Dear Abby: When I read about the letters regarding UPS shipments, I had to write.
Because I am disabled, I am on a number of medications. The medical plan I am insured under uses a mail-order pharmacy. When I order drugs, I am required to order a three-month supply at a time. The value of my last order was $1,200. It was delivered by UPS. The driver rang my doorbell one time and threw the package on my porch. Before I could see who was there, his truck was halfway down the street. He didn't bother to get a signature - or even ask for one.Had I not been home, that $1,200 package would have been on my front porch in plain view to anyone who would have had the inclination to steal it. So much for UPS's unwritten law!
- Mike Hoffman, Portland, Ore.
Dear Mike: Wow! Do you ever have company! Read on:
Dear Abby: I wasn't surprised by the letter complaining about UPS; you should receive a truckload more.
When I moved from Massachusetts to Oregon several years ago, I shipped a personal computer to myself via UPS. It was packed as it had been by the manufacturer, and I was informed that the shipper would be liable if there was any damage.
The parcel arrived - the packaging was mutilated and my computer was in pieces! After my phone call, UPS sent a representative out to see whether the computer had been packed correctly; I was told he would have to take the parcel to Portland for more investigation.
Several weeks later, I phoned UPS and was told that my computer was on its way back to Massachusetts in its mutilated packing so it could be inspected by the sender. I explained that I was the sender and I was not in Massachusetts!
Many phone calls and letters to UPS representatives brought promises that my computer would be returned promptly, but no admission that the computer was damaged or that anyone in particular, much less UPS, was responsible.
Several weeks had passed when a UPS truck drove up my street. My wife and I watched it pass by our house. I was still cursing UPS when the neighbor boy came over to show us something he had in a wheelbarrow. It was my computer. He said it had been dumped in their garage and he wondered if it was ours!
After that, UPS representatives continued to answer my complaints by promising much, but delivering nothing, so I concluded that the only way I could get compensation was to take them to court.
I did. And now I can happily sign myself . . .
- A Satisfied UPS Customer
Dear Abby: Here's a funny follow-up on your UPS delivery article: Some years back, I baked up a storm of cookies for our daughter who was living out West. I sent them by UPS.
She was not home when the delivery person delivered them, so the large, carefully packed box of cookies was left with a neighbor. The "neighbor" turned out to be a fraternity house, so you can well imagine the end of the story!
UPS put a tracer on the package and, upon discovering the interception, was prompt and pleasant about the reimbursement.
- Mary Westheimer, Cincinnati
Dear Mary Westheimer: Those who have lived in a fraternity house will relate to that story. An equally hungry bunch of young people can be found in a sorority house.
Dear Abby: The man who complained about the price of a first-class postage stamp missed the mark. The price of a stamp today is cheaper in real terms than it was 50 years ago!
A 3-cent stamp in 1940 would cost 33 cents today, if the price of postage stamps had risen as fast as overall consumer prices.
At 29 cents each, current postage stamp prices are a bargain. Of course, one might argue that the quality of service has deteriorated, but so has the real price paid.
- Jonathan B. Wright, associate
professor of economics,
University of Richmond
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1993 Universal Press Syndicate