Self-Sufficient Steward

I try to be a ’shop locally’ kind of guy, but for some things, I cave. I recently found a great deal on a stereo component that had died a couple of years ago, so I pulled the trigger and ordered it online. They provided a UPS tracking number, and I watched my computer screen through the week as it marched across the country. On Thursday, it announced that it was ‘out for delivery’. Yippee! Since we share our nearly half mile long driveway with another family, packages often arrive at the wrong house. I called my neighbor to expect me that evening after work and arrived to find no package at either place. Hmmmmm….

A re-check of the website on Friday morning now reported ‘delivery attempted’ on Thursday. Dang! Apparently the shipper had stipulated ’signature required’ and there was no one home on Thursday (or any other workday). So now I have to figure out how to head them off at the pass, and intercept my package. I put that on hold as I go about my day job, but walking out of the mailroom later on Friday morning, I’m almost run over by the UPS guy and his cartload of packages. We each offer apologies, and began to start off in opposite directions, when I stopped him. I explained my problem. He immediately writes the private number for the local UPS terminal on a piece of my mail and says ‘call them and they’ll help you out’.

I return to my desk, call the number and provide the tracking number. The dispatcher puts me on hold for a minute, calls the truck now carrying my package. He then comes back to me and not only provides me with a delivery time estimate (so I can go home and meet the driver) but also provides the driver’s name and cell number. A few hours later, as I leave to rendezvous with the driver, I call him to confirm the plan, which he does. I start off. Minutes later, the driver calls back. He’s been thinking about my package, which he saw on Thursday, and he didn’t recall seeing it on the truck on Friday. So he pulled over on the side of the road and went back in the truck to check. No package. He calls the dispatcher and confirms that it’s still in the terminal, which is closed to the public. The driver has called me back with Plan B, where the dispatcher will meet me at the terminal and allow me to pick up my package there in twenty minutes. Sweet.

Now, this is the largest shipping company in the world. They deliver an estimated 15,800,000 packages every day, in more than 200 countries, using the world’s eighth largest airline. Yet, I received personal and beyond-the-call-of-duty assistance from each of the three employees I talked to. Just basically nice people, who apparently work for a company that, at least this time, encourages them to treat customers like they would like to be treated. What a concept.

Sometimes, bigger can be better.

Posted on November 21st, 2009 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rants and Musings