Also, while UPS pays their regular employees well they are notoriously cheap about paying temp and seasonal employees.
BUT, wait, I want to tell my newest adventure with a parcel service. In this case Fed Ex Ground. First Fed Ex Air and Fed Ex Ground seem to be completely separate entities. There is a Fed Ex Air office just a few blocks from my house. So when I got a card in the mail saying they could not find the house, I went there to pick up my package. Sorry, this is a Fed Ex Ground package they are over on the other side of town. Can you give me directions? I'll call them and let them tell you how to get there. Sorry Sir all I am getting is an answering machine. Let me dial their 800 number, here you are sir. They are on CSX Way sir. I am not familiar with that street could you tell me how to get there, I am at your Whendover Rd office right now. Let me call them and get directions for you. Sorry sir all I am getting is a answering machine. I guess you will have to go over there yourself (to get directions on how to get there?). Out in the car I check my map. The street directory says it is about as far away as it could be and still be in the Charlotte area. Ah, there it is a little spur of a road, off of that road, off of a road I know about. Thirty minutes latter I am there. Visitor parking, OK. Now how do I get in. Humm looks like a gate office down there. Walk a half mile. Yes sir the pickup office is all the way down on the left. Walk 3/4 mile. Oh yes sir let me just call this number back any they will bring up your package. Wait and wait and wait. Sorry sir I can not find your package my I see your post card. Oh that's it she gave me the wrong date, just a moment. Wait and wait. He you are sir just sign here. Finally. Walk 3/4 mile back to the gate. Take every thing out of your pockets sir I have to run the wand over you and pat you down before you can leave. Walking 1/2 mile to the car, I decide, If anyone sends me something via Fed Ex Ground again, I will refuse the package! --graywolf ----- Original Message ----- From: Peifer, William [OCDUS] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 11:37 AM Subject: RE: More UPS Crap > Kent Gittings wrote: > > You must work and live around a bunch of crooks or something. > > And your full of s**t on most of the rest by the way. [Snip...] > > Gee, Kent -- and I thought Mick's shorts were on a little tight! Actually, > John Mustarde's experiences are similar to some of the rest of us who have > used UPS. Perhaps you've been exceptionally lucky. I'm not impressed with > UPS, and I prefer using an alternative carrier. Count your blessings if > you've had better luck than the rest of us. > > > And if you don't know it all UPS drivers use an electronic signature > > pad device that can't be replayed except at the distribution center > > where it gets down loaded at the end of the day. So they can't call > > it up on the little screen and practice forging some signatures. > [snip...] > > I don't think John was suggesting that drivers practice on the electronic > facsimiles of the signatures. If they're making regular deliveries to the > business, they most certainly see all kinds of that company's paperwork > laying around the warehouse, so they could conceivably be very familiar with > signatures for particular individuals. > > > At business addresses they must deliver them to a live person so if > > they can't find anybody they will leave them at another office. [snip...] > > Kent, some businesses -- like the one where I work -- take up more physical > space than a lot of small towns. Hell, we even have our own water treatment > plant and fire and rescue department! In my building alone, there are over > 100 people, and the shipping/receiving department closes at 3:30 PM. We > frequently have shipments dropped off by the UPS driver at the wrong > building, and these get "lost" for sometimes a week at a time. We have had > incidents in the past where a UPS driver will drop off a shipment on the > dock, either without a proper signature, or with the signature of some > employee not authorized to sign. These have been perishable materials worth > thousands, and sometimes TENS of thousands, of US dollars. Once it thaws, > it's garbage. As another enlightening example, consider the following. My > parents live in the kind of nice, upscale suburban neighborhood where most > everyone's gone during the day, and the possibility of daytime burglaries is > not all that remote. My father ordered a $2000 telescope a few years ago. > Three large, heavy boxes containing the telescope were dropped on his > doorstep in the middle of the afternoon by the UPS driver. The driver rang > the doorbell, but by the time my mother got down the stairs to answer, the > driver was nowhere to be seen. And one of the boxes was damaged to boot! > > > So you think somebody making a decent salary like that is going to > > steal a measly little camera without knowing what's in the package? > [snip...] > > Gosh, I thought UPS knew full well the contents and value, since both of > these have to be declared on the customer paperwork. I certainly DO think > an unscrupulous driver would be tempted to steal. In fact, there was a > recent case in New York state in which several UPS employees were arrested > for theft of firearms shipped by UPS. I'm certainly not suggesting that > ~most~ UPS drivers would steal, or that theft is common -- but it doesn't > matter what the percentages are if you happen to be the one rare customer > who loses something of value. > > > I hate to say it but it's more likely the guy who got the package stole > > it and claimed he never got it if he didn't sign for it than the UPS > > delivery guy got it. Statistics tend to bear this out. So even if it > wasn't > > the case the circumstances tend to favor that explanation based on > > the law of averages. [snip...] > > Statistics?? Law of averages?? You're kidding, right? Are there > unscrupulous customers who submit fraudulent claims against UPS? > Undoubtedly; however, UPS probably does keep their insurance claims down due > to the Byzantine procedures for filing such claims. Can't say I've ever > seen any statistics concerning the moral integrity of UPS employees vs. the > general population, but common sense would tell you that a UPS employee with > criminal intent would certainly have a much greater opportunity at robbing > from UPS than a customer would. > > > Especially since an LX is only going to be valuable to another > > Pentax person. [snip...] > > Ah, you mean like the "professional photographer" who stole Albano's LX at > gunpoint this past week? Get real, Kent. The only kind of person > interested in stealing valuable cameras is a person who believes he can sell > it for quick cash. That's a pretty broad category, Kent. > > Bill Peifer > Rochester, NY > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
