UPS 'lost' my lower receiver.

[Double00]

It's not like it was a sudden thing though. Christmas time is the same time every year...UPS just doesn't want to spend the money hiring seasonal workers.

Not true. UPS screwed up big time. It had nothing to do with not hiring seasonal help. The system got overloaded plain and simple. I have been working 12hrs days since the beginning of Nov. It wasn't the lack of seasonal help.

[sellersm]

UPS is in a world of hurt... Take a look: http://www.naturalnews.com/043332_UP...breakdown.html

[PugnacAutMortem]

Imho this is a whole lot of crying and whining about NOTHING. Supposedly they were overwhelmed when the packages exceeded their estimates by a huge margin. So- guess what- service suffered and a lot of stuff is late. So what. At least we have the ability to buy stuff on the computer, have it shipped to our house while we sit on our butts. It's just not a big deal.

So you are good with paying a company for a service, and then that company doesn't do what you paid them to do in the timeframe you paid them to do it?

You must be rich if people taking your money for a service and not following through doesn't bother you.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

It's not like it was a sudden thing though. Christmas time is the same time every year...UPS just doesn't want to spend the money hiring seasonal workers.

Do you really think it is that?
http://upsjobs-problemsolved.com/home

Yeah, because hiring temporary help during the Christmas shopping season is new and unique to retail and shipping.

In other news, Butterball seems to be able to figure out that they get a lot more customer contacts around the last Thursday in November and staff accordingly.

There are a ton of businesses that have to adapt to the realities of our modern day society, unless you're the US Postal Service. You either adapt or die.

Do you really think Butterball significantly increases their staffing around the last Thursday in November?
Which do you think is easier to predict? How many turkeys you are raising on your farms, and therefore need to stuff into sacks, or how many companies out there may or may not use your services and how many presents people may or may not buy this year as the economy and holiday retail cycles over the past few years? Shipping an unknown quantity of items all over the United states is JUST LIKE retailers staffing registers at Target and Kohl's, right?


Just think, if UPS hired a few of the folks here to manage these logistics, they wouldn't have to deal with with the backlash. Well, that's just not doing fiduciary duty for the shareholders.



Edit: And I'm not apologizing for them, but let's be serious and sincere for a moment in our critical thinking and criticisms of why this may have happened. Maybe their whole routing system did go down. Maybe the weather did impact some deliveries. But the stories I'm reading also include a lot of what Double00 is saying, too. Is this really the worst thing that can happen to you during the holidays? If so, count your blessings. Seriously.

[Gman]

Do you really think Butterball significantly increases their staffing around the last Thursday in November?

Absolutely. They even market their assistance hotline.

Hiring more men to staff calls was even a priority this year; http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/2...n-hotline.html

Face it, you're an apologist for UPS, even though you deny it. They failed at their own game. PERIOD.


There was more to this than just Christmas presents;

Medicine didn't arrive

The backlog isn't just affecting Christmas presents, of course.

The Warren family of Heath, Texas, had to go a few days without special medicine their 14-year-old son needs in order to eat. "It was just sitting" at a UPS outlet in Mesquite, where the family finally picked it up, Patrick Warren told CNN affiliate WFAA.

[trlcavscout]

Holder probably stole it to sell to the cartels, gotta make that bonus quota!

[sneakerd]

Pugnac, it has nothing to do with the money or "being rich". Now- if I paid them for overnight, and it didn't get there, and it was important- I'm due a refund on the extra money I paid for fast delivery. I just don't worry about little stuff. By the way- yes I do have a package currently in UPS limbo. My point was that if you have the time to whine and complain because the delivery was not on time, and that's you're biggest issue, you're doing pretty well. Shit happens every day, and this is nothing in the big picture.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Absolutely. They even market their assistance hotline.

Hiring more men to staff calls was even a priority this year; http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/2...n-hotline.html

Face it, you're an apologist for UPS, even though you deny it. They failed at their own game. PERIOD.

<snip video>

There was more to this than just Christmas presents;

Fine. I'm an "apologist." And I obviously deny it.
OR, I just don't think it is this big crime against humanity.
Let's even go with "they failed." Think you'll use them again? I bet you will. $0.02

And as a former (but still licensed) pharmacist, I also don't have tons of sympathy for a family trying to ship meds that are available locally. Of course I understand why people do it and I get that they are occasionally heavily incented to do so. My own company does this. If it is so serious, though - go and buy it locally. That is an appeal to emotion that omits the obvious, and I'm not feeling sorry for them.



Lastly, do you really think some extra call center folks is a significant staffing increase? You said you do.
I guess I don't. But then again, I'm just a UPS apologist. Having said that, from your link:

But the line, which has grown from six operators to about 60 since it launched in 1981, has never hired men before.

to the corporate website: http://www.butterballcorp.com/corpor...rmation/facts/

Butterball employs 5,000 associates in its five plant locations and corporate offices.

So 60 extra in a corporation of 5,000 is a significant staffing increase. Fair enough and we can agree to disagree.





It does beg the question, though, do you think UPS increased by at least 1.2%? Do you think their increase in volume was more or less than 1.2%?

[Gman]

I've previously had no option but to get medical equipment through UPS due to insurance requirements. The first wife had a uncuffed fenestrated tracheostomy tube that was needed to replace a cuffed unfenestrated tube several years ago. It arrived 2 months after her tube was removed. It sat in Kentucky for a couple of months. Lots of win.

My comparison with Butterball was something recently in the news and has a seasonal peak in business volume. You're making direct comparisons of 2 different business models to bolster your argument. What product does UPS create? What's that? They're just middle-men that deliver a service? Yeah, fail on the direct comp.

Many companies have seasonal peaks, including the one I work for. It's part of the business cycle. You forecast for it and scale to meet demand. UPS failed in a big and public way, no matter how you want to make excuses for them.

Whenever I have the option, I use FedEx. Whenever I buy from Amazon Prime, I get what they've arranged, UPS. Amazon is now reviewing their shipping options, as any responsible business should.

[osok-308]

Raise hell for sure, tell UPS that you'll report the claim not only to the ATF, but also the FBI (since it involves interstate commerce). That's what I would do.