Big Brown At Your Service

What has brown done for you lately? "jaw drop"

Whooooaa!! I have to say, every time we've had something delivered by FedEx, UPS, or USPS, it's always been in good condition.

it's a union job.... he can't be fired! I guess that's what happens when he has to work until all deliveries are made and then he can go home....

Oh, he can be fired for that!

Yeesh. Seems this is not too uncommon. Here's another: http://www.videosift.com/video/UPS-Have-your-packet-delivered-swiftly-and-not-gently

Since DHL stopped domestic service I've had to go back to dealing with these losers. I ship a lot of artwork and they seem to love the idea of drop kicking my stuff from location to location. I've even given up buying their "insurance" because they always find excuses to not pay out.

In my area it's FedEx that's notorious for this kind of thing, and UPS is great. I've had at least five broken packages from FedUp, PLUS one that was not only never delivered, BUT was not even reported or returned to sender. And to top it off, the delivery guys have all been unsympathetic jerks.

Meanwhile, the local branch of UPS have always been friendly and done a great job. Weird!

--TwoDragons

My UPS and FedEx comes in just fine, however my luck with USPS is less than encouraging. I remember getting a badly broken porcelain fountain for xmas a couple years back. Now, here's the thoughts that ran through my mind.

Oh, wow, I bought this exact fountain 3 months ago at Walmart... This fountain was produced in china, likely loaded via forklift into a warehouse, later moved again onto a train, then onto a ship, floated across the ocean, unloaded, transferred onto another train, then later a truck and then the Walmart warehouse before being handled again and placed on the shelf, without the slightest bit of damage. Mail it through US post from one side of Texas to the other in that exact same packaging however, and they tell you the 4 inches of Styrofoam isn't enough protection....

we have no idea what's in the box, or whether someone was in the garage and said 'go ahead and toss it'; for all we know, it's a box of shipping peanuts and labels.

i think taking this at face value is indicative of how the internet has turned us into a bunch of 'if it's on the internet, it must be true'

AND, since no one signed for it it doesn't seem that whatever was in it was of particular importance.

I have witnessed UPS doing that exact same thing at my house. My office is in my front room where I can see my front gate. UPS guy walked up to the gate, didn't bother opening it, and just flung the packet up onto my porch, about 20 feet. It was a soft packet containing just an item of clothing so it obviously didn't feel breakable, but I doubt that's how they're supposed to be treating ANY package.

UPS has a lousy union. FedEx has a great union. UPS treats their drivers like crap, overloads them, then tells them they can't come back without delivering everything. Now, my UPS guy at home is great. So is the FedEx guy. The current USPS woman is good. But we hate dealing with UPS at work because we never know when they'll show up or even if they'll show during office hours.

Over a week before Christmas, I ordered an item. It was shipped on time. I knew it could arrive after Christmas, but I still don't have it. Why? Because UPS decided that shipping an item from Kansas City to California could best be done by shipping it into Portland, Oregon, during one of the worst snowstorms in history. It arrived in Portland on the 23rd. It was not unloaded from the plane until the 29th. At this point, not even God knows where my package is.

My UPS guy knocks once, drops the package and literally RUNS back into his truck before you can get to the door. I saw him jet past the window *ducking down* before I could get to the door more than once, and I live in a small townhouse. The only time I actually had to sign for something is when I saw the truck pull up and met him at the door. Tight schedule? Maybe they don't want to wait for you to sign for it? A homeless dude once knocked on my door with a (legitmate)UPS package that he said he saw the delivery guy toss across the street. I don't mind the drop-and-run, but the tossing has got to stop.

Oh, forgot another UPS story from when we lived at an apartment they could never figure out for some reason.

I got my fiance a pretty expensive blackberry for Christmas last year, and their website kept telling me it was delivered to an "office" to the wrong address (one that was close, but didn't exist and wasn't on the label) and that it was signed for by a woman there. When we called them and told them that address didn't exist, they said it was at our local UPS center and we could pick it up there. We went, it was nowhere, and they had to admit that they had lost it and pay the insurance (through the seller's claim, not ours--glad he was an honest guy). About 7 months later, I saw a package in bad shape sitting on top of the mailboxes in our shared mailbox area. Yep! Guess they had found it somewhere and dropped it off like no big deal. Happy ending, because the seller and I both got refunds, and eventually the gift showed up. They never asked for the money back.

Dont, I think you make have jinxed the deal when you answered the door in skimpy underwear and kept trying to get him to come in for "just a moment and have a few drinks between friends." Now he has no choice but the duck under your windows.

Cooties is right in that this video does not give us all the information but I am inclined to think that it is a careless delivery man just flinging someone's package. From experience, it looks like a clothing package to me but I dont think for one second that someone off screen told him to throw it. There is no time for such an interaction between the time he drives up and the time he throws the package and he does not show any sign that he is acknowledging another person.

I have the most trust in the USPS to take care of my deliveries and get them to their destination but I have found UPS and FedEx to both be faster.

This makes me want to ship a functioning three axis, timed g-meter using different services all over the states.

This is not nearly as bad as you are making it out to be. I was a UPS driver for 7 years, and I watched the video about 5 times to be sure. The package in question was a plastic bag containing clothing, guaranteed. You couldn't hurt that thing if you tried. It was a Driver Release situation, likely at a door he has delivered to many times before. Suggesting that it was a porcelain figurine is just setting a false impression and is unfair. About 10 years ago, clothing shippers began putting clothing in plastic bags rather than boxes because it was cheaper, and the package had a better appearance upon arrival, resulting in fewer complaints.

Was it the best form? No. Was he throwing a porcelain figurine? No! He was yet another cog in the machine that gets you a cheap blouse from QVC with no shipping charge.

Okay, this is downright creepy...as I was watching this video a UPS truck drove past my house...

so ace ventura

i just got a package

i hope it's not ruined (it's a portable turntable yo!)

best part = when he gets off the truck, it's still rolling

I find this kind of funny, personally. It was most likely nothing of importance.

But, I must stick up for these workers as well. I personally know what it is like to work for a courier service like fedex, ups, purolator and so on and so forth. I currently do.

You'd have to be silly not to think that a number of packages don't arrive onto those trucks already damaged or broken. Christ, I've had to deliver packages that were obviously broken and had a brokerage fee on them. You try explaining that to some cranky old broad or bugger.

Either way, what this guy has done isn't right, but in the end, if you worked for a company like he does, you too would be doing this.

I'd also like to note that probably about half the time the person who's delivering your package probably isn't the person who normally does it.

No reason for throwing that except laziness.

I guess I just have good luck with my UPS guy. It probably does not hurt that I live in a rural area and know his name,and have taken the time to get to know a little about him.
And that looks very much like a clothing item. I had thought it was such, before I had even gotten to Miles' post.

I buy a gazillion things each year off the internet and have a lot of experience with every delivery company you can imagine. Over all I have to say they all do a terrific job. Has it always been perfect? No, but considering the volume they handle I'm quite happy. I had a VERY close call many years ago with a USPS delivered package. It was a $500+ radio receiver and for some reason it was left by my garage door. A few feet to the left and I would have run over it when I backed my car out. UPS once delivered a package to a completely incorrect address. Don't remember how, maybe they finally called me, but I found out the address and went to go pick it up. What ticked me off more than anything was the idiots had opened it. Now don't you think if you got an unexpected package you would check the address on it first? My USPS carrier is a real sweetheart and does a fabulous job. I will miss her dearly when ever she retires. What I've taken forever to say is no company is perfect. If I had numerous problems I would complain loud and clear until it is corrected. If they won't correct it make sure you never use them for incoming package delivery. Otherwise enjoy the normally excellent service.

@ Miles

I never said it "was" porcelain figurines...it was meant as a joke.

I order a lot of tshirts and that looked like a soft package... I'm sure its fine. Probably saw it was from threadless :)

True, it could have just been clothing, but many times I've ordered bracelets, watches, or other little accessories that get placed with jeans or t-shirts, and chucking a soft package like that can definitely damage a smaller item. Those bags aren't really padded, so yeah, this behavior def. is in bad form. Take the extra 60 seconds to jog it to the door and jog back to the truck, come on.