Once again, I have a fabulous experience with UPS. I order a package from a retailer, it ships UPS ground (saving $$$), and it arrives exactly when they say it's going to. This is NOT the same level of service I have received from some other delivery services that many retailers use, even when I specifically tell them not to use that delivery service. Yes, I can always count on UPS to not only know where I live, but how to get there, and they deliver my packages on-time.

That hasn't always been the case, however. In fact, my favorite delivery problem story related to bad deliveries actually comes from those brown parcel people.

Back in 1987, I was living in a garage apartment in Denton, a little one-room garage conversion that sat next to a large house on the corner of two fairly significant streets. I had my own physical address, but my entrance faced one street more than the other, and the street it faced was the cross street, not the one matching my address. However, mail got to me with no problem, and every time I gave directions to someone, they were able to find it with no problem.

So when I ordered a package from Richardson, TX, and they were going to ship it to me via UPS, I didn't give it a second thought. Two weeks after the shipment should have arrived, however, I called the company that sent it and let them know I had yet to receive it. They checked with UPS, but this was in the days before electronic tracking, so UPS couldn't tell him what was up. Another week went by with no delivery. More calls to the company failed to yield any results. They were ready to refund my money and let me drive to Richardson to pick one up at no cost to me (about a 30 mile drive, which I obviously should have done initially). The very next day, however, I got blown away.

You see, that day, I got a card in the mail from UPS. The card told me that UPS could not find my physical address and that they were returning the package to the shipper. After I gawked for a moment at the card (not a letter I had to open, but a postcard) I fell to the floor in fits of laughter. UPS had sent POSTAL MAIL to an address THEY COULDN'T FIND. This was too good to pass up, so I headed down to the local UPS distribution center (less than 4 miles from my apartment) to ask about this. The day I went down there, I found a rather long line of people wanting to pick up packages, etc., so I had a chance to fully plan what I would say to the agent when I got to the front of the queue.

Finally, my turn arrived. When the older lady who was at the counter asked if she could help me, she didn't know what to do with me. I was very polite and professional and never lost my cool. I asked her a very simple question:

If UPS could not find my address to deliver a package, why did they mail me a card to tell me?

For the next 10 minutes, we went back and forth on the issue. I don't think she ever fully understood what my concern was, but the people around me in line were very entertained. I did ascertain that they DID have a phone number for me on file, and I asked why no one called to get directions, since they couldn't find the address, or call to verify the address was correct. She couldn't answer that. When I asked her who sent the card, she couldn't tell me. When I asked her what UPS was thinking when they mailed a card to an address that they knew didn't exist, she couldn't answer.

In the end, I didn't get my package. I finally called the company in Richardson and let them know, through no fault of their own, that I just didn't want the package. And as I was only in that apartment for a year, I never had the opportunity to order another package to be shipped to that address. But I'll never forget the conversation I had with the helpless UPS customer service representative or the looks on the faces of the people behind me in line - all smiles.