A few weeks ago I shipped a package via UPS. I went to the UPS Store near my house to ship a Christmas package to a friend that lives near Chicago. I was shipping her a custom made t-shirt and a gift card. I declare the valued amount of the items I’m shipping in the form, get insurance, and check out. I shipped it on a Saturday and it was supposed to be there on Tuesday. Awesome. That gave it plenty of time to arrive at its destination (a full week) before my friend had to leave her house to head to Vermont for Christmas. The UPS Store employee packaged my items, knowing what they were, entered in the information to the computer and handed me my receipt. Little did I know, my package would never arrive.
I head to the UPS Store a couple days after it was supposed to arrive in Illinois to see what was up. The package had never been scanned. When shipping from a store like that, the package is scanned when the driver picks it up, then scanned again when it arrives at the local sort facility, then shipped, then scanned when it arrives at the destination’s sort facility, then scanned when delivered. My package was never scanned. Not once. So, they put a tracer on it to find it and after a little over a week they declare it lost.
I go to the UPS Store to begin the refund process. Of course, there is no manager there so they can’t help me one bit. The girl working, who was actually the girl who originally shipped the items, tells me I need receipts to prove that the items were worth the insured amount. Umm, what? Why? If it was insured a certain amount and I paid for that insurance, then I should not need any receipts. On top of that, one of the items I don’t even have the receipt for. Furthermore, the girl tells me that gift cards aren’t insurable because they are replaceable. Isn’t everything that you’d have a receipt for replaceable to begin with? What kind of sense does that make? She tells me I need to go to the place I purchased the gift card from and tell them it was lost so they can issue a new one and then when I have the receipt for the reissue, UPS can reimburse me for that. Here is the catch though. I don’t have a receipt for the gift card. Knowing that gift cards can sometimes malfunction, I did what every store tells you to do when you give a gift card: I included the receipt in the gift card envelope. So, my receipt for that card is in the package that UPS lost. That is beside the point though, I shouldn’t have to provide receipt proof of the value of something I shipped, especially when UPS saw the items, packaged it, and entered everything into the computer for shipment without questioning a thing. This is their mistake, they need to pay up. On top of that, someone is going around with a brand new t-shirt and gift card, and I’m betting it was someone at that store, since while I was there, a lot of whispering was going on about someone who worked there before the manager made faces at the employees telling them to be quiet.
I will NEVER ship UPS again. I’ll update on Monday when I’m supposed to talk to the manager.
UPDATE: I was promised the manager would call me on Monday. It is Wednesday and I have not heard from him. They run a great business, don’t they? I have not had time to swing by after work because on Mondays and Tuesdays I teach at Sylvan after my regular job. I plan on going by there today after work to see how much more they can screw me over.
UPDATE #2: I went in at lunch today, for the 4th time since the manager never contacted me, and spoke with Mr. Tom Surkamp. He told me my claim was approved for the missing shirt but not the gift card since gift cards are replaceable. Again, I argued that anything that has a receipt is replaceable and since the receipt was in the package that they lost there would be no way for me to get a replacement card from the store I ordered it from. I gave him proof of how much the gift card was for (via a bank printout) and that I am owed the money because they lost it and the receipt. He then was rude to me and told me I should have made copies of the receipt. Well, that might be true, but UPS, a company who delivers packages, should not lose packages. They are at fault here, not me. Me not making a copy of a gift card receipt is no where on the same level as failing with the one thing you were created to do. He said he’d take it higher up but he thinks it will be denied, which means I am out the amount of the gift card. Awesome. I will NEVER ship via UPS again. I will use FedEx, DHL, or USPS from now on.
Warning to people in St. Peters, MO. Do NOT use The UPS Store on Mexico Road at Mid Rivers Mall Drive, store 3392, they are shady and untrustworthy.
Thankful Thursdays – Week One
I’m going to start a new thing on my blog. Every Thursday I’m going to post 5 things in my life that I’m thankful for. Each day, I’m going to write 5 things. On Thursdays I’m going to post either my 5 favorite of the week or the 5 for that day. Some might be deep and heartfelt, some might be silly and funny. Either way, they all mean a little something to me. These are the things I’m thankful for today.
My Rant on Ranting
I’ve noticed that the majority of my posts lately have all been me ranting on and on about various topics. All the ranting has made my blog, and me, seem very negative. I’m not really a negative person. I guess, like most people, I tend to only talk about something if something bad happens. I guess I don’t really sit and take in the good moments and write about them. I never usually do New Years Resolutions, but this year I will. I resolve to write about things that interest me, that I find funny, and that I enjoy instead of all the things that bug me all the time. After almost 4 and a half years writing here, I think I can find something positive to write about again.
The Future of Television
It really is an interesting time for television. The traditional way we watch TV has changed over the years. We started out with over the air programming to cable and satellite programing, and now we have internet TV and on-demand programming at the touch of a button. I can see why the TV networks were scared of this future. It’s hard to create a pricing structure for traditional TV when more and more people are using alternative methods to watch their favorite shows.
I recently installed the beta version of Boxee to see what all the twitter hype was about. Boxee gives you a true entertainment experience to enjoy your movies, TV shows, music and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Hulu, Netflix, CBS, Comedy Central, Last.fm, and flickr. No longer are we confined to what the cable companies give us. We have many options to choose from, with more and more being added everyday. Tv.com is becoming a huge portal for on-demand streaming content and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that service added to Boxee. We also see more and more dvd players and TVs with Netflix streaming ability built in. I think it’s great that the major networks are finally jumping on board with the on-demand streaming of programs. What have they got to lose? They are gaining advertising dollars. Now people have a legal place to watch their favorite shows. Hulu was an excellent start and ABC’s HD streaming of Lost is fantastic.
I think we will see more and more televisions and media devices (such as DVRs, game systems, and DVD players) with built in streaming technology in the very near future. Eventually, I envision a TV with a single DVD player box that allows for all the services like DVR, Netflix, and internet streaming all tied into one. It will be exciting to see where all the technology goes.
Windows 7
Microsoft is releasing a beta version of Windows 7 for public download today, but this post isn’t about that. This post is about what Microsoft needs to do when Windows 7 is officially launched.
It is no secret that Vista was a failure. Businesses have held off on installing Vista, so much that the big PC manufacturers have gotten Microsoft to extend the life of XP several times. Consumers, many of whom only got Vista because it was preinstalled on their new PCs, have been unhappy with Vista’s performance. It has turned me off of Windows so much that my next desktop computer will be an iMac, and I already have a MacBook. Microsoft needs to do something to please the customers or many more will jump ship.
Since Microsoft has said that Windows 7 will fix all the complaints with Vista, Windows 7 should be an extremely cheap (less than $100), if not free, upgrade for Vista users. Really, when you see how terrible of an OS Vista is compared to XP, Microsoft should look at all Vista users as beta-testers for Windows 7, because essentially, Vista was no better than a beta product. So, when Microsoft releases the “best version of Windows ever” (which they also said about Vista), they need to hand it out as a free upgrade to all Vista users. If they don’t do something to save the public image of Windows, they are going to create many more Mac users.
Do Not Ship UPS
A few weeks ago I shipped a package via UPS. I went to the UPS Store near my house to ship a Christmas package to a friend that lives near Chicago. I was shipping her a custom made t-shirt and a gift card. I declare the valued amount of the items I’m shipping in the form, get insurance, and check out. I shipped it on a Saturday and it was supposed to be there on Tuesday. Awesome. That gave it plenty of time to arrive at its destination (a full week) before my friend had to leave her house to head to Vermont for Christmas. The UPS Store employee packaged my items, knowing what they were, entered in the information to the computer and handed me my receipt. Little did I know, my package would never arrive.
I head to the UPS Store a couple days after it was supposed to arrive in Illinois to see what was up. The package had never been scanned. When shipping from a store like that, the package is scanned when the driver picks it up, then scanned again when it arrives at the local sort facility, then shipped, then scanned when it arrives at the destination’s sort facility, then scanned when delivered. My package was never scanned. Not once. So, they put a tracer on it to find it and after a little over a week they declare it lost.
I go to the UPS Store to begin the refund process. Of course, there is no manager there so they can’t help me one bit. The girl working, who was actually the girl who originally shipped the items, tells me I need receipts to prove that the items were worth the insured amount. Umm, what? Why? If it was insured a certain amount and I paid for that insurance, then I should not need any receipts. On top of that, one of the items I don’t even have the receipt for. Furthermore, the girl tells me that gift cards aren’t insurable because they are replaceable. Isn’t everything that you’d have a receipt for replaceable to begin with? What kind of sense does that make? She tells me I need to go to the place I purchased the gift card from and tell them it was lost so they can issue a new one and then when I have the receipt for the reissue, UPS can reimburse me for that. Here is the catch though. I don’t have a receipt for the gift card. Knowing that gift cards can sometimes malfunction, I did what every store tells you to do when you give a gift card: I included the receipt in the gift card envelope. So, my receipt for that card is in the package that UPS lost. That is beside the point though, I shouldn’t have to provide receipt proof of the value of something I shipped, especially when UPS saw the items, packaged it, and entered everything into the computer for shipment without questioning a thing. This is their mistake, they need to pay up. On top of that, someone is going around with a brand new t-shirt and gift card, and I’m betting it was someone at that store, since while I was there, a lot of whispering was going on about someone who worked there before the manager made faces at the employees telling them to be quiet.
I will NEVER ship UPS again. I’ll update on Monday when I’m supposed to talk to the manager.
UPDATE: I was promised the manager would call me on Monday. It is Wednesday and I have not heard from him. They run a great business, don’t they? I have not had time to swing by after work because on Mondays and Tuesdays I teach at Sylvan after my regular job. I plan on going by there today after work to see how much more they can screw me over.
UPDATE #2: I went in at lunch today, for the 4th time since the manager never contacted me, and spoke with Mr. Tom Surkamp. He told me my claim was approved for the missing shirt but not the gift card since gift cards are replaceable. Again, I argued that anything that has a receipt is replaceable and since the receipt was in the package that they lost there would be no way for me to get a replacement card from the store I ordered it from. I gave him proof of how much the gift card was for (via a bank printout) and that I am owed the money because they lost it and the receipt. He then was rude to me and told me I should have made copies of the receipt. Well, that might be true, but UPS, a company who delivers packages, should not lose packages. They are at fault here, not me. Me not making a copy of a gift card receipt is no where on the same level as failing with the one thing you were created to do. He said he’d take it higher up but he thinks it will be denied, which means I am out the amount of the gift card. Awesome. I will NEVER ship via UPS again. I will use FedEx, DHL, or USPS from now on.
Warning to people in St. Peters, MO. Do NOT use The UPS Store on Mexico Road at Mid Rivers Mall Drive, store 3392, they are shady and untrustworthy.