Posted by DBFL on 1/18/11 11:10am
Msg #369042

Returning Docs

I had a new one for me. Late signing Thurs. evening. Sent docs out on Fri. via UPS from a Box & Send that I do not normally use. Get a call yesterday evening informing me that the docs had not arrived and were not shown in UPS's system as being logged in. Today, I went to the store when they opened to check what happened, their records show the docs logged in on Fri and they insist they were sent out on Fri. to arrive on Mon. Docs arrived this morning and UPS records show they were sent out by the store on Mon, not Fri.

The store is refusing to accept any responsibility, says it is UPS's fault and I need to file a complaint with them. I do not believe it is UPS's fault, but I can not prove it is the stores fault either. Docs were in the store in plenty of time to make the evening pick-up so I do not know why they would not have been sent.

Is there anything I could have or should have done differently? As I said, this has never happened to me in the past 4 years I have been doing this. I usually use the same Mail Room store to return my packages and I have never had a problem with them. I obviously will not be using this business again. Thanks for any advice.

Reply by Lee/AR on 1/18/11 11:17am
Msg #369044

Did you get a receipt? Or can you get a copy of the store's log-in record?
IMHO, once they've properly left your hands, your responsibility has ended, but it is nice to be able to provide hiring entity with documentation that you did it right.

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 1/18/11 11:19am
Msg #369045

Did you get a receipt?

That would be your proof that you dropped them on Friday. Maybe you didn't make the cutoff? If you use the actual UPS store, they may have a Saturday pickup.

Reply by DBFL on 1/18/11 11:35am
Msg #369049

Re: Did you get a receipt?

No receipt. I have never needed one before. Unfortunately no UPS store near me. The store's log-in system shows the pgk as received at 4:04pm and their express pick-up is at 5pm. They had two express pgks go out that day and they said the other shipper has not complained about a delayed delivery. The store claims it may have been because of the holiday? I thought UPS/Fed Ex was only affected by holidays in that they may have reduced hours.
Unless they somehow just did not put my package in the shipment on Fri, realized their mistake and sent on Mon, I do not see how the whole mess transpired. Learned my lesson and will always make sure to get a receipt, but I thought when they scanned the pgk in on the computer, that was as good as a receipt. Thanks for your thoughts.

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 1/18/11 11:45am
Msg #369050

Re: Did you get a receipt?

If it was scanned it at 4:04 PM, that may have been too late for the pickup. In my area, non-UPS store pickups usually occur between 2 and 3 PM.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 1/18/11 12:01pm
Msg #369054

I cannot get a receipt in my area

I drop at a Mail & More and they do not issue receipts unless I ship through them using their account number. If I am close to the pickup time, I will ask just to be sure the pick-up has not occurred yet. If the appointment is near a UPS Store or FedEx Office, I will drop docs there afterward and ask for a receipt, but usually I drop at the Mail & More, thus no receipt. I will not drive 30 miles round trip to drop docs just to get a receipt. I am lucky - my Mail & More store is great and they have never failed me.

For the original poster, it sounds like that shipping store goofed and simply did not get your package into Friday's pickup. And they must not have Saturday pickup either. I do drop Thursday night docs early in the morning though - I want it done and off my plate.

Reply by James Dawson on 1/18/11 12:13pm
Msg #369057

good idea..also get to know pickup times in area n/m

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/18/11 1:51pm
Msg #369082

Hang on one second here - what time did you drop them?

Your closing was late Thursday...they were logged into the store at 4:04pm Friday? Please tell me you didn't hold the docs all day - they should have been dropped as early as possible in the morning...

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 1/18/11 3:05pm
Msg #369101

Re: Did you get a receipt?

If you can get a copy of the time it was dropped off (you said 4:04pm) and their pickup time is 5pm it will show the TC that it was the store's fault and not yours.

As far as the other packages... who cares? The only one that you are concerned with is the one that you dropped off.

It sounds like the store dropped the ball on this one. They probably sat the package down in the wrong area and the driver didn't see it when they picked up the other packages.

Reply by James Dawson on 1/18/11 11:31am
Msg #369046

I always get a receipt. One of the last things I do in the evening is check to see if it has been logged in then I send an email to the receiving party (so they don't start calling me about the package location). If it is Not logged in, then I want to know why? and who I'm talking to because I promise you, there's gonna be problems.

Reply by jnew on 1/18/11 12:15pm
Msg #369059

If you don't live near a UPS store which can issue a receipt with a tracking number, you have to have a personal pickup by UPS and most providers will not accept UPS home/office pickup because of the extra charge. I would think that the store could provide you a receipt for the package if they indeed scanned it and it gives you some leverage with your provider. I have to drive 5 miles for Fedex Store dropoff and 1 mile for UPS Store dropoff. To me, it is worth the drive, since I will scan the receipt and email it to the provider so there is no question I did all I could to see it went out on time.

Reply by Bravo on 1/18/11 1:00pm
Msg #369071

I have alittle different take on this scenario for what its worth. The inexperience and incompetence that I have been seeing and experiencing of late within the title companies could be the culprit. Sit tight on this one DBFL and, who knows, the package may just "mysteriously" appear right where it had been all along. Hmmmmmm.....

Reply by MW/VA on 1/18/11 1:36pm
Msg #369075

Reliability of UPS is getting more questionable. I drop my

pkgs. at a PostNet store near me. They have scheduled UPS pickups, including Sats. They also had a scheduled pickup for the morning of 12-24. I had dropped 2 pkgs. that morning. Got a call after the holidays fron the tc, saying the loan was supposed to fund the next day but no docs & not in system.
I called PostNet & it turned out that the UPS driver never showed up on the 24th. At least I knew that the docs were still there. If I'd put them in a drop-box I would have no way of knowing they'd never been picked up. They did go out that day & were at the tc the next morning, in time for funding. I had offered to fax them, if needed. I heard from the people at PostNet that they are having issues with UPS not picking up. I called UPS and complained about the pickups no longer being reliable.

Reply by Cari on 1/18/11 1:43pm
Msg #369079

Agree with you, I prefer NOT to use UPS but if I have to

I always get a receipt, even when the cocky -a$$ clerks says its prepaid! I don't trust those boxes either, got a big scare ONCE and that's all it took. The drop box said that it picked up at 7pm, but the driver didn't log it in until the next day am! I was redfaced before my client and was lucky they didn't drop me!

NEVER use a drop box ever again, not even in front of the frickin' store!

I'm sure you're lessoned is learned.

Reply by Stoli on 1/18/11 5:35pm
Msg #369113

Linda-what difference does it make when docs were dropped?

It shouldn't make a tinker's difference if the docs were dropped one minute before pickup time, the docs were still on time.

Reply by rolomia on 1/18/11 6:17pm
Msg #369118

Re: Linda-what difference does it make when docs were dropped?

I, too, have experienced service failures, incompetence, rudeness, arrogance, attitude and deceptive business practices, etc. from U.P.S. on multiple occasions & at multiple locations, etc. In one instance, a U.p.S. truck broke down, but U.P.S. wasn't able to get another truck to the location to transfer packages for shipment the same day.

U.P.S. drop boxes are not usually sufficiently stocked, U.P.S. drivers fail to retrieve packages from all drop boxes along their route and U.P.S. employees lie & argue with customers (what happened to the customer is always right. Apparently, U.P.S.' policy is that the customer is always wrong, every time). What can BROWN do for you? (flushing sound heard in background) LOL

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/18/11 6:57pm
Msg #369125

Stoli..as has been said...and as is my experience...

if you're dropping at a UPS store you usually have til 6pm to drop for same-day shipping - but the pack and ship stores have earlier cutoff times...usually by 3:00 or 3:30...if the package was dropped at 4:04, and the pack and ship was closed Saturday, then the package sat there til Monday.

And, most companies that I've worked for require that if it's an evening appointment then the package needs to be dropped prior to noon the next day - some even earlier..

Reply by jba/fl on 1/18/11 7:22pm
Msg #369131

Re: Stoli..as has been said...and as is my experience...

"And, most companies that I've worked for require that if it's an evening appointment then the package needs to be dropped prior to noon the next day - some even earlier.."

Even so, it should be dropped first thing in the morning anyway unless you are going to the hub (of Fed Ex that isJ). I am noticing that some locations are saying 6pm, but meaning 4pm if you aren't doing everything with them. UPS is just shoddy in some of their practices, IMO.