UPS: an insight into their values?

You can tell a lot about an organisation about how it behaves when things go wrong.


I'd thought well of UPS: reliable deliveries brought by a friendly chap who took his job seriously.


Then a time-critical parcel that failed to arrive on the promised day. At 0430 they had reported it "Out for Delivery" from my local depot. So I waited in - but it never came.


At 1843 that evening, they updated the story:
THE PACKAGE WAS MISSED AT THE UPS FACILITY, UPS WILL DELIVER ON THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY


7 out of 10 for candour (why "missed"? That could meant looked-for-but-not-found, How about "left behind"?).


But 0 out of 10 for Customer Care. I am sure they would want me to believe that this is a very rare slip from their normal high standards. In which case, they can afford to invest some resources to try and minimise the grief. Call me (the package will have a number - if not, I am on the phone directory database). At least email me. Apologise. Offer to deliver on the Saturday morning (the missed delivery was on a Friday: "next business day" is Monday). Give me a credit for a free package. Do something to show me that you understand that your failure is likely to be a problem for me.


But UPS do none of these. Because they don't care? Or because they foul up so often that they can't afford to do much for their victims? It might be neither, but those are the two obvious conclusions that the customer is likely to draw.


UPDATE:


These people get worse. The following day (Saturday) the status changed to "DESTINATION SCAN", timed at 07.38. I know that we took no delivery that morning, and was about to get very very angry with UPS at giving me untrue information. Then I checked their glossary, and learned that on Planet UPS, words have a very different meaning:

Destination Scan

The shipment has arrived at the local UPS facility responsible for final delivery. In what way is their "UPS facility" reasonably described as a "Destination"? I can't believe that this is designed to mislead (their frequent users would soon rumble it). It must be no more than stupidity. Not in some peripheral part of their operation but in the core of their business. Depressing.