that the delivery date was incorrect, that it would be at my home on Wednesday instead of Friday. Yippee.
It did arrive on the 15th, more than two weeks after it had been shipped overnight air. The address and zip code were completely correct. I photographed the box and emailed the picture to my friend, who was also very surprised to learn that she had changed her name to Troy. When she contacted UPS to let them know that they had made a number of errors that caused delays and additional expense of time and money, their response was, effectively, "tough shit".
The holidays are coming up, also a number of birthdays. I do a lot of shipping over the last three months of the year. Guess which shipping service won't be getting my business? Sorry, UPS, but I ain't gonna let your "logistics" screw up anything else.
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