UPS is the worst carrier

All the carriers have similar pressure for volume over quality and quality that can vary greatly depending on the individual driver/sorter etc.

But nothing beats the communication skills of FedEx when I missed a delivery and called to schedule a pickup next day. Called next day to confirm item was available for pickup. Drive about 20 miles to location to pick up. Arrive and I am told item is on the truck for delivery. Arrive home and have another tag, missed delivery.
 
My current UPS guy is awesome. The last one not so much. My pet peeve now is carriers like Amazon that leave packages in the middle of the porch instead of putting it 2 feet to the left behind a plant where they would be out of view.
 
la noise said:
I befriend them all. I give them smoked brisket and cookies and know their names.

A little kindness and understanding can go a long ways. And yes, I have had shit arrive damaged.
Most instances it is a fall from a conveyor and NOT from an "abusive" driver or handler along the way.

Besides, what is a nick or dent on an ATA Case?? Isn't that what they are there for---to absorb the "abuse" so
what is inside of it doesn't have to?? ;)
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I don't agree. I have had road cases for decades that didn't get abused like that and shipped cross country without a shipping box. This case was in a shipping box.

I don't know any 80 lb road cases that ever went on a conveyor.

Either it fell off a pallet at a considerable height onto the edge of something substantive or someone brought the forks of a forklift down on it for fun. Those are the only two ways I have ever seen metal in a shipping carton get distorted like that in a very localized way.

If it wasn't braced or tied down in the truck or the box dropped flat, the damage wouldn't have been so localized to one small area on a case.

Kindness to customers when they trust you to do something is the only way to retain them. Honesty and responsibility when something unforeseen happens also goes a long way. In the southern NY and northern NJ area, there are a lot of drivers. One cannot reasonably cook brisket for all of them and know all their names. I'm courteous to anyone that is doing a job for me, but I also expect them to actually do the job to reasonable level of ability.
 
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dr bonkers said:
I don't agree. I have had road cases for decades that didn't get abused like that and shipped cross country without a shipping box. This case was in a shipping box.

I don't know any 80 lb road cases that ever went on a conveyor.

Either it fell off a pallet at a considerable height onto the edge of something substantive or someone brought the forks of a forklift down on it for fun. Those are the only two ways I have ever seen metal in a shipping carton get distorted like that in a very localized way.

If it wasn't braced or tied down in the truck or the box dropped flat, the damage wouldn't have been so localized to one small area on a case.

Kindness to customers when they trust you to do something is the only way to retain them. Honesty and responsibility when something unforeseen happens also goes a long way. In the southern NY and northern NJ area, there are a lot of drivers. One cannot reasonably cook brisket for all of them and know all their names. I'm courteous to anyone that is doing a job for me, but I also expect them to do actually do the job to reasonable level of ability.
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Brisket? I'd be happy with porkroll, egg, & cheese on a hard roll....
 
dr bonkers said:
I don't agree. I have had road cases for decades that didn't get abused like that and shipped cross country without a shipping box. This case was in a shipping box.
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I don't agree either.

First off, it's a new item, so it should simply be in new condition when I receive it. I wouldn't want any of my guitar cases not only arriving scratched up, but I also strive to keep them from getting messed up. A guitar case's purpose in life is to protect the guitar inside, but I'd wager that the vast majority here cringe every time a new case gets a scratch.

Second, as cases do end up over time getting wear and tear, you (or whomever helps out with moving your gear) should be the one responsible for the dings/dents/scratches they will receive over their lifetime, not the initial shipper.

Third, every scar any item receives takes its value down, which comes into play during resale. Again, if I'm the one putting the wear and tear on something, that's fine that said wear-and-tear reduces its value to me, because all along I'm getting use from it, and/or it's generating me income (like a work truck, e.g.) But when someone else just took a chunk off its value, it's a form of reaching into my wallet and taking some of my money.

But hey, that'll buff right right out!

I also don't agree that UPS is the worst. The US Post Office has em all beat! (Although I've had that same, I'm-on-the-way-to-the-local-center-to-pick-up-the-package-I-missed, just-as-the-tag-is-being-stuck-to-my-front-door, debacle happen to me with Fed Ex as well!)

But all is not lost, because last week it was announced that UPS and Fed Ex are merging...








They're calling it, FED UP. (Surprised no one posted (haha, another one!) that old joke yet.)
 
My "that's what cases for" comment was "mostly" in jest. :)

And I can guarantee that no one working for USPS (as an example) right now signed
up for the sheer volume of what they are dealing with. The rural carrier here (who is an
"independent contract") has to make repeat runs back to the Post Office simply
because she cannot fit in her vehicle in one trip all of the "Bezos's gettin' richer!"
packages in her vehicle. If you are any kind of delivery driver right now you are
quite literally drowning in your obligation to fulfill on a daily basis the "demands"
of the job.
 
dr bonkers said:
How abusive do they have to be in order to do this to an ATA road case?
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Looks to me like someone said.... that aint no road-case, let's make it look like one.

I'm awaiting the arrival of a guitar from Germany, being delivered here to New Zealand by UPS. It is a nervous wait! Luckily the last delivery from the same place using UPS went well.
Muad'zin said:
I always say, you pay minimum wage, you get minimum performance and dedication.
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Yeah, you pay peanuts...you get monkeys.

My local Post Office delivery guy is getting inundated these days (since Covid) and I frequently see him huffing and puffing just throwing parcels around. He gets paid no more than he did a year ago and his workload has gone up by about 40%...he no longer cares.
 
Most of my packages arrive in great shape, and a lot faster than decades ago. But is is disappointing on the rare occasion that something does arrive damaged. Overall, they do well in my area.
 
The UPS guy just left my 3000 € worth Mayones in front of the building and left. I wait for 10 months for a hand made instrument just to be delivered on the street. And that is just one of the stories with the notorious UPS.
 
don_joe said:
The UPS guy just left my 3000 € worth Mayones in front of the building and left. I wait for 10 months for a hand made instrument just to be delivered on the street. And that is just one of the stories with the notorious UPS.
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Wow. And I suppose the box has labelling on the outside, so any passers-by would know what it is? That's kinda scary.

Even though I live in a rural area, UPS will still wait for one of us to come to the door before he drives off (I guess things like actually getting the signature, as opposed to the driver himself just checking a box saying the package was delivered, will simply never go back to the way that process was handled, pre-Covid! Which is unacceptable.)

My FC-12 and EV-1 was delivered Thursday, the day it was supposed to arrive. Fractal requires a signature (for good reason), so the driver waited for me to get out of the shower and come to the door, before he would leave. I heard him knock on the door (fortunately my side door is where they now leave packages, since it's under cover, so out of the rain (nice!)), since my bathroom is close to that door, and he yelled, "I need a signature!" I guess he heard me yell back, "I'm in the shower but I'll be out in 3 minutes!"

Man, I'm glad I don't have those problems, cuz I do a LOT of online shopping.

My advice: If the vendor doesn't already have a statement on their web site saying they require a signature, put a note in the "Comments" box telling them to not leave the package without a signature, and document that you did that (screen shot, e.g.) Unfortunately you have to take extra measures to protect yourself in this world of thieves.
 
don_joe said:
The UPS guy just left my 3000 € worth Mayones in front of the building and left. I wait for 10 months for a hand made instrument just to be delivered on the street. And that is just one of the stories with the notorious UPS.
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Was it shipped with signature required? If not then that's on the shipper, not UPS...
 
How's this. On several occasions I've seen the UPS driver stop on my street. He then must realize he has to walk about 120 feet to my apartment and then he drives away. I then check the tracking and it says that the customer was not home. Boils my blood because it always something I've been dying to get. I would call to complain and you can hear the "whatever" in their voice.
 
Tonedeaf said:
How's this. On several occasions I've seen the UPS driver stop on my street. He then must realize he has to walk about 120 feet to my apartment and then he drives away. I then check the tracking and it says that the customer was not home. Boils my blood because it always something I've been dying to get. I would call to complain and you can hear the "whatever" in their voice.
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Yeah, they don't realize that we're watching for them!!
 
unix-guy said:
Was it shipped with signature required? If not then that's on the shipper, not UPS...
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Sure it was, a signiture was explicitly required. That was confirmed in a mail prior to the last UPS mail with a message "Dear customer, the goods were delivered and deposited inside the building, in the lobby." So they write contradictory emails themselves. A signature is required but it's alright to leave it in the hall, where in reality the goods are left outside on the street.

UPS guys here in Switzerland have another interesting quirk, they are afraid of the doorbell. During home office times and our sadly uniterrupted presence at home, they manage serially not to reach their customers and then they leave funny notes. All the neigbourghs tell the same story.

UPS business model sucks. Those poor couriers are miserably paid and have contracts that is to be honest a modern form of slavery. They are not employed by UPS. They just rent the vehicle and the uniform and are paid based on performance, with no benefits at all. They are forced to be creative to earn some extras. I can understand them on some humane basis but as a customer I say shame you UPS and all those who's bussines model leans on exploitation of people in need.
 
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