Surepost complaint

[Packmule]

Once again, I had a customer stop me and tie me up for several minutes complaining because the P.O. sent her surepost pkg back to the shipper because it didn't have a P.O. number on it. Wanted to know what she should do. Hell if I know. Told her to rage at the shipper, telling them she wants a new one delivered to her door by UPS. Perhaps file a corporate complaint. Just get ready for a brush off.
Whoever came up with this crap ought to at least fix the bugs so it works. Tired of being held up over something I can't fix.

 

[Jackburton]

I look at the USPS as Fed Ex, the more they screw up the more likely we'll get the business back. When the shippers that used our full service go to the basic 50/50 service start to see the sub par service they get on the other end, maybe we'll start seeing more FT UPS drivers on the road. You get what you pay for has never rung more true.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I look at the USPS as Fed Ex, the more they screw up the more likely we'll get the business back. When the shippers that used our full service go to the basic 50/50 service start to see the sub par service they get on the other end, maybe we'll start seeing more FT UPS drivers on the road. You get what you pay for has never rung more true.

SurePost isn't going anywhere; in fact, it will only increase in popularity with online shoppers and shippers.

 

[Jackburton]

SurePost isn't going anywhere; in fact, it will only increase in popularity with online shoppers and shippers.

UPS said the same thing about all the ground volume FedEx took when they introduced thier ground service. Ignore the problem until its to late and have a knee jerk reaction of "What happened?!?!?"

 

[Borderline 9.5]

My post office doesn't have a mail carrier so I check the address to see if it has a po box, if it doesn't I deliver it to the street address.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

My post office doesn't have a mail carrier so I check the address to see if it has a po box, if it doesn't I deliver it to the street address.

Are you talking about SurePost or Basic? With SurePost the packages are bagged at the center by the preload and delivered directly to the Post Office. The driver does not open the bag or scan any of the packages therein--he/she scans a label on the outside of the bag which the preload linked the packages in the bag to. Are you emptying the bag(s) as you deliver them?

 

[barnyard]

Tired of being held up over something I can't fix.

What do you tell a person that is expecting you to deliver a package, but it was lost or damaged in our system??? You are making an assumption that if USPS was not in the picture, we would deliver it perfectly, every time. We wreck and lose quite a few packages and having seen the condition of some Sure Post packages, I am glad that I do not have to deliver them.

 

[AMTK54]

This is the position that my girlfriend is in. Her town does not have delivery to residences. All mail must be addressed to a PO Box. Of course, when ordering items (or getting a gift) sometimes it is not clear whether it is coming Surepost/Basic/FedEx Smartpost/USPS/etc. What she does now is just put her physical address on address line 1, and her PO Box on address line 2 for all shipments, and that solves the problem. I would suggest that the customer do this (assuming I've understood the situation correctly) and her problems should be resolved.

 

[upsman68]

Are you talking about SurePost or Basic? With SurePost the packages are bagged at the center by the preload and delivered directly to the Post Office. The driver does not open the bag or scan any of the packages therein--he/she scans a label on the outside of the bag which the preload linked the packages in the bag to. Are you emptying the bag(s) as you deliver them?

Hey know it all some of the sure post packages are too big to put in a bag and they come down the belt by themselves. I get at least 5 or 6 bags a day and then some 4 to 5 stragglers that are not bagged. I'm sure this is what he is talking about. I will take some pictures of them if you like and post them if you don't believe me

 

[bigblu 2 you]

SurePost isn't going anywhere; in fact, it will only increase in popularity with online shoppers and shippers.

thats what i was told by a supe concerning package deferral {yellow dots}years ago,its not going anywhere.

 

[Borderline 9.5]

Are you talking about SurePost or Basic? With SurePost the packages are bagged at the center by the preload and delivered directly to the Post Office. The driver does not open the bag or scan any of the packages therein--he/she scans a label on the outside of the bag which the preload linked the packages in the bag to. Are you emptying the bag(s) as you deliver them?

The post office I deliver to only gets maybe two packages a day so there is no need to bag them

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The post office I deliver to only gets maybe two packages a day so there is no need to bag them

Two packages? It would make more sense to deliver those directly to the consignee. Ours get from as few as 10 to as many as 100 per day.

 

[Borderline 9.5]

Two packages? It would make more sense to deliver those directly to the consignee. Ours get from as few as 10 to as many as 100 per day.

I know, Thursday they got one that was for a business right next to it. Also if I happen to deliver one that doesn't have a po box, they give it to me the next day and I deliver it the street address. That's what the thread starters po should have done instead of returning the package.

 

[Packmule]

AMTK54, your suggestions would seem to be the answer to the problem, except that the website of the shipper must make this possible. The last customer I dealt with on this swore up and down that the website would not accept a p.o. number anywhere. At that point, I didn't know how to advise her except to scream louder at the shipper and at UPS for creating a program that doesn't always work. She has been billed twice now for both the purchase of the product, as well as shipping--but still doesn't have the package!
Whatever happened to the company that used single-carrier responsibility as a selling tool?

 

[barnyard]

Whatever happened to the company that used single-carrier responsibility as a selling tool?

We live in a WalMart society. Businesses race to get costs and wages as low as they can be and provide the lowest exceptable level of customer service. No company can provide a high corporate dividend and provide a high level of expensive customer service. The math does not work.

If you shop at Walmart or go to a brick and mortar shop to look at something and then buy it online for less, you are part of the problem.

 

[curiousbrain]

We live in a WalMart society. Businesses race to get costs and wages as low as they can be and provide the lowest exceptable level of customer service. No company can provide a high corporate dividend and provide a high level of expensive customer service. The math does not work.

If you shop at Walmart or go to a brick and mortar shop to look at something and then buy it online for less, you are part of the problem.

"Part of the problem?"

I think it's more consumer demand, and convenience, that is the issue at play here; as a company, we sell service, not ideals.

The obvious retort is that if there is a consignee physically close to the post office, and their parcel is shipped via SurePost, then (if we sell service, as I've intimated) why not deliver it? That is above my pay grade, unfortunately; however, I suspect the answer has something to do with "because that is what the contract says." Making service on the odd SurePost package that you feel is "close enough" might, when extrapolated across the country, cost millions of dollars per quarter.

On a topic related to the OP's post, consider the SurePost missorts that occur daily; almost every day, the center where I am employed gets a call from one of the PO's we provide service to wondering why they got a package for an area they don't service; now, they have to either send it back to us and we send it to the right PO, or get it there themselves.

Also, what a lot of centers that are heavy in SurePost do now is link all the packages to a single (or two, maybe three) ULD tag(s), so that the driver only has to scan the ULD tag(s) in question; there is no scanning bags, no scanning the "loose" packages; just scan the tags, and then snowblow the SurePost off the truck into the mail cart(s). The upshot is that this saves the driver time on that stop; the downside is that the dispatch piles on more stops because they know the PO (that used to be a 1.5 hour stop) became a quicker stop. If you have not seen this yet, keep an eye out for it soon - the IE/OE folks insist it should not be done this way, but the Operations managers like it - as far as I can tell, anyway.

Some operations even give the preloader a scanner set for USPS, and have them scan/bag it all on the belts; this slows them down and puts more pressure on the soups, but frees up small sort to take volume that might otherwise be held back.

As I see it, anyway.

 

[barnyard]

"Part of the problem?"

I think it's more consumer demand, and convenience, that is the issue at play here; as a company, we sell service, not ideals.

The obvious retort is that if there is a consignee physically close to the post office, and their parcel is shipped via SurePost, then (if we sell service, as I've intimated) why not deliver it?

Because the shipper did not pay for the additional service. They did not pay for the additional service because the customer would not pay for the additional service.

UPS does not make profits by upgrading packages to a better service level. That service has to be paid for. UPS will not be in business for long if they give away their service.

It is very easy to say, "We have to deliver the best level of service possible." when you are not the one writing the check.

My old route delivers to a PO. When sure post started, my PO volume jumped from 10-15 pieces a day to over 100 right now. I have suggested that we have the technology to match addresses from Sure Post to addresses that are already getting a package. I was told by my center manager that UPS will not upgrade packages for free. Once a customer gets 1 freebie, they will expect all of them free.

That is why we do not pull them out of the ULD bags.

Individual drivers might do that. They are certainly providing superior service in the customers eyes. UPS' CFO sees those drivers as giving away UPS profits and stealing those profits from shareholders.

A publicly owned company cannot provide maximum value to their shareholders and provide high levels of service to their customers. A society that shops at Walmart is telling businesses that service does not matter, low price is the most important thing.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

This is kind of off topic a little but I noticed the other day that we are using 3 Day Select when RTSing premium packages.

 

[barnyard]

This is kind of off topic a little but I noticed the other day that we are using 3 Day Select when RTSing premium packages.

Another way to save money at the expense of service.

 

[curiousbrain]

Because the shipper did not pay for the additional service. They did not pay for the additional service because the customer would not pay for the additional service.

UPS does not make profits by upgrading packages to a better service level. That service has to be paid for. UPS will not be in business for long if they give away their service.

It is very easy to say, "We have to deliver the best level of service possible." when you are not the one writing the check.

My old route delivers to a PO. When sure post started, my PO volume jumped from 10-15 pieces a day to over 100 right now. I have suggested that we have the technology to match addresses from Sure Post to addresses that are already getting a package. I was told by my center manager that UPS will not upgrade packages for free. Once a customer gets 1 freebie, they will expect all of them free.

That is why we do not pull them out of the ULD bags.

Individual drivers might do that. They are certainly providing superior service in the customers eyes. UPS' CFO sees those drivers as giving away UPS profits and stealing those profits from shareholders.

A publicly owned company cannot provide maximum value to their shareholders and provide high levels of service to their customers. A society that shops at Walmart is telling businesses that service does not matter, low price is the most important thing.

You misunderstood me, I think; "the obvious retort" was me preemptively arguing against myself. I, for one, agree with what you said - if a consignee did not pay for a specific service level, then even if you live right next door to the PO, that is irrelevant - no delivery by UPS.

As for the "walmart society", I would put forth the argument that there is a system of equations somewhere, that balances service and cost (in addition to many other factors), for every corporation; at some point, service is high enough and cost is low enough that it is acceptable.

Or, some might look at it as service is low enough and cost is high enough; it's the same either way.