The UPS Store

My husband and I have been shipping boxes back and forth from Tucson to Maine for five years now, via UPS. My husband made a pre-shipping visit to the 12995 Oracle Road store, just to be clear on all requirements. The staff person (Lisa DiMeter) said nothing about a new $5 per box per day fee for holding boxes prior to a requested ship date.



I note here that we could have easily delivered the boxes just before the shipping date, to avoid the fee; however, it never occurred to us, since no one had told us anything about this new fee. At our request, Ms. DiMeter called the manager, Lisa Desiderio, to ask for consideration of waiving the fee, since we had not been told in advance. She would not make any accomodation.



Our only option was to reload the boxes and bring them back next week (they weighed up to 87 pounds, and we had carried them in ourselves since there was no one around to help); leave the boxes outside our home in Maine for five days, subject to rain damage; or pay the fee. We paid, but we feel that a new surcharge without prior notice, especially since my husband had made an advance visit, was -- while certainly within the owner's perogative -- not in keeping with UPS's excellent customer service reputation.



This whole situation could have been avoided with a simple framed sign, on the counter, announcing the new fee -- or a disclosure to my husband when he made the advance visit. Too bad....... for a company that has served us well over the years.



Elizabeth P. Levenson