UPS Shenanigans....

This is not a whine about poor service (my UPS guy is the best), but sort of a head's up to others.
I had a hlf case of Zins shipped last week from Calif bay area, 2-Day Air, scheduled for delivery in LosAlamos on Thurs. Billing info recvd by UPS on Mon (8/13), I last tracked it late Tues night afore I left for Calif. Had been scanned into system in Sunnyvale Tues am (8/14). Things looked fine for a Thurs (8/16) delivery.
Left instructions w/ neighbor to take care of my package that Thurs aft/evening. I get back from Calif late am Tues (8/21). Ooops...no Zin package. Look at UPS tracking info that package was airlifted to Dallas/FtWorth Wed (8/15) pm and then sitting in Albq over the weekend. Taking it's own sweet time and way beyond 2-Day Air (well...it WAS on an airplane at one time). Track it Wed am (8/22) and see it had made it to SantaFe the night before (Mon night) and finally it does get delivered on Wed pm (8/22), 6 days late.
Out of curiosity, look at the UPS tracking info Thurs morning (8/23). Say whot!!!! It does not reflect the actual journey at all. It shows origin scan in Sunnyvale this Mon pm (8/20) not last Tues pm (8/14), thru Oakland to Dallas/FtWorth, departure at Dallas/FtWorth on Tues pm (8/21) at 4:16 pm an arrival scan in Albq at 4:44pm, just 28 minutes later!!
Man...that's one fast truck drive or flight from Dallas to Albq....Warp Speed 10. The good news is that Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity says my Zins are .000000159 nanosecs younger than everybody's else!!
Anyway, it sure appears to me that UPS failed on the 2-Day air delivery and went back and monkeyed w/ the records to indicate they did fulfill the delivery in 2-days.
Alas, I didn't save any of that old tracking data to show as evidence that they'd been spoofing up the tracking record.
Strikes me as a bit unethical. Others may want to keep a closer eye on the UPS tracking info on their deliveries.
Tom
PS: Don't ask for the name of the wnry. It's not important. They've been informed of the situation.

wow, the delays suck, the trackcovering stupid.

Was this recently, or did it happen six months ago?

87102?when=-1
87102?when=-2
87102?when=-3
87102?when=-4
87102?when=-5
etc

It looks like you guys had record highs on Tuesday & Wednesday.

wow, the delays suck, the trackcovering stupid.

I think "dishonest" would be a more accurate term.
Tom

This link is even better:

monthly/87102

Was this recently, or did it happen six months ago?
It looks like you guys had record highs on Tuesday & Wednesday.

This was last week and this. It's been record hot here this week.
I'm not at all concerned about the wine. The btls arrived cool to the touch, about 70F. They were in pristine condition, absolutely no signs of pushed corks or leaked wines.
I'm not very fussy about insisting my wine be delivered in air conditioned trucks. True... I have no idea what kind of temps the wine was exposed to along the way. But that is true also of every wine I buy. I seldom see signs of heat damage in any wines I buy.
Tom

Tom, I had nearly this same experience with UPS recently. Thankfully, it was network components, not wine, but when you need them and pay extra for 2 day shipping, it's annoying as all get out!

The tracking said "Billing Information Received" for 2 days, then nothing at all for a day (?), then the package was magically in Chicago, where it stayed for 3 days.

After it (finally) arrived, I too went back and looked at the tracking again so I could outline it for the vendor, and it looked like it had been a normal transit for a 2 day package!

(And, btw, you can't have the best UPS guy, because I do and he doesn't go up the hill at all! )

wow, the delays suck, the trackcovering stupid.

I think "dishonest" would be a more accurate term.
Tom

Of course it's dishonest. It's just a stupid dishonesty, where clearly the coverup is far worse than the "crime." The smart and honest thing to do is take responsibilities for one's mistakes.

I seldom see signs of heat damage in any wines I buy.

Okey-dokey.

I had a similar situation where UPS actually returned the wine to the winery as undeliverable, and it was resent to me. The tracking number remained the same, but it only showed the second trip, not the first. That could be your problem.

I had a similar situation where UPS actually returned the wine to the winery as undeliverable, and it was resent to me. The tracking number remained the same, but it only showed the second trip, not the first. That could be your problem.

Perhaps, but not likely. There was no delivery attempt note left on my door & my UPS man is pretty good about doing that. And it was not returned to the wnry or they would have notified me I believe.
Tom

Dear Tom,

As much at it pains me to defend UPS (second only to Ticketmaster in their ability to make a simple transaction into a needlessly expensive nightmare), I believe there is an entirely benign explanation for your tracking data.

What UPS displays to you is mostly the result of scanning the truck or container the package is supposed to be in, not the package itself. The only time the package itself is scanned is when it's picked up, sorted, or delivered. Outside of these three cases, they just assume that it got on the truck or container that it was supposed to.

Probably what happened is during sorting it was scanned, marked for transfer to a plane, but got misdirected and put on the wrong plane. At that point the tracking still showed that plane leaving and arriving at the correct location. It was only when the other plane was unloaded for sorting that the misdirection was discovered. At that point they also probably cleared out the track to the point where they guessed it was misdirected, and appended the "corrected" track.

Sound plausible?

Walt

Walt,
Not only plausible....that's exactly what happened.
When I talked to DonnReisen last week, his people had figured out what was going on. The package was scheduled to go out the first Mon & the tracking info sent to UPS. But, in fact, they held that entire shipment at the wnry until the following Mon. So they were obviously scanning the truck/plane it was supposed to be on, but not the package itself.
I really have little problem w/ UPS on the NM end. My driver (Alonso) is the absolutely the best and get a nice tip and a couple btls of my leftover SQN every yr.
Tom

Tom, let me pile on -- our UPS driver, Pat Mason, is a great guy and very helpful in arranging deliveries and checking on lost packages. Making friends with the local delivery guy (with UPS at least, I've had less luck with FedEx for some reason) pays dividends here.

And, Pat has become a friend as well.

Regards, Bob

Walt,
Not only plausible....that's exactly what happened. ...
Tom

Aha! And I didn't even need to contact the winery.

I can't really forgive UPS because whenever I receive something precious they always seem to bash a hole in the package. It's uncanny. Expensive memory chips? Hole. $15 indestructible outdoor flag? Impeccable condition. One-of-a-kind artwork on a 4x4 foot board? Huge hole.

Plus they are the assholes who caused people's wine to be confiscated because they took in en-route through the wrong state.

Walt

Walt,
Not only plausible....that's exactly what happened.
When I talked to DonnReisen last week, his people had figured out what was going on. The package was scheduled to go out the first Mon & the tracking info sent to UPS. But, in fact, they held that entire shipment at the wnry until the following Mon. So they were obviously scanning the truck/plane it was supposed to be on, but not the package itself.
I really have little problem w/ UPS on the NM end. My driver (Alonso) is the absolutely the best and get a nice tip and a couple btls of my leftover SQN every yr.
Tom

So it turned out to be miscommunication at the winery's end? Well, I'm glad that at least it meant the wine didn't go bad in the process.

But it seems odd that UPS had scanned in the shipment, even though they chose not to transport it for another week!!

I've in my experience had only one similar glitch with a shipping service. In my case, it was FedEx. I was shipping two packages back from Naples, FL to New Hampshire. One contained a 85mm astronomic telescope and its tripod. The other had $1000 in telescope eyepieces. Insured in full. I had shipped both of them 2nd-day air, to be held at the FedEx facility in Derry, NH, just at the fringe of the Manchester, NH airport where I'd be flying back. My plan was to pick up the telescope and eyepieces and to drive from the airport directly to a sky watch that the New Hampshire Astronomical Society was holding.

When I showed up at the FedEx facility, the scope was there, but the case of eyepieces was missing. I told them I hoped for their sake they found the package, as otherwise it was going to be very expensive for them. It was VERY fortunate for FedEx that the night was overcast, and hence I wouldn't have been able to use the eyepieces anyway. I told the FedEx folks so, and that I had no intention of paying 2nd-day rates, since they had manifestly failed to deliver 2nd-day service.

There was no argument from the FedEx folks--who were extremely apologetic. I filled out a "missing parcel" form and they promised to call me as soon as they'd located the stray parcel. I got a call from them the next morning saying that the package was at the facility where it should have been the night before. It seems that it had erroneously been sorted as "3rd day air" instead of "2nd day air".

Although I offered to pay for the 3rd day air service they delivered on, reduced from the 2nd day air they'd committed to, FedEx credited me for the whole cost, and so the missing package got delivered for free.


UPS is notorious in the amateur astronomy field for refusing to pay out on their "insurance", if packages go missing or are damaged. FedEx, in my experience, at least, has stood by their promises, in all but one cases delivered what they promised, and in that one screw-up they cancelled the charge without any argument. Hallmarks of a class outfit, IMO.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

While I generally have no issues with UPS or FedEx (or DHL), I thought it was both good and funny that UPS caled me yesterday letting me know that a package requiring a 21+ year old signature would be arriving today between...get this...8 AM an 7 PM and I should "ensure that there is someone home to sign for the package." Oh yes, I will put my life on hold for 11 hours just for you UPS. I get better windows from plumbers!

I just pick everything up at the airport depot the next day.

While I generally have no issues with UPS or FedEx (or DHL), I thought it was both good and funny that UPS caled me yesterday letting me know that a package requiring a 21+ year old signature would be arriving today between...get this...8 AM an 7 PM and I should "ensure that there is someone home to sign for the package." Oh yes, I will put my life on hold for 11 hours just for you UPS. I get better windows from plumbers!

I just pick everything up at the airport depot the next day.

Yes, I have the same problem with wine shipments. DHL had an arrangement where I could sign a form and they'd hold the shipment at their airport depot for me to pick up. My favorite winery is now using FedEx for shipping, and unfortunately they don't have the same arrangement. So they send their truck out, I'm not there, they leave a tag on my doorknob, and that evening I visit their airport depot office and pick up the shipment. It would be much better for both of us if they provided a way for me to say, "just hold this at the depot and I'll pick it up".

More's the pity, because if they could tell me within an hour when they'd be showing up at my door, I could be there to receive the shipment. But I can't stay at home all day waiting for a package to be delivered.

-Paul W.

IMO it would be better if they didn't pretend that teenagers getting drunk on UPS-delivered wine was an important problem. A liability issue, probably.

[David M. Bueker]

My old UPS driver would leave the boxes (hidden behind the bushes). The new one goes by the letter of the law, but since I work across the street from the airport it's no big deal.

For years, our UPS folks were very good about taking our wine shipments to a next door neighbor for signature. Now they tell me that is not allowed, even though I post a signed note on the front door. Furthermore, I cannot get anyone at UPS to give me a decent explanation as to why this is not allowed.

Of course, the UPS facility is inconveniently located and only open during weekdays. As a result, it is a real pain for me to pick up packages from them.

My recent experience with FedEx is they also will not deliver to my neighbor. However, they just opened a new facility very close to my office (less than a mile). This should help out quite a bit.

But wait ... I just received an email from one of my winery clubs telling me how my life was going to be so much better because they are switching all of their deliveries to UPS. YIKES !! So, I sent them an email advising them of the hassles I have with UPS and that if I have to leave work to drive to a UPS facility to pick up their wine, I would just cancel out of their wine club. The winery responded quickly that they would flag my account for FedEx delivery.

The moral of the story here is that you should figure out which delivery (dis-)service works for you, and alert your wine clubs to use that one or lose your business.

-- Clark

I've had two cases not show up that UPS records have shown we signed for. The first time I wrangled with the shipper and got another case. The second time, I didn't bother, just wrote off the case. I don't know for a fact what happened, so I don't want to blame the shipper or UPS, but it is a pisser when classed growths that you paid for and look forward to just disappear.