December 19th, 2006
My physical therapist told me that her employer sent out an email warning its employees to beware of a possible UPS impostor in the area. Apparently someone is following UPS trucks, picking up delivered packages left at doorsteps and returning later to “redeliver” them. The email indicated that it’s not known if the person, who does where a UPS uniform but doesn’t drive a UPS truck, is trying to case the homes for possible break-ins or looking for women alone to assault.
She said that coincidently one of her co-workers happened to answer the door when a UPS guy knocked to ask for directions to another co-workers’ house on the same block. The one co-worker thought it was weird and called the other and suggested she not open the door. In the end the package was just left at the door. When they check the packing number on the site, the delivery time was hours earlier.
What struck me as memorable and creepy about the whole thing was that last week I noticed that one of the UPS delivery guys in my neighborhood was driving an unmarked van. I’d wondered why he hadn’t wrung the bell or anything when he delivered the package — probably because of barking insane Pugly (that might have been the day he wouldn’t stop barking at the door even after I got the package…). Anyway, at the time I thought it was odd, but wrote it off because I live in a small town and my mail carrier drives his or her own car and the post office will drop off packages if I call and ask and I guess I just thought that maybe the UPS guy had his own van too.
But thinking about it, that doesn’t seem right now.
Tags: UPS, scam
September 7th, 2005
Alright, here’s the deal. You know that El is ill. She takes a lot of meds. She gets them through one of those mail-order companies through her insurance. So, right before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, the insurance company shipped this month’s refills.
Well, El and her family get to Memphis and Mrs. M calls the insurance company, but they’ve already shipped everything so they give her the UPS tracking number. Mrs. M calls UPS and finally gets a real live person, but when she explains the situation and asks for the lady to change the shipment address, the UPS customer support person simply replied that they could not reroute it, but that they would try to deliver it three times and then it would go back to the company. The went round and round about this. Mrs. M tried talking to a supervisor and a supervisor’s supervisor but they refused to reroute the package. Before the arguing was over, UPS had rerouted all New Orleans-area-bound shipments to a warehouse somewhere to await the reopenning of the area.
The insurance company agreed finally to resend the meds, except there’s one med they can’t resend because it’s a narcotic and there’s some sort of law or something. The insurance people said they could get around it if she contacted her doctor and had him rewrite the prescription.
Mind you the doctor’s office is in New Orleans…
El is now out of pain patches for whatever it is that ails her.
They are somewhere in a UPS warehouse.
Now what?
Tags: Hurricane Katrina, UPS
August 23rd, 2004
So, I finally ordered myself a dehumidifier/humidifier combo for the new apartment. I needed the dehumidifier for the downstairs of the apartment for summer and the humidifier for the piano and other wood stuff for winter. So, I could have spent almost $200 on each or bought this one that did both for $300. The combo seemed logical but I had to special order it. It is coming via UPS.
UPS tried to deliver it Friday around noon but of course I wasn’t home. They won’t leave it at the apartment like they do everything else — just sitting on the doorstep, you know. Apparently it needs an adult signature and just signing the notice and leaving it for the next attempt won’t do. I must be there in person. So, I asked if they could perhaps give me a projected arrival time as I can’t take a whole day off at work to sit around and wait on it. Nope. Won’t give me a general idea of when. Which is interesting since every other package they delivered was after 5pm and I thought that was their policy for the complex. Guess not.
So, I suggested an alternate address — my UPS Store address. You know, The UPS Store provides that service of receiving packages for you…that’s one of the things you pay for. They accept USPS and FedEx and have in the past for me. However, I was told by the rep on the phone that they won’t accept UPS shipments. I told her I probably wouldn’t renew my account then because what good were they?
Anyway, now I have to have this giant box delivered to work tomorrow. Ironically, I bet it isn’t delivered until after 5pm which will leave me sitting around waiting for it…
Tags: UPS, stupidity
