The United Parcel Service has to start doing some things differently to make package deliveries into our neighborhood safer and more convenient. Already I’m asking my wife not to order anything from a mail order or web catalogue, where the company insists on shipping by UPS only. Likewise for myself, I’m going to ask before agreeing to buy an item, if they will send it to me instead through the United States Postal Service. And let’s not confuse UPS with USPS!
On a recent Friday, I received a notice of “Final Attempt” to deliver a package by UPS. There were no previous notices found, and this package would have to be picked up and signed at “Will Call” before it is returned to the sender. The UPS Will Call is miles away, near Osseo, not just a mile or two like our USPS Penn-Lowry Station. I appreciate the UPS’ policy of not leaving packages unattended, and the US Postal Service has cooperated very consistently with me on this security issue.
But try and find the UPS Will Call facility, if you’ve never had to go there before! There was a telephone number on the delivery notice, which I called three times from Friday to Monday. You get an electronic parrot, and “she” promises that a UPS agent will call you within the hour, but nothing ever happened after that. She didn’t even ask my telephone number!
Now, how can I find out even where to go, to pick up my package? I searched the business pages in the phonebook. The old UPS number in my directory, which is current through April yet, got me to some zoo service! On another page, I found a different number, which again connected me to the same electronic “chippette.” On top of that, there wasn’t even a street address for their pickup station.
I’m only one person and family. Maybe the United Parcel Service doesn’t want my business. The United States Postal Service, on the other hand, has revised its public relations skills and is much more user friendly.
Finally, I found my way to UPS on 8501 Valley Forge Lane in Maple Grove. The woman there was most gracious, as the UPS Store staff people always are. Only, you cannot pick up your packages at a UPS Store, just send them. But she wrote down a telephone number for me, 1-800-PICK UPS. I had, of course, already tried to use it and gotten the electronic results described above. However, the woman at the Maple Grove pickup station also gave me a very helpful tip: When the parrot starts asking you to identify your package number, press zero on your phone. The next time the chip asks you for something, press zero again, and do that once more, for a total of three “0’s.” By then you should get a live person at the other end of your landline.