http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/25/us/ups-delays/index.html?c=homepage-t
Were any of your gifts delayed?
Do you think UPS made the right decision by not having thir drivers work on Christmas Day?
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I agree they made the right decision with having drivers not work.
I'm confused why some things were delayed so long though! It sounded like packages were just sitting around in their warehouses.
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From my understanding there were a few issues. Some they could control and some that they could not control. They could have controlled the warehouse and movements in many places. But most of the US has been hit by back to back winter storms which means that many goods just sat where they were. They could only reroute so much. They apparently did not anticipate the demand either which was bad on their part.
I do think that they should not be doing Christmas day deliveries.
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I think they should've delivered. They could have offered time and a half, and let the workers choose if they want to work or not!
If they didn't deliver as promised, they should offer refunds or credits to affected customers. They screwed up, they should make it right.
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My little bro is a driver for UPS, so I guess I'm partial. I'm glad to have him home in Christmas. I know if they had offered holiday pay he would have gone in and I'm glad they didn't. It has been crazy, he said he made 340 stops in one day on Monday!
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@matador84: what's is your bro's usual average?
One of the things the article points to as part of the delay was the shorter buying cycle- we had one less weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Retailers and UPS both could have planned that better. The trend for more online shopping and relying less on the USPS anyone can see that a mile away.
As long as Christmas Day working was optional, I think deliveries today would be totally appropriate.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I agree with your optional statement, though I'm not sure how well that would work in practice.
I do feel bad for everyone that was counting on delivery- I would be pissed. However, many people probably aren't even home to accept the packages, and the workers deserve time
Off to spend with their families. -
I had something guaranteed to be here Monday, but came last night. But, it wasn't Christmas related, so it wasn't a big deal to me.
I think it's fine for them to have a day off, even if they're behind. They should have planned better for the season, though. They decided to cut back at the wrong time of year!
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I don't think that the drivers should work today. Our holiday cards were delayed several days by ups. They wound up sending the package to USPS. It sat at the post office for a few days before we received it yesterday.
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I had one item delayed, but it's not a big deal. Honestly, I did 99% of my Christmas shopping online, and my UPS guy worked his ass off the last few weeks, so I definitely think he deserved the day off. I'm not the least bit upset.
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My Christmas cards didn't come in time. But even if they had delivered today it would've been too late!
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: it's not just drivers, though. My little brother works as a package loader for UPS (in addition to going to college full-time) and there's a huge level of coordination between sorting, loading, and delivering. I can't imagine how they'd pull it off with people volunteering, I think the behind-the-scenes people would have to all be called in to work in order to get the trucks properly loaded, even if the drivers got to choose whether to work or not. I know I'm biased, but I'm glad my poor brother has a day off to actually get a bit of sleep.
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They should definitely get today off. Like @Crystal: said people aren't even home to receive them. Things happen and it's not the end of the world if the packages are delayed.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: he said it depends on if he's doing pick ups or deliveries, but typically 70-130 stops. 340 is just unreal!
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I think the people expecting packages for Christmas should have planned better, but that's just me! I enjoy my holidays off work and hope others can too.
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Maybe this is easier for me to say because I don't have any missing packages, but I wouldn't want our delivery people working on Christmas.
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My package was delayed but it was a very last minute purchase. Luckily, I figured out something else to give my husband and was able to pick it up in store last night. Talk about last minute shopping! We actually saw a ups truck delivering pretty late in our neighborhood last night. We felt bad that he had to work late.
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@matador84: omg, that was a very busy day for him!
@PurplePeony: yeah, I didn't really think about the support team. You would need the a majority of the team to commit to coming in.
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I'll play devils advocate here and raise this question: how is ups working on Christmas Day any different than stores being open on thanksgiving? Both are holidays, and both would require employees being away from their family.
It sounds like poor planning, and a higher amount of deliveries in a shorter amount of time (due to there being one less weekend of shopping!); I think an appropriate response would be to refund shoppers their shipping fee.
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I think the workers deserve to be home. I think that the amount of last minute 'guaranteed Christmas shipping' is what hosed them, and that's not their fault directly. People wait until the last minute a lot. I always say 'poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine'
they deserve time with their families just as much as anyone and I'm glad they had it!
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Eh my private trash collection picked up on Xmas so I guess I feel like if they offered workers to work Christmas it would be their choice and it would have helped the situation. Of course everyone deserves to be home but if it were a choice to work than I guess I don't see a problem.
Poor planning by ups.
My sil slaves over Christmas cookies - like Martha Stewart type ones. And over half were not received in time. Sad.
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I think they should get a day off! Everyone who was up in arms about shopping on thanksgiving thinks UPS should deliver on Christmas Day? We saw a UPS guy literally SPRINTING down a driveway at 5 pm on the 23rd. They've been working like crazy lately. I don't really see how it's the end of the world if one of your presents is a day or two late.
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@dagret: I think the difference is that stores don't promise customers that they'll be open on Thanksgiving? But UPS promised that they would ship their packages by Christmas.
UPS is free to renege on their promise, and give their employees a day off. But I think they still owe something to the customers who relied on the promise that UPS had made them.
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@mrbee: I get the distinction, but still don't get what the big deal is whether a package comes the 24th vs the 26th. I highly doubt that the higher ups who were ultimately responsible for the cutbacks and ensuing labor shortages would be the ones working - it's the rank and file who have been busting their butts who would miss Christmas.
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@dagret: I think it's great that the workers got Christmas off. I just think that corporate should stand behind their promise and offer refunds or credits to customers whose packages didn't come on time.
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I don't think working on Christmas would fix the issue bc most ppl aren't home all day on Christmas. I do think ups did a horrible job of planning and totally botched this whole season. I had 2 things late with guaranteed delivery. Which apparently " guatanteed" means exactly nothing if your store ships ups. I always pick places that ship fedex if possible bc ups has always sucked, but it's a bummer amazon switched to ups for us this year!
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Without reading the article, I think if they say they'll deliver by x date they should make every effort to do that or refund customers... Including paying more for OT.
Certain jobs don't get traditional holidays. Ups should decide what they want to do and follow through but I am not a fan of businesses biting off more than they can chew during the holidays.
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@mrbee: I agree re refunds.
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I agree with mr. Bee, it's good business practice.
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The article states Amazon plans to refund customers the shipping charges..
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@mrbee: Well, actually most of the people who are receiving the packages aren't the customers. The customers are the people who paid for the package and they would need to get the refunds. And companies like Amazon that will be refunding those shipping fees should be made whole by UPS (and apparently FedEx). What it does do is make a very bad impression for others who may think to use them next year. UPS is getting the brunt of it this year but all of the delivery companies are backed up.
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@ninja: Agreed
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@brownie: Sorry, didn't mean to suggest that the customers were anyone other than the people paying for the package delivery!
In my years as a customer, I've found UPS' business practices to be constantly disappointing. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't refund/credit money to their customers (package senders) *or* the retailers like Amazon who offer UPS as a delivery option. But maybe surprise everyone in how they handle this!
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@mrbee: I agree with you on all of that but the news is focusing on those receiving items. But I think with as much information as is out and UPS being the scapegoat, I think they will do something. I think the Target issue and ability to recover will be a major factor in this as well. These very visible problems and how they try to make consumers trust them again.
Now I do feel as if it is just as much consumers faults for waiting until the last minute to purchase gifts online and send them. Not that those are the only problems that got caught up.
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@brownie: Yah I agree, it's not safe to wait until the last minute!
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I think it's great that ups drivers worked so hard and i have seen them work hard! It's the overall /corporate ups planning that was poor.
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I ordered a bunch of last minute things on Monday via Amazon Prime and fortunately everything was delivered on Tuesday as promised. I hadn't heard that there were issues until I started seeing posts on FB. Several people actually posted that they DID receive UPS deliveries today. I think it should have been optional, with holiday pay to anyone (driver or not) who worked today.
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My cousin's gift to our nieces and nephews did not arrive yet and she was very upset because she paid extra for the expedited fee. Hopefully they can refund the difference but I think it's not worth getting upset over. The kids will be just as excited to get it tomorrow or the day after. It will make Christmas last just a bit longer. Besides, Christmas should not be about gifts, it's about spending time with family and friends. The UPS workers need a day off too.
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I think they should let UPS EEs volunteer to work on Christmas day if they want to. Some may even need the extra income, I'm sure. I ordered stuff from Amazon but it didn't need to be delivered by Christmas so it's no big deal. But I did wonder why it was taking so long?
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I'm glad they didn't work. Even if they asked for volunteers, workers might have felt they had to work, when they would have rather stayed home. Or their families would like to have them home. Christmas is not only about gifts. Having said that, if UPS is really that bad, they should start making changes or they are going to lose customers (like Amazon, which I imagine would be s huge loss for UPS).
they deserve time with their families just as much as anyone and I'm glad they had it!
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49 comments