UPS Canada delivery is terrible

Nathaniel Christopher 17 Comments

My friends have been complaining that I haven’t posted one of my famous complaint letters for some time.

In the past I loved writing complaint letters as it gave a false sense of agency over my life. However, as I’ve grown and matured the desire to complain about everything has significantly diminished… until today.

I recently switched to a new cell phone carrier and was waiting for delivery of my SIM card. I waited for two days. Each day UPS claimed that they had attempted to delivery. However, they did not bother to ring my buzzer or leave a delivery notification card.

I would like to file a formal complaint about the following delivery:

I did receive the item, however, there were several problems that I would like to bring to your attention.

Firstly, according to the tracking information the following delivery attempts were made:

06/04/2020 13:48 BURNABY, Canada The receiver was not available at the time of the second delivery attempt. A final attempt will be made.

06/03/2020 12:21 Richmond, BC, Canada The receiver was not available for delivery. We’ll make a second attempt the next business day.

This information is false. I was at home yesterday and today and nobody from UPS buzzed my apartment or left a delivery slip.

I phoned the UPS call centre this afternoon and spoke with a customer service agent, who was very professional and helpful, and she instructed a supervisor to call me back just a little while ago. The supervisor, who was also very courteous and helpful, told me that the package would be delivered today.

When I spoke to the supervisor she suggested that there may have been some confusion with respect to the intercom as some apartments have different buzzer numbers. However, I am not inclined to give the driver the benefit of the doubt as the buzzer codes are clearly labelled on the intercom.

My building’s intercom is not rocket science.

I have lived here for 15 years and have never had a driver report difficulty in buzzing my suite. When a tenant is not home UPS drivers normally leave a delivery notification slip. However, your driver did not leave one yesterday or today.

The driver finally came about 20 minutes ago. She buzzed and told me there was an envelope and I asked her to give it to me in person as the item is a SIM card for my cell phone which is my primary method of communication.

However, when I went down to the lobby I found the envelope on the front window in a very busy area and the driver was already gone.  Anyone could have taken that package. Additionally, I was supposed to sign for this item but no signature was collected.

UPS left the envelope… open… in a semi-public area. Notice the track marks.

Normally I wouldn’t care, however, the SIM card is a very sensitive item in terms of privacy and data. I did not appreciate the lackadaisical approach to delivery in this instance.

My new SIM card arrived damaged.

Finally, I would like to address the condition of my envelope and its contents. When the driver eventually delivered the envelope it was open and in very poor condition.

The envelope appears to have tire marks on it, the SIM card was bent and the enclosed paperwork was crumpled up. Fortunately, the chip was not bent otherwise the SIM card might have been non-functional. I would like to believe that this was not intentional on the part of the driver…

I have attached photos of everything for your reference.

Suffice to say, I am very dissapointed with UPS and intend to bring this to the attention of the relevant parties at Telus. If this is how UPS treats their customers I strongly suspect they would like to know.

I am a resident of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada who has blogged here for 20 years. I like to share my thoughts and feelings on my own online space. From 1998 until 2017 I worked as a journalist and I hope to use this website as an archive for all of my stories.

17 Comments

  1. The parcel I ordered from Costco has not yet been delivered by UPS even though it is overdue. Attempts to track the package only result in an “on the way” message.
    Frankly, I blame Costco more than I blame UPS for this delivery charade.
    Why would a respectable firm like Costco rely upon a shoddy delivery service?
    To date, I have totally lost confidence in ordering anything online from Costco because Costco might attempt to deliver it by UPS!

  2. If anyone has any brains you will file a legal complaint. There are enough comments here if you all stand together. Still, their delivery is awful and illegally stating that they are attempting delivery. I bet my last dollar they are stealing it. No one is complaining on the legal level. I suggest you do that.

  3. Hello all. I just had a very unpleasant experience today with UPS. I was home as I always am. I heard someone slip something in my screen front door. I immediately opened and read the notice to pay for my parcel online. The truck and make driver we’re still parked in front of my car and townhouse. I even stepped out trying to get his attention. No matter what I did to get his attention, he ignored me and drove off. When I called UPS for Scarborough, ON., I was hung up on, after a male voice claimed to be putting me through to customer service. It sounds nuts, but I actually believe it was the same person that drove off. I don’t have enough space here to explain why I think this. I paid a lot for my item, including shipping. It’s come a long way and I really need it. It belongs to me! I want my item and am still trying to understand why I’m being treated this way. I swear if I could, I would just stop ordering from online businesses that deal with these companies, but there simply are no options. In my opinion, this is borderline criminal behaviour and it needs to be addressed, investigated and stopped immediately! Absolutely outrageous and disgusting!

    1. Hi Ashley. Wow… that sounds like a horrible expwrience. These days I only order things if they are delivered by Canada Post or one of those Amazon lockers. No item is worth the stress of UPS’ terrible service.

  4. I agreed with everyone here about very poor and unprofessional service from UPS.
    I paid delivery over 300 dollars for an item which cost around 400. But the guy who came was so rude and didn’t even deliver the item. When I checked online with tracking number it says customer refused the item. I totally shocked. It was on hold for two days now. How this guys manipulating everything according to their wishes.
    Again today another delivery guy showed up from UPS for my different delivery. This is from US and i paid custom duties online to avoid any misunderstandings, but this guy refused to deliver and saying i have to pay customs. I tried to explain and show him my proof of payment but no success.
    Now i am sitting home without any items delivered which I ordered and paid in full advance for the delivery.

  5. Last Tuesday I spent nearly $200.00 sending package via UPS from NL to ON over night.
    Tracking shows it made it to ON the same day it was sent. It has now been sitting there because of a “mechanical failure” for 5 days.
    No one at UPS has been any help at all.
    I’ve asked for a refund but am told I can apply for one but it is unlikely that I will get one because a mechanical failure is not their responsibility. They went on to say that they cannot control the weather or the planes that deliver. I asked what possible sort of weather do they think is happening in Ontario for the last 5 days, or what sort of catastrophic travel delay is going on that could account for it being in one spot for 5 days?. They don’t know, it’s not their responsibility.

    A manager was supposed to call me this morning. No one has called.

    No point in calling UPS again. Is their anyone to report this to? Any ideas?

  6. A very similar scenario just occurred here in Coldstream, B.C.

    The UPS tracking system appears to include deliberately false entries of attempted delivery that our home security cameras (capturing the road entrance and driveway) demonstrate did not take place.

    The problem to me is not only their scheduling incompetence or repeated failure to meet promised delivery windows, but the false pretenses under which they keep busy people with real lives “standing by the door”. The waste and frustration is incredible and costly, but cumulatively unhealthy.

    If there were any type of class action, we would join it.

    If there is any effort in progress to impose consequences through new legislation, then I would love to attend the hearings.

  7. I live in Winnipeg, I ordered a used laptop from a firm in Toronto which was shipped via UPS on November 17th. Tracking number showed the package going through Buffalo and then on to Minneapolis where it disappeared (doesn’t make sense to go through the US so they screwed up). I started a claim in early December and that claim was updated in January to show it was delivered so the claim was closed. I called UPS and asked them to prove it was delivered and what the date was as I have cameras. They back tracked and re-opened the investigation. They only ever reached out to me once and did not call back when they said they would. Every time I call I get transferred a few times until I get sent to international investigations. Today they said they have asked my shipper for the invoice, which I had already submitted months ago. Now I have to chase the shipper to supply them with the same invoice I already gave them. I think the way they operate is to break your will by giving you the runaround consistently. I have spent at least 1 hour a week calling them and sitting on hold to try and get this resolved. My UPS driver is a great guy so no complaints there, but their customer service is awful, seems like no one takes responsibility of anything there and everything is from prepared scripts.

  8. Just Reading your Blog, and can’t agree more. UPS has the worst service, terrible customer service and don’t care one bit about the customer! Filing BBB complaint as I write this to you.

  9. I have a great ? addition to your complaint. Order a Louis Vuitton purse for Christmas gift. Stalked the websites until the specific one was in stock….got it!!!! I am best.mom.ever!
    Ships via UPS..update says deliver 12/20/21 @ 9:14 a.m. and “Hope” at receiving signed for it. I am not Hope and your home, although pleasant does not have nor need a receiver.
    Much gnashing of teeth and on hold for about a decade speak with a customer rep….Lionel, does some digging and…apparently the driver went to the wrong address and gave package to Hope…3k purse…..that I paid for….that UPS was legally contracted to deliver to me. Won’t tell me address of Hope, as her privacy is important, mine; meh, not so much. She stold the package knowingly, her name wasn’t on it and was wrong address. I think driver tried to give gf a early gift!!!

  10. Hi Nathaniel, how did you filed a formal complaint as I want to file one too. Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky to receive my item like you were. Instead I had someone else pick up my item with the most ridiculous accepted signature, with a capital, of my first letter of my name….it boggles my mind how they think that’s acceptable.

  11. I also live in Burnaby BC and am receiving consistently poor and misleading service and communication with UPS. Although I am in my apartment at the time marked as an attempted delivery I never get a call from the entrance phone. My name and the code are clearly displayed.
    Also, they leave behind post-it notes at the front door. I seldom use that entrance. I am looking for an alternative service that merchants might use.

    1. Again, I had an an order from Telus, they would only ship with UPS. I was home for the set delivery time period. Like before, no delivery.

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