I travel frequently for work and use UPS Stores several times a month. I hate leaving bad reviews, but in this instance it may help others. I am in Philly for work and staying at a place that's 8 minutes away from this store, so it's convenient and I kept trying to use their services. Unfortunately, this store is the worst of all I've encountered, and the reasons aren't obvious.
First -- I needed a document notarized. I arrived at 9:30 am, 30 minutes after they opened, and they had no notary. I called the next closest UPS Store, the one on 3rd and Girard to ask if they had a notary, and yes, she said, their notary was available. I drove the 12-15 minutes to that location.
Second, a week later I came into this store mid-day to have a document notarized. The notary was there but I was stunned to find out the price, a $20 "convenience fee" plus $5.00 per page, so $25 to notarize one page. I asked to make copy, and their copier was down. Sigh. I left and again drove to the UPS Store at 3rd and Girard. Their copier was operational, the notary was in, and the cost for notarizing a page was $15. A few days later I went to the UPS on Chestnut for a notary, and their cost was $10.
Third strike - I went to their website, saw their fax number, and gave it to an IRS representative to fax me a 5-page document I needed for a legal case. I had spent 3 days and 6 hours on hold or being transferred to get to the right IRS department. I was thrilled to finally get this document. The IRS agent confirmed that she received a fax confirmation that said "transmitted," that the fax was successfully sent. I hung up with the IRS, called this UPS Store, and the person said, "We don't receive faxes." Huh? I explained what happened in my call with the IRS and that she confirmed it was transmitted. The UPS Store employee said, "I don't know what to tell you. Our store doesn't receive faxes. He put me on hold and confirmed that with a store supervisor. I asked, "Then why do you have a fax number on your website?" Poor guy said, "I don't know. Sorry." Fortunately I was able to get reconnected to the IRS first thing in the morning the next day and had the document re-faxed to the -- you guessed it -- UPS Store at 3rd and Girard. I called that store, they confirmed the fax was received. I told the UPS Store employee I couldn't get to the store until that evening, and the wonderful women said she would put the documents in an envelope next to the fax machine with my name on it. Sure enough, I got there at 5 pm and the document was in an envelope waiting for me just as she said.
Final strike, today -- snow day (1/26/26). Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Whole Foods are open. I called this store just to see if they're open and I could come in for copies. No answer. I figured they were closed. I called the store at 3rd and Girard and an outgoing message said, "Due to inclement weather, our store is closed today, January 26. We expect to re-open on Tuesday, January 27 at our regular time. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to serving you soon." That's proactive customer service.
Moral of the story: Go to the store at 3rd and Girard. If you're not close to that store, go to any other UPS Store unless you're only dropping off Amazon returns. The employees are kind, and they're super fast with returns -- I've dropped off several Amazon returns. But as far as I can tell, returns are the only service I've received that the Fairmount store does well. .