I ship and receive lots of packages for my small business. For years we were handled perfectly. Everyone very polite and helpful. Primary route driver and I were on a first name basis, gave him a Christmas gift, etc. Alternate drivers were perfect as well. Then, last year things were changed and new drivers (and local management?) came in. It has been terrible. Lost packages. Late packages. Receiving other people's packages. Etc.

Last week, had an event that was the final straw.

Client overnighted a package to me. It didn't show up. A day later, I got the tracking number from the client and determined it was stuck at the distribution center an hour away. The claim made by the driver on the tracking notes was that the address was not complete and the package couldn't be delivered. Address was fine. Don't know why the driver had a problem. And, even if it was incomplete, my office phone # was on the package. A 2 minute phone call could have cleared up any confusion. DHL and FedEx drivers are happy to call if they have a question, not sure why UPS doesn't...

In any case, I spent 3 hours tracking it down and picking it up. By the time I got it, they had put a new label on top of the old one and said "well, there was a problem on the original label, but we've corrected it with a new label." Well, my client had taken a picture of the original label to record the tracking number. This picture showed their incomplete address claim to be a lie. I politely asked for a refund and was told that they can't process refunds but I can call CS and the will help me.

So, I called UPS CS politely asking for a refund as they didn't deliver on time. I wasn't upset and knew my time had been lost, but it would have been nice for them to own up to the error and provide a refund for a legitimate service quality issue.

After an hour on the phone they refused to refund my $75. Because the driver had marked the address as incorrect they claimed they couldn't give a refund because it wasn't their fault. I offered to email a picture of the original label to show that this wasn't true, but they weren't interested.

At that point, I gave up. My time is more valuable than the $75. But, I can't afford the poor quality of service. I'm being forced to go with FedEx. I know UPS doesn't care ... I'm just one small business account. But they will be earning $5000 / year less business from me.

Sorry to rant. I'm sad to see UPS fail...