[mustangjoey]

Well the problem here is that if they were returning it to sender it's going the wrong way. I ordered it from new jersey. Lol. And they haven't made any attempts to deliver it cause I have been sitting home waiting for it. I'll just be happy if it makes it here next week even.

I know what you mean Steve. About 5 years ago I worked at the hub here part time. 10-2 night shift. It's scary knowing how your high dollar items are handled there. During the holiday rush there is not one package that is handled with care. I'm guilty too. I used to take them off the belt and toss them right into their container or truck. Nothing fancy or gentle about it. That's the problem with them though, they have so many packages coming down that belt at once that it makes it damn near impossible to be gentle with fragile stuff. You just have to throw it on the truck and keeping moving.

[dgaies]

Well the problem here is that if they were returning it to sender it's going the wrong way.

Yeah, I have no idea why it would take a detour to Colorado.

I've sent and received well over 100 packages in the past year and only had two take detours. One was a USPS package from Texas to Maryland. It spend a couple days in Iowa. Turns out someone at the post office thought the first digit in the zip code was a 5, not a 2. I ended up getting the package, just a couple days late.

The other package was one I sent via USPS Express Mail. It was suppose to go from the US to Australia. I printed the label online and when I went to select the country, I was in a rush and selected "Austria" by mistake. The rest of the address was correct, just the country was incorrectly listed on the address label as Austria instead of Australia. Of course a week later my package ended up in Europe, in the Austrian customs office. They eventually forwarded it on and the package eventually made it to Australia, albeit almost 2 weeks later.

[reeftool]

I have had pretty good luck with shipping. UPS usually just tosses the packages on the front steps, they never knock and ask me to sign. In November, I ordered parts to build a new computer. The order came in 2 boxes and the one with the processor looked like they used it for a wheel chock but fortunately nothing was damaged inside. I prefer the USPS also but with a lot of places, I don't have a choice unless I pay a hefty premium shipping charge.

[Ira]

A few weeks ago, 7PM, and I'm still waiting for my son's guitar to be UPS-delivered when it said "out for delivery" at 6AM. Mind you...I'm pretty sure these guys return to the warehouse for another load after their first load is done, so where is it?

I look outside my window, and see the guy delivering something next door. I run out to next door and say, "Hey--you should have something for me in there too," and lo and behold, there it was.

Now, I'm not a betting man, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that if I didn't do that, he would have forgotten all about my stuff, and bullshitted the records to say Delivery Failed, to cover HIS ass.

USPS--in my neck of the woods, never a problem.

[dgaies]

Now, I'm not a betting man, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that if I didn't do that, he would have forgotten all about my stuff, and bullshitted the records to say Delivery Failed, to cover HIS ass.

You are correct. Had that happen to me, although it was with FedEx, not UPS. I checked my tracking info and it said "delivery attempted" at a time when I was not only home, but in the living room which has two windows which face the porch/driveway. It would have been impossible for me not to notice a giant white truck pull up and "attempt a delivery". I called FedEx to ask what the status was, and I spoke to someone who basically admitted that sometimes when drivers are running late (or overlook/forget a package), they will log it in as a failed delivery attempt. Most people apparently don't notice and it just gets delivered a day later. I was surprised she said that, not because it was hard to believe, but because I didn't think I would hear that from someone who actually worked for FedEx.

[jolepp]

It is kind of funny that the home delivery option ends up being the inconvenient one, but I too prefer to pick up my parcels (from the post office) as that way I don't have to hang around waiting for delivery. This worked pretty nicely while living in an apartment house with a resident manager who would accept delivery, though.

[Student]

CityLink did the same to me. Even now though I received my camera it still shows "Awaiting Transport" or whatever. This is such a mess!

[Ira]

What is CityLink?

And shouldn't you be walking around campus playing with your new camera and trying to convince girls to pose nude for you?

[antzutd]

i'm on my 11th day of a DHL 'next day' delivery service...

[Ira]

i'm on my 11th day of a DHL 'next day' delivery service...

I'm trying to recall whether we still have DHL in the states. Either them or Airborne went out of business a short while back.

[casil403]

I was also home all day once waiting for a package from UPS and lo and behold I go downstairs to check and there is a failed delivery note saying no one was home posted to the front door of the building.
I mean seriously..if the guy had time to fill out the paperwork couldn't he at least attempt to ring the buzzer to see if someone was home???? I mean WTF???
I told UPS to "stick it" and return the package back to the sender. They were a bit taken aback by that when I spoke to them for the umpteenth time on the phone. I had no idea what it was as it came from Amazon and I had not ordered anything from them.
Our delivery pick up spot is way the heck up near the airport on the edge of the city and without wheels it would take me damn near all day to get there.

I don't understand why they don't have satellite drop off points in stores near the city. They have the UPS stores, but you cannot get a package dropped off there to pick it up...you have to go all the way up to the airport. How messed up is that?

Since that last fiasco now I do not deal with retailers that ship via Fed EX or UPS...I only deal with USPS or Canada Post...period.

[mustangjoey]

I think DHL only does international (into or out of) the states now. No more domestic... and what campus are the nude women going to be on? I'll be there once I get this shipping situation figured out. Lol.

@antzutd, sorry to hear about that. I'll be going on 11 days here soon myself. But mine wasn't a 1 day delivery, it was free ground. They should, at the very least, refund your shipping. Good luck with it

[grainbelt]

I don't understand why they don't have satellite drop off points in stores near the city. They have the UPS stores, but you cannot get a package dropped off there to pick it up...you have to go all the way up to the airport. How messed up is that?

When I lived in Saskatoon I loved me some Canada Post.

Not home? It'll be at your nearby Shopper's drug mart (think: Walgreens) at the Canada Post counter, by 5pm that night.

Simple and easy. They make one delivery attempt, then it's on you.

USPS could own residential deliveries if they contracted out with drug stores on that model in the US.

[jolepp]

When I lived in Saskatoon I loved me some Canada Post.

Not home? It'll be at your nearby Shopper's drug mart (think: Walgreens) at the Canada Post counter, by 5pm that night.
...

The Finnish post office is akin to that these days; the customer service points have mostly moved to shops and such (as opposed to dedicated post offices). This means that the hours are more convenient. Also, now that parcels are trackable on-line one can go pick up them once they have arrived. This is why I prefer the post office, without home delivery (costs more and may result in the parecel enjoying a ride when it would be convenient to pick it up). We have UPS etc. too but in here they cannot compete pricewise at all, it seems, so playing tag with them is an issue only when getting stuff from abroad (and even then, the last leg may be covered by the post office).

[Jasvox]

Maybe weather has something to do with slow deliveries right now. Aren't most of the east coast of the US and half of Europe in or thawing out from the "Blizzard of 2010/11" right now?

Jason