UPS Store - corporate B.S.

[Leee]

This is Midland, TX.
Oilfield drives the economy, and it’s the hub of the Permian Basin.
Boom/bust cycles one after another.

The labor market is always a mess.

5 years ago there were signs at McDonalds’s advertising $13.50 starting wages.
And this is for piss-ignorant people with zero skills or work ethic.

Even police, fire, and schools lose people to go make big bucks in the oilfield.

It’s a microcosm of pretty much every social and economic ill you can suggest, no matter the state of the local economy this week or the next.
Certainly not unique here, but we got it all in spades.

 

[CB91710]

never use the UPS store....because they ARE franchised, the store adds THEIR fee on-top of the UPS fee.

Go to a UPS service center.

Humanity is still alive at the one near me....just sayin'

This in spades.
UPS Store is not owned by UPS.
Using them is no different than shipping from Mailboxes Etc, or Check-and-Go
The people in that store are not UPS employees, and them dealing with UPS is just as frustrating as when you deal with UPS.

Ultimately, they will need to file the claim with UPS... hopefully they purchased insurance.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

not that i defend UPS but the young woman working at the counter is probably making minimum wage listening to people complain and bitch all day. is it her fault that some POS stole a package? Can she prove or disprove it happened? Can she actually do anything about it? Not likely.

i've seen those sort of situations and it sucks all around- for the customer and for the front line employee left holding the bag.
will the company make it right? maybe or maybe not.
will the guilty party be held responsible? doubtful.

Here's a suggestion for her:

https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/how-to-quit-your-job-mic-drop.459497/page-3#post-10000236

 

[Leee]

Yes, I was aware of their franchise status.
But repeating it often does the entire world a service. More people need to understand how this works.
The only reason UPS would even do such a thing is to have plausible deniability and some removal in liability.
All I was doing was returning a fan I bought on Amazon. They paid for the shipping, so I just went to the closest and most convenient place to send it back.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

Once again, MLP delivers (!)

 

[E.T.]

Yes, I was aware of their franchise status.
But repeating it often does the entire world a service. More people need to understand how this works.
The only reason UPS would even do such a thing is to have plausible deniability and some removal in liability.

Same reason you can't call anyone inside the service center anymore. The executive dream has always been to earn millions of dollars a year in bonuses for hard work done by the people you have populated the firewall around yourself with. Which is to say to make as much money as possible whilst exerting as little effort as possible. Useless, manipulative, ticket-clipping oxygen thieves

 

[I Break Things]

That's why I either get insurance when I ship my guitar back home or bring a Tele in my checked bag...

(A Tele can survive being in a checked bag even with the headstock sticking out the side of the bag, by the way. That was an interesting sight.)

 

[Marshall & Moonshine]

I wonder if I’m just really good at managing my expectations.

 

[Leee]

I wonder if I’m just really good at managing my expectations.

If your expectations are routinely met by the customer service I personally experience in the 21st-century, maybe I need to move your neighborhood.



The Missus, who has lived 10 lives compared to me, can get along with anyone. She is an expert at quietly making things happen.
Manager Extraordinaire and Cat Herding Master should be at the top of her résumé.
When she encounters the same insipid customer service or corporate policies we are discussing here, and in the last 10 years it has exploded in her experience, she blames me.
I told her the only way to explain my luck rubbing off on her is to go ahead and fully believe all of the Big Brother/Big Tech conspiracy theories and accept the idea that we are irrevocably linked in spirit, in perpetuity.

 

[ehb]

'He'she's probably making minimum wage' pops up all the time... Is that an excuse for shit performance? Hell no.

Who knows what they make at UPS but I bet it ain't min wage. Few places are min wage.

As far as the WallMart bridge burning, THEY make more than min wage around here.... I do not think that her employment contract said shit about you will only work forty, just drive a register, not have to do anything else, and then go home. Bullshit.

If one MUST work as an 'associate' at Wally, then I would say they might be at that point because of poor choices in life. You take a job, you do the job and try to improve yourself.

Making excuses for folks not doing their job is bullshit... 'Well, she only makes min wage so you can't expect her to show up on time.' They hell I can't.

 

[fry]

Using them is no different than shipping from Mailboxes Etc

UPS stores actually used to be Mail Boxes etc. UPS bought them out and gave them a new name.

 

[cybermgk]

Hope the bought the insurance for it . I would never trust a UPS Store for shipping equipment . but sometimes there is no choice. I would sell o r buy local to be in person at the local police station

Willing to bet they didn't, ergo why they keep calling or arguing in person about where it is. If they HAD Insurance, simply make a claim (and trust me, the earlier you start that process the better, because it can take some time. sometimes)

 

[rfrizz]

I usually give them three calm, polite explanations to try to make things right. After that, anything is game. I've got results both ways. I'm not unreasonable, but if there is a logical solution and they're giving me the runaround, the gloves come off.

I had a similar experience with a new property management company which took over in the middle of my lease. They started giving me shit about having them directly draw rent from my checking account. I told them that the lease doesn't require me do do that, and I wasn't. They dropped it.

A while after the lease term ended, I got a call from some asshole telling me the lease had expired, and I had to do this and that blah blah blah. I pointed out that the lease has a clause which automatically converts the lease into a month-to-month with a 30-day written notice by either party to cancel. I even told him which paragraph number it was.

I kept going around in circles, and when he continued saying my lease was expired, I unloaded on him. They told the property owner that they weren't going to deal with me as a tenant. I've been here for 15 years, and never had a late payment, so she told them to Foff.

 

[Zungle]

I was at a local UPS Store this afternoon, and while standing in line I had several opportunities to overhear discussions between customers and the staff at the desk.
People-watching is always fun.
Especially when people are obviously not happy in their conversation.

No, I don’t know what the package in question was. I’m guessing, something expensive.
A tall, nerdy, skinny young man I noticed in the line ahead of me was joined by his father (No doubt here, as the resemblance was uncanny) when it was his turn at the counter.
It seems they had shipped a package from this store but it never arrived at its destination.
This was their return trip to the store, and they had already been talking to the staff about the matter. The young woman working for UPS had evidently been on the phone for quite some time with her corporate overlords.

From the pointed, direct, and serious questions that the father was asking, I was able to discern what had happened.

Several days ago, they had shipped a package from this very store. Paid for the shipping, and had the receipt.
When the recipient never got the package, and the tracking number did them no good, the phone calls back-and-forth began.
What the young lady behind the counter offered as an explanation was, yes they had scanned the package in. Yes, it went onto a UPS truck.
But it was never scanned onto the truck.
So, it clearly didn’t get onto the truck. So, this means it is still in do UPS store?
You would think…

No, she swears.
It went on the truck.
It is not in the store.
But it wasn’t scanned onto the truck.
Well, it went onto the truck.
No two ways about it.

OK…

The father was asking for the identity of the driver.
“If you’re saying the package is not in the building, and you’re absolutely certain it went on the truck, who was driving the truck?”

Oh, that’s information they cannot share.
But we know it went on the truck.

“OK, if it went ON the truck it must’ve come OFF of the truck somewhere. If you shipped it, it has a tracking number. Did it come off of the truck any place?”

It was never scanned onto the truck.

“Right, you told me that already. But you’re saying it’s not here, and you were absolutely certain that it went on the truck. What happened to it then? Did it disappear into thin fxcking air? Did the driver take it home? Did it wind up on the driveway outside the back door?”

You get the idea…

So, they have no accountability here.
When I was next to the counter, and sent my package, the lady asked me if I wanted a drop off package receipt.
I asked, “So I don’t wind up like the guy before me?”
“Yes,” she said quietly.

So the receipt for shipping your package is not good enough.
I have to have a specific drop-off package receipt to prove that my item was sent?

I am the original free-market, laissez-faire, Adam Smith, capitalist guy.
But these corporations are making it very hard to explain this to people.

This country is going to drown itself in bullshit.

Capitalism is not the problem.
Corporate greed and apathy, and plain old bullshit is the problem.

Meh.....I have zero issue with the woman protecting the drivers identity....none.

And....just a heads up....

I believe UPS stores in the USA are franchises.....not corporate.

Most have local staff and ownership........



Mistake's happen........

Most mistakes aren't worth the anguish......we're humans ......we often suck.

What was she supposed to do cut her finger off as retribution.......??

Maybe do a few push ups and write we won't fvk up anymore 1000x's on the chalk board.


I don't know maybe I'm gettin' soft....or.......gaining wisdom??

I'm on both sides of business issues almost daily.........

Its seems like its always best to take the high road , fix the issue and move on.....

Take what you learned and use it to avoid future issues....

When I get worked up, I get dumber each minute.........

 

[Leee]

I'm on both sides of business issues almost daily.........

Oh, I hear ya.

Remember, I was only a witness.
Making notes of the situation.

In the spirit of your post above, I am with you on the idea of forgiveness and looking at the bigger picture.
However, I reserve those sentiments for personal relationships.

Businesses are another matter.
They take my money for a service they promise.
If I don’t pay what I’m supposed to, I don’t blame them for not performing. However, once they have taken my money, I expect precisely what they had committed to.
Nothing less.

 

[Brek]

that is pretty good corporate bullshit right there. 'It wasn't scanned onto the truck, but it went on the truck!' now keep repeating that until the customer goes away. its like, they fucked up, somewhere, but they don't admit it. so they get away with it.

Our UK equiv is Hermes, all drivers are freelance and give zero fucks. One 'delivered' a new cordless orbital sander to me yesterday. I knew nothing of this event, as was working out the back, so didn't hear the door.
I go back in house sometime later to pickup emails and there is one from ebay saying package delivered. I check tracking and it says posted through letterbox.

so i go to front door, hmm, expecting a card to say its with neighbours, nope, open door to see if they had left it in bushes (one driver did that and tbf it was still there when i got home). but this time nada, so i messaged seller, they check and driver took a picture of a slim packet being posted not a large sander box, so the seller is sending me a new one.

what happened? no idea, either left it somewhere visible, and someone stole it (i live on a busy road) or he has kept it. meh

 

[fry]

Willing to bet they didn't, ergo why they keep calling or arguing in person about where it is. If they HAD Insurance, simply make a claim (and trust me, the earlier you start that process the better, because it can take some time. sometimes)

Yeah, that sounds like the deal. If they had insurance, they wouldn’t have to argue, just start the paperwork. UPS might have to admit they lost it, but they are not responsible for more than $100 unless you pay for additional coverage.

 

[matthew bear]

'He'she's probably making minimum wage' pops up all the time... Is that an excuse for shit performance? Hell no.

Who knows what they make at UPS but I bet it ain't min wage. Few places are min wage.

As far as the WallMart bridge burning, THEY make more than min wage around here.... I do not think that her employment contract said shit about you will only work forty, just drive a register, not have to do anything else, and then go home. Bullshit.

If one MUST work as an 'associate' at Wally, then I would say they might be at that point because of poor choices in life. You take a job, you do the job and try to improve yourself.

Making excuses for folks not doing their job is bullshit... 'Well, she only makes min wage so you can't expect her to show up on time.' They hell I can't.

And those employees should expect customers to be decent… the woman behind the counter at a UPS store literally can’t do a damn thing about the situation, in this case. To be quite honest that’s one of the more challenging jobs in minimum wage land. (My ex worked there in her early 20s). Very high stress (trying to solve issues like these, with no real advantage over the average Joe blow).

frankly, the folks that yell and scream at kids working jobs are often less mature than the kids themselves… refusing to understand how the world works and taking it out on someone else is childish.
If you have no hair, or gray hair, and you still shout people down, you haven’t grown up yet.

 

[Leee]

And those employees should expect customers to be decent…

Your entire post is not wrong.
But you have to understand the corporate maneuverings that play into exactly these “higher ground” feelings.
Polite society, and all of that.

This is exactly how car sales tricks work. They become your friend, and you don’t want to disappoint them. So you will accept a stupid deal and tolerate shitty customer service, because somehow you feel obligated.

My wife, ever polite and courteous, tells a story of how she went into a cell phone provider’s store to get to the bottom of some serious problems and they didn’t want to help her.
When she pushed back, she was declared to be a hostile customer and was separated from everyone else in the room and kept waiting until “the manager” could come to help her.
They sort of hinted that they would call the police if things got out of hand.

She was probably in her early early 30s, and as patient and laid-back as anyone could be. Hardly a threat.

If this could happen to her, it can happen to anybody. My wife will not raise her voice in public, and she didn’t then.

She finally managed to get what she was after, but closed her account and never went back.

… the woman behind the counter at a UPS store literally can’t do a damn thing about the situation

This is precisely how they have rigged the game for the corporate advantage.
Of course, no one you’re allowed to speak to has any power to fix anything.
They will put you off and suggest calling a customer service phone number that probably gets answered in some Third World country by someone with limited understanding of American culture and even more limited language skills.
After an interminable amount of time on hold and being transferred, they will apologize to you repeatedly until you get frustrated enough to hang up and go away.
Strike 2 for hopes of a resolution.

frankly, the folks that yell and scream at kids working jobs are often less mature than the kids themselves…

Sure.
But in the example I posted up at the top, this man was actually very diplomatic.
He wasn’t shouting, and he wasn’t disparaging. He was asking some difficult questions, but he had every right to.
And I’m guessing the reason he was there with his semi-adult son is because Junior got absolutely nowhere. I’m sure he was intimidated, so he left empty-handed and without an explanation.

Isn’t that what this precise corporate bullshit is all about?
OK, maybe we failed, but we will never admit it and you can’t do anything about it.
Are you here to spend money?
Yes?
Then give us your debit card and all the personal information we demand.

If not, get out.

 

[Pop1655]

If it’s a UPS store, it should be a franchise.
They need the franchisee.

Mine is a mom and pop and they do a spectacular job.