UPS completely shut down in Seattle

B

brownrodster

Well-Known Member
UPS was never shut down on any business days. UPS typically does not opperate on saturdays. Or if they do it is in a limited capacity.

UPS is still having trouble in Seattle because of the backlog of undelivered packages. It will take many days to catch up. The drivers are out there working the maximum number of hours they can.

There exists NO winter storm plan except tire chains and longer hours. The only thing we could do is hire more people and rent more trucks. But then we would have to fire those excess employees when we get caught up.

It is obvious you don't understand the scale of our operations. The redmond hub you want to pick your package up deals with tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of packages every night.

Basically overnight a place like that can rack up easily 20, 30 thousand undelivered packages when it snows. And when you have 2 weeks of snow it snowballs. You continue to rack up that many more undelivered packages each and every day. You tell me how we can find your single package amongst that many. FEDEX deals with much less package volume spread out over 3 (more?) different companies (express, ground, home delivery).

So, you are right. If you live in seattle and you want timely delivery and expect to have a 2 week long blizzard in the near future, then maybe shipping UPS is not the best option. Otherwise UPS is still the best.
 
Last edited:
U

UPS SUCKS425

New Member
1989 said:
UPS is stating they had no major winter storm plan then that is POOR management
Click to expand...
1989 said:


What was Seattle's, Renton's, Redmond's, Bellevue's winter storm plan? Nothing they never have one. Do you want ups to plow the roads? What do you think ups should have done? Where I am, we had about 20 inches of snow, and I haven't had any problems this year. When I dove in Seattle for 10 years the snow has always been a problem.
Click to expand...

No disagreement as if your on the other side of the hill that is where I'm originally from (North Idaho & Spokane area originally)they actually know how to plow snow and salt a road, but all we get here is tree huggers and fish friend...ers:) Just stating my experience and the pathetic responses from CS 800#. I even had a CS person tell me that "Were a 500 company and we will getter done" ummm...what does that have to do with the price of bread? I would have just moved on originally also as all I'm looking for is my merchandise to be delivered, but I saw a thread under Google looked and seen this person being called a liar and other names and now myself, because I really don't care, but when you have a five year old wondering and the wife wondering why we got shipments from other companies, but still nothing from UPS then yes I feel the need to respond. I would understand a few days, but over a week now is getting a little ridicules. As the others have delivered and UPS has not and as I stated FedEx gave me options UPS still to this day has given me none other than to wait. That’s fine I'm waiting, but how long should I wait... another seven days... another fourteen???
 
W

wescaddle

Member
dannyboy.dannyboy.

I am not giving you my freakin tracking numbers. I asked you specifically what information you could possibly provide that UPS Customer Service could not, and you have refused to answer. I'm sure I would get the same response from you that I got from them. "Your package is sitting in an overflow trailer." I also like that you are beginning to talk in the 3rd person.

tourists24, okay I'm ready for another song now.
 
1989

1989

Well-Known Member
wescaddle said:
1989, agreed! Seattle is a disaster when it snows. It is a rare event here and we are terribly unprepared and unaccustomed to it. That being said, what is it that could have been handled better so that now, 4 days after the roads are dry, people are still not seeing things that arrived in the Seattle UPS distribution center on December 23rd.
Click to expand...



Seattle delivers about 30,000-40,000 pkgs a day on average (non-peak)...Being peak season lets say 60,000. (I'm guessing on this figure)

Day 1, you have 60,000 packages. You arn't able to deliver about 30,000 because the businesses are closed and you bring back another 10,000 because the roads suck. What do you do with the 40,000 you brought back along with your pick ups?

Day 2, you have another 60,000 packages plus the 40,000 from yesterday. So now you have 100,000 to deliver and maybe you bring back 60,000. Because you are fighting through all the closed businesses that are in the way, plus your pick ups it's slowing you down.

Keep in mind UPS is not a warehouse, Where do you put your send agains (pkgs. brought back)?

Day 3, you now have 120,000 to deliver (you have now ran out of cars and personnel. usually UPS rents about 30 or 40 uhauls)

You see a pattern here? A friend of mine had 968 stops to deliver on 12/26. Of course that would be impossible...He was only doing about 200 because of all the walking.

It's a trickle down problem.
 
1989

1989

Well-Known Member
wescaddle said:
1989, that was the most civil and informative post on this thread yet. Thanks!
Click to expand...


Then a problem arises when someone wants to pick up a package that is not on a car that day. It happens to be in a trailor of about 3000 packages. But if we are gonna catch up, we have todo it one trailor at a time. And the trailor with your package has to wait it's turn.
 
U

UPS SUCKS425

New Member
1989 said:
Seattle delivers about 30,000-40,000 pkgs a day on average (non-peak)...Being peak season lets say 60,000. (I'm guessing on this figure)

Day 1, you have 60,000 packages. You arn't able to deliver about 30,000 because the businesses are closed and you bring back another 10,000 because the roads suck. What do you do with the 40,000 you brought back along with your pick ups?

Day 2, you have another 60,000 packages plus the 40,000 from yesterday. So now you have 100,000 to deliver and maybe you bring back 60,000. Because you are fighting through all the closed businesses that are in the way, plus your pick ups it's slowing you down.

Keep in mind UPS is not a warehouse, Where do you put your send agains (pkgs. brought back)?

Day 3, you now have 120,000 to deliver (you have now ran out of cars and personnel. usually UPS rents about 30 or 40 uhauls)

You see a pattern here? A friend of mine had 968 stops to deliver on 12/26. Of course that would be impossible...He was only doing about 200 because of all the walking.

It's a trickle down problem.
Click to expand...

Thank you 1989 explains some issues, but things I've personally been told from UPS employees is that management did not hire seasonal workers at the Redmond distribution center and that they actually laid some individuals off? I was also told that they had run a week with only half a crew. If any of this is true per my original statement... this is a company i.e. management issue not a customer issue... am I wishing I didn’t order late yes, but to be honest this is the first time I've had to order late for anything during Christmas. And the one I'm most upset about is the delivery from a friend in Ireland that I had not even mentioned and was sent on like the 2nd. Well don't worry Danny Boy I have enough to drink my sorrows away... Hell I'll even give you a toast for calling me a liar and a troll... as it only hurts if it’s true:)
 
U

UPS SUCKS425

New Member
So even though it does not change the events, some would not post after my diatribe, but I'm man enough to bow my head and thank the UPS man that just delivered at 9:30pm to my home... Danny Boy did you do that... LMAO...
Oh come on you can laugh at that... you even delivered my gift from Ireland....

I thank the hard working individuals that are working to the wee hours... as even though per some I'm truly not a girly boy...and 1989 if your from the area then the High Drive during Elk season is no place for girls:) I would still challenge management of there contingency/action plans.

Have a fabulous New Year and I think I'll go have a drink and listen to those great songs that were shared :happy-very::happy-very::happy-very:
 
trplnkl

trplnkl

555
wescaddle and sucks425, you both have mentioned in posts that you didn't find fault with the drivers that were working their butts off to get the mounds of packages delivered. Your complaint were about upper management that makes the decisions. IF that is true, I have one question for you. Why the hell do you post your frustrations to the people you don't blame? Send your concerns to UPS corporate, they are the deciders on all things UPS.
 
A

Aiken

Just a Customer
Hey guys,

I understand that you're miffed about customers bitching you out in what sort of amounts to your off-hours, hanging out together, mutual support place/time. I think I probably would be, too. Still, since some have shown up and it's already happened, I'd just ask you to remember what most of us on the other side of the fence have been dealing with in the greater Seattle area:

1) Obviously a lot of us haven't gotten packages. Otherwise we wouldn't be searching for more info and winding up here. I, for instance, have received zero of nine, most due on the 18th, 19th, and 22nd. All are Christmas presents. This is a surprisingly common story. It's frustrating, to say the least, to be in our positions.

2) The website is all but inaccurate at this point. In my case, for instance, three packages were last updated on the 22nd, one on the 24th, four on the 26th, and one on the 29th. This instills no confidence that any progress is being made, and in fact suggests that our packages may have fallen out of the tracking system somehow, adding further distress to our frustration.

3) Calling 1-800-PICK-UPS to ask for anything other than tracking information is a pretty terrible experience. It seems no one can tell you anything that's not on the web site, and when you (I think understandably) try to find out anything else, they become what I would call a combination of tight-lipped, evasive, and in some cases, rude and dishonest. The CS workers are not well-trained, in my opinion. This all elevates the average's person's distress and frustration to a level much more along the lines of anger.

3a) Furthermore, most of us are being told on the phone that UPS workers will not be working weekends or New Year's Eve, and that no matter how extremely late a ground or 3-day package is, and regardless of whether it's someone's Christmas present, it takes a back seat to absolutely everything else. Though I've since learned through other channels that these assertions are only partially true, and that workers are also working much longer hours than usual, the fact remains that most people are told this, and only this, by UPS representatives. Since it was bad news that one would expect they'd rather not deliver to customers, it seemed reasonable to believe it, especially in the absence of other information. Again, this piles on addition upset.

4) Trying to find any alternate source of information is nigh-impossible. CS flat-out refuses to provide any other contact information. We have no other avenue to get more detailed information on the actual problems and plans that the CS workers are clearly not being clued into. There's no apparent way to complain to management about the way they seem to have mismanaged planning for events like this. In the end, we basically have no believable information, and no one to vent to who can do anything.

The only thing that ever made me feel better was to talk to an actual person at the UPS center in Redmond. They were kind and informative, something completely lacking in the entire process up to that point. I don't think the vast majority of customers ever got that, though, and so the vast majority of people waiting on packages are, to put it bluntly, *extremely* pissed off.

So, yeah, it sucks to have extremely pissed-off people storm into your private pub, so to speak. It also sucks that they're mad at the people who probably don't actually frequent this forum, and so what exactly are you supposed to do? Still, try to have a heart and consider what we're going through before being so harsh with us. This has been a horrible, horrible holiday season. I myself am feeling pretty down.

(By the way, I'm perfectly willing to PM someone all nine tracking numbers, but only if it's someone who's genuinely interested in looking into things. I'd rather not offer them up to someone who's hostile and merely wants me to prove myself, though.)

Edit: Had to fix formatting. Having Javascript turned off deleted all newlines. Gah, sorry.
 
trplnkl

trplnkl

555
Very well written post Aiken, if the others had approached in the same manner things may not have gotten so outta hand.

Aiken said:
Hey guys,

I understand that you're miffed about customers bitching you out in what sort of amounts to your off-hours, hanging out together, mutual support place/time. I think I probably would be, too. Still, since some have shown up and it's already happened, I'd just ask you to remember what most of us on the other side of the fence have been dealing with in the greater Seattle area:
A few of our regular posters have had to deal with the same thing you have, they live in the area also and do understand. Some are from other areas hit by the same bad weather and they too understand what is like for the average Joe to deal with trying to get to work and home again safely.

1) Obviously a lot of us haven't gotten packages. Otherwise we wouldn't be searching for more info and winding up here. I, for instance, have received zero of nine, most due on the 18th, 19th, and 22nd. All are Christmas presents. This is a surprisingly common story. It's frustrating, to say the least, to be in our positions.
It is very understandable that y'all are frustrated at not getting your packages in time for Christmas, I probably would be frustrated also.
It is very frustrating for us as UPS drivers to have a day and a half or two days of normal work to preform in one day. Usually at this time of year the company hires temp drivers and helpers to speed things along. Granted, I am not in the ill-effected area of the country but I can imagine what possibly happened in some cases. I would be willing to bet that at least 50% of the temp hires for this peak season quit when the heavy snow showed up. This leaves the company very short handed at the most needed time.

2) The website is all but inaccurate at this point. In my case, for instance, three packages were last updated on the 22nd, one on the 24th, four on the 26th, and one on the 29th. This instills no confidence that any progress is being made, and in fact suggests that our packages may have fallen out of the tracking system somehow, adding further distress to our frustration.
UPSes infrastructure doesn't allow for the thousands of packages not delivered to be housed in a controllable manner, all we can do is stuff them in a trailer for safe keeping until we can get a handle on things. The website tracking info is fed by the perspective centers through physical scans to a point, then with what is called a "logical" scan. THe logical scan simply tells us that said package was loaded in a trailer and without a more recent physical scan it is "logically" still in that trailer(along with about 2,000 + other packages).

3) Calling 1-800-PICK-UPS to ask for anything other than tracking information is a pretty terrible experience. It seems no one can tell you anything that's not on the web site, and when you (I think understandably) try to find out anything else, they become what I would call a combination of tight-lipped, evasive, and in some cases, rude and dishonest. The CS workers are not well-trained, in my opinion. This all elevates the average's person's distress and frustration to a level much more along the lines of anger.
OK, here is one of my greatest pet peeves, with UPS. The 800 # is an outsourced function of UPS, the people you talk to do not work directly for UPS, their only info comes basically from the website. Although they do get to see certain bits of info that not everyone gets to see, i.e. shipper and receiver addresses, and (if delivered) who signed for the shipment, which does not help alot. You are correct that the CS workers are not well trained.

3a) Furthermore, most of us are being told on the phone that UPS workers will not be working weekends or New Year's Eve, and that no matter how extremely late a ground or 3-day package is, and regardless of whether it's someone's Christmas present, it takes a back seat to absolutely everything else. Though I've since learned through other channels that these assertions are only partially true, and that workers are also working much longer hours than usual, the fact remains that most people are told this, and only this, by UPS representatives. Since it was bad news that one would expect they'd rather not deliver to customers, it seemed reasonable to believe it, especially in the absence of other information. Again, this piles on addition upset.
It isn't a matter of not wanting to deliver to the customers as such. There are two major factors involved with the decissions on extra days to deliver that the CS people don't know nor would the understand if told. One is that the drivers are limited to a certain number of hours of work per week by law. When a driver works 12 hours a day monday through friday, they have no more hours to work legally until the next monday. Second, I'm sure you already know that UPS drivers are union and work under a contract with UPS. New Years Eve and Day are negotiated paid holidays with only premium services, nest day and 2nd day air, being delivered.

4) Trying to find any alternate source of information is nigh-impossible. CS flat-out refuses to provide any other contact information. We have no other avenue to get more detailed information on the actual problems and plans that the CS workers are clearly not being clued into. There's no apparent way to complain to management about the way they seem to have mismanaged planning for events like this. In the end, we basically have no believable information, and no one to vent to who can do anything.
The following is where the UPS Deciders hang out.
Write to UPS at:
UPS Corporate Headquarters
55 Glenlake Parkway, NE
Atlanta , GA 30328
United States
here is an E-mail link.....vent away.
https://www.ups.com/upsemail/input?loc=en_US&reqID=SUP


The only thing that ever made me feel better was to talk to an actual person at the UPS center in Redmond. They were kind and informative, something completely lacking in the entire process up to that point. I don't think the vast majority of customers ever got that, though, and so the vast majority of people waiting on packages are, to put it bluntly, *extremely* pissed off.
It does help me to get to actually talk to someone that appears to give a dang about my problem, even if they can't do anything. Maybe at least they can tell you why they can't help you get your stuff. The last sentence in this paragraph pretty well explains why an outsourced CS is one of my pet peeves.

So, yeah, it sucks to have extremely pissed-off people storm into your private pub, so to speak. It also sucks that they're mad at the people who probably don't actually frequent this forum, and so what exactly are you supposed to do? Still, try to have a heart and consider what we're going through before being so harsh with us. This has been a horrible, horrible holiday season. I myself am feeling pretty down.
Yeah, it does suck to be somewhat disparaged, even as a group vs. personally. Not wanting to sound like a elementary school kid, I hesitate to say that the harsh words started with the original poster complaints.
I am very sorry for your loss of satisfying experience of this Christmas experience, I truly am. ( I apologize if that sounded patronizing I didn't intend it that way)

(By the way, I'm perfectly willing to PM someone all nine tracking numbers, but only if it's someone who's genuinely interested in looking into things. I'd rather not offer them up to someone who's hostile and merely wants me to prove myself, though.)
I'm afraid I can't help you find anymore info than you already have. I hope all turns out ok and you get your packages soon.

Edit: Had to fix formatting. Having Javascript turned off deleted all newlines. Gah, sorry.
Click to expand...
 

Similar threads

StruckByGoingHome
'Removed from Service' for waiting for pick ups.
10 11 12
Replies
233
Views
16K
BrownSnowFlake
BrownSnowFlake
W
Division Manager completely out of touch - how did I let myself get so screwed
5 6 7
Replies
124
Views
11K
FedupExpress
FedupExpress
Zowert
UPS is already losing business
2 3 4
Replies
74
Views
8K
Zowert
Zowert
Y
URGENT Help needed! Lost packages and have no idea how to find
2
Replies
23
Views
3K
Superteeth2478
Superteeth2478
P
Overgoods Contact Info
Replies
18
Views
4K
Thomasino
T
Top