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Old 12-28-2013, 02:51 PM   #23371
WT Sharpe
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Originally Posted by poohbear_nc View Post
Ahhh yes .... the inevitable 'caution' on the back of the cereal box: Allow 6 weeks for shipping & handling ....
And they meant it! We felt lucky if that deadline was met.
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Old 12-28-2013, 04:02 PM   #23372
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Originally Posted by Stitchawl View Post
I don't believe anyone said that they didn't. They certainly need to make their purchases long before the expected date of delivery, especially in known periods of high customer traffic... Just as the delivery companies need to hire on temporary staff to deal with the higher traffic. Unfortunately, in this day of belt-tighening and bean-counting, hiring the lowest possible number of temporary workers has become the norm, and sometimes THAT bites a company in the ass...
And your factual basis for this statement is what? Is there a statistical report out there somewhere telling us all that for whatever reason, UPS or anyone else hired fewer temporary workers this year, or are you simply ruminating that that's what happened, to fit the scenario you think occurred?

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When was the last time a California or Florida airport was shut down due to snow storms? Not all flights need to use hubs, especially companies that fly non-passenger routes.
You say this because you do not understand how UPS, USPS or FedEx work, the private companies in particular. If I may, allow me to enlighten you. (No sarcasm; I mean it.) With almost no exceptions, neither UPS nor FedEx ships material from X to Y. They don't dispatch trucks to, say, Miami and then run them straight through to L.A. Both UPS and Fedex work strictly out of HUB systems. All the packages are picked up from the senders by trucks assigned to that route, and are taken to airports nearby, in one large "lump," filling as many pallets as needed. From there, the planes are dispatched to hubs, where every single package is offloaded, moved down the conveyer, scanned, logged, recorded, sorted by geographic area, and then sorted yet again into suitable "piles" (for lack of a better description) for a given flight. The main hub for FedEx is in Memphis; the main hub for UPS is in Louisville, KY.

Now, using an example, if your package was shipped from Miami and headed to LA, it would a) depart MIA Intl, b) go to Louisville, c) get sorted, then get d) loaded on another plane, which would e) arrive in L.A. and your package would then be off-loaded, conveyed, scanned, recorded, sorted again, and put on a truck for delivery, OR, in a chained room to wait delivery (for a suitable truck).

Now, this is a remarkably efficient method. It works superbly well, as evidenced by the fact that we're all spoiled rotten. However--and this is a big "however"--once weather starts to close down airports, the ripple effect throughout the system is massive. Why? Well, because the entire systemic functionality is dependent on the idea that Plane A, which is in, say, Dayton, OH, (at a UPS Hub there), will actually leave Dayton at a specific time, and arrive in Louisville at a specific time; that its freight will be offloaded correctly, and more importantly, that that plane, that's in Dayton, will be available for use to then go on, having been offloaded and reloaded, to Los Angeles or wherever.

If planes are stranded, laden with cargo, at airports that are iced-in, the entire system is put at-risk, and packages cannot move. They can't get from where they are picked up, because they are now on a plane that's snowed/iced-in at Airport X. Or they can't get from the Hub, where they've been delivered, because the plane that they are SUPPOSED to be loaded on, is snowed/iced in at Airport Y. This causes massive backups and delays in the system. UPS and Fedex both keep extra aircraft for this very purpose--to do the southern runs--but they can't magically beam packages from the stranded aircraft to the hub, to be loaded onto the spare planes.

This is how it works. That's why weather can screw up an entire delivery system. Moreover, sometimes, a package leaves the geographic area ENTIRELY, and moves to another hub, (this happens very often with slower package deliveries that are scheduled), and change planes TWICE, not once, so a package originating in the south can change at Louisville, and again at Dayton--all depends on how the air traffic is being routed. Bear in mind: this system is DYNAMIC. While some routes are static, many actually go or don't go based on package volume. Or get re-routed. On the fly, as it were.

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I'm not exactly sure with whom you are arguing. In my post, I didn't say anything about Christmas deliveries. My package wasn't a Christmas present. It didn't need to arrive on a specific day, it just had to arrive in a timely fashion. A total of seven days from point A to point B, both southern locations, when the company promised 3-4 days isn't good business practice.
I'm pointing out that your idea, that somehow, your stuff gets loaded on a truck that is leaving the area where you bought it, and, somehow laden with only those items that are coming to YOUR area, is just...not practical. What's the likelihood that everything that a specific truck picked up in Miami is ALL going to L.A.? Obviously, not high. Thus, the hub-and-spoke system. Thus, air-travel, to meet the 3-4 day delivery "promises." And thus, when weather screws with the system, things go awry. And if, by some chance, you opted for ground delivery, that takes 3rd priority, particularly when the 1- and 2-day deliveries get delayed.


Quote:
Frankly, I find the Post Office far more reliable than UPS or FedEx. At least when they can't deliver and have to hold on to the package, the post office doesn't charge a storage fee plus and insurance fee for doing so as FedEx or UPS does.
I certainly can't second this. My "post office" is 30 miles away (60 RT). My carrier refuses to bring any type of packages to my door, so anything bigger than a breadbox is "come fetch it." Then I get to wait in line for over 30 minutes. Thanks, but no thanks. And I've never been charged storage fees or anything like that from either UPS or Fedex. So I can't relate to that part of the discussion.



Quote:
I don't know when Amazon et al put their packages on the planes, I just know when UPS picked up MY package from the supplier and delivered it to the specified destination. That took seven days, six of which showed absolutely no movement according to the tracking record.
Oh, the humanity! No movement shown on the tracking record! You mean--just like the Post Office does? They show pickup and then delivery. Nothing in-between. So...???


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That's very true. We've actually come to believe that when a company tells us they will do something, we believe they will do it. If they won't, we usually find a different company. To prove this point, think how many companies have gone out of business because they couldn't meet the customer's expectations. We 'could' say that the customers expectation were unrealistic, or, just as easily, we could say that the company failed to meet its promises. But when the customer's expectation is based on what the company promises but fails to deliver, there is no question of fault.

As you say, there is NO excuse for failure. There is, however, a result for failure. The result, in this case for me, is that I'll add UPS to the list of companies with which I will no longer rely upon for deliveries. I'm sure they won't miss 'my' business, but it would seem that I'm not alone in this complaint.
Well, I for one will be fascinated to see what companies you're going to use to buy products for your UPS boycott. I actually boycott companies that only use USPS, for the above-stated reasons (no home delivery). But that list is very, very tiny. The "uses UPS" list is massive, but...hey, good luck with that.

Quote:
I would like to ask, though... It seems that you are taking a VERY personal stand in this matter. Are you somehow related to a UPS employee? Your level of anger seems to great for just a casual reflection.


Stitchawl
(Full disclosure: no, I have zero interest in/affiliation with UPS or Fedex or anything akin thereto at this time. A score of years ago, my family owned a cargo airline and fleet which subcontracted to UPS. Thus, my familiarity with the hub-and-spoke system, at which I have spent many a night. Moreover, at one point in time, over 30 years ago, my husband flew under contract for Fedex, working from their hub in Memphis. Neither of this things affects my opinion, other than knowing how the system works.)

Not angry. Annoyed and irritated. (Trust me: if I get actually ANGRY, nobody will think I seem angry.) I see this endless stream of complaints, everywhere I go, whether it's Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and now, heaven help us, here, about how X didn't happen, or Y didn't happen, and it's someone's fault, not so-and-so's fault, and so-and-so didn't have any responsibility WHATSOEVER in what happened, etc.

Or the endless, and I mean, ENDLESS ravings from low-information individuals about politics, going on and on about how they're "entitled" to this, or how (never mind, deleted before I go into no-no land). It's positively depressing and infuriating at the same time. People cannot be bothered to educate themselves, or shop earlier, like the raving Xmas shoppers whose last minute gifts didn't get somewhere on time, and apparently, they have ZERO responsibility, or can't imagine WHY the weather coming down and stranding over 100 planes could affect THEIR package, which originated in the south and was shipped to "the south," and therefore, of course, UPS should have taken a semi, loaded it up with those 20 packages, bygod, and run it to X, just to live up to their promise to have it there in 72 hours. I mean...really? A mere 10 years ago, you couldn't have received it in 96 hours, much less 1-2 days. 20 years ago, you would have had an orgasm over 7 DAY delivery. How ridiculously entitled have we all become? This didn't even have a gift-y deadline, and this warrants a rant? Really, Stitch?

I'm seriously not trying to attack you personally, Stitch. Most of this irritation isn't about you. However, the entire Internet is starting to sound like being trapped in a hell in which you're stuck in the birthing nursery of a major hospital, with a crapload of crying babies. Much of my irritation is NOT directed at you, but the endless whining from people who can't be bothered to read instructions, who can't bother to educate themselves, who regurgitate whatever ridiculous verbal diarrhea is poured into their ears, with zero fact-checking...therefore, your rant about UPS, given how the weather came down, and stranded all those airplanes (and pilots, personnel, etc.) just...got on my nerve. The last one that the idjits on social media haven't already frayed.

Social media may have brought the world together, but quite bluntly, for intelligent people, it sounds like the 7th level of Hell, being subjected to levels of stupidity that are excruciating. (I just deleted my description of the stupid-saturated threads I've seen in the last 24 hours on social media. No point in bringing it up here.)

Anyway, hopefully, you now have a slightly better understanding as to why packages do not go from A to B. And why your package was "late," so it seems.

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Old 12-28-2013, 07:10 PM   #23373
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I posted this story on December 15 in another forum I belong to -- a bunch of mostly music-lovers who mostly live in the same general area. It fits the current topic.

I suspect part of the problem is that shippers, and others, are trying to meet heavy seasonal demand with temporary workers and rented equipment. The driver in this case was definitely a temp worker.

Quote:

Well, this was how I spent part of my Friday afternoon:

My wife, who had been out at the library, came in and asked if we'd just gotten a package. I said no. She then mentioned that there was a delivery truck stuck in our driveway.

It was a long FedEx delivery van. Apparently he had made a delivery to a neighbor and decided to make a U-turn in our driveway. Instead of just nosing in and then swinging out, he pulled all the way in. Since we live on a hill, this meant most of the van (and its mass) was downhill from the rear wheels (of the rear wheel drive van). And the rear wheels were on a patch of ice the town plow left behind. He couldn't back out, so he decided to go a little further down our nicely shoveled driveway and build momentum as he backed out.

Unfortunately, we have a narrow driveway with a bit of a curve to it, and he had a wide van. When he made his first attempt at backing out the left rear wheel (of the rear wheel drive van) slid off the edge of our driveway and into a ditch that runs down the hill alongside it. It started spinning and he couldn't back out. He tried to get the wheel back on the driveway by edging right as he came down the driveway ... but he was still in the ditch as he got to the bottom of the driveway.

At the bottom of the driveway we have a spot where the driveway makes a 90° turn to the right to face the garage doors on the side of the house. There were just two problems -- aside from the wheel still spinning on the packed snow in the ditch. First, the "turn around" was only about 4 feet longer than his delivery van. Second, he was now right behind my van, which was parked at the bottom of the driveway.

First, I had him pull as far forward as he can get -- bearing in mind he was about 12 feet away from a 10 foot drop off. Then I was able to wiggle the Dodge around his van and get it up the hill.

It took us about 10 to 15 minutes to rock his van back and forth and get the rear wheel to "hop" back onto the pavement.

Then, a few more minutes to "scissor" the van back and forth until it was facing back up the driveway.

He backed it as far back as he could, got a good running start, and got up the driveway. (There was one point, where the driveway curves, that I thought he was going to go back in the ditch, but he just skirted around the edge. The back wheel only spun a little bit before he got it back on the pavement.)

And that's what we do for fun here.

In spite of the paint job, I suspect the van was a rental for the holiday demand. The tires looked like general purpose truck tires -- the tread was probably legal, but definitely looked worn.
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Old 12-28-2013, 07:41 PM   #23374
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Aw, CRAP.

I got porn in. Not just porn. Pedo Porn. Dammit. A 14-y.o. girl "protagonist" who is violently "deflowered" and then, within pages, enjoys a gang-bang with very adult males. Written by a guy, in the girl's FP POV. I want to puke. I told him that that crosses our boundaries, and sent him away, but...FFS.

I've probably had this happen only about 5x in as many years, but it always bums me out.




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Old 12-28-2013, 09:36 PM   #23375
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Originally Posted by theinfamousj View Post
....SNIP...
To Stitchawl - The suggestions that you are making would have to be enacted back in October,
I agree fully. And could have been.
Every December in the past few hundred years we celebrate Christmas. And in the past 50-75 odd years or so, people have been sending Christmas packages via the Post or private carriers. No surprises, no act of God. EVERYONE KNOWS that there will be a crush in delivery requirements at that time of year. Some companies realize that customer satisfaction is paramount to their continued success, others think they can get away with less.

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Originally Posted by speakingtohe View Post
...SNIP...
Just curious as to how you will deal with this. Are you boycotting all companies that use only UPS?
Helen
For many years I have tried to do business with companies that will ship via EMS rather than UPS or FedEx. Living abroad, I usually receive or send anywhere from 2-10 packages per month. This has been my 'norm' for the past 25 years. In the beginning, UPS worked pretty well. Then FedEx and DHL joined the list and offered wonderful service too. But in the past 5 years, all three have been in decline, with DHL providing the best service at the moment. But none have proved nearly as reliable as the postal service's EMS shipping. Inexpensive, reliable, and with a tracking number.

While I'm not actively 'boycotting' a service, if I can have the company use EMS that's what I'll do. If they won't, and I can find another company offering the same goods and willing to ship EMS, I will change the company I buy from. If I can NOT find an alternate, I will use UPS or FedEx and just plan for delays and higher costs.

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Originally Posted by cromag View Post
...SNIP...
I suspect part of the problem is that shippers, and others, are trying to meet heavy seasonal demand with temporary workers and rented equipment.
Not just using Temps, but hiring the bare minimum number of temporary men and equipment to cut costs. I believe THAT is a major factor in the delays. While it's true that when airports get shut down, there are delays, we can't blame ALL the delays on that. Not all the airports or hubs have been affected.

Quote:
And your factual basis for this statement is what? Is there a statistical report out there somewhere telling us all that for whatever reason, UPS or anyone else hired fewer temporary workers this year, or are you simply ruminating that that's what happened, to fit the scenario you think occurred?
In this day and age where everyone is more than willing to give away money, companies happy to spend more money than is actually needed to hire more people than required to fill a well known need, where companies have so much excess cash that they don't mind hiring on too many temporary workers, so much extra money that they are willing to rent extra trucks to fill what is only a theoretical need.... oh... wait....

While it's true that I haven't read specific statistics, with everyone complaining about the economic picture today it doesn't take a lot of thinking to realize that companies are going to cut costs as much as possible. And it's been in the news often enough about various companies laying off thousands of workers, cutting the hours of thousands more, it's a pretty sure bet that UPS didn't hire nearly as many temp workers this year as they did last year. No, not fact. But a pretty safe bet.

Regarding the HUB system. We know that LAX is a major hub. And Atlanta another. L.A. doesn't often get snowed in. Atlanta has in the past, and there were delays there last January, but I don't believe there was this year. Should we think that UPS is going to send a package from LA to O'hare with a final destination in Miami? Would YOU fly that way? That's wasted money. If you needed to use a HUB for a southern destination you'd use Atlanta. So while I'm sure that a lot of packages were delayed by seasonal conditions, especially those destined for northern areas, not all of the delays can be blamed upon them.

Quote:
And I've never been charged storage fees or anything like that from either UPS or Fedex. So I can't relate to that part of the discussion.
In areas where UPS or FedEx doesn't deliver on weekends or holidays, the packages are put into a storage facility and a 'Storage Fee' is charged. If it happens to be a 3-day weekend, that fee get large. And when ever they put a package into storage, they ALWAYS insure it... and add the charge to the delivery cost.

In many foreign countries, FedEx, UPS, and DHL have their own Customs Import Duty arrangement with the governments, so that they apply and collect Import Duties on EVERY package that warrants them. In Japan and Thailand, the government doesn't require import duty on EVERY import, only those over a certain dollar amount. But UPS and FedEx charge an Import duty on EVERY package regardless... We do wonder where that money goes...

I prefer my international packages to travel via national post. I've never lost a package that was shipped via EMS, and rarely been charged with an Import Duty on those packages. They have always arrived within a day or two of the expected delivery date.


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Old 12-28-2013, 11:23 PM   #23376
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This is just an observation as a manufacturer and service provider. I blame photocopiers, faxes and microwaves.
This generation has an instant gratification mentality now that expects everything instantly at the push of a button.
Amazon's stupid propagander of drone deliveries in half an hour from order probably hasn't helped either.

Maybe credit cards are to blame. Without credit, no one could get anything shipped without sending the cheque in the mail and waiting for it to clear.

Or maybe it was Polaroid. Yes! They started it. Bloody Polaroid and their instant photos.
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Old 12-29-2013, 12:17 AM   #23377
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That's possible... or... it's companies making promises they can't fulfill.
If they didn't make the the promises, no one would expect instant gratification.
But if you are promised instant gratification, and you pay for instant gratification, other than an Act of God, you should expect to receive instant gratification.

It's really no different than expecting your car to start when you turn the key. That's the reliability you pay for. A dead battery can't be blamed when you live in minus 20 country. You KNOW you need to use either an oil-pan warmer or a battery heater if you're going to start you car in the morning. Not buying it to save money is no excuse.
P.P.P.P.P.P. (Proper planing prevents piss-poor performance.)


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Old 12-29-2013, 02:04 AM   #23378
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Old 12-29-2013, 02:50 AM   #23379
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stitchawl View Post
Regarding the HUB system. We know that LAX is a major hub. And Atlanta another. L.A. doesn't often get snowed in. Atlanta has in the past, and there were delays there last January, but I don't believe there was this year. Should we think that UPS is going to send a package from LA to O'hare with a final destination in Miami? Would YOU fly that way? That's wasted money. If you needed to use a HUB for a southern destination you'd use Atlanta. So while I'm sure that a lot of packages were delayed by seasonal conditions, especially those destined for northern areas, not all of the delays can be blamed upon them.
Sorry, but those are NOT cargo hubs. Not Atlanta, and not LAX, not for UPS or Fedex. You either didn't read what I wrote, or misunderstood me. The cargo hubs are specially designed. They're not regular airports, that are "called" hubs by the flying public. They are designated airports with special equipment, buildings, the whole schmear. They are cargo hubs. And, yes, it's entirely possible that a package could go from L.A. to Dayton OH to Miami, because Dayton is a hub. A CARGO hub. With hundreds of forklifts, massive conveyers running like spokes (arms from a big spider), specialized scanning equipment that looks at every package, and massive sorting bays. Not a plain old pax (passenger) airport.

Quote:
In areas where UPS or FedEx doesn't deliver on weekends or holidays, the packages are put into a storage facility and a 'Storage Fee' is charged. If it happens to be a 3-day weekend, that fee get large. And when ever they put a package into storage, they ALWAYS insure it... and add the charge to the delivery cost.
Still never had it happen.


Quote:
I prefer my international packages to travel via national post. I've never lost a package that was shipped via EMS, and rarely been charged with an Import Duty on those packages. They have always arrived within a day or two of the expected delivery date.
And you mentioned this:

Quote:
Jacksonville, FL, United States 12/26/2013 1:14 P.M. Arrival Scan
San Pablo, CA, United States 12/20/2013 4:23 A.M. Departure Scan
Which WAS 4 working days. Was the promise for 3-4 calendar days, or working days? For that matter, it was 3 working days, as Christmas isn't usually considered a working day in the US. Say 4, if you count the departure scan day. So: what's the beef? That Christmas Day got in the way?

In any event, I am through with this, as I appear to be talking to the wall. Maybe it's all that acid from the 60's. Look up cargo hubs, and all the specialized containers, equipment, sorting buildings, etc., that are needed. The mere existence of a busy airport doesn't make it a cargo hub. That's utterly wrong. Planes with cargo for the carrier, like UPS, do fly to busy airports, where their containers are offloaded and transported to the sorting warehouse; they are not sorted at the airport, like they are at a HUB airport.

The packages are picked up at point A. They go from A to a local warehouse, where they are sorted by region of destination. Then, they are palletized and sent to the airport. They are loaded, by pallet, on the airport. From there, the plane goes TO THE CARGO HUB. At the cargo hub, each package is again scanned, sorted, and redistributed to ensure that it goes on the right plane, to the right city, not just "region." The package gets repacked onto a new pallet. The PALLET goes on the correct airplane, that's going to the correct city. At the destination city, the pallet is offloaded onto semis, which go to the region or city's sorting warehouse. The pallets are broken down, the packages are scanned AGAIN, and sorted for today's deliveries versus tomorrow's, and then routed to the correct truck. That's when you get notified that a package is "out for delivery." (And that's how. What did you think happened? Some guy who drove from Miami to L.A. climbed in the back of his semi, and marked your package, and sent you a text message?)

Then the driver takes his truck, and baring unforeseen disasters, ice, dogs, rude deliverees, etc., gets your package to you. Hub and spoke cargo systems. That's how it works. You obviously grossly misunderstand how package handling and tracking is managed by the big carriers. Your package doesn't go DIRECT from Miami to L.A., or whatever. That's massively cost-inefficient.

And, by the way? The USPS service subcontracts ALL, repeat, ALL, their short-term delivery carrying to....wanna guess? You see lots of US Postal Service airplanes around you? Hmmm? How do you think those packages fly around? HUB AND SPOKE. So I guess you'll have to find now some complete, other way to get your packages, because no matter which way you turn, UPS is sitting there, grinning at you.

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Old 12-29-2013, 05:54 AM   #23380
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..... And, yes, it's entirely possible that a package could go from L.A. to Dayton OH to Miami,
Isn't it just as possible that it flys straight through? Especially coming from and going to major distribution centers?

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Still never had it happen.
I've never been run over by a car, but I won't pretend it doesn't happen to people.


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Which WAS 4 working days. Was the promise for 3-4 calendar days, or working days?
I wouldn't expect it to be delivered on a weekend or holiday, but are you suggesting that the entire operations shuts down? The planes don't fly? The trucks don't roll? Even the postal service works on Sundays. They just don't deliver on Sundays.

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In any event, I am through with this, as I appear to be talking to the wall.
No, you're talking to someone to believes there is no such thing as an excuse. No matter what. If I miss an appointment because the bus I took didn't arrive on time, it is MY responsibility. I should have taken an earlier bus. Even if that bus was late because the bridge was out... If I say I'm going to be somewhere at a certain time, it is my responsibility to be there. No excuses permitted.

Quote:
The mere existence of a busy airport doesn't make it a cargo hub.
I have no interest in the details of the shipping trade or how it works. If they promise delivery at a certain time, and don't deliver, they have failed to meet their obligations.

I really don't care about the problems that the carrier faces. That's part of how he calculates his fees. It's his responsibility to meet his obligations. If the carrier said that they would deliver in two weeks, that would be fine. I don't care about the time frame. I do care about fulfilling obligations.

Quote:
What did you think happened? Some guy who drove from Miami to L.A. climbed in the back of his semi, and marked your package, and sent you a text message?
Again, I don't have the slightest interest in how the package gets from point A to point B. If the carrier says he will have it at point B at a specified time, that is when it needs to be there.

Quote:
You obviously grossly misunderstand how package handling and tracking is managed by the big carriers.
I don't care how package handling and tracking is managed. I DO care that a company with which I do business meets its stated objectives. If it can't meet them, I'll deal with a different company. It's really very simple, and no different from any other customer service issue. If the company can't meet customer needs, the customers find a different company.

Quote:
And, by the way? The USPS service subcontracts ALL, repeat, ALL, their short-term delivery carrying to....wanna guess?
That's fine. I don't have time-sensitive packages to send and usually not to receive. I don't get an 'expected delivery date' when I send something via EMS, and I don't need one. When I DO receive a time-sensitive package, it comes via EMS Thai Post. And it comes on time. Usually 2-3 days. That's good enough for my needs.

I'm sorry that this is so upsetting for you. It's obvious we are approaching this issue from two different points of view, and just as obvious that we have differing ways of reacting to what in the military we called 'Failure to Repair.' I don't accept excuses. No matter what. You can blame that on drugs if you wish. I call it 'taking responsibility.'


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Old 12-29-2013, 06:41 AM   #23381
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Stitch wrote:

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Isn't it just as possible that it flys straight through? Especially coming from and going to major distribution centers?
No. Never. Despite the fact that you accept NO excuses, even including Force majeure, which even the military recognizes, think about it: you seriously think that all these major carriers would take a plane in Miami, that has, say, 20 packages on it that go to LA, and send it, without it being full? What happens to the OTHER 2,000 packages on it that are supposed to go to other destinations? It's not like UPS is booking space in the cargo hold of existing airlines.

Not to mention, gates and arrival slots are highly regulated, at each airport. If UPS finds that it has more cargo than can be carried by (for example), 4 737 airplanes for its four slots at LA, it's out of luck. It has to move airplanes around to put larger-capacity airplanes (say, 747 Cargos) in those four slots. You can't just suddenly call LA and say, 'oh, by the way, 500,000 people waited until December 23rd to buy Xmas gifts, so now I need to land an additional 5 airplanes at your airport at the busiest travel time of the year." Can't be done.

I also served in the military. That has absolutely nothing to do with this "there's no such thing as an excuse" bit. You know damned well that there's not a thing that anyone could have done about the ice storms, or the closed airports. Your insistence that regardless of all the grounded flights, and regardless of all the people who'd ordered BEFORE you, who were also waiting for their items, you should still have received your item on, I take it, December 25th (the 4th actual "day") frankly seems like nothing more than...well, I won't say it.

According to you, even though UPS absolutely DID get the package to you in 4 business days, that wasn't good enough, as you clearly took it to mean 4 calendar days, even though they clearly state that it's WORKING days, not calendar days, even with 1 or 2-day delivery. Moreover, you persist in this "it should have been delivered" (what, on the 23rd? is that when you think it should have been there? In 3 days?), apparently by magic, because I have no idea how you think it COULD have gotten there.

They got you the item in 4 business days. Despite the ice storms, despite it being a ridiculously busy time of year. This rant seems utterly disproportionate, as clearly, either you misunderstood what they represented, or they suddenly have a brand-new definition of "days," which is unique only to you. A new definition that isn't shown anywhere on their websites, nowhere on Amazon...nowhere. See this page:

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shi...ice/index.html

Where do you see "calendar days" on that, please? Or this one:

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shi...ght/index.html

Which clearly states that Freight Type that you've described is 3-4 BUSINESS days. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but something that ships on Friday, the 20th of December (day 1), travels Dec 23-24 (days 2-3) and arrives on the 26th, (day 4) is 4-day delivery.

So, now you can NOT care about shipping logistics all you want. it seems like it would have been better to acquaint yourself with what "3-4 BUSINESS Days" really means.

Done now.

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Old 12-29-2013, 09:58 AM   #23382
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Wow! Such anger! It's almost frightening... Please calm down. No one is attacking you or your family. It was a rant about poor quality customer service. That's all. Not even poor service by you or yours, but by some other company. Yet I can see you turning red from here!

You keep talking about the inner workings of the carrier business.
I do NOT care.

You keep talking about acts of God.
I do NOT care.

You keep talking about my receiving a package for Christmas.
Sorry, but my shipment had nothing to do with Christmas delivery.

Blaming ice storms doesn't impress me. A properly operating company does. And somehow, I can't seem to imagine that every airport all over America was shut down during those few days. A few, perhaps. But then, that's just another excuse. And in business, there is no excuse.

Quote:
I also served in the military. That has absolutely nothing to do with this "there's no such thing as an excuse" bit.
I'm not sure which military you were in, but if I was ordered to be at a certain place at a certain time, and I wasn't there, according to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, I was guilty of 'Failure to Repair,' and if the situation was seriously compromised because of my Failure to Repair, regardless of my reasons, I would stand Courts Martial. There is no excuse.

It's very common at West Point for two upper classmen to give orders to juniors to be two different places at the same time, time-wise, impossible to meet. Meeting one, the junior cadet is required to march punishment tours for failing to meet the other. Saying 'I couldn't be there because I was ordered to be somewhere else' is not justified no matter how logical it may seem to some. But it does teach the cadet that there are no excuses for not fulfilling obligations. There is only one answer a cadet is permitted in that situation; "No excuse, Sir."

I'm not sure where you got the idea that this was some Christmas present for me or from me. It was not. Your not so subtle innuendos about selfishness are really rather nasty and rude. Where did you get the idea that I said I should get my package before people who ordered before me? I WASN'T EVEN GETTING A PACKAGE! Attacking me is quite offensive, don't you think? I had though you better than that.

I guess I wasn't clear in my other posts so I'll repeat it; the company should have hired enough seasonal help and equipment so that everyone got their deliveries on time.. unless of course every freight airport in America gets shut down, right?

My complaint was about customer service, aimed at a company that failed to fulfill it's promise. Regardless of your counting the days, the package was NOT delivered when it was promised.

We do NOT KNOW that it was delayed because of airport closures.
You may jump up and down and scream it all you want, but we really DO NOT KNOW that it was delayed because of this.
It is JUST AS POSSIBLE that the delays were caused by insufficient numbers of temporary seasonal help. And again, that all goes to customer service. In this case, poor customer service.


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Old 12-29-2013, 01:56 PM   #23383
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They may have been open, employees may have been there, but that doesn't make it a BUSINESS day. 25 December, Saturdays, Sundays, and other major holidays aren't business days, no matter who punches in their time card and no matter how much you want that to be, you cannot make it so.
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Old 12-29-2013, 06:30 PM   #23384
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stitchawl View Post
Wow! Such anger! It's almost frightening... Please calm down. No one is attacking you or your family. It was a rant about poor quality customer service. That's all. Not even poor service by you or yours, but by some other company. Yet I can see you turning red from here!
Nope. What irritates me is your insistence that Saturday, Sunday and Christmas day are "working days." Seriously, even in India, all businesses are closed on 12/25. Aren't you living in California, in the United States of America?

Quote:
You keep talking about the inner workings of the carrier business.
I do NOT care.

You keep talking about acts of God.
I do NOT care.

You keep talking about my receiving a package for Christmas.
Sorry, but my shipment had nothing to do with Christmas delivery.
No, I didn't. I a) explained why your package didn't magically fly from Miami to L.A., because you obviously are clueless as to how they actually get there, thinking that a logical person would understand the process; b) I reminded you that major ice storms shut down tons of airports in the US, thinking that a logical person would understand that, and c) I never said bupkus about "Christmas," other than, zillions of utterly irresponsible and selfish people ordered "important" gift items at the last minute, and then bitched and moaned about how they weren't on-time for their most-cherished loved ones. I believe I mentioned that if they had REALLY been worried about X being to person Y on time, they could have actually gotten their lazy asses out of a chair or recliner or sofa, bought it and wrapped it themselves, but, hey. What do I know?

Quote:
Blaming ice storms doesn't impress me. A properly operating company does. And somehow, I can't seem to imagine that every airport all over America was shut down during those few days. A few, perhaps. But then, that's just another excuse. And in business, there is no excuse.
Since you can't seem to understand the concept of how a hub-and-spoke cargo operation works, and why having even 10 or 20% of the airports closed down or with massive flight delays would affect the hubs, and the subsequent shipments, there's no point in discussing it further. Frankly, I would have expected more from someone who's implying that he graduated from the Academy, but...{shrug}. It seems that if you intake the information, you'll have to admit that maybe, just MAYBE, your package was delayed (not late: delayed), due to weather, and since you can't blame UPS for the weather, you're not willing to go there.



Quote:
I'm not sure which military you were in, but if I was ordered to be at a certain place at a certain time, and I wasn't there, according to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, I was guilty of 'Failure to Repair,' and if the situation was seriously compromised because of my Failure to Repair, regardless of my reasons, I would stand Courts Martial. There is no excuse.

It's very common at West Point for two upper classmen to give orders to juniors to be two different places at the same time, time-wise, impossible to meet. Meeting one, the junior cadet is required to march punishment tours for failing to meet the other. Saying 'I couldn't be there because I was ordered to be somewhere else' is not justified no matter how logical it may seem to some. But it does teach the cadet that there are no excuses for not fulfilling obligations. There is only one answer a cadet is permitted in that situation; "No excuse, Sir."
Actually, that's complete and utter crap. The "two places, one time" nonsense is only for the cadets and it's a form of the usual military and puerile "initiation" that is prevalent in ANY college, and very prevalent in the military. Having participated in some Art. 21 hearings, etc., while I was in the military, your view is, well, wrong. There are absolutely "excuses," and it happens ALL THE TIME in the military. I served during the end of Viet Nam and I served in USAREUR while we were being bombed on-base by BM II. Excuses are rampant in the military, and they "work" every day. I absolutely don't know what military YOU served in, but I suspect that your recollection is a bit tainted, or colored with some color of glass. What you're recollecting sounds more like the "no excuses" idiocy at the Citadel or other military undergrad schools than the real military, where, as I said, excuses are rampant, troop movements FREQUENTLY miss schedules, trucks are FREQUENTLY late, and the like. Particularly in wartime.

Quote:
I'm not sure where you got the idea that this was some Christmas present for me or from me. It was not. Your not so subtle innuendos about selfishness are really rather nasty and rude. Where did you get the idea that I said I should get my package before people who ordered before me? I WASN'T EVEN GETTING A PACKAGE! Attacking me is quite offensive, don't you think? I had though you better than that.
I'm not attacking you. I'm attacking this seemingly rigid position of yours that "no excuse exists" for not getting you the package "on time," when they absolutely DID get it to you ontime. You keep ranting like they were bringing you blood transfusions or some type of medicine without which, you'd die. It seems grossly disproportionate, particularly given that it was on time in ANY event.

Quote:
I guess I wasn't clear in my other posts so I'll repeat it; the company should have hired enough seasonal help and equipment so that everyone got their deliveries on time.. unless of course every freight airport in America gets shut down, right?

My complaint was about customer service, aimed at a company that failed to fulfill it's promise. Regardless of your counting the days, the package was NOT delivered when it was promised.
OK, then, obviously, some employee of some other company promised you a delivery date that was different from what UPS states. Can we see a redacted order and shipping confirmation that showed that it was going to be delivered in 3-4 calendar days? A slip from UPS saying you'd have it on the 23rd? Anything that clearly states something different from UPS's clearly identified shipping times and promises? Something that would explain why you are so irate about this? That demonstrates that they really did break their promise to you? Actually, you know what? Please, don't bother. I think it's pretty clear what's happened here, and I'm done with this particular mini-thread on the V&R thread.

Quote:
We do NOT KNOW that it was delayed because of airport closures.
You may jump up and down and scream it all you want, but we really DO NOT KNOW that it was delayed because of this.
It is JUST AS POSSIBLE that the delays were caused by insufficient numbers of temporary seasonal help. And again, that all goes to customer service. In this case, poor customer service.
I'm not the one jumping up and down and screaming. YOU are. You're the one ranting about how they didn't have enough employees, enough service, bad customer service, etc., yet, from what everyone else here can see, they absolutely delivered the package to you in 4 business days. I just don't see what you're complaining about, at all, nor why it made you "rant." Or why you're so caught up in the whole "no excuses" concept that you can't admit that it made it to you in 4 working days. {shrug}.

I don't care about this, not one iota. I tried, repeatedly, to answer what I thought were actual questions (or reasonable ponderments, as most folks don't know the inner workings of a cargo line) as to how the system works, but as I said earlier, you apparently don't understand what I'm saying to you; you patently still think that Sat, Sun and Christmas day are 'working days' and that cargo travels on passenger liners. I obviously can't argue with any of those ideas, as they seem to be impenetrably embedded. So, hell, stay angry. Boycott UPS. Knock yourself out.

Seriously: done with this part of the vent/rant thread. I've explained how the h&s works. I disagree, rather vehemently, about the portrait of the military you painted, which actually made me LOL, because the military I served in had more days like Catch-22 than days like "Jack Nicholson's soldiers in the Gitmo movie." And I served in Intelligence. (Yes: and sh*t still went wrong all the time. Miraculously, only complete and total screw-ups got Courts Martialled.) You're going to believe whatever obdurate thing you want to believe, so...I give up. The folks who've read along with this can make up their own minds. Discussing this any further is just

I hope, however, that you enjoyed your Christmas holiday--oops, sorry, working day--anyway. I realize that the rest of us had off while you were working, but I hope you enjoyed the day. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year to you, Stitch. Bye for now--catch you next year.

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Old 12-29-2013, 08:58 PM   #23385
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Originally Posted by Hitch View Post
Nope. What irritates me is your insistence that Saturday, Sunday and Christmas day are "working days."
Excuse me, but I never said that they were 'working days.' This is something you needed to make up to bolster your comments.

Quote:
Aren't you living in California, in the United States of America?
No. I don't live anywhere in the United States of America.
I said a package was shipped from California to Florida. You really didn't bother to read what I wrote. You were too busy planning your reply to it.

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they could have actually gotten their lazy asses out of a chair or recliner or sofa, bought it and wrapped it themselves, but, hey. What do I know?
Again, more nastiness. Why do you feel this need to berate people?

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Since you can't seem to understand the concept of how a hub-and-spoke cargo operation works,
Error. I understand how it works. I simply don't CARE how it works.

Quote:
Frankly, I would have expected more from someone who's implying that he graduated from the Academy, but...{shrug}.
Are you a fiction writer? Where do you get this material? I never implied any such thing. Is it that I have knowledge about West Point? I have knowledge about bra straps. Does that imply I'm female?

Quote:
It seems that if you intake the information, you'll have to admit that maybe, just MAYBE, your package was delayed (not late: delayed), due to weather, and since you can't blame UPS for the weather, you're not willing to go there.
On the contrary, I AM willing to say that maybe, just maybe the package was delayed by weather. I'm also willing to say that maybe, just maybe, the package was delayed because the company didn't hire enough seasonal workers.

But... I thought you said it wasn't delayed. Please, you can't have it both ways.

Quote:
I'm not attacking you. I'm attacking this seemingly rigid position of yours that "no excuse exists" for not getting you the package "on time,"
It doesn't. That's the difference between good Customer Service and bad Customer Service. No excuses. Apologies perhaps, but no excuses.

Quote:
when they absolutely DID get it to you ontime.
Excuse me, but just a few paragraphs above you said the package was delayed. You can't seem to make up your mind.

Quote:
You keep ranting like they were bringing you blood transfusions or some type of medicine without which, you'd die. It seems grossly disproportionate, particularly given that it was on time in ANY event.
Let's put this in perspective.
I posted a 4-line post; (FOUR LINES)
Jacksonville, FL, United States 12/26/2013 1:14 P.M. Arrival Scan
San Pablo, CA, United States 12/20/2013 4:23 A.M. Departure Scan
Six days for UPS to travel from California to Florida?
Are they back to wagon trains again?


To which you responded with posts of 24 lines going all the way up to almost 100 lines.

Take a look. I said nothing in my post about delivery times. That was something you added to the discussion. I was talking about TRAVEL times between California and Florida. You sidetracked the entire thread (frankly, I didn't even realize it until now) to push your own personal agenda.


Quote:
OK, then, obviously, some employee of some other company promised you a delivery date that
No one said anything about delivery dates until YOU changed the crux of my post.

Quote:
it was going to be delivered in 3-4 calendar days?
Where DO you get this stuff? It certainly can't be found in anything I posted.

Quote:
Something that would explain why you are so irate about this?
That part is easy...
Jacksonville, FL, United States 12/26/2013 1:14 P.M. Arrival Scan
San Pablo, CA, United States 12/20/2013 4:23 A.M. Departure Scan


One thing I have learned from shipping many packages is that when ever it gets transferred from one station to another, you can clearly see ALL the transfer points along the way. (That's why they call it 'Tracking.') If this package had gone through various hubs along the way, those transfer hubs would show up in the tracking routing.
There are none. CA to FL. Nothing in between.

There were NO TRANSFERS in HUBS. Not one. If there were, it would show up on the tracking routing.

Quote:
That demonstrates that they really did break their promise to you?
Yep.
It also demonstrates that rather a large portion of your posts were smoke and mirrors for a company that took 6 days to get a package from California to Florida.

Quote:
I don't care about this, not one iota.
Well, not more than making 100+ line replies, anyway...

Quote:
I hope, however, that you enjoyed your Christmas holiday--oops, sorry, working day--anyway.
Thank you, I did.
To you and yours as well.


Stitchawl

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