So, I ordered a thing. And, because it is a thing I need for work, I paid extra money for “next-day delivery”. It was shipped yesterday.
Needless to say, it is not here today.
This morning, around 11:30AM, my package showed in the UPS tracking system as “OUT FOR DELIVERY” as of 10:37 AM.
By about 1PM, this had changed; it was now retroactively the case that it had been “OUT FOR DELIVERY” as of 9:38 AM.
Obviously, the package did not arrive. According to the UPS web site, deliveries are made until 7. At around 7:50, I called UPS to enquire. I was assured that, while it was possible that my package had been delayed, it would most certainly arrive tonight. It is showing as on-time, after all, and is “out for delivery”. I was a little tired, but armed with this assurance, I figured I’d wait up.
At around 9:45, I called again. Were they quite sure? Why, yes, they were. Definitely today! Absolutely, the package is on a truck and will reach you before 11:59PM.
Around 11PM, while idly refreshing the page, I noticed a new entry. It read:
02/15/2007 19:26:00 DESTINATION SCAN\[I\] MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USNow, a "destination scan" is normally the scan BEFORE something goes out for delivery. In this case, it seems to mean that the package never quite made it anywhere, so they'll try again tomorrow, and indeed, they show a "rescheduled" delivery date of tomorrow.
Now, here’s the mystery: If this scan occurred at 7:26PM, then why on earth, at 9:45, could they not tell me that, more than two hours ago, the package had returned undelivered for whatever reason, there was no chance that they would deliver it as promised, and I should just expect to see it in the morning? I have no idea.
We’ll see whether the vendor is willing to give me back some of the shipping money, considering that I have not, in fact, received same-day shipping, and I assume UPS makes some kind of promise about that. This is looking surreally similar to the elaborate problems I had filing a claim with them a while back; I think UPS is really going downhill.
Comments [archived]
From: beoba
Date: 2007-02-17 22:04:05 -0600
What was the thing, anyway?
Feel free to be vague if necessary.
From: PlaidMan
Date: 2007-02-19 14:20:27 -0600
I suspect the scanner simply wasn’t synched with the computer system for several hours. I don’t know how UPS works, but it’s not unreasonable that a scanner wouldn’t be synched until the end of its user’s shift. That’s especially the case for pick-ups, unless the trucks have satellite networking. For a supply chain, your data is often only as good as your least reliable link, so they probably don’t care about synching the scanners more than once every several hours.
As for an innovative concept of “history”? Hardly. If UPS were judged by the same standard as presidential historians, you’d expect to wait for 3-4 times the expected shipment time for a conclusion.
From: Peter Seebach
Date: 2007-02-19 20:18:07 -0600
The complaint I have about their “history” isn’t the delay in getting it; it’s that they simply replace data with better-looking data from time to time.
If the package was actually scanned at 10:37, then that should still have been in the system later, even if it was also scanned at 9:38. Having the timestamp on an event change by an hour suggests some sort of problem deeper than just delay in getting the scanned data uploaded.
From: ReikoValdez
Date: 2007-05-24 09:46:33 -0500
i had the exact same problem but they made me wait 5 days for my overnight shipping? and yes destination scan was in that as well twice. they ended up finding out they sent my package to the same airport 3 times even though it was suppose to go to me but they thought it was leaving my state not arriving here and i still dont have my package as of today.
From: IMO
Date: 2008-02-13 13:32:26 -0600
there is no real way to justify a claim file against UPS just because of your un-patientness. I think that you just need to wait you fucking idiot…
From: Darren Winslow
Date: 2008-02-19 11:19:25 -0600
hey asshole!!! People have a right to expect 1 day service if that is what they paid for, so why don’t you go fuck yourself you fucking corporate butt boy, how dare you come on here and flame people for no reason I’d like to slap the shit out of you fucking pansy.
From: kevin
Date: 2008-08-26 13:51:46 -0500
loooooooool