MP 7,1 Incompetent UPS Delivery Company

[Merlin65]

He is a funny tale.

I ordered a Mac Pro with XDR display. High specification. High price - looking forward to it. Then UPS got involved!

I am in the UK so the Mac Pro ships from China. Goes to Korea then Germany. German customs hold it for 3 days but that's okay as there is a worldwide virus and they are perhaps doing checks - benefit of the doubt!

It then ships to UPS in good old England. I am told it will be delivered Monday. Doesn't arrive. Then Tuesday - doesn't arrive. Then Wednesday - doesn't arrive. UPS posts that "they have mis-sorted the package and it will be delayed". In other words they lost it. Apple get involved by Thursday and UPS tells the first Apple contact that it is out for delivery on Thursday and their tracking system is wrong. An hour later another Apple contact is told by UPS that the delivery will be Friday and the package will be shipped to my local UPS depot Thursday night. I told Apple I don't believe it but even I couldn't second guess what UPS did next!

Thursday night they are supposed to ship the Mac Pro to my local UPS depot in the UK. What do they do instead? They ship it straight back to the same depot from whence it came in GERMANY - where it sits for 3 days doing nothing. At this point I suspect Apple roasted UPS because after 3 days sitting in Germany it arrived at my door extremely quickly after it left Germany.

The package arrived with the bottom about to fall out and wet/damp and a little battered. But I can't test it because the XDR display is shipping a week behind the Mac Pro. So it is a sad looking object sitting on the floor waiting for the XDR to arrive to verify that it works.

UPS sends a notification the XDR is arriving last Monday. It didn't. Then it was Wednesday - it didn't. Then it was going to be tomorrow (Friday 13th). The XDR comes from China too. Then Korea. Then Germany and passes customs in a day. Then it gets shipped to the UK arriving on 11th. UPS has plenty of time to deliver on 13th. They just have to ship to my local UPS depot and send the van out. What do they do? They ship the XDR and stand back to the same UPS depot in GERMANY from which it came. Tonight I received an update telling me the delivery will now be 17th when it should have been 13th.

I know by 17th I will be reporting it didn't show up.

This is not what I expected. UPS have been incompetent and appalling. Not once but twice. How on earth can you take a package from your depot in Germany, lose it in the UK for 3 days and when you find it again you send it back to Germany. And you do it all again with another package a week later.

UPS - you are completely incompetent and I have had enough. You can come collect the Mac Pro and return it to Apple.

 

[Theophilos]

Sounds eerily familiar and not unlike my tale:

Mac Pro Lost in Transit! Terrible Apple Customer Service

Just thought I’d share my experience ordering the 2019 Mac Pro to vent my frustration and caution others who might find themselves in the same situation. I ordered the Mac Pro on Jan. 2 after years of saving up to replace my 2013 model, which I use for video, DTP, and digital art. It was...

forums.macrumors.com

Sorry for the bad experience

 

[Merlin65]

Sounds eerily familiar and not unlike my tale:

Mac Pro Lost in Transit! Terrible Apple Customer Service

Just thought I’d share my experience ordering the 2019 Mac Pro to vent my frustration and caution others who might find themselves in the same situation. I ordered the Mac Pro on Jan. 2 after years of saving up to replace my 2013 model, which I use for video, DTP, and digital art. It was...

forums.macrumors.com

Sorry for the bad experience

OMG so this is normal? I suppose I should be grateful UPS managed to find me at all! I am totally deflated.

 

[defjam]

Mistakes happen. UPS handles a lot of packages each and every day. It's inevitable they're occasionally going to make a few mistakes. You now have your Mac Pro and you'll soon have your XDR display.

 

[Merlin65]

Mistakes happen. UPS handles a lot of packages each and every day. It's inevitable they're occasionally going to make a few mistakes. You now have your Mac Pro and you'll soon have your XDR display.

Sorry but I don't view this as a few mistakes and we should just accept that. It is pretty dumb to bounce two different orders back and forward between two UPS depots in UK and Germany. Once is a mistake. Twice is sloppy and suggests a rotten core.

 

[defjam]

Sorry but I don't view this as a few mistakes and we should just accept that. It is pretty dumb to bounce two different orders back and forward between two UPS depots in UK and Germany. Once is a mistake. Twice is sloppy and suggests a rotten core.

You've made no more than one mistake in your entire life? Go ahead and punish them, go ahead and return your Mac Pro, that will teach them.

 

[Merlin65]

You've made no more than one mistake in your entire life? Go ahead and punish them, go ahead and return your Mac Pro, that will teach them.

We are not talking about an entire life. We are talking about weeks. Do you work for UPS?

Anyway. I posted this for the benefit of others coming behind me who can decide for themselves whether this is acceptable. From my perspective it is sloppy but perhaps if I worked for UPS I would be trying to make light of it too.

And as for returning my Mac Pro? I have nothing to worry about. It would be UPS coming to collect it and they would never be able to find my address! They clearly think a UK address is in Germany! lol

 

[defjam]

We are not talking about an entire life. We are talking about weeks. Do you work for UPS?

Yeah, that's got to be it. I mean who would actually believe a company which handles millions of packages a day might occasionally make a mistake. It's much more plausible that the person making such a statement works for the company in question.

Anyway. I posted this for the benefit of others coming behind me who can decide for themselves whether this is acceptable. From my perspective it is sloppy but perhaps if I worked for UPS I would be trying to make light of it too.

What benefit? What have you accomplished? Is this going to prevent future errors? Does it help others (at this time a whopping one) with the problems they experienced? Other than ranting I can't see how this benefits anyone. But maybe I overlooked something. After all I am a UPS employee and we all know what idiots they are...right?

 

[Merlin65]

We are not talking about an entire life. We are talking about weeks. Do you work for UPS?

Yeah, that's got to be it. I mean who would actually believe a company which handles millions of packages a day might occasionally make a mistake. It's much more plausible that the person making such a statement works for the company in question.


What benefit? What have you accomplished? Is this going to prevent future errors? Does it help others (at this time a whopping one) with the problems they experienced? Other than ranting I can't see how this benefits anyone. But maybe I overlooked something. After all I am a UPS employee and we all know what idiots they are...right?

Given the balls up over only TWO packages I would hate to think how millions are handled.

Anyway I bow to your superior knowledge and intellect.

Welcome to my ignored list! Post away and shine your intellect on someone else. I would rather yawn!

 

[defjam]

Anyway I bow to your superior knowledge and intellect.

There's nothing superior about common sense. Mistakes happen, that's the reality of life. What is unreasonable is thinking they don't.

 

[goMac]

UPS - you are completely incompetent and I have had enough. You can come collect the Mac Pro and return it to Apple.

Uhhhhh...

Someone has to pay UPS to pick the Mac Pro back up and ship it back. All this does is help UPS and make them more money.

 

[MIKX]

A little empathy, sympathy wouldn't go astray seeing that we're all Mac users, owners here.

 

[defjam]

A little empathy, sympathy wouldn't go astray seeing that we're all Mac users, owners here.

Do you mean like:

You now have your Mac Pro and you'll soon have your XDR display.

 

[konqerror]

You are making an incorrect assumption: your package was never shipped back and forth. It never left Germany or perhaps it was delayed from China or Korea.

When a package is "scanned" it doesn't mean the package was physically scanned, but rather some event happened. Nearly all carriers use this "virtual scan", because enroute events occur where packages aren't individually sorted.

For example, your parcel was loaded into an airfreight container, which was loaded into an airplane. When the airplane departs, all of the parcels associated in the system with the containers loaded into the aircraft receive a departure scan.

If your parcel could not be loaded into the container it was scheduled for, and was not otherwise rehandled before the aircraft departs, then it will receive a departure and arrival scan but in actuality it never departed, nor arrived.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Funny UPS story: I had a shipment coming from a Chicago warehouse to my old company in Ohio. I got the routine down, and it goes to some Chicago huge shipping/routing center, and will sit there over a day, then go to Toledo, adding a day onto ship time. But sometimes, it skips the Chicago center, and hits Toledo right off, so it gets there the next day. Okay, got it down.

The package is ordered, and it's shipped and picked up. It hits the Chicago center, so I figure add a day. The box shows shipped the next morning, so I figure the next day, it'll hit Toledo, and be here that day. So I wait. No Toledo scan. Which, surprisingly isn't entirely unheard of, but the package doesn't show. I call UPS. They don't have a clue where it went. I call the warehouse, and they trace it and say 'give it a few days'. I wait. The week passes, and it's Monday. No box. Tuesday, no box. Call UPS, 'It's coming'. Call warehouse, UPS says it's 'delayed'. Really now...

Wednesday, no box. Thursday, things get interesting. It's on a truck for delivery. Oh, wait for it...

In PORTLAND OREGON!!!

I call UPS, What's it doing in Portland Oregon? 'Um, it's on a truck for delivery.' Um, to WHOM??? I'm in OHIO! 'Oh. Well, we can't stop the truck, but we will flag the box and pull it tonight and get it back to Chicago, and on to you.'

So, it shows back in the Portland terminal, flagged as an 'exception', and I see it left there too. Days pass, and it hits Chicago. Next morning, it's left Chicago again. I wait. No Toledo scan. I wait another day, no Toledo scan. I call UPS. I give them the tracking number, and relay what happened, how it ended up in Portland. They say, yeah, it's on it's way. It'll be there in a day or so. I tease them by asking what happens if it shows up in Portland again, and am told 'Don't worry, it won't.' So I wait. DAYS go by. The next week. Then Thursday, it shows up in Portland again!!!

I call UPS, and ask for the person I had before. I ask them to track the package. I said Guess what! It's in Portland again! They act all flustered, and put me on hold. They come back on and say that they are 'expediting' this issue, and will see to it that the package doesn't go back to Portland again. I tell them that I've never been to Portland, but my package has been there TWICE!!! They don't laugh.

So, next morning, I check for the tracking number, and it comes up blank. About 20 minutes later I get a call, 'UPS is here. They have a box for you.'

UPS has a wide array of services. Everything from ground, to a service called 'Sonic'. Sonic is same day shipping. It's insanely expensive, and they get stuff done. They Sonic'ed the box from Portland to Detroit, and a small van from there. I call UPS to thank them for finding the package, and getting it here. She said that 'It was in the pilot's lap the whole trip to you.' which sounds creepy, but wow, they weren't kidding around. They skipped all the parts in between Portalnd and me. It had a new tracking number which was why it disappeared.

So, yeah, UPS can really screw some stuff up.


Yeah, shipping issues... I feel your angst. I didn't use UPS again for a couple of years after that mess. Yikes...

 

[konqerror]

So, next morning, I check for the tracking number, and it comes up blank. About 20 minutes later I get a call, 'UPS is here. They have a box for you.'

The issue is likely the shipper's fault, not UPS. The shipper is responsible for assigning a unique tracking number within a certain range UPS assigns them. When shippers screw up and assign the same number twice, then this happens. UPS figured it out and simply blocked tracking of that number to keep you from getting worked up.

It's impossible a package destined for a different state gets on a truck for delivery. Each driver is assigned a certain territory, to figure out which truck it's going on, the system has looked at the location based on the street address. In fact, in the past few years, they assign drivers and routes based on turn-by-turn driving analysis, so the system has looked at the exact coordinates of the delivery.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

The issue is likely the shipper's fault, not UPS. The shipper is responsible for assigning a unique tracking number within a certain range UPS assigns them. When shippers screw up and assign the same number twice, then this happens. UPS figured it out and simply blocked tracking of that number to keep you from getting worked up.

No, that's not what happened, according to our usual UPS driver. He said that the box probably had a bar code on it that their system interpreted as a valid tracking number. I showed him the box, I kept it for a few months. It was a center of attraction for a while around there. And the original label was on it too. Then he said that the label was 'mis-keyed' somehow. *shrug* The driver said they probably hand scanned the new Sonic label and hand carried the box to the plane. He actually didn't doubt the comment that the box was 'in the pilot's lap', but more like it was in a box in the cockpit. He claimed to have had 'a few instances like that' happen. I guess you have to figure that they will eventually lose some packages, occasionally. This story was funny because it was just so bizarre. Portland. TWICE! And I still haven't been to Portland. *sigh*

But the OP's post is just crazy...

(Although I did have a package that was being held at the local UPS terminal, which is just down the road from where I live now. They refused to give it to me, because it wasn't supposed to be 'delivered' until the next day. I was floored. It's here, I'm here, why can't I have it? Because you can't! We have a contract to only deliver it on the date specified. But I won't tell anyone! Nope. I left empty handed. GRRR...)

 

[konqerror]

No, that's not what happened, according to our usual UPS driver. He said that the box probably had a bar code on it that their system interpreted as a valid tracking number. I showed him the box, I kept it for a few months. It was a center of attraction for a while around there. And the original label was on it too.

There's no keying unless it was a handwritten label. If you look at a UPS label, the small barcode has the destination ZIP, and on top of it is printed the destination state and how it's sorted down to the individual customer center. This is all generated at the time the label is printed. If the shipper used the correct ZIP code, there's no way it would be routed to the wrong state, and as I said, since the system needs to resolve your address, there's no way it would make it on a truck.

They're just telling tall tales to make you feel special. Occam's razor: the shipper just incorrectly duplicated the tracking number on a package destined for Portland.

But the OP's post is just crazy...

And as I said, it's the same situation as yours: a tracking artifact.

 

[Merlin65]

You are making an incorrect assumption: your package was never shipped back and forth. It never left Germany or perhaps it was delayed from China or Korea.

When a package is "scanned" it doesn't mean the package was physically scanned, but rather some event happened. Nearly all carriers use this "virtual scan", because enroute events occur where packages aren't individually sorted.

For example, your parcel was loaded into an airfreight container, which was loaded into an airplane. When the airplane departs, all of the parcels associated in the system with the containers loaded into the aircraft receive a departure scan.

If your parcel could not be loaded into the container it was scheduled for, and was not otherwise rehandled before the aircraft departs, then it will receive a departure and arrival scan but in actuality it never departed, nor arrived.

According to Apple and UPS the packages were transferred back to Germany and German customs took them back in for checking. When the Mac Pro arrived it came with two sets of German custom stamps. So I think on this occasion they did physically return to the prior depot.
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There's no keying unless it was a handwritten label. If you look at a UPS label, the small barcode has the destination ZIP, and on top of it is printed the destination state and how it's sorted down to the individual customer center. This is all generated at the time the label is printed. If the shipper used the correct ZIP code, there's no way it would be routed to the wrong state, and as I said, since the system needs to resolve your address, there's no way it would make it on a truck.

They're just telling tall tales to make you feel special. Occam's razor: the shipper just incorrectly duplicated the tracking number on a package destined for Portland.



And as I said, it's the same situation as yours: a tracking artifact.

Tracking wasn't blocked in my case for both packages. In reality I have three tracking numbers as the stand was sent independently along with the display. The tracking is working and when Apple have queried the return to Germany UPS has accepted that is where the packages went back too. The Mac Pro has arrived and the custom documents from Germany show it was there twice on the dates matching the tracking.

The tracking isn't false or blocked. The Mac Pro was sent from Germany to UK to Germany to UK to me.

 

[konqerror]

The tracking is working and when Apple have queried the return to Germany UPS has accepted that is where the packages went back too. The Mac Pro has arrived and the custom documents from Germany show it was there twice on the dates matching the tracking.

UPS customer agents don't have any more information than you do online, and besides they're low-paid telephone reps. Same on the Apple side.

I still maintain that the package never left Germany due to a delay. It was supposed to leave Germany, it received virtual scans that said it was, but it never left Germany, and no actual scan shows that.

This is the whole point of figuring out UPS, and FedEx, and whoever's tracking data. A scan does not mean physical location.

 

[Average Pro]

I suggest searching for videos of how the Mac Pro is handled from the truck to your door step. Some are impossible to believe.

 

[MisterAndrew]

I don't understand the problem. You (the OP) didn't tell us what condition the actual Mac Pro is in. You said the shipping box wasn't in good shape, but if the Mac is fine then what's the problem? It didn't arrive as soon as you wanted it to. Big deal. As others have said UPS is a gigantic logistics company and handles millions of parcels on a daily basis. Most employees are underpaid and overworked. They also don't care what's inside the box. That's why you pack it well and hope for the best.

I've also seen wonky tracking on the UPS page. One item I had shipped to me from the UK showed it arrived in New York and then it went back to the UK, and then back to New York, but in actuality those were virtual scans and it didn't really travel back across the ocean. UPS has also damaged things of mine. One was a very expensive brand new part for a classic car that had been sitting in the manufacture's warehouse for ~20 years and it was the very last one (no one had purchased it until then because the part number wasn't well known). The company that made it went out of business years ago and the part was so specialized & unique no one has been able to recreate it, so it cannot be replaced. Of course UPS damaged it. It was pristine for all those years until they got their hands on it. Of course part of the blame rests with the car company which didn't package it well enough for shipment. That's much more sad than UPS delaying shipment of a replaceable computer.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Yeah, that's got to be it. I mean who would actually believe a company which handles millions of packages a day might occasionally make a mistake. It's much more plausible that the person making such a statement works for the company in question.


What benefit? What have you accomplished? Is this going to prevent future errors? Does it help others (at this time a whopping one) with the problems they experienced? Other than ranting I can't see how this benefits anyone. But maybe I overlooked something. After all I am a UPS employee and we all know what idiots they are...right?

What do you call this situation? UPS employee delivers a package in the pouring rain, LITERALLY drops it on the walkway three feet from the door which is covered from the elements, turns around, and goes back to his van? A mistake?

True story. I saw it with my own eyes. It was my package. I know that most delivery drivers have a hard job, and management is all over them, but does the customer need to suffer because of this? I would bet that if this was their package, they would have ripped the person who did it a new *******.

 

[Merlin65]

I don't understand the problem. You (the OP) didn't tell us what condition the actual Mac Pro is in. You said the shipping box wasn't in good shape, but if the Mac is fine then what's the problem? It didn't arrive as soon as you wanted it to. Big deal. As others have said UPS is a gigantic logistics company and handles millions of parcels on a daily basis. Most employees are underpaid and overworked. They also don't care what's inside the box. That's why you pack it well and hope for the best.

I've also seen wonky tracking on the UPS page. One item I had shipped to me from the UK showed it arrived in New York and then it went back to the UK, and then back to New York, but in actuality those were virtual scans and it didn't really travel back across the ocean. UPS has also damaged things of mine. One was a very expensive brand new part for a classic car that had been sitting in the manufacture's warehouse for ~20 years and it was the very last one (no one had purchased it until then because the part number wasn't well known). The company that made it went out of business years ago and the part was so specialized & unique no one has been able to recreate it, so it cannot be replaced. Of course UPS damaged it. It was pristine for all those years until they got their hands on it. Of course part of the blame rests with the car company which didn't package it well enough for shipment. That's much more sad than UPS delaying shipment of a replaceable computer.

I am sorry to hear about your car. Replaceable or not the Mac Pro was important to me and my reason to post was to highlight how incompetent UPS had been bouncing the package between countries and losing it for 3 days. I was shocked by UPS as I had more faith in them but it appears from other posts on here this is more the norm.

 

[laptech]

Companies should not be making mistakes and the fact that people defend them is disturbing. If you are employed to do a job then you should do it to the best of your ability. You do not slack, you do not complain, you get on with doing your job. If there are legitimate reasons to complain about your job then you do so in the proper manner by following company procedure. If you are still not happy with the outcome then you are duty bound to leave. You do not say and try to 'stick one to the management' because in doing so, errors start creaping into the job and mistakes start to happen and when that happens, others start to get affected to.

Errors such as the ones the OP reports about should never happen but they do, especially in a delivery company because the working environment is usually a case of overworked and underpaid. Workers get to the point where they just don't care anymore and quality starts to suffer. UPS i am sure have quality controls procedures in place to make such errors do not happen because people are trained on how to do their job properly.

If a worker does not like their job, then leave. I do not want to hear excuses of 'but i can't leave because there is no other work', or 'i can't leave because i need to support my family', because ALL workers should take pride in their job, no matter what crap they are given by their bosses. You never ever lower your work standards to the point where others who have no say or control over the issues affecting the employee, such as customers of delivery companies.

Do a job properly and mistakes will not get made.