A rant on UPS....

U

User.191

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I get that UPS can be, shall we say, a tish optimistic these days when it comes to delivery options, but this is beyond the pale.

My new iPad - according to Apple - was due to be here on June 1st. Zero objections to that. UPS thought it would be today.

Well, they're still saying today, despite the fact it's currently in South Korea.

Problem is, that I'm heading out for a quick weekend trip tomorrow so wanted to change the delivery date with UPS to Tuesday (the same date Apple have), however if I tried to do that on the UPS web site I get told it'll cost me $14.99!

So I try calling the international UPS number. Only took me about 10 attempts for the bloody system to take my tracking number and when it finally did, it told me it's "en-route" and so they can't help me and goodbye.

Eventually I backdoor my way in after speaking to UPS domestic first, before being routed to international, and then I speak to a classic Customer "Unservice" rep who's a total dickhead.

I explain to him that I've zero concerns about the delay and I fully get it and that all I want them to do is waive the $15.00 charge, or even the $5.00 redirection to a UPS store fee.

Nope - he can't do that because "Apple won't allow him to give me the free redirect".

I told him multiple times that since it's UPS leveraging the fee, they can waive it and he STILL continues to blame Apple telling me it's their fault.

Issue one: how do people with speech impairments deal with these systems? In a sense I have one because I still have my English accent and always have issues with American voice systems due to it. I can only imagine how hard it is for folk with real problems and there's no way to supply the number via the touch-tone keypad (at least, I wasn't offered one).
Issue two: why won't UPS provide an option to speak to a human after providing this information, especially as the package has ZERO chance of making its delivery date?
Issue three: why are UPS so obstinate that they're not waive fees when THEY miss delivery dates.

I ended up telling the UPS guy I spoke to that "With all due respect, you're a fucking idiot" then hung up. I try not to use profanity on a call but that fuckwit totally deserved it since he didn't grasp the fundamental difference between a free service and waiving a fee for paid for services.

I did ask to speak to a supervisor. Apparently I'll get a call back in the next 8 hours....
 
D

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Nope - he can't do that because "Apple won't allow him to give me the free redirect".

I told him multiple times that since it's UPS leveraging the fee, they can waive it and he STILL continues to blame Apple telling me it's their fault.

TLDR: it’s probably bullshit because “blame the other party” is easier than doing some actual work.

I’m not sure if it’s an official practice or just something customer service chumps learn but I’ve experience similar.

I booked a whole house on Airbnb. The owner accepted the booking, they charged my card. One or two days before the booking the owner cancelled the booking for a “family emergency”.
Airbnb refunded my money. I found a different place, booked it - they charged my card, then told me “you need to verify your identity to confirm this booking. Sign in with Facebook”. I don’t use fb. “Ok you can just upload a video about who you are and what you plan to do while staying here”. You can fuck right off. They have(or had) no weekend customer service in Australia, I had to ring the US to demand they either accept the booking or refund my money. Can’t accept the booking despite billing my card twice and refunding it once. When I told him to refund me “ok we can do that but it’s gonna take up to 7 days. The bank just doesn’t believe we want to refund your money instantly

its bullshit. They just don’t have actual charge refund processes (which admittedly were ridiculous at the time - it involved sending a fax to the bank) and rely on the charge authorisation on the card expiring without being captured.

Fortunately I have a simpler solution than you do with UPS. I’ve just resolved to never use Airbnb, ever. You can’t always choose who ships your parcels, which is a pity.
 
U

User.191

Guest
TLDR: it’s probably bullshit because “blame the other party” is easier than doing some actual work.

I’m not sure if it’s an official practice or just something customer service chumps learn but I’ve experience similar.

I booked a whole house on Airbnb. The owner accepted the booking, they charged my card. One or two days before the booking the owner cancelled the booking for a “family emergency”.
Airbnb refunded my money. I found a different place, booked it - they charged my card, then told me “you need to verify your identity to confirm this booking. Sign in with Facebook”. I don’t use fb. “Ok you can just upload a video about who you are and what you plan to do while staying here”. You can fuck right off. They have(or had) no weekend customer service in Australia, I had to ring the US to demand they either accept the booking or refund my money. Can’t accept the booking despite billing my card twice and refunding it once. When I told him to refund me “ok we can do that but it’s gonna take up to 7 days. The bank just doesn’t believe we want to refund your money instantly

its bullshit. They just don’t have actual charge refund processes (which admittedly were ridiculous at the time - it involved sending a fax to the bank) and rely on the charge authorisation on the card expiring without being captured.

Fortunately I have a simpler solution than you do with UPS. I’ve just resolved to never use Airbnb, ever. You can’t always choose who ships your parcels, which is a pity.
I've never used AirBnB and it sounds like the issues with them are now only getting worse.

Read recently where "guests" are now being asked to vacuum and tidy up before leaving lest they be charged a "Janitorial cleaning fee" and that it's getting so expensive now that hotels are starting to again look like much cheaper options.

Besides, I live in fear of travelling to a destination only to discover the AirBnB isn't available for [insert whatever dumb stupid reason you can think of] and then being told you're shit out of luck and have nowhere to stay.

Or the place is a pigsty. Or badly misrepresented. Or doesn't even fucking exist. Or...
 

DT

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So I was right, you ARE the fucking idiot...

* Raises Hand*

:D

I was pretty shocked about that fee, we have an account setup with UPS, mostly to be able to get better tracking, but I thought another advantage with requesting a hold/reroute/etc., so back when our AirTags were on the way, scheduled to arrive when we were going to be gone for a couple of days, I was like, "Oh, I'll just login ... OK, good, select shipment, simple ... let's see, change delivery date WTF $15?!?!?!"
 
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I've never used AirBnB and it sounds like the issues with them are now only getting worse.
Yeah that was my first and last attempt to use it - but that was um.... 8 years ago before all the stories about hidden cameras and fake listings and what not.

Im not really surprised so many of these “fuck regulations who needs ‘em” businesses are turning into cesspools. I’m surprised there isn’t one for parcel delivery yet though. I guess because it requires buy in from actual businesses.
 

DT

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I've never used AirBnB and it sounds like the issues with them are now only getting worse.

Got a Love / Hate with AirBnB.

Love
We've used the service a number of times, the wife has really good instincts combined with detailed research, so we've had some really amazing stays. We're always incredibly aware that we're guests in residential area, so we carefully note the parking situation, are respectful about making a racket in the evenings (or anytime really, though usually we're on the go).


Hate
Being a vacation area, there's a growing number of them around here, in fact, some shitty developers are building clusters of "homes" simply for ABnB rentals (basically dodging the cost / code of a commercial dwelling), and around here people think it's OK to be loud assholes. I've almost had to drag people into the street a couple of times. At least the house near us has a very unwelcoming deck, no backyard or pool, so it's not conducive to being a "party house".

Word is there are going to be some really stringent new codes passed (limiting times, massive tax/fee increases, etc.), and while we've appreciated our times using an ABnB, if it made them prohibitively expensive to us too, that would be fine.
 
D

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so we've had some really amazing stays
The only reason I considered it was because of a work organised stay a few months earlier at an Airbnb house in pacific palisades, ca, when we went on-site for a riot games project.

The place was fantastic (albeit a bit lacking of beds because an idiot underbooked for the number of people we had) and we had no issues with it.
 

DT

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The only reason I considered it was because of a work organised stay a few months earlier at an Airbnb house in pacific palisades, ca, when we went on-site for a riot games project.

The place was fantastic (albeit a bit lacking of beds because an idiot underbooked for the number of people we had) and we had no issues with it.

We've never had a bad one, but like I said, it takes a good bit of research, planning, we did it because the locations were much more fun, easy walk to the food/drinks/shops/stuff, but off the beaten path enough where you could chill on the porch - there's a place in Savannah we've stayed a couple of times, that's just terrific (we've done that quite a bit too, just use the same place, you get to know the owner, it works out nicely).
 
U

User.191

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Spoke to Apple who are going to put a redirection on the package.

Then I spoke to the moron supervisor who proceeded to try to school me on the package coming from China, customs etc. None of that matters a jot. I don't bloody care!

Doesn't bother me it got delayed other than they're no longer going to meet the delivery date they gave to ME. And they guy told me that he can't waive the $5.99 fee!

For fucks sake, my wife's waved several hundred bucks before now on calls where it wasn't even their fault, yet UPS will not take any responsibility in waiving fees when THEY miss their delivery dates.

Sad thing is, the asshat tried to tell me how great it was because they told Apple it wouldn't be delivered until the 27th or 28th - like that means anything!

I really despise UPS....
 
U

User.191

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* Raises Hand*

:D

I was pretty shocked about that fee, we have an account setup with UPS, mostly to be able to get better tracking, but I thought another advantage with requesting a hold/reroute/etc., so back when our AirTags were on the way, scheduled to arrive when we were going to be gone for a couple of days, I was like, "Oh, I'll just login ... OK, good, select shipment, simple ... let's see, change delivery date WTF $15?!?!?!"

Yeah - it used to be free. Now they're nickel and diming you for everything...
 

Eric

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Still waiting for the banhammer. Guess @Eric's asleep at the wheel....

That fucking guy, he's never around when you need him ...

For everyone...
tenor.gif


And if you all try to call the cops, guess what...
Wln4.gif
 
U

User.191

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So we’re back to having an unknown line where a moderator may or may not deem it as too far but now the gray area is which curse words are deemed “too far”.

no wuckin’ furries mate as an Australian I believe I can win this!
It's not the words, it's how they're used. For example "I fucking despise UPS" seems to be OK, but "I think MacRumors is a great place for liberals to hang out" may well get the evil eye....
 
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