UPS basically screwed me - actually, it was the weather

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
Ok, not quite, but I think they did a little. This is a bit of an unfortunate situation that isn't really UPS's fault, but I would argue that they could have helped a lot more than they did. I'm normally pretty calm, but I'm so pissed off right now my hands are shaking.

I ordered something on Thursday from a distributor (Digikey if anyone cares). They did their part and got it out on time for overnight delivery. Note: I didn't pay for Saturday deliver because it was Thursday and the box should have arrived on Friday. Anyway, the box made it to Commerce City, the main hub in Colorado, on Friday morning. It's supposed to go to the Loveland facility next, but it was delayed because of flooding on the interstate.

Code:
Commerce City, CO, United States
    09/13/2013    8:30 A.M.    Adverse weather conditions.
    09/13/2013    4:11 A.M.    Arrival Scan
Louisville, KY, United States
    09/13/2013    3:31 A.M.    Departure Scan
Louisville, KY, United States
    09/12/2013    11:54 P.M.   Arrival Scan
Thief River Falls, MN, United States
    09/12/2013    10:36 P.M.   Departure Scan
    09/12/2013    9:31 P.M.    Origin Scan

Because I didn't pay for Saturday delivery, they aren't moving it until Monday. I paid $450 to have this box delivered overnight and they're screwing me because I didn't pay the $15 Saturday delivery fee. This is literally an enormous problem that is going to potentially cost me thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars because I absolutely had to have the box yesterday. I asked if I could drive to Commerce City and get the box myself, but the agent on the phone said no. I wanted to go fucking nuts on her like the guy in the customer service thread, but it obviously wouldn't do any good and I'm not that kind of person anyway, so I said thanks and hung up.

I don't see why they wouldn't deliver the box today considering they were delayed yesterday and the box was scheduled for next day delivery. It seems to me that they should have either given me the opportunity to pay the additional fee or simply taken one for the team and delivered it today. I spend many thousands of dollars per month shipping boxes via UPS and they're about to lose all of my business over $15. I explained this to the person on the phone, but she didn't seem to care. I didn't expect her to if I'm being honest, but I desperately needed that box today, so it was worth a shot.

I'm supposed to be on a plane to Texas tomorrow with the contents of that box soldered onto a board I designed. My client has customers arriving on Monday afternoon to meet with him and me for a demo. I've never been in this situation and I have no idea what can be done, but it seems as though I'm royally fucked. By extension, my client is also fucked because this transaction represents $12 million per month of potential revenue loss if they are deterred by this delay.

I'm borderline panicking, but what good does that do? None, and I know that, but I'm literally out of options as far as I can tell. The box is less than 70 miles from me right now, which is why this is so frustrating. FUCK.


================

Update: My client bought the critical component and flew it to me this afternoon. All is well thankfully. I definitely learned something today. Thanks for the help everyone. A special thanks to Jesusthewererabbit for proposing the solution that solved the problem.
 
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Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
Find that part locally and get it now. Pay for direct drive courier if it's not close to you.

If nothing else, let everyone know now.

EDIT: Keep trying UPS while you do your other thing. Someone else may be willing to let you grab it from the UPS facility if your sob story is sobby enough. Or, if your plane doesn't leave too late, call UPS and tell them you want it early morning delivery which is before 8:30AM.
 
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Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
What is the part? There's gotta be a place that has will-call or a storefront at this hour.
 

tmc

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2001
1,116
1
81
sorry. hope it works out for you. god bless!

having said that, if it was that important, you should have gotten it like a week before and had everything ready and not do at last minute. shit happens! for example - the UPS truck might have an accident and your package permanently damaged etc.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
Ok, not quite, but I think they did a little. This is a bit of an unfortunate situation that isn't really UPS's fault, but I would argue that they could have helped a lot more than they did. I'm normally pretty calm, but I'm so pissed off right now my hands are shaking.

I ordered something on Thursday from a distributor (Digikey if anyone cares). They did their part and got it out on time for overnight delivery. Note: I didn't pay for Saturday deliver because it was Thursday and the box should have arrived on Friday. Anyway, the box made it to Commerce City, the main hub in Colorado, on Friday morning. It's supposed to go to the Loveland facility next, but it was delayed because of flooding on the interstate.

Code:
Commerce City, CO, United States
    09/13/2013    8:30 A.M.    Adverse weather conditions.
    09/13/2013    4:11 A.M.    Arrival Scan
Louisville, KY, United States
    09/13/2013    3:31 A.M.    Departure Scan
Louisville, KY, United States
    09/12/2013    11:54 P.M.   Arrival Scan
Thief River Falls, MN, United States
    09/12/2013    10:36 P.M.   Departure Scan
    09/12/2013    9:31 P.M.    Origin Scan

Because I didn't pay for Saturday delivery, they aren't moving it until Monday. I paid $450 to have this box delivered overnight and they're screwing me because I didn't pay the $15 Saturday delivery fee. This is literally an enormous problem that is going to potentially cost me thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars because I absolutely had to have the box yesterday. I asked if I could drive to Commerce City and get the box myself, but the agent on the phone said no. I wanted to go fucking nuts on her like the guy in the customer service thread, but it obviously wouldn't do any good and I'm not that kind of person anyway, so I said thanks and hung up.

I don't see why they wouldn't deliver the box today considering they were delayed yesterday and the box was scheduled for next day delivery. It seems to me that they should have either given me the opportunity to pay the additional fee or simply taken one for the team and delivered it today. I spend many thousands of dollars per month shipping boxes via UPS and they're about to lose all of my business over $15. I explained this to the person on the phone, but she didn't seem to care. I didn't expect her to if I'm being honest, but I desperately needed that box today, so it was worth a shot.

I'm supposed to be on a plane to Texas tomorrow with the contents of that box soldered onto a board I designed. My client has customers arriving on Monday afternoon to meet with him and me for a demo. I've never been in this situation and I have no idea what can be done, but it seems as though I'm royally fucked. By extension, my client is also fucked because this transaction represents $12 million per month of potential revenue loss if they are deterred by this delay.

I'm borderline panicking, but what good does that do? None, and I know that, but I'm literally out of options as far as I can tell. The box is less than 70 miles from me right now, which is why this is so frustrating. FUCK.

1. That sucks man.

2. You should try calling them again and again until you get someone who will work with you on the situation.

3. I don't know the business that you're in, but I highly doubt anyone will lose $12M per month of revenue loss just b/c your demo was delayed by one or two days. If something was potentially worth that much, waiting on UPS to deliver wouldn't be their only option.

4. If you absolutely can't get your package in by demo time, why aren't you calling your client right now to reschedule?
 
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notposting

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2005
3,495
33
91
Drive to the depot and try to get it there. Not even sure if possible, but a local dude on the other side of the counter might realize your desperation more than some lady getting $9/hr to tell people "no".

And yeah, let everyone know now. It's a bit late, but you were trying to get it done. Outside of that, it's the weather.

Hope it works out for you :/
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
Calm your feathers. Weather needs to do its thing!

I considered that, but Fedex delivered a box this morning that was in the exact same situation: overnight delivery on Thursday, delayed on Friday, arrived this morning. The interstate is open between here and Commerce City, so they should be able to move it. It all comes down to $15.

Find that part locally and get it now. Pay for direct drive courier if it's not close to you.

If nothing else, let everyone know now.

That's a good suggestion, but, unfortunately, this is a highly specialized part that almost no one stocks.

I made a few calls this morning to let everyone know what's happening. Needless to say, my client is extremely pissed off. He screamed at me for a solid twenty minutes and I totally understood why, so I didn't say a word until he was done.

I think the lesson I learned from this situation is if something is really this critical, it's worth it to order the part from multiple distributors and have them send it using different couriers. Maybe I'll start adding Saturday delivery just for shits and giggles since, apparently, that could be the single most important $15 fee that my business will ever have to eat. I know I'm being overly dramatic, but still.
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
Drive to the depot and try to get it there. Not even sure if possible, but a local dude on the other side of the counter might realize your desperation more than some lady getting $9/hr to tell people "no".

And yeah, let everyone know now. It's a bit late, but you were trying to get it done. Outside of that, it's the weather.

Hope it works out for you :/
If you can't confirm that they WILL let you pick it up at the depot, GET SOMEONE ELSE to do this. Your time is more valuable sorting through your other options.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
I considered that, but Fedex delivered a box this morning that was in the exact same situation: overnight delivery on Thursday, delayed on Friday, arrived this morning. The interstate is open between here and Commerce City, so they should be able to move it. It all comes down to $15.



That's a good suggestion, but, unfortunately, this is a highly specialized part that almost no one stocks.

I made a few calls this morning to let everyone know what's happening. Needless to say, my client is extremely pissed off. He screamed at me for a solid twenty minutes and I totally understood why, so I didn't say a word until he was done.

I think the lesson I learned from this situation is if something is really this critical, it's worth it to order the part from multiple distributors and have them send it using different couriers. Maybe I'll start adding Saturday delivery just for shits and giggles since, apparently, that could be the single most important $15 fee that my business will ever have to eat. I know I'm being overly dramatic, but still.

Or...don't wait till the last minute to get things done?
 

PottedMeat

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
12,363
475
126
Drive to the depot and try to get it there. Not even sure if possible, but a local dude on the other side of the counter might realize your desperation more than some lady getting $9/hr to tell people "no".

a little green may help too

What is the part? There's gotta be a place that has will-call or a storefront at this hour.

if they're generic maybe
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
How many times have you called UPS? If only once, then try again. Keep calling until you find a rep who will help you out.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
sorry. hope it works out for you. god bless!

having said that, if it was that important, you should have gotten it like a week before and had everything ready and not do at last minute. shit happens! for example - the UPS truck might have an accident and your package permanently damaged etc.

Yeah, you're definitely right. Normally I am more on the ball, but my schedule slipped and I took this type of thing for granted. I got the prototype on Thursday and then tried to fit everything on the board, but there was a mistake, so I had to design the new board on Thursday night and get it ordered by the cutoff time. I ordered the new part on Thursday night as well.

I usually have a lot more time, but it just didn't work out that way. In the future, I will definitely add more padding in case this happens again.

Edit: I should point out that the mistake wasn't mine. This is a multiply-designed prototype from another engineer that I give work to as a sub-contractor. I don't blame him - it was complicated with very little 'soak' time. These things happen and normally we make it work.
 
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MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
Or...don't wait till the last minute to get things done?

you ordered parts too late is the problem.

It's not always that simple. In general, I agree with you, but the turnaround time on these projects is extremely fast and people demand results almost immediately. I've been doing this for years and never run into a problem. I'm not even sure how I could have prevented it other than ordering multiples of everything in case there was a mistake, but that would get very expensive. It's a solution, but not very good business because most of this stuff is used once and then never again. I'd end up with a huge stock of expensive, worthless parts.
 

SlitheryDee

Lifer
Feb 2, 2005
17,252
19
81
If the situation is that dire you need to find somewhere else to get that part. Yes UPS screwed you, but it sounds like you REALLY need that widget. Being mad at UPS should take a backseat right now to you going full panic mode and driving to wherever you need to drive to/paying whatever you need to pay to get another one in time to make your flight.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
1. That sucks man.

2. You should try calling them again and again until you get someone who will work with you on the situation.

3. I don't know the business that you're in, but I highly doubt anyone will lose $12M per month of revenue loss just b/c your demo was delayed by one or two days. If something was potentially worth that much, waiting on UPS to deliver wouldn't be their only option.

4. If you absolutely can't get your package in by demo time, why aren't you calling your client right now to reschedule?

It's for an industrial printer. Almost everyone in the world buys or uses things that were marked with one, so the business is both huge and fast moving.

The issue with revenue loss is that they have more options than just us. Not being able to smooth it over means they may simply decide to use another vendor. I started working on this project three weeks ago and they're demanding a finished product next week. For an industrial control system, that is insanely fast. I agreed to the contract because it has the opportunity to be a big payout. I've already done three prototypes and demonstrated that it was mostly working, but this one would have basically sealed the deal. I'm not saying it's game over, but there's a non-zero change that they'll walk.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
How many times have you called UPS? If only once, then try again. Keep calling until you find a rep who will help you out.

I called three times already. I'm getting the same answer each time, though. I got my wife to continue doing that while I try to figure out another solution. I could try getting on a plane to MN today so I can go get the part from the Digikey distribution center, but that feels like a last resort. I'd need to be back by tomorrow afternoon to have time to make it all work.

If the situation is that dire you need to find somewhere else to get that part. Yes UPS screwed you, but it sounds like you REALLY need that widget. Being mad at UPS should take a backseat right now to you going full panic mode and driving to wherever you need to drive to/paying whatever you need to pay to get another one in time to make your flight.

Agreed. I'm working on it. It's a high speed amplifier that has very specific performance parameters, so it's not something you'll find locally or even regionally. I only know of three sources in the US and five in the world.
 

Mixolydian

Lifer
Nov 7, 2011
14,566
91
86
gilramirez.net
You got screwed by the weather. You didn't pay for Saturday delivery and UPS doesn't normally deliver on Saturdays. So just explain the situation to your client, I'm sure they will understand that it's out of your control.

And try to order things further in advance.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
You got screwed by the weather. You didn't pay for Saturday delivery and UPS doesn't normally deliver on Saturdays. So just explain the situation to your client, I'm sure they will understand that it's out of your control.

And try to order things further in advance.

Yeah, I know it was the weather. I just wish they would have been more helpful, but I know that's unreasonable. :(
 

Lifted

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2004
5,748
2
0
I could try getting on a plane to MN today so I can go get the part from the Digikey distribution center, but that feels like a last resort.

If the part is that important to this lucrative contract, why not contact Digikey, explain the situation, and ask if they know of a courier that can jump on the next flight to you with the part? If they don't then start calling courier or messenger services in MN. I'm sure one of them will do this for the right price.

Something like this might work as well

http://www.1-800courier.com/next-flight-out.asp
 

Jesusthewererabbit

Senior member
Mar 20, 2008
934
0
76
Does Mouser have the part? If so, I bet you could fly to Dallas tonight or in the morning and go pick it up from them, their warehouse is in either Arlington or Mansfield and get it finished. Might be worth a shot anyway.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
If the part is that important to this lucrative contract, why not contact Digikey, explain the situation, and ask if they know of a courier that can jump on the next flight to you with the part? If they don't then start calling courier or messenger services in MN. I'm sure one of them will do this for the right price.

Something like this might work as well

http://www.1-800courier.com/next-flight-out.asp

Does Mouser have the part? If so, I bet you could fly to Dallas tonight or in the morning and go pick it up from them, their warehouse is in either Arlington or Mansfield and get it finished. Might be worth a shot anyway.

Both of these are actually very good ideas. Mouser, which stocks the part, is in Mansfield, which is 15 minutes away from my client's factory. I could possibly have him go buy the part and then bring it to me, which would be even better because then I could continue working instead of losing 10 hours today. If he can't do that, maybe the 1800courier company can help. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
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