Brown is the color of shit.

In my last post I talked about how I ordered a new laptop. It was supposed to be delivered via UPS. And, according to Wal-Mart's web site, it would be delivered today. I am writing this blog post on my ancient Apple iBook. Read this letter to find out why. The letter will be updated before I actually send it to UPS, so I can include any information about what happens when I go back to the UPS store on Monday.

To Whom It May Concern:

I usually do not make a point of complaining when I receive below average service from a company. In fact, I believe this is the first time I have ever written a letter of complaint. What moved me to write this letter was my experience with your company today, which was by far the worst customer service I have ever received from any company or organization, bar none.

A few days ago, I ordered a laptop computer online via www.walmart.com. Since I needed the computer right away, I elected to pay extra for next day delivery, which cost $22.97. The computer did not ship for a couple of days, which is not the fault of UPS (or of Wal-Mart, for that matter). It took a couple of days for my payment to clear, and I expected that. I received notification that the package had shipped on Thursday, August 21 and it would be delivered Friday, August 22.

I am currently on vacation, so I was home all day. I live in an apartment building, and I was concerned the driver might have trouble getting my package directly to my door, so I went out into the hallway and the entranceway several times that morning to see if the package had been left there. Around 11:30 a.m. I found a note attached to the doorway saying that the driver had been there to deliver the package but no one was home and so it was returned to the warehouse, and another delivery attempt would be made on Monday.

Obviously, I did not see the driver while he was here, but it seems to me he couldn’t have made much of an attempt to get inside the building. People often go in and out, and if he had knocked on the front door, there’s a good chance someone in an apartment on that side of the building would have heard. Also, I never received a phone call. When I placed the order on Wal-Mart’s web site, I supplied my cell phone number. I do not know if UPS normally attempts to contact people by phone when they’re not home to receive their package, but doesn’t that seem like the kind of thing you should do? You’re in the business of delivering things to people, so it would probably be beneficial to contact your customers to find out the best way to complete the transaction.

I did not want to wait until Monday to get the computer, so I called UPS to arrange to pick up the package later in the day. The representative told me that I could go to the UPS Store at 6975 Northern Boulevard in East Syracuse between 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. that evening to receive the package. I told her I would so.

So I took the time out from my Friday night to make a special trip to the UPS Store. I arrived there around 7:15 p.m. There were two customers ahead of me in line. The first was a young woman who was expecting several packages to be delivered to her residence, but she experienced a problem similar to mine. The driver apparently could not get into the building, so he just left a note on the door (I heard the young woman say she lived in a sorority house). The customer and the UPS employees were having a disagreement because the customer claimed only one attempt to deliver her packages had been made, and the UPS staff claimed three attempts had already been made. I, of course, do not know all the details of this situation and cannot make any judgments regarding who was in the right and who was in the wrong, but the point is that the customer was very unhappy with the service she had received, and the staff at the customer service center did not seem friendly, helpful, or sympathetic to her situation in any way. She eventually left with the situation unresolved.

The next person in line was a young man who had been to the UPS store the night before to pick up a package. He got the package, took it home, and opened the box. He was expecting to find stereo speakers. He found a shotgun instead. This really happened. I can only assume that accidentally giving firearms to people without any sort of background check is not something your company would like to make a habit of. I will concede that the customer is partly at fault in this situation, since stereo speakers and shotguns do not have remotely similar shapes, and he probably should have sensed something was awry when they gave him a box shaped... like a shotgun.

The young man eventually received the correct package and left. Now it was my turn. I had my driver’s license ready to prove who I was. I had the note the driver had left attached to my door earlier in the day. I had my tracking number and all the details of my order. The man working at the counter got my last name and the name of my street, then went to find my package, and I waited for him to return. And waited. And waited. He returned about 15 minutes later. With no package. He informed me that my package had been misplaced when it was brought back to the warehouse. It was supposed to be set aside for pickup, but apparently just went with all the other packages. The man claimed there was no way for them to locate the package that night, so I would need to pick it up at a later date. At no point did he apologize, and the entire time he acted as though he were the one who had been inconvenienced. I should have asked this man’s name, but I was so frustrated at the time that I forgot about it. I suppose you could just look at the records and see who was working the customer service desk at that location between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 22. I can only hope they are better at keeping their records than they are at providing customer service or delivering packages.

Since I did not see any other options available, I agreed to come back to the UPS Store on Monday, August 25 and pick up the package then. So now I will make a second trip to this location (when I should not have needed to make any) and I will receive the package four days after Wal-Mart shipped it. And I remind you that I paid to have it delivered the next day. Also, it’s not as if I passively sat at home and waited for the situation to resolve itself, or waited for the package to come to me. I made an active, conscious effort to retrieve my package, and was thwarted at every turn.

Since I did not receive the service I paid for (next-day delivery), and because this was caused by the staggering incompetence of the UPS staff in Syracuse, I fully expect to be reimbursed the $22.97 I paid for shipping. I could also ask to be compensated for the miles I drove on my two trips to the UPS store, and for all the time I unnecessarily spent on this situation, but I would settle for the shipping cost.

I am a reasonable person, and I understand that I should not hold a grudge against an entire company because of one bad experience with a few specific employees. The truth is I have received a number of items from UPS in the past, and have not had any problems until now. Therefore, I will continue to do business with you if I receive what I consider to be a satisfactory response to this complaint. If not, I will simply take my business to FedEx or the Postal Service. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

Nicholas C. Roberts