Anyone Else Have Problems With Shipping Carriers?

[DeathHammer]

Please Delete Thanks

Edited February 8, 2010 by DeathHammer

[Die, Alien Scum!]

I had a package shipped to me via UPS recently. I checked their website and found that they had marked it as being received. There was no notice on the door and the package was nowhere to be found, so I called my local UPS branch to inquire as to where the driver left it. It was supposed to be on the back porch. My house has no back porch. I told the supervisor that I believed the driver must have either delivered it to the wrong address or mistakenly marked it as delivered. She said that was unlikely and it must be around somewhere, but she would speak about it with the driver when he returned from his deliveries.

The next morning, the package is at my front door. As I'm walking it up the stairs, I hear a vehicle pull into the driveway. It's the UPS guy. I'm expecting him to ask if I got the package and apologize for his mistake. Instead, he's pissed that I told his boss I thought he screwed up. I asked him to show me where he put it on my nonexistent back porch. He mumbled something obscene and said he was already behind schedule and he left. Apparently he came out of his way that day simply to berate me. I immediately called the supervisor again and told her what happened. But I didn't tell her I had received the package, since it was obvious the driver didn't deliver it and thus, must be punished for his insolence.

The next day, the UPS guy knocked on the door. I didn't answer it. He left a note on the door that said he needed me to sign off on the package as being received. The UPS supervisor called later and left a message on my machine. She said it was very important I sign off on the package. Well, it wasn't important to me, so I didn't reply. Two more days followed this pattern. I finally called the supervisor and told her I had received the package from a kindly neighbor and recommended the driver be fired. In addition, I stated that I would never use UPS again. And I haven't.

Edited August 23, 2005 by Die, Alien Scum!

[buddhafabio]

I had a package shipped to me via UPS recently. I checked their website and found that they had marked it as being received. There was no notice on the door and the package was nowhere to be found, so I called my local UPS branch to inquire as to where the driver left it. It was supposed to be on the back porch. My house has no back porch. I told the supervisor that I believed the driver must have either delivered it to the wrong address or mistakenly marked it as delivered. She said that was unlikely and it must be around somewhere, but she would speak about it with the driver when he returned from his deliveries.

The next morning, the package is at my front door. As I'm walking it up the stairs, I hear a vehicle pull into the driveway. It's the UPS guy. I'm expecting him to ask if I got the package and apologize for his mistake. Instead, he's pissed that I told his boss I thought he screwed up. I asked him to show me where he put it on my nonexistent back porch. He mumbled something obscene and said he was already behind schedule and he left. Apparently he came out of his way that day simply to berate me. I immediately called the supervisor again and told her what happened. But I didn't tell her I had received the package, since it was obvious the driver didn't deliver it and thus, must be punished for his insolence.

The next day, the UPS guy knocked on the door. I didn't answer it. He left a note on the door that said he needed me to sign off on the package as being received. The UPS supervisor called later and left a message on my machine. She said it was very important I sign off on the package. Well, it wasn't important to me, so I didn't reply. Two more days followed this pattern. I finally called the supervisor and told her I had received the package from a kindly neighbor and recommended the driver be fired. In addition, I stated that I would never use UPS again. And I haven't.

322506[/snapback]

I have had the same problem. they are hard to work with because i work at night. half the time i have to go and get the package at the home office. and one time the item was thourughy crushed.

[Sumdumgai]

I used to live in southern California. I live in Paris, France right now.

USPS: My family had the same mailman for years and years and years. We knew him by name, he knew us. He was nice to me and my sister while we grew up, saying "hi" when he saw us and stuff. Mail and packages would be delivered with no problem by him. For when we weren't home he would hide the packages at the side of the house and leave us a note with our mail.

Then he retired and the successive mailpeople that replaced him sucked. Mail got delivered mostly without problems, but packages get tossed on the front porch with no knock on the door.

UPS: The delivery guy that used to deliver all the time was a really great guy. He would always knock, and for things that didn't have to be signed off for, he would go to the side of the house and hide the packages really well and leave us a note in our mailbox letting us know where the package was. He was a great guy, and my family used to get packages often from him.

Then he got replaced and service went to crap with the package being tossed on the front door-step, or being placed under the doormat in front of the door... No knock, they just toss and run.

French Post Office: The clerks are usually bastards. There is a reason why b****y people are called "women postal workers" in French. The mail gets delivered most of the time, but packages NEVER make it to our apartment. When I first moved here, one of the boxes of my stuff which I had packed really well (tape all over the place outside and inside, trying to make sure that the box wouldn't tear apart) got massacred and had a big gaping hole in it. Nothing went missing, I think...

Oh wait, I forgot. My last name is on the mail box with my wife's maiden name. Back before we got married, our last names were on the mail box. The morons can't read past one name. Letters and packeges addressed to me took extra time to arrive, or wouldn't arrive at all.

A copy of my birth certificate got lost in the mail for a bit. I'm not sure whether it's the USPS's fault, or if it's French Postal disservice. In any case it got lost while I was trying to finish off paper work to get married. It wasn't fun. It arrived a month late, when it should have arrived within 5 days or so. I had a nightmare with my parents having to send another copy by fed-ex, and with me having to worry about Identity Theft (not fun).

I just blame the French Post Office. It's probably their fault.

Chronopost: This crap company handles EMS from other countries. Just don't send EMS to France, please don't. Does anyone remember the thread from last year about the crushed Q-rau in the toys section? That was mine, and that was done by Chronopost, who refused to refund me any money, and refused to sign off a paper saying they destroyed my package, when it was marked on the status delivry page online that it had been destroyed. Thankfully the deputy shopper who sent me the Q-rau managed to get a refund from EMS Japan, after months of them refusing because they needed a paper from Chronopost admitting to destruction of the package. When the deputy shopper showed them pictures of the destroyed contents, and pictures of the chronopost delivery status page, they eventually refunded...

Besides that, recently they stopped delivering packages all together. Before they would swing by and drop a notice saying that the package is awaiting pick-up at the post office. Now, they don't even leave a notice, they just drop it off at the post office. And for apartments that have an intercom so you can ring a particular person's apartment, they don't ring, they don't even come by. Now the package is dropped off at the post office, and if you didn't know a package was coming it gets sent back after a couple weeks of no-pick-up. You have to use the tracking system to monitor where your package is.

Chronopost is on the blacklist in the "for sales" section. yeah, I nominated the bastards.

Fed-Ex: The delivery people are kind of dumb, but stuff does get delivered from what I know. They're business is booming because lots of people stopped using Chronopost and started having their packages sent to them by Fed-ex.

I've heard horror stories from various star wars prop forums about Fed-ex ground. I've heard that Fed-ex ground operates under different regulations than the main branch, so they ignore the fact that they're really supposed to get a signature when they deliver something that requires a signature... Like a guy that ordered an Elite Edition Luke Skywalker ANH Lightsaber had his box delivered and dumped on a trashcan on the sidewalk. The same day as trash pick-up. Thankfully the trash had already been taken that day, and he came home and found it, but still...

Another story I heard, was from another guy that ordered the same thing, but when his was delivered the Fed-ex guy gave the package to a guy on a motorcycle who was stopped by the house, and the motorcycle guy said "yeah I'm the neighbor". He found out when he contacted Fed-ex ground and they told him the package had been delivered to his neighbor. A guy on a motorcycle. But his neighbors didn't own motorcycles... And when he checked with them to make sure, they didn't have his package obviously.

DHL: US branch delivered the mini lightsaber I ordered from The Saber Vault fine with no problems. I don't know about the French branch.

Moral of all of this: People suck. Especially French customer service, because it doesn't exist in France.

Grrr, now I'm all annoyed from remembering all that crap. ARGH! Our large suitcase is going to be handled by French Postal Service, because we had to send it home by mail because it was overweight (British Airways only allows 23kg of luggage per person, we didn't know. American companies and Air France allow for something like 30kg or so, so we got it in the butt HARD and had to ship one of our luggages). *sigh* I hope the luggage makes it to us fine. I have a bad feeling about it...*sigh*

[Gaijin]

It depends on where you live:

I live in HI and ship a lot for ebay and I order a lot too.

USPS: Best results for the price. Friendliest people work at my local post office and mail carriers are way cool.

UPS: Also excellent but of course pricey for outside the cont US. Tons better than Fed Ex for me. The drivers are cool and friendly.

Fed Ex: Well, usually ok...but their 2 day and next day for me means 4-5 days sometimes..and they are always late. Drivers are ok...they tend to just leave stuff right up against the garage door where anyone can take it if I'm not home though.

Fed Ex Ground: Ummm....well, the package gets there. They do ship through to here though.

DHL: So so

[Father Jack]

My buddy Pat worked for UPS briefly. He was one of the guys who unloaded packages from the big trucks to load into the little trucks. He said that if your stuff was near the front of the truck you would be fine. They would just place it on this conveyer belt and send it on its way. However the further back in the truck your stuff was the more they would just throw it at the conveyor belt. They purpously threw that stuff as hard as they could. In his own words, "It could have said 'fragile baby' on the box and we would still hurl that sh*t as hard as we could." He also said there was some kind of pit near the conveyors that packages would fall into. This would rarely be cleaned out. He said he felt kind of bad when stuff would fall in there because there was a good chance it was never getting where it was going.

[1 VF-1 2NV]

It depends on where you live:

I live in HI and ship a lot for ebay and I order a lot too.

USPS: Best results for the price.  Friendliest people work at my local post office and mail carriers are way cool. 

UPS: Also excellent but of course pricey for outside the cont US.  Tons better than Fed Ex for me.  The drivers are cool and friendly. 

Fed Ex: Well, usually ok...but their 2 day and next day for me means 4-5 days sometimes..and they are always late.  Drivers are ok...they tend to just leave stuff right up against the garage door where anyone can take it if I'm not home though. 

Fed Ex Ground:  Ummm....well, the package gets there.  They do ship through to here though.

DHL: So so

322522[/snapback]

I used to live in HI too. For me USPS was the only way to go to send and/or recieve items because of cost. That's what happens when you are surrounded by thousands of miles of water . UPS and FEDEX charge too much to ship by air.

[bsu legato]

DHL is notoriously bad here in Canada. I will never willingly use them again.

[VT 1010]

For USPS it really depends on where you live. The carrier in my area changes all the time, so often we get mixed results. To make matters worse, the @$$hole who named the streets thought it would be a good idea to have two streets with the exact same addresses on each one. The only difference between them is a Blvd. and a court. Service differs from area to area. Trust me, my dad has been working for the post office for 20+ years. I have been to a lot of different ones. Some were nice, others just sucked. It all depends on were you live. So don't think the whole post office sucks.

UPS: The carrier in my area has always been nice. Can't say too much about them though. I hear that they treat their employees like Sh!t though.

FedEx and DHL: I Hardly ever deal with them.

BTW, What does this have to do with anime or sci-fi?

[Roy Focker]

I lived in several cities across 3 states. My experience is different with carriers in each place I live. I've been living in the same city for my god ten years already.

USPS:

They are really bad on updating their site with tracking info. I get a tracking number. I know a package has been delivered but the website doesn't say so until three days later. The Carrier keeps sending me mail with the person who has the same last name. An old lady named Doris doesn't live with me. I keep writing "Not a Address" and I keep getting this old bat's mail. If don't write not at address it just lands back in my box. The Carrier also had the habit of making and letter or package fit my small box. That problem's been fixed thanks to special large boxes my building has put in for large packages. The staff at the local Post Office are the best that I ever dealt with. A few mix ups do happen but it's not a pain to go up to the counter.

Fed Ex and UPS:

I thought these guys needed to actually hand you a package and get your to sign it or at least give it to your buildings manager. Fed EX & UPS instead have left a package on my door. Sometimes I'm gone for a long time at work it's too tempting to leave a box there. Last time I dealt with Fed EX they dropped the package at my managers but never left a not on my door. So I had no idea it ever arrived.

[Zentrandude]

ups: realy slow and box is usualy crushed.

fed: so so but wont drop off on front door so i have to be home to get package.

dhl: unusualy fast and package is decent

usps: ok but every few times i get things from them that are opened. big brother?

[baronv]

For me in So. Cal.

1. USPS: No big problems, always on time and leave notes when I'm not at home to pick up items at the post office. Always good since I order through overseas a lot and require sign. confirmation. Also, they read the little note I leave at my door that says leave any packages at the side door since one package got stolen last year when items were usually left at the front doot.

2. UPS, delvers on time but DOES NOT leave packages at the side door, just dumps it on the front porch even though I have that dang sign on the door that asks any deliveries to be left at the side.

3. Fed Ex Ground: Can't even find my house! I always have to call three different offices to try and get someone to hold the package at a carrier office for me to pick up event after I tell dispatch directions to my house, they can't find it.

[azrael]

USPS: Never had a problem.

I hear its not fun working for the postal service and I'm sure they get a ton of crap people, but unwarranted rudeness is one of those glitches that I can't abide by.

If I need to go to the post office, I go there knowing exactly what I want. I don't make my label there, I don't ask extra questions, I pack and fill out my stuff BEFORE I get into line. Makes me want to go postal on that person who decides to do everything at the counter. I just sent some DVDs out last week. I spent a total of 2 minutes at the counter. Weighed it, paid for it, got my change and receipt and off I went. Okay...enough ranting.

UPS: Delievers at really inconsistent times. Sometimes late mornings, sometimes after 5PM, sometimes at mid-afternoon. I could take a day off work, wait at home, and UPS would still not deliever until almost 5 or 6 PM. I try to avoid shipping by UPS.

Fedex: Somewhat consistent delievery times. Either late morning after the priority stuff get's passed out or during the afternoon. Otherwise, no probs. Hate the shipping prices though. I feel like stabbing myself everytime I see shipping prices greater than or equal to the amount of tax I paid for the order.

DHL: I don't use them much.

[Agent ONE]

UPS is union so I do not support them.

[Father Jack]

UPS is union so I do not support them.

322630[/snapback]

Explain

[LORD KUNGFU]

Im in So. Cal. Of course everybody is going to have different experiences from different places because there are different people working there. Now Ihave sold stuff on ebay for several years, so I have a lot of experienc with the post office and even worked for UPS for a stint. THere is only 1 rule you have to follow if you are the person shipping to someone else.

*PACKE THE CRAP OUT OF IT! Pack you item in a much bigger box, use a lot of bubble wrap and foam peunuts, because your package will be handled like a red headed step child. No offense to any redheads out there. Just a figure of speech.

USPS postal service- As a shipper, I have had no problems with them except raising the damn postal rates. The staff at my post office are very friendly. I have shipped over 8,000 items though USPS priority mail, and I dont have any complaints from customers. OF course, a lot of that has to do with me, because I pack my packages very good( I PACK THE CRAP OUT OF THEM!). NOw on the recieving end, I have had items come to me damaged. I cant really blame USPS, and most of the problem is the person shipping to me didnt pack the items good. I wonder if people have common sense sometimes. IMagine someone trying to stuff a loose legioss 1/35 scale into a small rectangle priority mail box(box#1097). When I got the box, it looked flat with a big ass bulge in the middle. No wrapping or cushion, just shoved in there. By the time I got it, it sounded like I had a box of legos. Can't really blame USPS on that one.

UPS - I have shipped a lot through USP too. MOsty the bigger heavier stuff, its a better deal. ONce again, I have had no complaints from my customers. A lot of that is due to safe packing on my part.

The staff at the front desk = friendly, smart, and know there job well.

The people in the back lumping the boxes around = morons

Now, to the good stuff. I actually worked for UPS for 3 days. I worked the Christmas rush when they hire people for temp service. I wanted to see how things worked in the background, so I signed up. OHHH man, let me tell you how things went. OF course, all the UPS trucks come back to the docks late in the evening full of stuff that needs to be sent out. So we have about 15 or so UPS truck lined up. all these trucks get off loaded onto 1 conveyer belt. There was only one roller stand, where you could line it up with the back of the truck and just push the boxes from the truck and it would roll to the belt. Very fast and effiecient, and not to rough on the packages. But ther is only one of those. The rest of the people had to lug the boxes from the truck to the back of the truck where they were unkindly tossed or thrown on to the conveyer belt. Of course the more tired the unloaders get, the less they care about your package and will start to throw the packages from further back. Towards the end of the conveyer belt, is the guy with the scanning equipment. Its usually the moron that was to unsafe to handle the packages, or just the guy with seniority, so he got the easy job. He just stands there by the belt, when the packages go by, he points the scanner and thats it. As easy as this sounds, even this simple task can trip up this neanderthal. So you have the boxes all coming to the end of the belt at a container trailer. In the trailer are 2 people, me and some other guy wondering what the hell we are doing here. With 15 trucks being unloaded and ending at one point, the system fails and we have a major bottle neck, just like the freeways of Los Angeles. How this works, is you basically take a package that has made its way to the end of the belt, you grab it and put it in the trailer. With the trailer empty, its not to hard. Once the trailer starts to get full and the package come at a faster rate, it becomes back breaking. It becomes a game of tetris. The boxes start coming so fast that the 2 people at the end of the belt become overwheled and the conveyer belt just keeps piling the boxes or dropping them until you have a huge mountain of boxes just spilling everywhere. Keep in mind that some of these boxes are extremely heavy or fragile. The problem is at this point, they will stop the convery belt so the other guy and I can put the boxes in the trailer. Then all you hear is the damn corporate s.o.b. who does nothing but stand there and watch you, he tells you to hurry up, we should not have to stop the belt for this long, ect.........Then you got the scanner guy making ape sounds at you. What ends up happening is we just start piling and shoving boxes in the trailer. Stuff gets destroyed, mangled, dented, and crushed. Some boxes would be so heavy, but would be small, so when you pulled it off the belt, thinking it was light, it would fall out of your hands and into the the other boxes, usually crushing them or denting them really bad. What were they shipping? Lead? When you mess up a package like that, you dont report it or slow down to fix a problem, you just keep shoving more stuff into the trailer. All this is done in about a 2 hour period. Now, I dont have a problem with getting stuff done quickly. Or if this was does so fast to please the customers. This was all done like this so UPS would not have to pay us for another hours worth of work. Thats what I was getting out of it. I think we should have took our time and spent an extra hour or so and done things more proper. I dont want to get into all the details of what I seen damaged, but it was bad. So if you are going to ship by UPS, please pack the items like someone is going to play socker with them.

One time, I took my package the front desk clerk to have it weighed and shipped. I had put a fragile sticker on the box because I had an extra sticker, but the item was not really fragile. She weighed the box and before I paid for the item, she saw the fragile sticker and said the item will get broken if its something really fragile. She didnt tell me to take it somewhere else, but the look she gave me was to ship it some other way. You had to read in between the lines I guess.

Another example:

I had ordered this machine. It cost me over $3000 and it was pretty big and coming to me in a few different boxes. I get home one day and just see a bunch of boxes sitting in my driveway. It was parts to my machine. They were just sitting there for anybody to steal or open up. He didnt even bother to put it on the porche, just dropped it all off on the edge of my driveway. The rest of it came the next day. The biggest box. I notice it was not my normal UPS driver. My regular driver was older, and brought stuff right to your door. Maybe he retired. Anyway, I get another big box the next day. Printed on the box, it says it big letters: CAUTION THIS SIDE UP. So of course, he throws it on the hand truck upside down. I mention to him that the box is upside down, and he just says it should be o.k. And normally, I would agree, but the box said CAUTION. Does that not mean anything or maybe the guy was illiterate.

Anyway, my times up.

[Penguin]

Here in Canada, the only one I have complaints with is UPS. I work days and always need packages to be held for pickup. Typically, I have to call two or three times to get them to stop trying to ship the package to my empty apartment. And their brokerage fees for packages from the states are insane! Canada Customs charges $5 CAN for processing a package. UPS tacks on $30 US on top of the Canadian Goods and Services Tax and their extravagant shipping fees. Yeesh.

As for the rest, no problems. Fed Ex is always quick and courteous. Purolator as well. I've never even had issues with Canada Post, and they don't have a great reputation for efficiency.

Edited August 23, 2005 by Penguin

[chrono]

UPS - 90% of the time the product is fine and within 1 day of predicted time, other 10% is slightly roughed up and late.

FEDX - 95% of the time I've had excellent service and the deliver drone is personable, unless they are pressed for time. A couple of times I've had beat-up packages and 1 larger package was beat-up badly, had cuts, was crushed and clearly bent. I lucked out because it was a book of good thickness. Still wasn't happy though it cost me 60 bucks for that book and was a difficult find.

DHL - Never had them.

I've found that it generally depends on the box's size and labels on it. ALL of my anime boxs have been of virgin quality, but anything else has been abused somewhat.

[Mr March]

DHL is notoriously bad here in Canada. I will never willingly use them again.

322541[/snapback]

I can vouch for this.

Not only is DHL terrible for delivery, but they have a hideously user-unfriendly system for arranging alternate pickup. Last but not least, they have no online payment methods available in Canada and any outstanding bill must be paid by Money Order (I swear to god) sent via snailmail to an address on the other side of the country. What decade do they think this is? I'm having flashbacks of WWII!

[myk]

the further back in the truck your stuff was the more they would just throw it at the conveyor belt.  They purpously threw that stuff as hard as they could.  In his own words, "It could have said 'fragile baby' on the box and we would still hurl that sh*t as hard as we could." 

322528[/snapback]

That's actually true, at least from what I'm told happens with the USPS. I had a friend that worked as a carrier for them, and he tells me that if they encountered a parcel that indicated fragile contents that, out of spite, they would treat the parcel with as much abuse and disregard as they possibly could.

What the heck's wrong with these people...Being a restaurant Manager I can sympathize with hating your job, but you won't catch me or any of my employees spitting in people's food no matter how bad it gets...

[Project Phoenix]

USPS: The employees at the nearest branch were all alright and friendly except for two: an older male who is always moody, grumpy and snaps at people who irritates him with silly questions. A little racist 'cuz he is only nice to white and black folks but never to Asians(yes, I am a Chinese). Usually he would be very formal and very unfriendly whenever I ask him questions about shipping stuff. I usually resell my college text books at the beginning/end of a semester. The other one is a female who seems to have little regard for courtesy to customers. Her famous line is "Yes? What do you want?". As for the delivery part, the mails are always on time but packages tend to be either damaged, crushed or even mishandled. I used to subscribe to Newtype USA and there is always a huge sign that says "DVD inside. DO NOT bend." They bent it anyway. Then, if there are packages that barely fit my mailbox, instead of giving it to my apartment manager, they just shove it, breaking the packaging without a care in the world, hoping I won't notice. USPS needs some good ol' spanking IMO.

UPS: ALWAYS late with deliveries. Never on time and always the packages are thoroughly ripped and damaged. They are very cunning as to paste a little sticker that says it is not their fault the damage occured. It was the sender's responsibility for the flimsy packaging. What can brown do for you? Nothing, thank you very much.

FEDEX: Great service, friendly and on time all the time. Too bad their shipping cost is a little too high though.

DHL: Never used them before so no comments.

[Limbo]

UPS in florida is notorious for damaging packages... I had a nice Rocketeer poster delivered to me once with half of the carboard box TEARED apart with lots of damage to the poster.

I would say 70% of the boxes delivered by UPS on the last year had some kind of external damage to it. We even joke about the driver guy snapping and trowing boxes around (you know the begining of Ace Ventura when Jim Carey goes kicking a box all the way to the door? That kind of stuff)

[phoenix01]

UPS is union so I do not support them.

322630[/snapback]

Explain

322652[/snapback]

I don't know about Agent ONE, but I don't like them either because they are union. Not that you can avoid it much.

IIRC, UPS had a good thing going awhile back. They held lots of contracts with companies across the US for shipping. In 1997, UPS (Teamsters) union decided that the employees were "overworked" and demanded that UPS management hire many new employees (meaning more money in the Teamsters' coffers, BTW). UPS management said something along the lines of, "Go do something anatomically impossible to yourselves." On August 4, 1997, UPS Teamsters union went on strike, sending 185,000 people home nationwide. During the 16-day strike, UPS lost all those fat contracts due to no manpower to handle the workload. UPS management capitulates and hires new employees, but with no workload for them to handle anymore due to the lost contracts. The CEO lost his job over the whole thing. Two years later, UPS goes publicly traded.

No, I don't like unions. The state of Maryland forced me into a union once and I got to watch my hard earned dollars go to line someone else's pockets. Bad enough that the Fed's and the the state tax me, why should a union tax me too?

Edited August 24, 2005 by phoenix01

[Agent ONE]

UPS is union so I do not support them.

322630[/snapback]

Explain

322652[/snapback]

phoenix01 had some great comments.

Back in the day unions protected exploited workers, now THEY exploit workers by creating a loby for their cause which usually cripples or totally destroys the company that employs the union employees. The idea always works for shortsighted people who think of themselves without thinking of the consequences of their actions. My favorite union story is where the employees (union) of United Airlines decided to purchase the company at managements request, as management wrongfully thought the employees were smart enough to take value in owning part of the business... They were wrong. The dumbass employees paid themselves so much the company had to file for bankruptcy and they lost their stock and their pensions. Haw Haw! Those retards got exactly what they deserved.

Often unions make demands that shut companies down, then the employees sit around and wonder what happened. Unions are the cancer on US business.

[bsu legato]

Unions are the cancer on North American business.

322830[/snapback]

Fixed it for ya.

[mikeszekely]

UPS is union so I do not support them.

322630[/snapback]

Explain

322652[/snapback]

I don't know about Agent ONE, but I don't like them either because they are union. Not that you can avoid it much.

IIRC, UPS had a good thing going awhile back. They held lots of contracts with companies across the US for shipping. In 1997, UPS (Teamsters) union decided that the employees were "overworked" and demanded that UPS management hire many new employees (meaning more money in the Teamsters' coffers, BTW). UPS management said something along the lines of, "Go do something anatomically impossible to yourselves." On August 4, 1997, UPS Teamsters union went on strike, sending 185,000 people home nationwide. During the 16-day strike, UPS lost all those fat contracts due to no manpower to handle the workload. UPS management capitulates and hires new employees, but with no workload for them to handle anymore due to the lost contracts. The CEO lost his job over the whole thing. Two years later, UPS goes publicly traded.

No, I don't like unions. The state of Maryland forced me into a union once and I got to watch my hard earned dollars go to line someone else's pockets. Bad enough that the Fed's and the the state tax me, why should a union tax me too?

322826[/snapback]

Unions served a purpose when they helped underpaid workers doing dangerous jobs to get their employers to pay fair wages, provide workman's comp, etc.

Today, the only workers they help are the lazy and incompetent... they help them keep their jobs LONG after they should have been canned. Meanwhile the laziest of them all fund themselves by taking money from paychecks of employees who actually work.

That said, I've never dealt with DHL, but I've dealt with the other three. My experiences have always been good with USPS. Yes, postal employees can be a little cranky at times, but they get the job done. I've ordered things (from inside the US) and chose regular USPS shipping, and had it arrive within two days... not to mention that the shipping rates are pretty good. I bought a game for my friend and wanted to mail it to him while he was teaching English in Taiwan... I think it cost like $6 for Global Priority, and it got to him in about two weeks.

As for FedEx, on the few occasions when I've used them, they've been friendly and reliable, but slow as all get out. I ordered from the same store (I think animeniacs.net), but for orders over a certain size, they automatically use FedEx instead of USPS. Turnaround time goes from 2 days to 11. They also tend to be a bit on the expensive side.

And then there's UPS... as slow as FedEx, nearly as expensive, and totally incompetent. I ordered the Macross PS2 game from a certain online retailer, and they only use UPS. It was almost two weeks before the package was due to be delivered. I was out the first day, but my day off was the second. I spent the whole day waiting around for it, periodically checking the tracking. Imagine my suprise, then, when I checked it around 7:00pm, and noticed it was marked "second delivery attempt made." Of course, the driver never bothered to stop by, and didn't even put any kind of note on the door. I was on the phone complaining to several different people, demanding that my package be delivered and the driver terminated. And you know what? I STILL wound up having to drive out to the UPS center to pick it up myself, because even after my first tirade, they were STILL unable to get the package to my door.

Bottom line: I will NEVER ship via UPS, nor will I do any business with company/indivdual that only uses UPS for shipping. I reccomend you guys do the same.

[Agent ONE]

Unions are the cancer on North American business.

322830[/snapback]

Fixed it for ya.

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Ah, yes Canada has the same problems.

[Anubis]

Unions lately seem to charge quite a lot in dues. My mom works in safeway, and their union has some wierd stuff too. Their Dental plan rocks though.

I usually use USPS. They work pretty well over here (Rockville, MD). Damage is very rare and typically on time.

FedEx usually works very well too. Delivery is quick, and they're more careful with packages. We use them at work a lot (and the Post Office), and the only complaint I have is our pick-up guy sometimes comes WAY too early. That's about it though. Delivery at home is a pain because they require signatures, but that is very good from a security and relibility standpoint, unlike UPS, so I just have Newegg ship to my work address. My supersaver shipping arrives in two days.

UPS I try to stay away from. I've had a number of bangud up or missing boxes from Staples with them. I have regular contact with them through Staples, and there have been a number of times boxes come in mushed. It's also Staple's fault for not packing the boxes as tight as they should. They under-cushion them all the time so UPS only shares the blame.

Once I had a box from HLJ (a VF-19 that was on sale), and they delivered it to the totally wrong address (across town). The tracking online had been marked as delivered and had "Maryland Man" in the signature block. I was pissed. Inecusable not to put a name down or at least the delivery location. Unacceptable. If the guy the box got delivered too hadn't called me I'd never have known where it ended up. Good thing HLJ put the phone number on the box. He called me and I picked it up after work. UPS tried to brush me off when I called about it.

DHL I've never tried but heard enough bad things about that I won't try it.

[Father Jack]

UPS is union so I do not support them.

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Explain

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phoenix01 had some great comments.

Back in the day unions protected exploited workers, now THEY exploit workers by creating a loby for their cause which usually cripples or totally destroys the company that employs the union employees. The idea always works for shortsighted people who think of themselves without thinking of the consequences of their actions. My favorite union story is where the employees (union) of United Airlines decided to purchase the company at managements request, as management wrongfully thought the employees were smart enough to take value in owning part of the business... They were wrong. The dumbass employees paid themselves so much the company had to file for bankruptcy and they lost their stock and their pensions. Haw Haw! Those retards got exactly what they deserved.

Often unions make demands that shut companies down, then the employees sit around and wonder what happened. Unions are the cancer on US business.

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Ah that's what I thought. I thought there might be some sort of exotic reason, but that makes perfect sense.

[Warmaker]

Over here, in San Diego, California:

- UPS (Grade A): I usually have no problems with them. I can give specific instructions to whoever I do business with, and UPS carries out those instructions. My stuff has come in intact / good condition. Also, it helps that alot of my delivered items are done via UPS and it's to the point where I recognize the deliveryman

- USPS (Grade F): I deal with the USPS almost as commonly with packages as with the UPS. And I absolutely hate it. Their redelivery times are vague as hell on their notices. On top of that, the notices frequently don't mention that they won't try to redeliver. So, after some days expecting a redelivery and not getting one or another notice, I head over to the local USPS office. Only to wait in a long ass line for 10-15 minutes. It doesn't help that my imported stuff has to go through the USPS... ugh. Delivered items, when I eventually do get them, are at least intact.

- FEDex: Can't comment. I've dealt with them only a few times, and only for receiving something, but they worked out alright.

- DHL: Never used them before.

Edited August 25, 2005 by Warmaker

[sabretooth]

10 -15 minutes at the post office is really not that bad at all when you factor it all in.

usps has been great with me so far (knock on wood) except when a packadge that was being shipped to me spent three weeks in kansas for no explicable reason....

i kept checking the tracking number and after the first 4 days i started to get a little worried.

but is showed up and i really did'nt have to raise any kind of hell about it though, i was a little scared for a while...

[Chowser]

USPS: 50-50, my regular mail carrier is good with my packages. she'll pull up in my driveway and beep her horn to make sure i'm home, if i don't come out, she won't deliver, she'll try again the next day, if i'm not in, she'll leave it with my neighbor who is usually home.

at the post office, mostly get bad results, i've started just paying for postage online and dropping packages off. they even can't get that right. i had a prepaid package with EMS ready to go to Japan. went to the post office, and dude couldn't get anything to work right, nor the lady next to him, i told them, everything's paid for, just scan that barcode and stamp all the customs forms. blah, blah, blah, 15 minutes later, a manager comes out and does exactly what i told them to do.

UPS: my UPS driver is good, if I am not home, she will leave a note, usually, she tries to deliver by 12pm because she knows that i leave at 12:30 to go to work, if she can't get it to me by 12, she'll stop back at 5 when she knows my son is back from school. when i'm on night shift, she won't deliver till 3pm because she knows i don't get up till around 2ish.

, yes, the mail lady and UPS lady knows my shifts, usually in January, they ask what shift I'm on because they know i get alot of packages they always treat my packages with care (every christmas, i give them a few courtesy cards for the upcoming year)

FedEx: Well, only problem i have with fedex is, they always just drop the packages off on my porch, no knock, no sig, etc. i.e. I got my Luke ANH EE left on my doorstep with not a knock, i just happened to look out the window when I heard a THUMP and noticed the fedex guy going back to his truck.

DHL: well, don't know, had only one package delivered by them, and i was asleep and found it INSIDE my back door. (my neighbor and his friends were gutting my bathroom at the time, so i assume the DHL guy left it with them seeing as how he was always coming over for coffee with them while they were working on my bathroom).

[Roy Focker]

About Unions Talk of them might going into politics:

I've been with two different companies but in the same union for over a year and read the current contract. My only personal contact with them is when they think I owe them money. Several times I had to call them and explain to them that I already paid. Besides that they haven't done squat for me. Been joing the union I even sent a couple of email, letters about questions I had no answers.

Old employees got benefits after 90 days. New employees get them after six months and the level of coverage is pretty useless until you've been at it for a couple of years. I lost the little benefits that I had when I switch companies. Never left the union but my benefit go back to ground zero. Strange enough my pay does reflect my experience. I thank my current employer for that they offerred me more than what I was getting but said they might have to check with the union about it. I'm still making squat but it just sorta of urked me that they had to check with the union if it was alright to pay me a bit more than other new hires.

In a recent union flyer the union said unlike non union companies they make sure workers get a wage you can live on. Funny according to the current contract, "No worker will make less then a dime above minium wage." Unions are only good for those who run them and workers who have been in them a long time. When ever you hear of a strike over some issue that reaches a settlement the results are always the same. The workers get to keep what they had plus a little bonus but the new hires will get less and the Employers are happy. It's a selfish system in which older workers will sale out new ones.

I'd like to say I refuse to join the union but than I lose my job. So I continue to pay these mobsters money so that others can enjoy more benefits and higher wages that I'll never be able to get myself. I always wondered why couldn't you just start your own union with in the union?

[bsu legato]

DHL is notoriously bad here in Canada. I will never willingly use them again.

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I can vouch for this.

Not only is DHL terrible for delivery, but they have a hideously user-unfriendly system for arranging alternate pickup. Last but not least, they have no online payment methods available in Canada and any outstanding bill must be paid by Money Order (I swear to god) sent via snailmail to an address on the other side of the country. What decade do they think this is? I'm having flashbacks of WWII!

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I can top that. I had a firearms dealer in Ontario ship me a new handgun last year. As per the law, it was sent by the absolute most secure service available, which meant that only certain certified personell could even touch the package. But in spite of that, DHL managed to lose my handgun for nearly a week! Their online tracking service inexplicably showed it as still being in the loading dock in Mississauga. After chasing after them for a day or two, they managed to locate it here in Winnipeg (!) and it promptly and quietly showed up at my door. They came VERY close to being reported to the RCMP for theft that day.

[Macross73]

I know this is a very old topic but i was wondering if anyone has had any difficulty with sending items

to either Argentina or Australia. Any problems sending stuff from the U.S to other countries?

Heres what happened:

I had some bidders win auctions. The item to Argentina was sent via USPS Airmail/Priority 11/17/06

and the other via USPS Non-priority/Surface 10/01/06. Both claim that the packages havent arrived.

I contacted USPS and started an inquiry but I haven't heard anything yet. Since I dont have tracking # I cant

tell where the items are. The thing is, I offered the Winners the option to send the stuff EMS or not. Big

mistake. They chose the cheaper method. The winner in Argentina left Negative Feedback and claims that I

never sent it. The one in Australia wants a refund. I'm thinking maybe the stuff got stuck in Customs but I cant

confirm that. So lesson learned send everything EMS so that theres a Tracking #.