One of the reasons we lose customers

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
This last week I had one of my suppliers (Brett) drive two hours to the UPS facility to ship me four boxes. When they were told the contents, live plants, the UPS clerk refused to take them. My customer called me and I talked to the clerk, who informed me that UPS never takes anything live into their system, and she would not be taking my shipment from my customer.

Well, not to be one to shrink from a challenge, I called atlanta. I politely explained my situation and gave the guy the phone number directly into the centers customer counter, and he informed me it would be taken care of right away. Two minutes later, Brett calls back and says I dont know who or what you said but her phone rang, and within a minute or two the packages were taken by the clerk with a thankyou and come back.

Now, my question is this. Why do I as a customer have to bitch to atlanta to get my packages shipped from Houston to here? I understand there are some things we can not take. But some lousy water plants? Give me a break.

BTW, UPS got them here, all on the same day, in one piece. From Houston TX to East Tennessee ground in two days.......Its no wonder we are considered leaders in the industry.

But we have to get the lazy bums that are turning away volume out of our system. We cant afford them anymore.

d
 

HEFFERNAN

Huge Member
I've delivered boxes of crickets, live lobsters from maine, live fish to pet stores. The difference is that they were all next day air shipments. Anything sent live through the ground system has a chance to be dead by the time it gets to its destination. I still don't know why they would refuse a plant no matter how it was sent.
 

rod

Retired 22 years
Live plants and fruit in the middle of winter up north-- now thats a great combination. Oranges and grapefruit from Florida or Texas are frozen as hard as a croquet balls, apples are instant applesauce when they thaw out. Flowers ( Flower of the Month Club you got your Grangma in Minneapolis for a Christmas present) are like dust when they are opened. I've delivered tons of all those. If people are DUMB enough to send them I say "take their money" as long as they realize its being shipped "uninsured at their own risk". :peaceful:
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
We have been delivering plants ever since I can remember, especially this time of the year. I remember those "Amazoia Grass" CODS from years past to those QVC tree saplings I am delivering now. They are considered perishable, which means we don't pay claims on them.
 

959Nanook

Well-Known Member
There is a sign in our customer counter that specifically prohibits live plants from our system.

I'm gonna have to check the poster behind the customer counter in our center. There may be conditions on shipping plants (I wouldn't know what they are) but my understanding has been that plants are NOT PROHIBITED. Live animals are another issue for obvious reasons. We have commercial greenhouses and nurseries that have shipping accounts with us here in Interior Alaska.

This time of year, it is a relevant matter for people in Interior Alaska who are receiving say ... flower bulbs and are concerned that the bulbs will freeze if driver released so they typically have them held for pickup or shipped to their place of employment (spring break closures caused some deviations from the latter plan).
 
well i have a story better than that, i was gonna ship a few things, so i drove over to work , not at my start time btw, but our every so incoveinent 2-6pm customer counter hours,and theres a sign on the door closed... humm i say knowing the local is working, i walk around to another open door and ask a osm lady whats up with shipping??? well she laughs and says that the girl who usally runs the counter has been sick all week!!! so the counter wasnt open for a solid week, wish i had thought and knew atlantas phone number and posted it on the door for people to call and complain to them, this just does not make sense they want OUR sales leads but cant open up.:whiteflag:
 

brett636

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what that person was smoking, but I've seen countless boxes of live plants move through our system. Just the other day I had to sort a trailer full of live trees and shrubs. All of which had a nice heavy ball of soil attached to the roots with some weighing up to 65 lbs.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
There is a sign in our customer counter that specifically prohibits live plants from our system

Yeppers, one thing UPS does really well is post signs everywhere. So many in fact that most people totally ignore the signs.

So, lemme see, we specifically prohibit live plants in our system, and live animals. Then hows comes we deliver them all the time? How do they manage to enter our system for us to deliver, but yet they are a prohibited item???

I think the left hand has no clue what the right hand has been up to at UPS:wink2:

d
 

Jim Kemp

Well-Known Member
I think most plants have a stamp from the agriculture dept. There could be some insects, mold or some other pest on plants that you would not want transport from one part of the country to another. Here where I live we have a problem with fire ants an Insect that came by ship through Mobile Al.
 

worldwide

Well-Known Member
From the UPS tariff
"UPS does not provide a protective service for the transportation of perishable commodities or of commodities requiring protection from heat or cold. Such commodities will be accepted for transportation solely at the shipper’s risk for any damage arising from the perishable nature of the item. Shippers shall not file claims for, and UPS shall not be liable to shippers or any third parties for, any damage arising from the transportation of perishable commodities or commodities requiring protection from heat or cold, regardless of whether the package is delivered pursuant to an applicable UPS Service Guarantee or is delayed in transit. UPS reserves the right to dispose of any package in the UPS system containing a perishable commodity that, in UPS’s sole discretion, is deemed to be unsafe or unsanitary."

Many different state laws on shipping plants:
http://www.nationalplantboard.org
 

tups

Well-Known Member
There is a sign in our customer counter that specifically prohibits live plants from our system.

Someone ought to tell 1800flowers.com hat we dont ship live plants. Maybe you got that treatment because you were a 'little guy' but yet the shipper who gives UPS millions to ship flower and plants has no problem.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
UPS does not provide a protective service for the transportation of perishable commodities or of commodities requiring protection from heat or cold. Such commodities will be accepted for transportation solely at the shipper’s risk for any damage arising from the perishable nature of the item

Now, what part of that do many of you that have posted here, and those working the customer counter not understand?

What is says is that we will not protect the plants from either freezing or cooking due to weather. WE will not protect the package from the temp extremes. That is all. It does not say UPS does not provide a delivery service for the transportation of perishable comodities.

It does also go on to say that they will be accepted........... so how do you get to "we dont take any live plants or animals" from the above statement?

I think sales lead training ought to start with our customer counter people. Thats twice in two weeks my customers have been sending things to me where the clerk tells them no, we dont take fish or plants, only to have a quick follow up and end up taking them.

Whats funny about this is I even talked to her, she was so beligerent it was unbelievable.

Atlanta, you want to grow the business? Train your staff that deals with the customer at the building.

Long lunch, no, it did not rhyme. But one of the centers was the naples Fla center, the other was in Houston.

d
 

Average at Best

Well-Known Member
You want to know another way we lose customers? DAMAGES!!! It seems like every package I get from UPS has been stomped on or got caught in the conveyor belt system.

Case in point: I ordered a nice frame to hang up a collectable hockey jersey. Naturally, it was an irreg. And of course, it had a huge footprint in the middle of the box and the glass was shattered. Now I have to try to get my insurance money or a replacement...

My driver even told me that sometimes he gets packages so mangled that he's embarrassed to deliver them.
 
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