The most idiotic thing I had with UPS was a couple of years back. I sold a beautiful and expensive fixed blade made by Shane Sibert to a gentleman in Canada. Since it was quite expensive, I wanted to make sure offcourse the buyer got it in a quick and safe way, undamaged. So I opted to have it send Global Priority with insurance and the whole shabang by UPS.
Packed it up real good and went to the nearest UPS service point. All formalities done, custom papers, you know the drill.
Package was weighed and a price was set ....€110 for superfast, supersafe transportation to Canada ( I even believe they said a guy in a tight blue suit with a red cape would personally take care of it...)
O.k. after the initial shock, it was a done deal, package was send, money was paid and I went home.
Couple of days later...I get a letter with a bill from UPS stating; “whe made an error with the weighing, the package is heavier than we initially weighed, you still owe us €20 !!!!”
From that point things got nasty, offcourse I refused to pay. It took me 4 months, a lot of writing and help from my legal insurance to get rid of these idiots.
So UPS? Never again....Nein danke!
Luckily the gentleman got his knife fast and undamaged and is enjoying it ever since.
Offcourse this is a rare exception, but I’m just not overly impressed by these companies, given the service they provide for the money asked. Packages got lost a few times, o.k. , got found in the end, but doesn’t give me a solid feel.
USPS has never ever let me down. Their tracking system works perfect, not one package was ever lost and it’s the cheapest option by far. If there is a drawback, yeah, it might take a little longer for it to arrive.
But here in the Netherlands we have a very active customs control. Once your package arrives by airmail, it falls in the hands of customs to be checked and priced for taxes. Sometimes it can take up to 3 weeks for your package to clear customs! So you can pay a shitload of money for superduper fast and expensive postage, It evaporates in the custom department.
Another good excuse to use USPS.