“What the hell were you thinking
putting the box at the front door? Someone could have easily walked up and
stolen the package! Next time take it around back and put it by that door” said
one of the customers I was delivering a package to. While walking up to the
door to deliver a package the UPS worker doesn’t know what to expect from the
customer when they deliver the package. People who work for UPS have
interactions with many of the people who order the packages. These people range
from being approachable and neighborly to being unpleasant and unsociable to
nonexistent. Many of the people who get packages are regulars and the UPS
worker knows what to expect, but some aren’t and it keeps them on their toes.
The UPS worker will knock after delivering the package and some people with
answer while others won’t come to the door. When working as a UPS man, I dealt
with five types of customers.
The first type of customer I will talk about is friends. Not
necessarily people you know, but people that are kind and sociable. These
people will be the first to come out and ask you if you need help carrying a
heavy package or will answer the door and have a nice conversation with you for
5 minutes. I was working with Scott when we had to carry an enormous, awkward
sized box up a hill. We didn’t get half way up the hill before the owner of the
house opened the garage door and yelled to us, “Need some help? Let me grab
this end of the box.” After we all struggled up the hill with the box we talked
to the guy for 5 minutes about UPS and how busy we were because it was
Christmas time. Another example of this type of customer is a house that had a
mini tree full of candy by their door that said, “Take one! Merry Christmas!” They
make sure the tree is fully stocked at the beginning of each day so UPS, USPS,
and FedEx drivers can all have some candy.
The next customer I will discuss is quite different and not as nice as
the first. I never realized how important the placement of the package was
until I experienced the second kind of customer, the grouches. This type of
customer will come outside right when you get there and tell you where to put
the package after you already set it down and sometimes even call the UPS store
to complain about where the package was left. My first experience with a grouch
was when I walked up to a house that had three doors I could have put the
package in front of. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong door. When I went to
place the package in front of the closest door I hear another door open and the
lady yell, “That is not the door I want you to take the packages to! I have
already told you I want the packages to go to this door.” The only thing to do
in these circumstances is apologize and move the package to the door they want
it at.
The third customers I experience are anxious children who peer out the
window just waiting for the UPS man to walk up to their door with a package.
These customers will usually open the door run out and grab the package and
then are too shy to say anything, but “Thank you!” My favorite memory of this
type of customer was when I was walking up to the house and could see two kid’s
heads peering out the window watching me as I walked all the way to their front
door. When I knocked, they ran to the door and took the packages and said,
“Wait here!” They then brought me a Walmart sack full of snacks. In this bag
was chips, a juice box, and a half-eaten granola bar. Other times the kids will
watch me walk all the way up to the door looking excited and then when I get
there they get too nervous to answer. If this happens I just leave the box at
the door and when I start to walk away they run out and grab the box then run
back in.
The interactions had with the next type of customers aren’t really
interactions at all. I would consider these customers ghosts. They order
copious amounts of items, but are never there to receive them. One type of this
customer has items delivered daily, but are never around. One of the regular
stops I had was this person’s ginormous garage where I would stop daily to
deliver and pick up packages. I had never seen the person who owned the garage
even after weeks of delivering. Another certain type of this “ghost” would be
the ones who order items that need a signature, but aren’t around to sign it. They
may call the UPS store and wonder why they didn’t receive their package or they
may tell the UPS store a certain time they will be home the following day, but
surprisingly enough not be there. UPS will go to the customers house three
times to deliver the package that requires a signature, but after the third
time the person will have to go to the store to pick it up. The experience I
had with this customer was that we went to their house two times and they
weren’t there. Later in the day they called and said they would be home at a
certain time the next day. We made the stop the next day and they weren’t there
and were then upset that they had to go pick up the package from the store. They
called the UPS store and said “Where’s my package? It was supposed to be
delivered today. This is ridiculous.” making it sound like it was UPS’s fault
they didn’t have their package with them.
The last type of customers I experience are grumpy store workers. Every
day, UPS driver’s stop at certain businesses like the college, Tractor
Supplies, and Menards. The driver will either knock or ring a bell and then
wait for the manager to come open the door. Sometimes, when I knock on the door
or ring the bell for the person to let me in to deliver packages they take 5 to
10 minutes. This may not seem like a lot, but with 250 plus stops a day the
time adds up. Then when they get there they are in a bad mood and act annoyed
that I am delivering packages to them. One time I rang the doorbell to this
business three different times in a 10-minute span before the person came to
the door. When they did come to the door they were pissed and said, “I heard
you the first time. I can’t be everywhere at once.” Then rudely asked how many
packages there were while sighing and acting like she had more important things
to do. I experienced this same result with this lady every time I went and
delivered packages to the company she was working for.
UPS workers experience many different people while on the job from getting yelled at for placing the package in the wrong spot to being thanked with candy and food. Some are very nice and friendly while others are not. These different kinds of people are both easy and hard to work with. After working with UPS for a long time, you will have seen almost all of these types of customers and will know what to expect from each one. Every UPS worker has different stories about the different kinds of people they interact with on a regular basis. UPS driver’s do more communicating on the job than people think. They have to have the mentality that the customer is always right and try to please them as best they can.
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