Rather foolishly, I ordered something from the West Coast, a keyboard for the church's new Mac Mini. I haven't seen the keyboard yet, but I've had plenty of interaction with UPS.
Wednesday, I was home, grading papers. Didn't even have the music on. I heard a little sound like the door rattling (maybe it was the wind) and discovered that the UPS man had stuck a "no response" notice on my door.
Of course, I was irritated. I did a little Internet checking and discovered that there's something called the UPS Phantom Delivery (Google the term to find some great commentary). Essentially, it's a delivery attempt in which the driver doesn't actually knock on the door—simply sticks the notice on and goes away.
Now I've been down this road before, and one problem with UPS is that there's no way to actually talk with a human there. The e-mail complaint box just has check boxes. However, after a little searching, I did find an obscure way to actually write an e-mail message to them, which I did.
Thursday, I got a phone call at 6:30 a.m. Could I accept delivery today? Well no—I actually had to go to work. How about Friday? I've been down this road before. If I say I will be there after 2 p.m. and they promise delivery between 2 and 6, they will attempt delivery at 10 a.m. and take it back to the warehouse. I pointed this out to the lady on the phone, told her that the phantom delivery is obviously an attempt by drivers to get paid for more work. I promised to be home for all 24 hours of Monday. I also put a very detailed explanation on the door of my apartment, complete with a large arrow pointing to the bell button.
Here I am in Ashland on Friday morning. I'll be back there by 1 p.m. We'll see if they try to deliver the thing today. Or maybe they've already done so.
All this for a $20 part. Next time I'll demand USPS.
Update
They did show up on the appointed day, and this driver was candid enough (after my neighbor across the hall agreed with my complaint) to say that the "phantom delivery" (ring the bell and run) is a genuine problem of several drivers.
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