What is this shit, UPS and Target?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The fuck is all this? Why can’t you just send me some fucking bedding like I asked?

Okay, so my current bedding has overstayed its welcome and I had a gift card for Target, so I decided to peruse the Target interwebs location and look for something. I stumbled upon this little number, whipped out the card, and awaited my delivery. Simple enough, yes?

No, ma’am. I placed this order on Sunday, and came home on Tuesday to find a note stating they’d made their third/final delivery attempt and were returning to sender. Say what? How the shit could their third attempt be on Tuesday, when at the very earliest, Wednesday would be their final attempt? I called UPS about this tomfoolery to find that Target was using some service called UPS Basic which only makes one delivery attempt before returning to sender or their UPS Service Center. Oh, and the service center is a million miles from nowhere, btw. They don’t send it to one of the zillion local UPS locations; they send it to some service center in some dive called Forest Park, IL. After talking with several people at UPS asking my delivery to be re-sent, it became clear no one there was going to do anything, and I had to call Target.

Okay, so you can guess how that went. They passed the buck back to UPS, and ultimately after asking to speak to a manager, I find that the order was sent back to Target altogether (??!!), and at last someone re-ordered the item for me (at no cost to me). So I ask for a delivery time window so I can know if I should have it sent to work or home, so that I don’t miss it again. They tell me 8:00am-7:00pm. :rolleyes: Come on now. What the fuck is that? An eleven hour window? Really? So then I ask what time the first delivery was attempted so I could at least use that as an estimate that would help me decide which location to use. Their attempt was at 5:30pm. Oh good gods. Are they for real? I’m not anywhere at 5:30. I’m on the goddamn Metra coming home.

So then I ask if they can just send it to my local UPS store --not that place in Forest Park, IL-- but one of those ubiquitous UPS shops you see on every other corner. They say yes, and I’m done. Simple enough, yes? Of course not! After many days pass, I get impatient and track my order, and find some silliness about them having the wrong address? What the hell are they talking about? Turns out they attempted to send to my apartment again, at the right address mind you, then sent my package back to the boonies.

What the fuck is this, UPS and Target? Why can’t you just send me my fucking shit? I called UPS, got the runaround again, asked them to just send it to my goddamn job, they said they couldn’t change the address, and that Target had to okay it, Target said UPS had to okay it. I decided I’d just physically go into Target and buy the goddamn bedding in person like a normal person, but it turns out the item is only available online.

Fuck it all, just cancel the bloody order. I’ll go to Macy’s or something.

Fuckers.

2

I understand your frustration (had a baaaaad experience with Sears years ago), but UPS has been right on Target (tee hee hee) for me.

Can you have it sent to your job or have a neighbor sign for it?

3

Is UPS the only shipping option from Target? If so, then you have my condolences. I despise UPS and only ship USPS Priority Mail whenever I get the choice.

4

One would think having it sent to my job wouldn’t be an issue, but here we are.

That’s what they tell me. But that’s what kills me - every other time I’ve used UPS they make three delivery attempts before sending it back. You can also call before the final attempt to make better shipping arrangements. For whatever reason this is now special and no one can do anything but tell me to go fuck myself. Aggh.

5

See, the last time I tried to call UPS, the only special arrangement they would make would be to tell me where their store was so I could catch the driver as he came back from his rounds. Couldn’t request delivery times or even to have them leave it on my doorstep. They did tell me that if I sign up for some premium service they have, they could do that kind of thing for me, but it wasn’t worth it when I could just use USPS for $6 a package or whatever.

6

(is this the place for UPS pitting?)

I work at a manufacturing facility that’s closed on weekends for the most part but still has a receptionist at the front desk on weekends and there is always a handful of people there on Saturdays doing work and they park (usually about 10-15 cars) right around this main entrance.
On Friday I order a spare part for a critical breakdown of a machine and have it sent OVERNIGHT !!SATURDAY!! DELIVERY and let the receptionist know about it since the receiving dock will be closed and the tech that needs it will be also be on the premises.
Get back to work on Monday only to be told it never showed up. Instead it shows up Monday morning with SATURDAY DELIVERY!! tape on the box in big letters. I call UPS to see what happened and am told that they were there to deliver it but we were closed.
I ask where they tried to deliver it and they say the back dock door where no one answered.
So little brain UPS driver pulled into out lot on Saturday with a package that someone obviously wanted to get their hands on Saturday, drove past the main entrance that had at least 10 cars parked at, knocked on the dock door where no one answered, then drove back out of our lot once again passing the main entrance with employees cars parked there?
Awesome effort there pal.

7

What in the world happened to UPS? Thirty years ago they were THE only way to send and receive parcels. In my experience, anyway. Today they seem to have become the opposite.

I missed the transition period. Once, they were great; Now, they bite. Was it a gradual transformation?

Seriously- does anyone know the inside story?

.

8

Yes, this is the kind of experience that turns good people into Mean Old Ladies. My condolences.

9

Another reason, after their unflinching support of horrid politicians including Michelle frickin Bachmann, to jettison Target. I’ve been boycotting them for a year now, and I’m to the point where I no longer miss them and their crappy made in a sweatshop enticing Dollar Spot junk and their invisible customer service in certain departments and shitty shipping from the website.

Just make the break. It’s good for us all.

10

I don’t get it. Why on earth do you need to sign for bedding? Ups leaves stuff on our stoop all the time.

11

Maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe ups doesn’t leave packages on our stoop. Who does Amazon use? There are always Amazon packages left on our porch. I guess I assumed it was ups.

12

Break: made. It’s not like I’m taking some huge stand, though. I hardly even shop there and wanted to make use of my gift card. I still have to buy something to use it up, then I’m done. I’ll probably spend it on towels or something in the store.

Excellent question! I asked them to just leave it in front of my goddamn door then and they said no because they don’t want to be responsible if it’s lost or stolen. Well fuck me, I said, I will take the risk of losing some sheets. They said no. Sigh

I’m just buying a new comforter set somewhere else, and am done with it.

13

That does NOT sound like UPS to me. They will leave anything, regardless of size, value, proximity to street or sidewalk, time of day, in plain sight, in any weather.

Last time I checked (several years ago) they positively would NOT require a signature for delivery to non-business recipients.

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14

Huh. The policy must be different from one area to the next because they just leave deliveries on our front porch. Sorry you had so much trouble! That would piss me off too.

15

Ha. So if you order a $1,000 electronic item, they’ll drop it off in front of your house during a snow storm, but when I ask them to leave some fucking sheets by the door inside of my apt building, I get no respect. Sounds about right.

16

Amazon is shipper agnostic- they use all shippers, including some Courier delivery services you have never heard of - they only care about price, and to a lesser extent if you have Amazon Prime, delivery time. I personally have had stuff from Amazon delivered Fedex, USPS, UPS, and ABF (Freight for items over 75lbs). And they don’t let you choose or boycott anyone - you gets who you gets. Edit to note, also had them deliver via DHL before DHL dropped non-international delivery in the US

17

Two examples that still infuriate me, just from the past few years:

  1. New Lenovo Thinkpad and accessories, in 16 x 16 x 16 box with large “Lenovo” logo. Value about $1000. Box left on my front porch to bake in afternoon sun, in plain sight of sidewalk 15 feet away. Street is narrow but fairly busy, with loads of foot traffic from Middle School half a block away. I wasn’t home when they left it.

  2. (My best friend) New Dobro (metal-body guitar) in box big enough to contain a guitar and padding, prominent company logo on box. Value about $1,000. Friend lives on a narrow but very busy street, with the main entrance of an Elementary School directly across the street. House is set back about 70 feet from street, front porch completely exposed to view. Friend got home in mid-afternoon, found the box leaning upright against the door, maximizing visibility from street.

Bastids!

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18

That sounds about right. I have actually added a second line to my address:
123 Tumbleddown Way
Hidden Behind Hedges
Pittsburgh, PA

19

The decision to leave it or require a signature is up to the Merchant that ships it to you, not to you or UPS, FYI - IE see http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/value_added/daily.html

If you scroll down you see signature required costs an extra $3.25/package. The merchant doesn’t feel it is worth it, so you don’t get it for most things from most companies. UPS charges so much because requiring a signature is much slower for their drivers and means they can deliver fewer packages on a route.

20

Ha! I had UPS toss a cardboard box over my fence to rest on the ground, unprotected next to the pet door during one of those special days we have here where it rains buckets all day long. Did I mention it was food in in the box. The only reason my dog didn’t eat it was because of the rain. The carboard box was completely melted by the time I got home. My expensive camera? left on the front porch.