[Boatanchors] My UPS experience

[EP Swynar]

Hi Jack,

Interesting, all these comparative notes on UPS...!

There was a unique piece recently in THE TORONTO STAR newspaper about how
Canucks here in The Great White North are discovering, much to their chagrin
& lament, that UPS --- and others of their ilk --- are not the most
conducive partners when it comes to e-commerce & cross-border shopping...

Specifically, UPS's odious policy of leveraging a MINIMUM brokerage fee of
$25.00 on EVERYTHING that it might carry across that huge, wide, near
insurmountable no-man's-land chasm known as the 49th Parallel, was mentioned
(how the USPS, & Canada Post, manage to do it --- for free, most times --- 
obviously escapes the commercial carriers).

I, too, have been left notification on my doorstep in the past that I can
cheerfully collect my undelivered UPS parcels at their conveniently located
delivery point...30 miles away(!)...

But what really, REALLY frosts me about these guys is the fact that they had
the audacity to launch legal action against Canada Post a few years ago,
when our mail service was attempting to get an overnight delivery system of
their own going here in this country: UPS sued them, saying they were
subsidized by our federal government, and thus were benefiting directly in
an unfair way that was in violation of accepted trade policies! (or words to
that effect).

Remember, UPS are the SAME GUYS who were late in bidding on portions of what
once was the old 220-MHz Ham band, were granted special consideration by the
FCC forgiving their tardiness, & then bought these frequencies, forcing
Amateurs in that part of the spectrum out of there, forever...

How soon we all forget! "...With friends like that..." well, you know the
rest...

~73!~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ


*****************************************


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Taylor" <jack at n7oo.com>
To: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 12:01 PM
Subject: [Boatanchors] My UPS experience


> Living in a rural area UPS charges extra for delivery to my zip code.  I
have a simple
> driveway gate and in recent years, UPS will not deliver to the house.
They simply
> DROP the parcel over the gate.  I'm retired and since the gate is several
hundred feet
> out of sight from the house, the package may lay there for a day or two,
unless I be
> alert to the tracking information.
>
> If a package receipt is required I'm SOL.  The driver leaves a notice on
the gate saying
> "Receiver not available, will attempt delivery again".  Of course he/she
doesn't indicate
> WHEN the next delivery attempt is to be made.  This process is repeated a
couple more
> times and I have to drive 20 miles out of my way to the UPS site in order
to get the parcel
> before it's returned.
>
> Thusfar complaints to UPS fall upon deaf ears.  It's not practical to
leave my gate open
> for any period due to the real possibility of animal invasion.
>
> Second experience.
>
> Items sent via UPS from an electronics parts house arrives at the UPS
center in Tucson.
> UPS takes the package out of their system and enters it into the USPS
system for delivery
> to my address!  If I had mail delivery to my house, this would be okay.
However my community
> mailbox is 3/4 of a mile away necessitating a mile and a half round trip
and up to two days
> delay due to the transfer or possibly more, since I usually pick up my
mail twice a week.
>
> I know, I'm whining but there was a time when the "S" in UPS stood for
SERVICE!
>
> 73 de Jack - N7OO
>
>
> _______________________________________________