Absolutely ridiculous. What exactly am I paying for?
I have completely lost confidence in UPS and, unfortunately, this experience has made me question whether I should ever pay for UPS Next Day Air again.
The last time I used UPS Next Day Air, the driver apparently saw that my delivery address was an apartment building and simply skipped my stop, claiming that a security code was required to enter the building.
The problem is that our building entrance has been broken for a long time and does NOT require a security code to enter. The driver could have simply walked into the building and delivered the package.
My package was already in my neighborhood, but the driver apparently decided that walking into the building to deliver one package wasn't worth the effort.
I called UPS customer service to complain, and I was told that even with UPS Next Day Air, UPS could not guarantee that the package would actually be delivered the next morning.
At that point, I honestly had to ask myself:
Then what exactly am I paying the extra $100+ for?
So this time, I decided to avoid the delivery problem altogether. I paid for UPS Next Day Air again, but instead of having it delivered to my apartment, I sent it to this UPS Store so I could personally pick it up and make sure I got my package that day.
And then came the next surprise.
When I arrived to pick up my package, this UPS Store charged me another $15 for “Hold for Pick-up.”
Seriously?
I had already paid over $100 for Next Day Air. Because I no longer trusted UPS to actually deliver my package properly, I chose to pick it up myself.
My package had only been sitting at this store for approximately 2–3 hours before I came to pick it up.
So what exactly did I receive for that $15?
Did someone sit next to my package and keep it warm like a mother hen? 😂
The package was simply sitting there for a couple of hours until I came to pick it up myself.
I understand paying for an actual additional service. But charging $15 simply because I came to retrieve my own package after already paying for expensive Next Day Air shipping is extremely unreasonable.
I paid for fast delivery. The delivery service failed. I picked up my own package. And somehow I still had to pay another $15.
What exactly was my $100+ Next Day Air fee supposed to cover?
And this is where I think UPS Corporate really needs to step in.
Please investigate this UPS Store and seriously reconsider how this location is being managed. If the management and business practices cannot be improved, I honestly think UPS should consider terminating this location's UPS Store authorization.
Another major problem is the lack of consistency and transparency in UPS Store pricing. Many UPS Store locations apparently have the ability to set their own prices for certain services, which means customers can be charged completely different amounts depending on which store they use.
That is extremely frustrating and unfair to customers.
When a customer sees the UPS name and UPS branding, they reasonably expect some level of consistency and transparency. Customers shouldn't have to investigate every individual UPS Store beforehand just to find out what surprise fees they might be charged.
If different UPS Stores can charge different prices, then UPS Corporate should at least establish much clearer and more transparent pricing standards so customers know exactly what they are paying for before they hand over their money.
In my case, it feels like this:
I paid for Next Day Air → UPS failed to deliver as expected → I had to solve the problem myself → I picked up my own package → and then I was charged another $15.
That is not the kind of experience that makes customers want to use UPS again.
$100+ for Next Day Air + $15 to pick up my own package. What exactly am I paying for?