UPS

[GronK]

Just a warning about UPS. Don’t know about other locales but here in Pueblo, 100 miles south of Golden, the drivers lie that you aren’t home. This has happened twice to me. I waited all morning by the door and got an email I’m not home and I have to pick it up at a parts store Monday.

[RustyIron]

Be nice to your workers. Give the UPS guy a cold soda when he shows up on a hot summer day. If there are two customers left, and only enough time in the day for one, he'll pick his favorite.

[The Deacon]

As you already surmised, lLike every other business with multiple locations, UPS service can vary from place to place. Am lucky right now, UPS service here in Greenville is excellent. Rensselaer county was a whole 'nother ballgame, can't count the number of times I had to pick up a package at their depot because the driver didn't bother to ring the bell before sticking a "nobody home" notice on my door. Before that, when I lived in Ulster county, it was very good. Fedex service, on the other hand has varied between poor and abysmal everywhere I've lived.

[soc_monki]

Never had a problem with ups here. I live in a hub town as well! Guess the drivers are happy they don't have to go far!
FedEx is hit and miss. DHL is abysmal. Have never had a good experience with them.

[GronK]

It wouldn't be all that bad except I'm "at risk" and supposed to be self quarantining due to my age. A drive across town and visit to a public store is risky. Not super risky but I'm going to great lengths to avoid contact.

[TomAiello]

FedEx here is really good, but UPS to my office is _terrible_.

Like Gronk, I've actually stood at the door and watched the UPS truck drive by (not even slow down), and then have a "delivery exception" showing 'business closed' pop up on my phone about 30 seconds later.

I've actually gone back and forth several times with the UPS management here, and they basically told me they can't help because the drivers are unionized and routes are assigned by seniority, so I'm stuck with a really bad driver. Apparently (one of the parents on my daughter's soccer team works at UPS) the driver for my office has a particularly bad reputation, and a long history of complaints, but basically can't be fired because of union seniority.

My Fedex driver, on the other hand, is amazing. She'll do things like leaving a note on my office door saying 'saw you weren't here, so I'm taking this to your home' and then deliver packages to my home.

For what it's worth, the UPS driver for my home is really good. I've never had any problems with him at all.

It sucks to be stuck with a bad driver for your delivery area, for sure. But I don't think it's _all_ UPS drivers. It's just that Gronk (like my office) happens to be on the route for a guy who doesn't actually do his job.

[Red]

Here, UPS is decent, Fed Ex is great but the USPS is HORRIBLE and that’s an understatement. They are so lazy at the actual post office I watch them laugh as the phone rings and they ignore customers. The actual drivers are constantly misplacing mail and packages are coming up as lost. Half the island uses them as a last resort and I am finally doing the same. My last few orders from DLT, I paid extra for FedEx and everything was perfect.

[VooDooChild]

USPS is definitely the best I have dealt with. Even there tracking and delivery times are more reliable.

It also helps that my mom used to work at the post office, and the driver who has my route used to go to the same restuarant I go to to drink beer. I have certainly bought him a few drinks once or twice.

[JonLeBlanc]

As has been said, it seems like competence and professionalism varies by area, but for me FedEx has given me the least problems and the brown one the most. And they just don't even care...

[xceptnl]

I've experienced problems with mostly the local USPS delivering to another address with similar numbers or characters. UPS and FedEx are better but still inconsistent. For this reason I choose to send all my packages to my work. All carriers tend to be better for businesses.

[TomAiello]

All carriers tend to be better for businesses.

Man, I wish it was that way here. UPS to my office is insanely bad.

[z4vdBt]

Haven't had any problems, or any sign for deliveries in a while. UPS is great for no box no wrap Amazon returns.

[qwkzotc]

I'm not sure about other areas but I have registered with FedEx Delivery Manager, UPS MyChoice. USPS Informed Delivery and Amazon with instructions to leave my packages on the front porch. No Contact. No Knock. Just leave it. I do have an automatic buzzer that goes off briefly if someone enters my porch area and a camera. In fact, UPS and FedEx in my area are insisting on no contact drop offs with the current distancing rules.

I understand this may not be suitable if you really need a signature or have history with porch pirates in the area or other reasons you need to get the package in person, but I have never missed a package delivery, and I get plenty. Other than groceries and beer I haven't been in a store in years.

They can't claim I am not home if it doesn't matter. And I have been known to leave a frozen bottle of water due to the AZ heat and certainly agree it is good to reward them from time to time. Currently when my knives get delivered they are almost too hot to unwrap. I got a Province recently that took nearly half an hour to be cool enough to really handle. I can't imagine how they ride around in 115 degree heat in those trucks without any air conditioning. And skylights to let in more light to boot! I'll sit around in my nice cool house and wait for the buzzer to go off thank you very much.

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[odomandr]

I too have signed up for fed ex delivery management and USPS informed delivery. I haven't had issues in two years and my mail carrier and I have great rapport. Unfortunately she moved a few weeks back and I haven't met the new guy due to cofefe.

[Pokey]

FedEx drivers used to play games where they’d say they delivered a package on the front porch when I knew they hadn’t. I at was home with the doors and windows open and no one came by.

I’d see online the package was delivered and call their toll free number to complain. Their story was the driver delivered it to the wrong address and they’d go get it and re-deliver it within two business days. I asked them how does a driver that doesn’t realize they delivered it to the wrong address in the first place go back to the wrong address and pick it up? How do they know where to go back to to pick it up?

I lived in a rural area in the mountains and figured they didn’t want to burn the gas to make the 32 mile round trip up the canyon road to deliver one package.

Sure enough, they remembered which wrong address they left it at, picked it up the next day and re-delivered it to me.

UPS never did that.