UPS Staff member

[nkc]

The UPS store manager in my area is not pleasant to work with. I have had more than one negative experience while dropping packages.
While I was looking up store hours in google before I go to drop a package a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a lot of negative reviews about this person from customers describing their negative experience and mentioning her full name.
I brought this to the attention of UPS customer service and mentioned the online reviews as well. They responded that the store says that my concerns are untrue!!! I did not expect that UPS will simply forward my complaint to the offender and expect her to confirm. What about the concerns of the many customers who expressed their frustration online? Are they also untrue?
Does anyone know if there's a way to forward my concerns to the franchise owner or someone in UPS who cares.
I would like to clarify that I only go there when I have a pre-paid label or I'm required to use UPS.

 

[House Cat]

Did you ask for a supervisor when you called customer service?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Is their still such a thing as the post master general ?

I know what its like to have a great counter person and a not so great one at the post shop

 

[nkc]

I spoke to a supervisor.

 

[Cerulean]

Ugh I wish I could find this out too.

My local UPS is abysmal - total chaos - I got attitude when I asked them to fill out insurance paperwork my jeweler asked me to, to help me make sure I was protected in case of loss. The manager made a HUGE stink about it and said no one ever asks for this why wouldn't I just ship it.... (this was a 10k+ shipment)

Packages were piled so high and so disorganized they were falling into the area where anyone could just pick one up (package theft is a huge issue in my area)

I honestly just don't use them anymore and ask all vendors to ship through FedEx.

 

[seaurchin]

Is their still such a thing as the post master general ?...

In the US, the postmaster general is over the USPS (United States Postal Service), which is run by the federal government. But this is UPS (United Parcel Service), which is not government run but a corporation, and the individual stores are franchises.
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I've also run into a poorly run UPS store. They'd open late and close early without notice. And one time I used them to send a birthday package to my friend and the package arrived empty. I guess that could happen anywhere but then I found bad reviews on them which made me suspicious.

Since the franchise holder pays for the right to run the store, the parent company doesn't have all that much control over how they run their store.

But I wonder why they'd forward your complaint to the manager rather than to the franchise owner. Are you sure this manager or supervisor isn't really the owner?

In any case, you gave them a chance and they chose to argue rather than take the opportunity to turn the situation around. So I think the best course of action from here is to just take your business elsewhere whenever possible. Giving the customers an attitude is idiotic for anyone who wants to stay in business. Good luck.

 

[nkc]

I've also run into a poorly run UPS store. They'd open late and close early without notice. And one time I used them to send a birthday package to my friend and the package arrived empty.

Since the franchise holder pays for the right to run the store, the parent company doesn't have all that much control over how they run their store.

But I wonder why they'd forward your complaint to the manager rather than to the franchise owner. Are you sure the "manager" isn't really the owner?

In any case, you gave them a chance and they chose to argue rather than take the opportunity to turn the situation around, so I think the best course of action from here is to just take your business elsewhere. Giving the customers an attitude is idiotic for anyone who wants to stay in business. Good luck.

What you're describing is similar to one of the negative experiences I've had. They decided to close early and told me I can just leave the high value package with them and come back next week for a receipt. Of course, I did not leave the package.

This is very useful information. I had no idea that the parent company has no control over the store. This explains why the complaint was simply sent to the store.

I followed up and they told me that they sent the complaint to the owner. The attitude and response of the owner sounds very much like the manager so I'm not sure if it is the same person or the owner simply does not care.

I only go there when I have no choice but to go there because I either have a pre-paid label or required to ship via UPS.

I do not understand why an owner does not care about what customers think. There are so many customers who expressed frustration online about this manager and how rude she is.

 

[seaurchin]

What you're describing is similar to one of the negative experiences I've had. They decided to close early and told me I can just leave the high value package with them and come back next week for a receipt. Of course, I did not leave the package.

This is very useful information. I had no idea that the parent company has no control over the store. This explains why the complaint was simply sent to the store.

I followed up and they told me that they sent the complaint to the owner. The attitude and response of the owner sounds very much like the manager so I'm not sure if it is the same person or the owner simply does not care.

I only go there when I have no choice but to go there because I either have a pre-paid label or required to ship via UPS.

I do not understand why an owner does not care about what customers think. There are so many customers who expressed frustration online about this manager and how rude she is.

I agree. It always surprises me when a business owner doesn't care if they run off their customers. I mean, how stupid is it even possible to be, right?

My opinion is that everyone thinks they can run a business but a lot of them really can't. It's long hours and takes a lot of self-discipline, energy and people skills. They get overwhelmed or lazy and it falls apart.

Maybe the manager is a relative or the owner has basically given up and is just barely hanging on until the franchise term runs out. (I just looked it up and for UPS, it's ten years).

I think the parent company does have *some* control over the individual stores because they can take the franchise away under certain conditions. But it's not nearly as much control as the parent company would have if the store was corporate owned rather than a franchise. Then, they could simply fire a problem manager or handle any other problem themselves, immediately.

 

[Karl_K]

I have had pretty good luck with ups and fedex in my area but they have major hubs here.
I have had a ton of problems at 3rd party fedex and ups stores.
I take stuff directly to the fedex/ups package area at the hubs.
There is usualy 2 ladies at the times I have been there at fedex, one super nice and one just a little umm brisk.
But the brisk one is an ace at getting things done in the system so it evens out.
They both rock.

 

[nkc]

I have had pretty good luck with ups and fedex in my area but they have major hubs here.
I have had a ton of problems at 3rd party fedex and ups stores.

How do I know what a 3rd party store is? Is the franchise store in my area considered a 3rd party store?

 

[Karl_K]

How do I know what a 3rd party store is? Is the franchise store in my area considered a 3rd party store?

yes it is owned and operated by a 3rd party.

 

[Karl_K]

Go here:

Find a Location | UPS - United States

Search for UPS drop boxes and retail locations where you can ship and collect packages.

www.ups.com

Put in your city/state then expand "location type" by clicking on the plus "+" then select "UPS Customer Center".
That will tell you if there is a ups owned presence in your area.

 

[Karl_K]

On fedex search select "more" and then select "dangerous goods shipping."
They are only accepted at fedex owned locations.

FedEx | System Down

www.fedex.com

 

[nkc]

Go here:

Find a Location | UPS - United States

Search for UPS drop boxes and retail locations where you can ship and collect packages.

www.ups.com

Put in your city/state then expand "location type" by clicking on the plus "+" then select "UPS Customer Center".
That will tell you if there is a ups owned presence in your area.

Thank you so much!
The store with the rude manager did not come up which means it is not UPS owned.
The closest UPS customer center is 16 miles away. I will consider going there if I have a high value item to avoid any possible issues.

 

[Jambalaya]

I have always found FedEx and USPS to be VASTLY superior to UPS. When I find out that something is being delivered by UPS, my heart sinks. I won't bore you, but it's a litany of lost/delayed packages, items that took a huge, senseless detour, items arriving in a mess, and delivery people that never came but told the tracking system that I wasn't home. Luckily there's a UPS store near me that's not too bad, and I get my packages routed there, otherwise I'd never get them. The magical non-existent delivery person was just here last week!

I mean seriously, how bad does your mail service have to be when customers dread that service being the handler? If I had a choice, I would NEVER use UPS. But many businesses use them.

ETA: I also had a lot of trouble getting that latest package re-routed. You have to have a UPS account to do that - fine - but then you have to have another account nested within that account, entitled MyChoice. Two accounts, and if you lose your details for one, it's not easy to get access to the other. I had to make three calls to get my MyChoice up and running again, so I could route my package to the store, given that the delivery person didn't come.

I hate UPS!