How is YOUR UPS?

[Anonymous]

I am in Winnipeg. I ordered an item from BC. It left Prince George on June 25 at around 21:00h, and arrived in Winnipeg on June 27 at around the same time of day. UPS advises it will be at my home on July 2!

So, 2 days to get from Prince George to Winnipeg, and 5 days to get it down the street to my door!

That's just not worth the extra cost to use this carrier.

[flipistics]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am in Winnipeg. I ordered an item from BC. It left Prince George on June 25 at around 21:00h, and arrived in Winnipeg on June 27 at around the same time of day. UPS advises it will be at my home on July 2!

So, 2 days to get from Prince George to Winnipeg, and 5 days to get it down the street to my door!

That's just not worth the extra cost to use this carrier.

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To be fair, 2 of those days are weekend and one is Canada Day.

[Anonymous]

So they don't work Saturdays or Sundays? They must be the only carrier that doesn't!

[marnotom!]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So they don't work Saturdays or Sundays? They must be the only carrier that doesn't!

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Carriers that do offer weekend home delivery are generally ones that use "gig workers" to do the delivering.  Gig workers are not compensated as well and have worse working conditions than delivery workers who are actual employees of the carrier.  Coverage on the Canada Post negotiations is bringing this to light to the general public.

[Anonymous]

That's sorta racist.

I think what you mean are 'part time' workers. I have met dozens of them over the years, and haven't had a *** one yet. I doubt Canada Post will use this term in their negotiations, and with the costs of mailing rising, I also have my doubts that many people will feel any loyalty to the folks who go through thick and thin, rain or shine ... or used to anyway.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's sorta racist.

I think what you mean are 'part time' workers. I have met dozens of them over the years, and haven't had a *** one yet. I doubt Canada Post will use this term in their negotiations, and with the costs of mailing rising, I also have my doubts that many people will feel any loyalty to the folks who go through thick and thin, rain or shine ... or used to anyway.

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@Anonymous 

For Saturday delivery it used to have to be specified at a surcharge. Very likely your seller did not note it on bill. After that it becomes timing and where you are. This announcement just went past recently in my mail. It may or may not apply to your situation.

UPS is expanding its Saturday delivery service in Canada, providing residential delivery via UPS Standard service on Saturdays in major metropolitan areas. This service is available at no extra cost to customers and is designed to meet the growing demand for weekend deliveries. 

Key Features of the new service:

• Expanded Coverage:

  Initially available in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, Laval, Calgary, and Greater Vancouver, with plans to expand to more areas. 
• No Extra Cost:

  Saturday delivery is included at no additional charge for eligible shipments. 
• Residential Delivery:

  The service focuses on delivering to residential addresses. 
• Integration with UPS Access Point:

  Saturday delivery is also available to eligible UPS Access Point locations. 
• Faster Transborder Deliveries:

  Packages previously delivered on Monday will now be delivered two days faster on Saturday to eligible destinations in Canada and the U.S. 

Eligibility:

Saturday delivery eligibility depends on several factors: 

• Origin postal code
• UPS defined Saturday delivery service territory
• Residential address classification or available UPS Access Point locations.
• Eligible origins and destinations will continue to expand throughout 2024.

Impact:

This new service allows businesses to meet customer expectations for timely weekend deliveries, potentially boosting sales and improving customer satisfaction. UPS is the first integrated carrier to offer this type of Saturday delivery in Canada as a standard service. 

https://www.ups.com/ca/en/business-solutions/pickup-dropoff-options/weekend-pickups-deliveries

As a side for about 1 month UPS has been adding surge shipment pricing at 2 bucks a pop. Unsure how many are getting dinged on that as of late. 

[marnotom!]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's sorta racist.

How so? Because the workers you see participating in gig jobs are disproportionately non-Caucasian compared to other jobs?

The federal government currently uses this term, FWIW:

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/programs/labour-standards/reports/gig-workers-what-we-heard.html

And, no, I don't mean part-time workers. Smaller carriers do contract out delivery jobs rather than hire their own workers.

[jtg204]

What day did it estimate it would arrive when you made the decision to buy it?

Did you have an option for a better date at lower cost?

[Anonymous]

Agreed, but what is the problem with giving ordinary folks with a part time job to make a few extra bucks?

In this case, these people know how to drive, know how to read, and know how to walk, so why not give them some work? They are really no different than part-time cab drivers (who sometimes deliver stuff), or Uber drivers, or Meals On Wheels etc.  It's also more costly to add a person to the payroll to make them their own workers.

Hiring these people to do deliveries that the big guys (UPS) don't want to do  because it costs them big money to pay their staff to do weekend deliveries, is  a lot better than relying on the post office whose constant threats of strikes push people to small carriers, or UPS who can't deliver a package on a weekend.

Thanks for conversation.  Stay safe.

[Anonymous]

Yes, sometimes I am offered a better date, but never at a lower cost. It is always higher. It cost me 19.95 for UPS, as opposed to around 5 bucks for regular mail for a DVD coming from a Canadian seller.  I opted for UPS, foolishly thinking I would get it faster.

Delivery date provided by seller will be met. I have no issue with late deliveries .. sometimes s**t happens. My issue is with UPS, which I will never request again.

[marnotom!]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Agreed, but what is the problem with giving ordinary folks with a part time job to make a few extra bucks?

Just before you completely bail out on this conversation, @Anonymous, give this article a read to get an idea of the pitfalls contracted delivery workers might face:

https://www.talentcanada.ca/thousands-of-drivers-file-arbitration-claims-against-amazon-for-unpaid-wages-and-other-losses/

[Anonymous]

Interesting article - thanks for the link. I have read and seen many similar stories on the highs and lows of working at Amazon.

The issues that Amazon have with their drivers and inside workers have been bounced around in the news for several years. Who really knows the truth, and when you get lawyers involved, you can't believe anything. We hear good stuff from Amazon, and bad stuff from their employees all the time.

It's just the old David vs. Goliath story here ...

Kinda like those days when Unions were beginning to develop. 

Amazon could kick butt in this business if they hired more humans to work in their customer service area and actually be able to respond to issues instead of forcing their drivers to meet near-impossible goals, so naturally the drivers are unhappy.

[easoss]

I've made my disdain for UPS rather obvious in other posts. Easily the worst courier company. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am in Winnipeg. I ordered an item from BC. It left Prince George on June 25 at around 21:00h, and arrived in Winnipeg on June 27 at around the same time of day. UPS advises it will be at my home on July 2!

So, 2 days to get from Prince George to Winnipeg, and 5 days to get it down the street to my door!

That's just not worth the extra cost to use this carrier.

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@Anonymous 

One other suggestion to consider going forward. You are much better off, if when you are relying on tracking to use CP's or UPS etc site specific tools  vs eBay's transaction data. CP's, UPS. Fedex are consistently much more current/reliable due to the fact that those tracking details go straight from source(warehouse/driver) to mainframe vs eBay's being ported to eBay in batches on their schedule. Those batch info dumps can have glitches and/or failures. If I am concerned about a package I will sign up for the online updates at the companies website. Text or email.  There are even a few name brand couriers that use real time scanning updates that show exact location.

[Anonymous]

Please pass the crow 😞

Seller stated in listing that shipping by UPS for $19.95.

I  messaged seller and asked if item could be sent by Canada Post to save money.

Seller responded and said sure, but the cost would be the same.

When I sent payment, I messaged the seller and asked to ship UPS anyway as it would probably be faster than mail. I had no problem paying the fee in the listing from the beginning.

Item arrived today by Canada Post!

So any belly-aching comments about our postal service (by me) are hereby rescinded. They did a **bleep** good job on this one.