# A Mild Pit against United Parcel Service **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 5, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808 "2012-02-05T00:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/41 "2012-02-08T21:57:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Maybe they can, but I have had them claim on numerous occasions that they can not. But you seem to have a business which sends stuff UPS. I probably send an average of one UPS shipment per month. I receive shipments from them 3-4 times per week. Of course, this entire thread is based on each of us extrapolating our own personal experiences to the company at large. The only things we can say for sure are that they _do_ have the capability to contact drivers en route, they _do_ have realtime tracking, and there _are_ a bunch of people who have had negative experiences with them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/42 "2012-02-08T22:01:40Z")
Granted, this (“there _are_ a bunch of people who have had negative experiences with them”) is hardly unexpected, given how many millions of shipments are made by UPS each day. The other thing I think we can say for sure is that, as I said, UPS charges to redirect a shipment to a UPS Store but Fedex will redirect to a Fedex Office store for free. ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/43 "2012-02-08T23:04:11Z")
As a receiver and not a shipper, I guess I haven’t yet gotten involved with the potentially dark side of UPS. It seems extremely localized whether you get good delivery service. In my neighborhood, UPS is awesome and FedEx just wants to leave sticky notes on your door without checking to see that I am home and working ten feet from said door. I believe that UPS routes are bid on by the drivers, and apparently my neighborhood has a density/traffic balance that makes it a desirable route, and has gotten us a conscientious and resourceful driver. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/44 "2012-02-09T04:42:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > UPS is sucktastic. The worst major package delivery service in North America, by far. I will gladly pay double their fee to use FedEx or any other delivery service. I’ll even specify to use USPS for a delivery, even tho it takes days or weeks longer. Fuck UPS. Fuck them up their stupid asses. Did UPS go down to the quarry and throw your packages in there? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/45 "2012-02-09T14:59:42Z")
These are some interesting (and quite shocking) stories to me. Maybe it’s just me but it’s my experience that UPS seems to go out of their way to NOT deliver packages to me. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/46 "2012-02-10T04:55:16Z")
I don’t think you are nuts for switching service providers after being unhappy with this one. But really, I think the person sending you the package could have realized that ‘P.O. Box’ stands for ‘Post Office Box’, something that only the Postal Service deals with. It seems to start with ‘operator error’. And, if this strikes you as too Orwellian, watch out that you don’t lose your marbles when you really start to notice how things go down in our modern world. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/47 "2012-02-10T05:04:06Z")
What I don’t understand is why UPS or another carrier can’t just take the package, put it in a bigger box and mail it to your PO box ( and charge the shipper) ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/48 "2012-02-10T05:44:52Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > What I don’t understand is why UPS or another carrier can’t just take the package, put it in a bigger box and mail it to your PO box ( and charge the shipper) Both UPS and FedEx have shipping methods that start with them and then they hand it off to the USPS. One reason people use these services is to be able to ship to PO boxes and APO/FPO. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/49 "2012-02-10T21:11:54Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Both UPS and FedEx have shipping methods that start with them and then they hand it off to the USPS. One reason people use these services is to be able to ship to PO boxes and APO/FPO. I’m confused. Everyone is talking about being able to send things via USPS to PO boxes, even saying that UPS should have done this to get the package to the recipient. So how why would you pay more to send the service by an organization that absolutely can’t deliver to said addresses? Or have I misunderstood you? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/50 "2012-02-10T21:38:27Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Well, management can be somewhat clannish. Wouldn’t that be Klannish? Or better yet KKKlannish 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/51 "2012-02-10T21:51:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m confused. Everyone is talking about being able to send things via USPS to PO boxes, even saying that UPS should have done this to get the package to the recipient. So how why would you pay more to send the service by an organization that absolutely can’t deliver to said addresses? > > Or have I misunderstood you? There are a variety of reasons these services exist within UPS and FedEx and that businesses use them. One reason is existing interfaces and automation that UPS and FedEx support, electronic interface, scheduled pickups and billing after the fact - USPS is a different animal in this respect. It can be easier/simpler to just route it through the preferred carrier. If I have a conveyor dumping packages directly into a a UPS or FedEx truck, I’m going to have to re-direct packages and pay for manual labor to process the USPS packages and possibly even drive them to the post office - that’s inefficient. If USPS is your preferred carrier for whatever business reasons, then there would be little reason to use UPS or FedEx for PO box or APO/FPO. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808/52 "2012-02-10T21:57:05Z")
The other thing I didn’t mention is that these services can be cheaper than going directly through USPS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mild-pit-against-united-parcel-service/611808.md?page=2)