[geeks] Bad UPS II: The Sad Mac

[velociraptor]

On 9/22/05, Joshua Boyd <jdboyd at jdboyd.net> wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 21, 2005 at 04:05:07PM -0400, Phil Stracchino wrote:
>
> > I think this is the point at which I recommend that we all stop using
> > UPS to ship breakable computer equipment.  Try FedEx Ground or DHL
> > instead -- they seem to take better care of the hardware.
>
> FedEx Ground has repeatedly left boxes in the rain without protection.
> And I'm not talking it was a clear day when they left it, but rather
> that it was raining all day long, and they left it uncovered on an
> unroofed porch.

FedEx Ground in VA puts stuff in bags.  I have had no problems
with this.  However, the last thing that UPS delivered (new Samsung
4100) they left out and the box was probably 25-30% soaked through.
Fortunately, the printer was in a bag inside the box.  Not to mention
that UPS is considerably more expensive.

> I've had no trouble with UPS.  I wonder if trying to complain about your
> local UPS agents further up the chain would do anything, since it sounds
> like you might have a localized problem (and I'm sure that both FedEx
> Ground and UPS have more than one).

I had bad experiences with UPS back in the 80's when working for a
company that shipped standardized tests all over Texas.  I would not
use them by choice.  We had better experiences with Airborne Express,
but I haven't used them in over a decade, so who knows how they are
these days.  USPS sub-contracts their time-sensitive stuff to DHL; Costco
offers bulk purchase of DHL flat rate overnight, so that also says some-
thing (Costco tends to be sensitive to customer service issues IME).

I have been very happy with FedEx Ground, and their prices beat USPS
by a good margin once you cross the priority mail "flat rate" poundage.
Remember that FedEx Ground is a separate company from FedEx--they
were "Caliber Systems" aka Roadway Package System (RPS) prior to
being aquired.

=Nadine=