We’re all traveling more than ever, but are still getting all sorts of things delivered to our homes. That means there’s a greater chance that deliveries will be scheduled when you’re not there. That’s why I previously wrote about how to delay or hold shipments from USPS, UPS, FedEx and Amazon.
Most delivery services allow you to change a scheduled delivery without any extra cost. However, whereas UPS used to offer this service for free to UPS My Choice account holders, they’ve since changed their policy. Now, if you want to change a scheduled delivery with UPS, you have to pay a fee.
With a basic account, you can track deliveries and receive notifications when they’re delivered. You’re also supposed to be able to tell the driver to leave a package with your neighbor. But what if you want to change the delivery date? That’ll cost you $9.99. Want to deliver a package to a different address? That one will cost $14.99.
Oh, and every package UPS delivered to a UPS location while you’re away will cost $5.99.
Jeesh!
Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until UPS attempts to make a delivery and leaves one of those sticky notes on your door. You can input that bar-code number into the UPS website to tell them to hold the delivery. But if you’re not home, how can you get the number from the sticky note????
There is a way to not have to pay for rerouting each package, though. By upgrading to the UPS My Choice Premium package for $19.99 per year, you control how your packages get shipped.
You can have packages delivered on another day, to another address, or to a UPS Access Point location. You can also upgrade UPS SurePost packages so they don’t get handed off to the USPS.
If you frequently travel and get packages delivered to your house while you’re away, the price might be worth it. However, I can’t see how it’s cost-effective for UPS to send drivers to houses where the people are not home to leave sticky notes on their front doors instead of dropping off a package at its company stores.
We’re traveling enough where it makes sense for us to pay the $20/year so that we can direct packages to the local UPS Store and pick them up when we get home
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15 comments
The other option is to not use UPS.
It makes no sense that you can’t refuse a package on the UPS website, but they can go through the effort to deliver, and if you’ve left a note on the door telling them you refuse it, then they’ll return it.
Which doesn’t help if you don’t want criminals to know that you’re not at home.
Except they charge you twice to set up the $19.99 Premium then make it a royal pain to get the second charge removed. Phone numbers UPS give you only lead to more run around and no resolution. Quite the scam.
Thank you for confirming this new policy. During peak COVID times, it didn’t much matter as I was generally home to sign for things, but now our wine club shipments–alcohol, so they require an in-person signature–can’t simply be rerouted to our local UPS Store without paying a fee. I agree: how can sending a truck to my house multiple times (or they could just let me leave it at the UPS Depot–I’d pick it up there!) be balanced against the revenue generated by this idiotic new program? We will need to see if the vendors shipping signature-required items will use another shipper.
The $7.99 charge for forwarding a wine shipment to the UPS Store just hit my CC.
I waited for the UPS driver literally all day but had to go out and didn’t want the package sitting out so paid via the app for it to be dropped off for pick up at the nearest UPS store. When I got home the package was on my door step and they still charged me. I guess the driver didn’t get the update but then they shouldn’t have taken my money given they had data where the package was dropped off.
Like you I’m baffled that they would charge me for something that saves them time and money. I refuse to pay for something that benefits them as a business. I guess I’ll have to figure out if I can get to the facility, but I may intentionally wait until their final delivery attempt just to cost them more money.
I just did that. I let the package be attempted delivery multiple times after seeing I had to pay $7.99 for them to hold it. I wasn’t in a rush so let them burn their fuel while it’s over $4/gallon.
Charging for it to be dropped off for pick up at the nearest UPS store, WOW. I will need to check who the vendor is using for shipping items going forward.
The problem is that you don’t often have a choice.
I ordered a 1 TB iPhone 14 plus over a month ago, was informed it would be delivered Oct 20 ( I was given No Choice concerning delivery carrier/date/options). On Monday 17th I went to an appt on my day off work only to find a sticky note from UPS on front door that a Signature was required and they would re-attempt tomorrow. I had to work the next day. I called UPS, got someone that barely spoke English..she kept wanting $7.99 to even talk to me about any delivery information. If I wanted my new iPhone Monday evening, I’d have to drive 50 miles round trip and pay $7.99 and it May or May not have made it back to their main facility at the airport yet. There’s no way I could’ve gotten over there the next day bc I worked too far away. Tuesday, they left another sticky on the door. UPS left me another package but Not my iPhone…just a second sticky note and I signed it a left it on the door. It was still on the door when I got home Wednesday from work.
Monday afternoon, after trying and failing several times to set up a UPS acct ( they kept rejecting the UN and/or PW for n valid reason concerning their rules). I wound up calling APPLE and explaining that I shouldn’t have to chase my new phone ( almost $2,000) down by having to drive at least 50 miles round trip and Paying $8 more although the shipping was “ allegedly FREE from Apple”.
SO DISAPPOINTED AND FRUSTRATED. So, I don’t really know if Apple has redirected it to their site choice ( as promised) or if I’m expected to do a 55 mile round trip to the airport. I got an email from UPS but it only says “ there’s a problem with your shipping address” then almost a blurb that it’s at the airport storage but I couldn’t get that to show up twice. It wouldn’t allow me to redirect or chat etc.
I got an iPad Spring 22 luckily I was home. However, I’ve never had to pay $7.99 to talk about delivery options. Heck, THEY GAVE ME ZERO CHOICE CONCERNING DELIVERY TIME OR DATE AND THEN WANT $8 and drive 55 miles.
I hope UPS goes out of business if they keep holding peoples packages Hostage like this.
@Diana
You need to complain to Apple because they put the signature requirements on their shipments. Apple used to use FedEx Express for all their shipments. But they broke that shipping agreement because Apple stated “FedEx delivers too many packages late”. When they shipped with FedEx Express, most Apple products did not require a signature.
Everything with Apple is, “it’s our way or the highway”…
I don’t love it but I have to admit that at least I can derive some value from the annual rate.
You now have to pay to have the package held at the UPS distribution center, not just a UPS store.
UPS — Utterly Poor Service
This policy is weird. I knew I would not be home but I let UPS load the package and attempt delivery anyway because it would cost me $10 to tell them that I will be home the next day so that they wouldn’t have to go through the labor of hauling my package around just for fun. But alas, greed is king and UPS hath no shame, lol.