I don't often write negative reviews, but I feel obligated to do so in hopes that this review will save others from going through the hassles and frustrations that I endured at the hands of Express Office and More. Prior to dropping off my package at Express Office and More, which I will henceforth refer to as "the store", I called to see if they accepted prepaid UPS packages to be held for pick up. They told me they did and that the UPS carrier makes his pickups about 5pm. I made it to the store before 5pm, put the package into their care and left under the assumption it would get picked up by UPS and all would be well.
About a week after I dropped off the package at the store, I discovered it had never been picked up by UPS. I called the store to see if it might have been misplaced or left behind and they told me that all the packages were picked up. I then called UPS to inquire about the package. UPS informed me that the package was never scanned into the system by the driver. I then asked what would happen to the package if the driver missed scanning it. They told me that even if the driver missed scanning the package when he picked it up; all packages are scanned again when they arrive at the sorting facility. I was also told that if another shipping company accidentally picked up the package, they would have called UPS to return it and that it is highly unlikely that the package was picked up by any carrier. UPS then informed me that since Express Office and More accepted the package, the store inherently claimed responsibility for the package and any loss would therefore be their responsibility. In other words, since the package never entered the UPS tracking system, I would have to deal with the store in order to get reimbursed for the loss.
I understood the position of UPS and so I called the store to explain the situation and they told me it wasn't their responsibility. They told me the only way they will claim responsibility for a lost package is if a person pays them extra money to print the label at the store. Had I known this store was a "drop off at your own risk" place, I would have never given them the package. I asked if there was video footage we could review to see who took my package off the rack. They told me they don't have any video surveillance. I was stunned by this news. With the package storage rack right by the front door and no way to identify a thief, anyone could just walk in and take anything they wanted without consequence. Since talking with the store wasn't getting me anywhere, I continued to follow up a few different leads at UPS. During my conversations with UPS, I spoke with multiple employees of UPS from different departments and every one of them confirmed that the responsibility of reimbursement of the package falls on the owners of the store since they accepted it; I decided to call the store again and relay this information.
During my conversation with the store, they lied to me and said a UPS representative told them it wasn't their store's responsibility. I personally spoke with the representative that Express Office and More claimed they had spoken with. That representative agreed with everyone else that the responsibility of reimbursement fell upon the store. When I told them this, Express Office and More refused to admit responsibility for the package and became hostile. I struggled to remain calm and professional as I was being verbally attacked by the husband and co-owner of the store. It appears I was naive in hoping that a family owned business would have more integrity and civility. In summary, I highly suggest that everyone takes the less expensive, more secure, and far less stressful route of purchasing your label online and dropping it off at a legitimate UPS packaging facility. read more
