How UPS deliveries actually work - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Homer J Simpson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 01:42:56 am
content: http://youtu.be/LTlLOF2moxY

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 01:57:43 am
content: They are not even that advanced. I took a day off work and sat on my couch facing the open front door and watched the truck drive by without slowing down then refreshed the tracking page and saw it change to "no one home"

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:27:19 am
content: At least they didn't steal your stuffAt least they don't open your fence door, leave your stuff near your front door and forge your signature.but when the son of a bitch didn't even show up for three days reporting that i wasn't there, oh i got him fired. fuck you, i have to stay inside for three days on my vacation time because you don't do your job?

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:30:55 am
content: Plausible.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:40:53 am
content: And best of all, some if not all will require for you to pay an additional fee if you do the job for them and go pick up your package at the distribution center

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:50:57 am
content: Here they will not drop and run, because that always results in a stolen package. Having done a few deliveries, you get used to just how slack some are. The smaller ones are generally better in the coverage areas they handle though, often they are the second party delivery for the big guys, who do not want to cover all the suburbs with deliveries.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:57:19 am
content: Not the case here. They usually call at the morning, asking if you will be at home, and always just before arriving.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 08:05:24 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on July 20, 2016, 06:30:55 amNot just plausible in Australia - but it happens. My purchase of a desoldering station suffered a similar fate. I was home all day, working 3m from the front door and never heard a thing. I was lucky though ... they did at least leave a card.A couple of years ago, I learned of one instance where a guy had ordered something to be delivered to his father's address - because he would be home during the day. The driver left a card instead of delivering. So, instead of just opening the door and having it placed on the floor, the 90 year-old had to make his way to the post office, wait in line to collect it and then cart it back home. I understand it was quite an effort on his part - and entirely unnecessary.

author: Dataforensics
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 09:24:53 am
content: An earlier version.https://youtu.be/j0oRGHGyzuM

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 11:23:58 am
content: Quote from: wraper on July 20, 2016, 06:57:19 amFedex here is the only one that does it

author: ZeTeX
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 01:59:25 pm
content: In my country they never do this shit, they always call 3 minutes before to ask if you are home, if no they will come the second day and the third day and so on.A couple of days ago I was about to receive a package but my phone was on silence and I was sleeping, so good guy DHL delivery guy came to door and my mom saw him and took the package.Never had a problem with getting packages, the only problems are that sometimes you have to pay a lot for stupid things on packages that are 50$ in value.Funny story, me my friend ordered the exact same thing at the exact same day thru DHL, and for some reason I got the package without paying any fees but he had too.the package value was about 40-60$.

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 02:20:39 pm
content: One time a customer sent a $15K industrial camera to me by UPS and I wasn't home so the driver left it on my porch. Not a big deal as I live (and work at home) on a dead end gravel road in the country. He could have left an unwrapped gold bar and it would have been safe.The next day someone in a UPS office saw this $15K item just left on my porch and had a cow. She called me and asked about the delivery and I said I got it and all was OK.But that wasn't good enough. Another day later the driver stopped by and said he didn't have a delivery but had a piece of paper for me to sign verifying that I received the delivery. He was somewhat puzzled by this and I explained to him what was going on.

author: JWH
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 02:55:44 pm
content: I learned that the tracking information from UPS is sometimes (probably often) "derived". When you track a package, some of the entries in the list of where the package has been are not the result of the package actually being scanned at those locations. UPS simply assumes that the package is going where it is supposed to go, and they report where the package SHOULD be.I live just north of Chicago. A few years ago, three packages from one supplier were scheduled to be delivered by UPS on a Friday. One of those packages did not arrive. The tracking report indicated that it went from southern California (point of origin) to an airport in northern California, was flown to Rockford, Illinois, then was trucked to the huge sorting center in Hodgkins, Illinois (just west of Chicago), then trucked to the UPS terminal in Northbrook, Illinois where it was put on the final delivery truck that serves my area. It was shown as "Out for delivery" that Friday.The package probably made it to Hodgkins, but then ended up going to the state of Alabama hundreds of miles away. UPS did a system-wide check and found it and eventually I received it.JWH

author: vodka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 05:37:35 pm
content: Quote from: eugenenine on July 20, 2016, 01:57:43 amSo we have passed 5 times at less of 2 years with several messenger corporations. Sometimes,they didn't leave ticket.Quote.So logic,the old man didn't hear the bell or he was sleeping when arrived the messenger. He left the card instead the packet, simply by security because he hadn't got the recieved ticket signed by the receptor of the packet.I don't know the Australia messenger and package laws , but on my country when a receptor recieved a packet , he must give to messenger the code DNI(National Document Identification), his names and surnames after signing the delivering

author: FireFlower
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:02:37 pm
content: in Finland they send you SMS that they are going to try deliver package in XX -- XX hours and call them if you're not around that time to arrange a new delivery time. When they are finally delivering they call you like 5 mins before they are at your door and while you're having a nice kalsarikänni.

author: vodka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 06:47:09 pm
content: QuoteIt always that there aren't a blizzard or a bear eats to the messenger.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 07:11:06 pm
content: Quote from: eugenenine on July 20, 2016, 01:57:43 amThat happened to me too a couple of weeks ago!

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 07:28:20 pm
content: Pretty sure the delivery guys are either used to it by now, or have done it before as well.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 10:38:59 pm
content: It is amazing to see the stories everyone has. I receive a fair amount of packages, mostly company related, and have been for the last 12 years of my employment. I have never had an issue. In fact, deliveries are between 11:00 and moon every single time. The dual K9 doorbells let me know when the driver pulls up in front of the house.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2016, 11:10:29 pm
content: A couple of months ago I sent a package via FedEx to a colleague a few states away. There were two items inside, both relatively large (on the order of 64 cubic inches each), packed nice and snug with packing material and sealed up well, with a value set at $10k, overnight delivery.Two days later (day after delivery) the recipient calls me up, and asks where the second item is.Me: What?Him: There is only one device in the box, and the packing material seems loose.Me: Is the box damaged? Holes in the side? Ripped off tape?Him: No, the box looks like it's sealed up well and everything seems normal, but the packaging is loose inside and only one of the two items is here.I call up FedEx and explain the situation. They seem puzzled, but they open an investigation. At this point I've written the second item off and have started figuring out how to replace it (it was a one-off device). Several hours later FedEx calls back, apparently they "found" a mysterious device in their LA warehouse (the recipient lives in LA) and would like me to confirm a number that's printed on it. I verify the number, and they send it along to the recipient later that day, undamaged.Either I have inadvertently developed a mechanism that causes electronic devices to spontaneously transport themselves outside of their box, or somebody at FedEx saw the declared value and decided to open up the box and pocket the most "interesting" looking piece inside, seal the box back up, and then send it along to the destination without a word. Later on they inspected what they pocketed, realized that they had NO idea what it was or what it could possibly be used for, and returned it to the warehouse. I thank them for returning it, but at the same time...WTF?

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 05:03:09 am
content: That video is utter nonsense: the guy actually had the parcel with him, rather than just having the slip...

author: alsetalokin4017
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 06:31:12 am
content: Quote from: eugenenine on July 20, 2016, 01:57:43 amSimilar thing happened to me except I didn't see the truck. Waited all day for my new Rigol scope from TEquipment, sent "Signature Required" since we live in a ripoff-prone 'hood. At around 9:30 pm the tracking page changed to "Delivered". Of course it wasn't delivered -- to me. Later on I went outside to walk the dog and noticed a box sitting on the porch of the _vacant_ house next door. Sure enough.... there it was.

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 12:26:58 pm
content: I once had FedEx leave a $3000 Mac Pro (the original generation aluminum tower beasts) at the street end of my long gravel driveway... In the pouring rain... Without even putting it in a plastic bag!By the time I got to it a few hours later, the box was completely soaked, which meant I couldn't pick it up (or else the system would have broken right through the bottom). So I had to open it up, in the rain, in the middle of my driveway!I called, furious, and had a check three days later for the value. (The weirdest part is the check was sent from FedEx's claims division via DHL Overnight! I guess they didn't trust their own driver not to leave it in the rain...)

author: magetoo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 02:51:54 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on July 20, 2016, 07:02:48 amThat sounds shockingly sensible. Something similar might actually be the best solution for some places around here.

author: bitslice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 03:02:08 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on July 20, 2016, 07:02:48 amI've seen something similar in front of one of our Supermarkets,a stack of locked boxes with some kind of computer authorising access.haven't looked too closely though, but a good solution for 24/7 access

author: Jeroen3
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 04:59:13 pm
content: UPS does this indeed, they haveonedistribution location in the entire country iirc, and they only deliver between 9 and 16. Those are the hours I'm at work.Luckily they drop it off at a local bookstore in the neighbouring town that same day.DHL does this very differently, they'll tell you on delivery day, we'll be there x time. Then you'll have to call them to reschedule. And the closest pick-up point is in the next major town, an hour away in total.Yet, for business we often order stuff from a large electronics wharehouse. And they were so full of the shipping companies they started bringing the stuff to the customer themself.Recently they made track&trace available on the website, and this is suspiciously accurate. For example, today is delivery day, and you lookup the deliver time in the morning at 9. It says 13:43.At PRECISELY 13:43 the truck reverses to the loading door, not once, every time

author: FireFlower
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 11:13:30 pm
content: Quote from: Jeroen3 on July 21, 2016, 04:59:13 pmThere is Il Duce at DHL?

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2016, 06:45:58 pm
content: A few years back when UPS was advertising how they will deliver anywhere in the world I found that they won't deliver to my parents home in WV. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with their customer (dis)service for that one.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 24, 2016, 01:25:29 am
content: Why?Is it on an island or on top of a mountain peak?I would have thought West Virginia was about as American as apple pie...

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2016, 03:46:27 am
content: It has some of the most isolated communities in the country, with many small valleys served by dirt roads only.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2016, 06:02:03 am
content: I'd like to put in a good word for TNT. I've had dozens of items sent from USA (via a reshipper in CA) via TNT, and there's never been a problem. Very fast, their tracking system is updated often and seems to be actual scans not guestimates, and the delivery guys make an effort to find someone here. If it's the usual guy he'll actually walk around to the back (down a large block) to find me. Carrying the box, if it's light enough to carry.Oh, and they seem to handle boxes carefully. I've even had things turn up via TNT that *should* have been broken, but had been coddled. (A logical analyzer with the plastic carry handle actually sticking out of the carton. Typical 'packed by a lunatic' thing.)Fedex on the other had... grrr. Never using them again.

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2016, 07:25:59 pm
content: Quote from: Brumby on July 24, 2016, 01:25:29 amIts 7 miles from their house to the nearest town and another 8 miles to a town big enough to have a stop light.though at the time UPS' (false) advertising was that they would deliver anywhere in the world and the ads would show a UPS delivery o a bicycle or mule packing up a mountain.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 25, 2016, 12:11:31 am
content: SWMBO's first husband was Coast Guard and one posting was in San Perlita, Texas. About 200 lived there and there were no street names. They had rented a house and in order to get UPS deliveries there, she was told that she had to make up a street name and number so it could be recorded and the package properly delivered. She never had an issue getting packages.She said that they were really in the boonies. Her daughters had to walk through a corn field to get to the school bus and the closest real grocery store was over an hour away.