...And They Still Suck!

remember how i hate ups? and how when they FINALLY deigned to deliver my package i didn't stop thinking they suck? well, UPS STILL sucks. sometime last week i ordered some dive boots from diveusa.com for a truly excellent price (about half what i would have paid for the same thing in a local dive shop), and they were set to arrive today. i need these boots for the bahamas. where i am going a WEEK FROM TOMORROW. the UPS delivery around here is... unpredictable. some days, they come at noon, others 6 pm, others 4 pm, and today they came at 2 pm. of course, no one was home at 2 pm. so what did the UPS guy do? did he leave my package by the front door (my personal preference for packages that arrive when i'm not home)? leave a notice on the door? nope. the UPS guy decided it would be a good idea to DROP MY PACKAGE OVER THE FENCE onto the side porch. where my very curious dog can proceed to rip it to SHREDS. all over the yard. good idea, UPS man.

this is not the first time that the UPS man has made this rather unwise decision. but it is the first time that krull the warrior king noticed the package and chewed it to hell and back. see, around christmas time, i ordered something that was delivered via UPS, and the guy dropped the package over the fence onto the side porch. but that time he at least left a notice on the door so i knew to look on the side porch. and krull evidently didn't hear the guy coming that time. but did he ever hear him coming this time...

my dive boots are technically still usable. krull didn't do a lot of damage to the actual boots. there's just one little piece of neoprene ripped off the protective flap inside the zipper of one of them and some teeth marks on the side (but there aren't any actual holes. good thing i ordered thick boots). the package is another story. my back yard was absolutely littered with cardboard and plastic bubble wrap. krull has a thing for plastic things that could potentially suffocate him. we're lucky he didn't kill himself ripping apart the plastic bag and bubble wrap that my boots were packaged in. oh, and the invoice? i can read about 1/4 of it. i can't even find the rest of it.

when i discovered this gigantic mess in the yard, i was understandably pissed off. and while i was still seeing red i decided to call UPS and bitch them out (which i did the first time they left a package on the side porch, but apparently it didn't stick). last time i called, i had the benefit of a notice with a phone number on my door. this time, no such luck. so, when i called 1-800-PICK-UPS, i was greeted by an automated menu with absolutely no option to talk to an actual person. so i called the UPS store to see if they knew who i should call, and the (very helpful and sympathetic) girl told me to call the 800 number again and press 0 a bunch of times, which finally got me through to a person.

so i explained the situation to the lady who finally answered. she was also sympathetic and said that by filing a damage claim, there would be a note for my address telling them not to leave packages at the side door (which they have to drop packages over a 6 ft privacy fence to do in the first place. why would anyone think that's a good idea?). i'm not sure what exactly they plan to do about this. refund my money? that's what i would like. get diveusa to send me new boots? that's fine, too, but i need to use the ones i have because i know new ones won't arrive before i leave for 8 days. she said to keep the damaged materials (packing materials, invoice, and all - basically, just scraps of paper, cardboard, and plastic) for 5 business days in case they require an inspection of the damaged items. if i don't hear from them in 5 days, i can throw everything out.

what can i say? UPS has pissed me off so many times, it's ridiculous. why don't more businesses ship with FedEx? the FedEx guy has never done anything this stupid.