How UPS blackmails customers
For a long time, the Finnish Postal Service was leading my list of the worst logistics companies by a margin, but now UPS is making a serious effort to rise through the ranks.
I do order a lot online because it’s convenient and - in many cases - it’s cheaper than going to a shop in Finland - if you’re lucky enough to have a suitable shop closeby anyways. The latter is not a given in Finland unless you live in one of the three or four big cities. I also have been dealing with UPS as a recipient as well as a sender literally for decades. UPS always was the best and their reliability and service made me happily pay a premium in the past when I had my own company and needed to ship anything as well as when I ordered anything.
But recently that has changed. A while ago, UPS Finland started to send SMS when a shipment was popping up in their system and when I first received one of those I couldn’t believe my eyes. The SMS read (translated):
Your shipment 1Zxxxxxxxx from ShopXYZ is on the way.
Please reply with "2" if you want delivery to the original address. Please also add a potential door code.
Your shipment will be automatically redirected to the pickup point GAS STATION XYZ, ABC STREET 123 if you don't reply before 16:00.
You'll receive a new message when the shipment can be picked up.
Shipment tracking: www.ups.com.
Reply STOP if you don't want to receive updates about your shipment.
Greetings, UPS.
I received this SMS around 11:35, mind you.
They can’t be serious, can they? First of all, I’m no teenager who sits on their phone 24/7. I actually have stuff to do during the day, so my phone is usually silent on some table, so this 4 hour ultimatum is absurd. I paid for home delivery! That’s why I chose UPS. If I wanted to run to some gas station downtown and queue up for half an hour to get my shipment, I would have chosen delivery by GLS or the Postal Service. Besides that, I don’t believe requiring the customer to take contact (which the customer has to pay) before delivering a home delivery shipment, well, home, complies with EU consumer protection legislation. Above all, however, it’s incredibly customer-unfriendly and honestly borders on criminal extortion.
I have started contacting the online shops I usually order from about this UPS behavior, and none of them was happy to hear about it, believe me…!
Using UPS as a shipper is now completely out of the question for me and from now on, every time I receive an SMS like that, I will complain to the customer service of the shipper and to the Finnish Consumer and Competition Authority.