I shouldn't be as mad as I am at this situation, and it's taken up more time than it should. The background is that a package I'd been expecting ended up being returned to Amazon. After some research, I discovered that this was due to a mistake I'd made, but I was unhappy with my interactions with UPS and tweeted about it. UPS tweeted back, asking me to send them an e-mail explaining that situation. Here's that exchange:
Date: February 13, 2012
From: me
To: twitter@ups.com
Re: Bad customer service experience
Hi there,
I'm redisbest on Twitter. I'm an Amazon Prime member, which means that I usually get my orders from Amazon within two business days. As you probably know, these orders usually come via UPS. I also travel a lot for work, so I signed up for My UPS to avoid having packages sitting in front of the house for days on end.
I ordered a book in January from Amazon that was not immediately available for shipping. When Amazon did ship the book, I received notice from My UPS that it was scheduled to arrive on a date when I wouldn't be home (I was away from January 28-February 6), so I used My UPS to have the package held at the UPS facility, not realizing that I only had 5 business days to pick it up or that the facility wasn't open on the weekend. According to the record on the website, this was on February 2.
I got the flu shortly after arriving back home, so on February 9, I went back on My UPS and paid the $5 to have the package redelivered to my house today, February 13. UPS delivered a different package today, but only the one, so I logged onto My UPS to see what the status of the other package was (Infotrack # 1ZA50W290245050057).
That's when I saw that my direction from the morning of February 9 to have the package redelivered was "overridden" later that same day, and the package was being returned to Amazon. When I clicked on the new tracking number, I saw that the book was already back in Pennsylvania.
Amazon's policy is to issue a refund if a package is returned; they claim not to have the ability to resend the package to the customer. I called the 800 number for UPS and talked to a very nice woman who couldn't tell from the record exactly what happened but who did reassure me that I hadn't been charged $5. She took some information from me and said that someone from the Mesquite facility would be calling me within the hour.
The woman who called from the Mesquite facility told me the following things: UPS will only hold a package for 5 business days, and then after that, UPS's policy is to send the package back to the shipper. She then told me that despite what it said on the record on My UPS, I asked for the package to be held on February 1, not February 2, so that when I logged back onto My UPS on February 9 to have my package redelivered, I was already past the 5 business day mark. In addition, she told me that nobody "overrode" my instruction; instead, the clerk just entered my package into the system to be returned to the shipper, in accordance with UPS policy, which had the effect of IGNORING my instruction, but not OVERRIDING it, and in the end, her basic message was that it was my fault that the package went back to Amazon.
I don't dispute that it was my fault that the package went back to Amazon. I am unhappy, though, that the record in My UPS is so unreliable with respect to the dates (February 1 v. February 2). I am unhappy that My UPS indicated that my package was still eligible to be redirected. I am unhappy that My UPS was happy to take my credit card number to redeliver my package. I am unhappy that My UPS confirmed redelivery and changed the record on the tracking information to indicate that the package would be redelivered on February 13. I am unhappy that while UPS will hold a package at a facility for slightly longer than 5 business days, it will not accept a change in delivery option during the last few hours the package is there and before the package has been sent out to be returned to the shipper, but it hasn't taken measures to indicate so in the only tool that its customers have available.
At this point, I don't know what remedy UPS could offer me. The package has been delivered to Amazon, so I'll get a refund from them. I didn't pay for shipping because I'm an Amazon Prime member, so there's no shipping cost to be reimbursed. I was told by the first woman I spoke with that the $5 charge probably didn't even hit my credit card. I don't intend to reorder the product from Amazon because of this experience; I'll got to a bricks and mortar bookstore in my area to find the book I need.
It would be nice, though, if you fixed the problem with the quality of information on My UPS and the information that gets entered into Infotrack on your website. If any of the information that I had to begin with had been correct, I wouldn't have had to spend any time calling your 800 number (which is a frustrating experience all on its own), and I wouldn't have had to speak with the slightly condescending, not at all helpful woman at the Mesquite, TX UPS facility. If the information on My UPS had been correct, I would have called Amazon, found out that the package was lost to me, and been happy with my refund from them. Instead, I've decided that the present that I need to send to my friend in Singapore will not be going via UPS but by another shipping company.
Anyway, thanks for letting me tell you what happened, and I hope you get the problem fixed on the website. I appreciate your willingness to help, even if there's nothing to be done.
Best regards,
Catherine
All I needed here was, "So sorry to hear about your bad experience, Ms. Choe. We'll let the IT team know about the defects in information shared with customers so it doesn't happen to someone else." Here's what I got instead:
Date: February 14, 2012
From: twitter@ups.com
To: me
Subject: Re: Bad customer service experience
Dear Catherine,
Thank you for sending in your e-mail. The Will Call requests available through UPS My Choice are for the initial hold request. As your request was an extension of the original hold, you would need to contact us by phone or by reaching out by e-mail to work out the arrangements with the local delivery office. I would be more than happy to refund the $5 charge billed. Will you please supply the exact amount billed, reference number listed on your credit card statement, and date listed so that I can process the refund? It’s the least that I could do since the information was not clearly explained.
Best regards,
[REDACTED]
UPS Corporate Social Media Team
twitter@ups.com
So not only no token apology, but a reiteration of how I screwed up. Plus -- the offer to refund the $5 charge, which is not at issue. This inflamed me, and not in the way you want to be inflamed on Valentine's Day:
Date: February 14, 2012
From: me
To: twitter@ups.com
Subject: Re: Bad customer service experience
Dear [REDACTED],
Most of what you wrote below is not made clear on your website. The status of my second request to redeliver to the house as an extension of the original hold would have been helpful but was not explained. The fact that this extension would not be permitted also would have been helpful but was not explained.
If there was a charge on my credit card, I will reply to you with the appropriate information, but my understanding is that there wasn't one (which should also be your understanding after reading my e-mail).
Truthfully, at this point, it would be worth $5 to me never to have to deal with UPS again. I took time out of my day to find out that I made a mistake in dealing with UPS's website, then compounded that mistake by informing UPS that I was unhappy with its service. You took the time out of your day to find out more about my experience. I then spent another chunk of time writing out what happened to me in detail. What I've received back from you is a small variation of what I heard from UPS's other customer service representatives: it's not UPS's fault.
It's true that the package's return to Amazon was not UPS's fault; it was mine. It is completely maddening to keep hearing it from UPS, though, especially when what I wanted from UPS was not a refund but some sort of acknowledgment that the systems you have designed to help customers manage their deliveries do not convey accurate information. Instead of making me feel more warmth toward UPS, your reply regrettably makes me dislike your company even more.
Best regards,
Catherine
I get that it's petty to write about this on a blog that nobody reads, and I lost even more minutes in dealing with this, but I feel better now. Man, UPS sucks.
