What Brown Is Doing For Me Now

Apparently, the squeaky wheel does indeed get the grease.

Angry about the mess UPS made of my Christmas package from my mom, I wrote the company a letter detailing, and I quote, "the absolute worst customer service experience I have ever had with any company." The letter was as concise as I could make it, yet telling the story still took three pages. I even went so far as to enclose a copy of the tracking information, highlighted for their easy reference, and not very nicely demanded a refund for my mom, telling UPS to "please be sure to send it to the correct place this time."

I admit, I really laid into them. No mercy whatsoever. It had just been such a terrible experience that I thought the head honchos at UPS headquarters in Atlanta should know about it. Mostly I wanted to get it off my chest; I did not really expect a response, and I certainly didn't expect UPS to refund my mom's money, if for no other reason than the request had come from me and not her. (My mom was actually pretty forgiving about the whole thing: "You got the package eventually; what's the big deal?")

But surprise, surprise, last week, I got a voice message from a woman named Connie at the UPS distribution center in my area. I was almost afraid to return the call. My letter had been really nasty; I mean, I used the words "abhorrent" and "deplorable." When I did return the call, I felt the need to try to sound as sweet as I possibly could so that Connie wouldn't think I was a total bitch.

Anyway, she apologized profusely and promised that my mother would get her refund, and she told me that UPS is sending me "a little something special" for my trouble. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm hoping it's a little miniature truck or something. That would be cool.

So there you have it. You really can get results by putting your complaints in writing. I have to say, I'm impressed with how quickly and easily UPS owned up to causing a huge mess and took steps to appease me, particularly because the person complaining was not the person who actually paid for their service. I wonder if perhaps they have been losing a lot of business lately. Everyone I told about this incident immediately chimed in with, "oh yeah, UPS is terrible; I only use FedEx now."

In any case, I am satisfied with the outcome, unless, of course, my "special something" turns out to be a box of poisonous snakes, or a fruit basket. I'm not sure when I'll find out, though; according to Connie, it should have been delivered on Friday, and it has yet to show up.

I guess some things never change.