I Am Thoroughly Disgusted w/ Amazon and UPS

[dballance]

On Jan 30th UPS delivered two packages from Amazon to my address. Unfortunately they weren't anything I ordered and the name on the shipping label is a person I don't know and have never heard of. So, being the good guy I actually am, despite the impression some of you may have gotten from some of my posts here on DU, I tried to do the right thing. I went to Amazon's site looking for a way to let them know that the items they shipped, 2nd Day Air BTW, got delivered to the wrong address. Their customer service options really only include common events like "Where's my Stuff" and how to do a return. No toll-free number to call for live humans. Finally I found a form to "e-mail customer service" and e-mailed them about the problem. When I submitted the form it said someone would respond within 12 hours. It's been over 72 now and no response.

After doing that on Amazon's site it occurred to me I should probably call UPS and let them know they delivered to the wrong address. UPS does have an 800-number you can call. Of course it's one of those automated phone systems that does everything in its power to prevent you from speaking to a live person with a heartbeat. After I sat through the mindless repetition of "You can say: Track Packages, Order Supplies..." where none of the options were "You can say Speak to an Agent" I just sat there until the system finally connected me to an agent.

I explained the problem to her and emphasized that these packages were shipped second day air so the intended recipient was probably a very irritated customer now since they paid extra for shipping and didn't get their items. She profusely apologized for the mistake. Took the tracking numbers and assured me that UPS would pick up those packages by 7PM the next day - Jan 31st.

It's now Saturday Feb 2nd and I still have the two packages. I will be calling UPS again on Monday and God help the agent if they suggest I drop them off at the local UPS terminal in town. I have since, tried looking up the person whose name is on the packages in the online white pages. You won't be surprised and neither was I that there was no listing. The white pages are pretty much useless now that almost everyone has cell phones and more and more people are dropping their land-lines.

So customer service for BOTH Amazon and UPS - FAIL. I hope the lady who ordered these books has reamed Amazon a new one by now especially since, as I said, she paid extra for 2-day air shipping.

[Sherman A1]

1. Had a problem with UPS shipping in the Spring

I posted on their FB page and you would be surprised just how quickly I got a response. Things started falling into place rather quickly after that. They want to keep their image on FB up to snuff so you might give it a try.

[dballance]

4. Thanks, I'll try that. /eom

[HiPointDem]

5. good idea. too bad people have to resort to such things, but that's what you get when you

cut off customer service.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. I'm waiting on an Amazon book order

and I'm in PDX.

didn't order them 2day tho

[HiPointDem]

3. kr.

[JaneyVee]

6. How far is the intended customer i.e. how bad did they eff up? Miles or States?

[dballance]

10. I Have No Idea.

As I said, no listing for them in the white pages. As far as I know they could be anywhere.

[JaneyVee]

12. There was no address on the shipment?

[dballance]

15. Yes, MY Address

The UPS driver delivered it the address on the label which is my address. It's just that the person on the label doesn't live here.

[JaneyVee]

16. Ahh, I see. Sounds fishy. Make sure your account wasn't hacked & credit card info.

That means the Amazon customer has your address as their shipping address. Hopefully not billing address as well.

[pipi_k]

7. I've called Amazon before...

don't remember where I found the number, but I just did a Google search and came up with these for Customer Service

[phone] or [phone]

[darkangel218]

8. I have a phone number for Amazon costumer service

Okay here is the number

866-216-1072

I hope it helps.

[cbayer]

9. So, that's where my books went!

Just kidding.

I use amazon for lots of things and my biggest complaint is that packages are often damaged or opened. But, for the most part, they get things to my very remote location quickly and correctly.

OTOH, sites that don't give you the option of or make it difficult to talk to a real, live customer service person irk me.

In the early days of Amazon, I received somebody else's order on two occasions. Both times, they told me to just keep it, lol.

Best of luck.

[dballance]

13. Well "Just Keep It" Says a LOT for How Big Their Margins Must Be

If they could just eat the cost of the product and send it out again to the right address.

[cbayer]

17. I does say that. It also says that shipping costs are a big piece of

what eats into their margin, as it may cost more to have it shipped back than it does to replace it.

[kiva]

11. Ordered a phone from T-Mobile a couple of years ago.

I got two packages, two phones. So I called T-Mobile - the woman I talked to was rude, implying that I was somehow trying to scam them. When I pointed out that I could have kept the second phone without saying anything there was no acknowledgment, she just went on to tell me that I needed to take the phone to a shipping store, pay to return it, and that the company would generously give me a credit on my next bill for the money I spent to ship it.

I countered by laughing and pointing out there was no way I was going to pay out my money or give them my time for free to return an item I did not order and they shipped by mistake. She fussed and fumed, but in the end they agree to prepay the shipping and credit me with I think $20 for taking the phone in to have it shipped back.

[dballance]

14. Well, no surprise why they're struggling to stay in business then is it?

Sorry I'm not surprised that way their initial response. Frankly I expected UPS to ask me to take the packages to their terminal.

Pay money out of your own pocket to help rectify their mistake. That's rich. Given their obvious level of competence there is no telling how long, if ever, they would've gotten the credit on to your bill. I could easily see the phone getting "lost" in transit, never delivered so them not crediting you.

[kiva]

22. What I thought at the time.

I haven't bought anything else from them, and will leave when my current contract is up.

If there had been another name in the other box and I could have contact them I would have been more willing to help out, but it looked like a simple shipping error on the part of the company. And yes, I was careful to document what I sent just in case.

Good luck with contacting someone, looks like you've gotten some good info on this thread.

[dballance]

23. Yep, I Typically Get Really Good Info here on DU. /eom

[cloudbase]

18. I don't see where UPS is the problem.

The packages had your address on them, and they were delivered to that address. The problem originated at Amazon.

There is a link somewhere on their website where you can have them call you. They do it within seconds. I've found their customer service to be first rate.

[dballance]

20. The Problem with UPS is they Told Me They Would Do Something and Didn't

I have a problem with a company that tells me they'll pick up a package before 7pm the next day and then doesn't.

If they had told me they couldn't do anything about it without Amazon requesting they do something I would have accepted that since Amazon was really UPS's customer in the transaction. But that's not what they did.

[BattyDem]

21. It may not be Amazon - it may be a problem between the Amazon and UPS systems

2 months ago, I ordered something from Amazon and it was shipped via UPS 2nd Day. UPS delivered it to the wrong address.

When I called, Amazon Customer Service pulled up the shipping label and tracking info for my package and they had the correct address. They called UPS and found out that, for some reason, UPS delivered it to a completely different address in the next town over. UPS had my town name listed as the street name. They had my zip code, but it wasn't delivered in my town. They couldn't explain why any of this happened. Amazon reshipped the item overnight at no cost to me. UPS finally delivered the original package four days later and the address on the label was 100% correct, even though UPS told Amazon they had a different address.

Bottom line: there was no reason for my package to be delivered to a different house on a different street in a different town to a person with a different name ... but it was. LOL

[BattyDem]

19. Amazon.com's customer service has always been very helpful to me

I had a similar problem in December. I ordered something, it was shipped 2nd Day via UPS and they delivered it to the wrong address. I contacted UPS and they said I had to contact Amazon.com. (UPS wouldn't do a thing unless Amazon.com contacted them.)

So, if you're interested, here's the Amazon.com contact info:

866-216-1072 (This is their automated help number - not sure if you can get connected to a person.)

Or you can go to their "Contact Us" page, enter your phone number and someone from Amazon will call you back right now or at the time you specify. (This is how I contact them. It's fast and convenient. Last time, I spoke to a guy named Barry, who was AWESOME!)

FYI - to get to the "Contact Us" page ...

Click the 'Help" link at the top of Amazon.com's main page.
The "Contact Us" button is on the right side of the help page. Just follow the instructions - it's easy. If you request an immediate call back, there's no waiting at all!

[JustAnotherGen]

24. Someone else

Suggested you check your credit cars and PayPal. Etc etc. I'm going to suggest that as well.

That's a ver specific type of social engineering. They might have forgotten to change the ship to address.