Complaint Review: UPS Store - Littleton Colorado

Right On Willie!

Doing business with ups is like paying someone to throw a beatin on you!

I like the honest comments, but some of this people are obviously UPS public relations people attempting to discredit real customers, don't fell for there comments 0,0 they are paid to do just that!

For UPS prices they should have NO problems.

PO Boxes are ONLY available from the Post Office. Mailboxes at mailbox stores are called Private Mail Boxes, or PMB's. The stores that offer these mailboxes are called Commercial Mail Recieving Agencies (CMRA).  The operation of CMRA's are regulated by the Domestic Mail Manual of the US Postal Service. The DMM can be considered law.

When someone terminates their PMB service at a CRMA the CMRA is obligated by law to hold any First Class Mail for six months. At the end of six months they can securely destroy any mail not claimed by the former mailbox holder.

During that six month period that they are holding the First Class Mail, the former mailbox holder can claim the mail. However, the CMRA can charge a pick-up fee. That fee should be found in the original contract.

The CMRA can immediately start destroying any other class of mail other than First Class Mail upon termination of the PMB contract, but they are also obligated to refuse any certified or registered mail.

As far as USPS is concerned, any mail addressed to a PMB at a CRMA is addressed to the CMRA. PMB customers are not allowed to put in a change of address form. This should be spelled out in the contract the PMB customer signs, but it can also be found in the terms of the USPS Form 1583 that the PMB customer was required to sign.

So at minimum, a CMRA should be holding First Class Mail for the box holder for six months, and they may charge the former box holder a fee for handing that mail over to the box holder. (The CMRA could also agree to bundle the mail up, and ship it to the customer, but, of course, the customer would be responsible for any shipping and handling charges.)

Note that if you have a PO Box at the Post Office, they'll only automatically forward mail for six months. After that, First Class Mail is retuned to sender, and other mail is destroyed. So the only material difference is that USPS offers free forwarding for six months, while a CRMA can charge extra for that service.

On the other hand, at a PO Box you can only recieve mail. At a CRMA you can recieve packages from any carrier. (After the box service expires, packages recieved from other carriers should be refused unless other arrangements were made.)

When you go to a CRMA to cancel your service it's in their interest to tell you about what happens to your mail because this can result in a customer paying to extend the contract, and/or contract for forwarding service at an additional charge. But if you just let the box expire, and don't contact them until you notice your mail isn't being automatically forwarded for free, you miss the opportunity.

These things are all going to be spelled out in at least one of three places: The contract you signed with the CRMA. The USPS Form 1583 that you had to sign to authorize USPS to deliver your mail to the CRMA in the first place. Or the DMM. And many of these terms can be found in all three places. Expressing surprise about these terms indicates that you either didn't read, or forgot the terms.

Incidentally, when addressing mail to a PMB at a CRMA, the address should include either "PMB xxx" or "# xxx" (where xxx is the number of the box.) Referring to the box number as an apartment or a suite has been illegal since changes were made to the DMM back in 2001.

The UPS Store locations offer mail boxes with genuine suite numbers. Customers are leasing a business location. At the post office, you can only receive your postal mail - they can't get UPS, FEDEX, freight, etc. Many people also use P.O. boxes to hide behind or have a firewall to customers. People use locations such as The UPS Store to have more credibility than a P.O. box, especially with their businesses.

Just as with any business or office building with internal suites, once a person moves they must change their address individually with each corresponder. If that was not the case, when a person could change their street address to another, ALL the mail from all suites (including attorney, medical, acounting, or any other business suite) at that address would change to the one persons new address.

No facility merely "throws away" the mail. To even say that is pure ignorance. Just as is with the generic P.O. Box, mail for terminated boxes is either forwarded, 'Returned To Sender' or saved for six months before discarding. Most locations use the option to hold the mail for six months, for a customer to have the option receiving any important mail. After six months, all mail is discarded. This protocol is a requirement by USPS for all postal mail and is done at the post office. All this is CLEARLY explained in the contract, whether UPS or post office. Why do people that don't bother reading the contract whine about it later? Answer: the illiterates are inevitably the ones that complain.

If a person would like their mail forwarded, they may also do so. If they send the mail by the standard postal service, it is just as likely to be lost as mail sent directly through the post office. To blame the shipping location when this happens is just wrong. It doesn't matter if it is The UPS Store, Pakmail, Postnet, or a mom and pop shipping shop - mail often will get lost.

They provided me an agreement that was very clear about the service they provide and what happens after you close the box. They have been great for me, I receive many packages and have clients and customers drop off papers and checks and it goes right into the box, even vice-versa as well. They're not cheap though but reasonable, I pay $270 for a medium box for one year. I am very happy with them. They also agreed to forward if you close it and I'm sure for a few bucks they'll catch the mail for you, I doubt they could get away with throwing it out that may be a federal offense.

1. The UPS Store does not forward, or return to sender, ANY mail. None! No matter how importAnt it might be to you. OF COURSE NOT. THEY AREN'T THE REAL POST OFFICE BUT THEN YOU HAVE MORE STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS TO GET A USPS MAIL BOX.. THESE ARE MAIL DROPS BASICALLY 2. Here is the really cheesy part - The Ups Store THROWS away all mail they get after you close your P.O. Box. It does not matter what the mail is, even if it is a large check or an invoice. IT IS UP TO YOU TO GET YOUR MAIL FORWARDED TO A REAL MAIL B OX THE SAME AS YOU WOULD IF YOU CLOSED OUT YOUR MAIL BOX AT THE REGULAR POST OFFICE OR ANY OTHER CHANGE OF ADDRESS. YOU CAN FILL 0OUT THE CARD AT THE POST OFFICE AND GET YOUR MAIL FORWARDED AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO BE MOVING. 3. Th US Postal Service will not allow you to put in a change of address on the UPS Store's P.O. Boxes... so mail keeps going there and keeps getting thrown away. THEY CAN'T KEEP YOU FOR DOING THIS. YOU JUST PUT THE STREET NUMBER AND THE STREET ADDRESS ON THE FORWARDING ADDRESS NOT THE FACT THAT IT IS MAIL DROP, YOU DON'T LIST YOUR RETURN ADDRESS AS THE UPS STORE, DO YOU? I DIDN'T THINK SO. THEY SHOULD HAVE A NUMBER, A STREET WHERE THEY ARE, A SUITE NUMBER AND A ZIP CODE AND THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD PUT ON YOUR POST OFFICE CHANGE OF ADDRESS REQUEST. 4. The UPS Store does not tell you any of the above when you are signing up for one of their P.O. Boxes, I had the displessure of finding out only after I stopped service with them. THEY CAN NOT INTERFERE WITH THE US MAIL. NOT LEGALLY, ANYWAY. I wish I would have known what a BAD deal the UPS Store had going before I signed up for one of their P.O. Boxes... I also Wish I knew how many of my customers checks ended up in the TRASH at the UPS Store. ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS... YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SUE FOR DAMAGES. YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF IF YOU HAD USED A US POSTAL SERVICE MAIL BOX.

1. The UPS Store forwards ALL mail back to the post office which then returns to sender 2. Again the UPS store does NOT throw any mail away they just return it to the post office. 3. You have the right to your mail. All you have to do is visit the local Post office that delivers the mail to the ups store and show proper ID and get your mail. 4. The UPS Store does tell you all of the above when you are signing up for one of their Mail Boxes. It is written in The mailbox service agreement . I hate people who don't read even the small print on contracts before signing and then blame everyone else but themselves. In this case you are at fault for negligence and failing to thoroughly read the terms.

For USPS Mail: Go to or call the local USPS facility. The local Post Office. Not local to you, the one that delivers to the UPS store you no longer wish to receive mail at. Try: 1)You might try filling out a hold mail form and mark that you wish to pick the mail up at the post office (again at the UPS store's local post office, not yours). Wait a week and then pick up the mail. Contact everyone you wish to have your new address (you will have their contact information in the mail they sent to you). If you do this a few times spaced a few weeks apart you may be able to transfer some mail that way. I am not sure if you can do a hold mail for mail going to a UPS store, but if you can, you might first do that a few times. 2)Explain you authorized someone else to receive your mail at an address delivered to by this post office, and you wish to cancel the authorization. Try explaining it as clearly as possible, i.e. "I am [your name]. I wanted the UPS store at [the UPS store address] to receive my mail. I no longer want them to receive my mail. What do I need to do? Is there a form to fill out?" You must notify USPS you don't want to receive mail at that address any more. Also ask if you can pay the Post Office for a forwarding service to your new address. They should be able to provide you with the proper forms and tell you where to send them. At best, you can get your USPS mail delivered to the new address. At worst, the sender will receive the mail returned, at which point they can contact you by phone or e-mail if they have your phone number or e-mail address. As far as USPS mail goes, forwarding and delivery is controlled by USPS, not the UPS Store. You must explicitly authorize the UPS Store to accept your USPS mail. If after revoking the authorization they still accepted USPS mail for you at that address, you should contact the USPS and tell them you want to speak to a Postal Inspector. Explain they are not authorized to receive your mail and they accepted it anyway. If someone has notified you they sent payment to you, or if you believe you may have received mail with private account information, mention this to the Postal Inspector. For Non-USPS Shipping Carriers: Also, call all shipping carriers that aren't the USPS and ask if you can have shipments that are mailed to you at your UPS Store address held or rerouted. If they say no, ask if they can put a notice in the system to notify you if packages are sent to you at your UPS Store address.

Mr Steve, sometimes it takes major companies a year or more to change an address, let alone personal mail. I know because I have had problems with magazine publishers, bills, charities, etc. I followed their instructions for changing address multiple times and they just won't do it easily or quickly. To everyone: The UPS stores are franchises. There is no consistent service. I would not use them (and I have). My UPS store promised paid forwarding service if the box was closed. I guess that was a lie? Most of our "contract" was collecting information. There was little writing. And actually it doesn't matter, because if the UPS store collects your mail and throws it away after the box account is closed it is tampering with the mail. I guess Mr Steve you did not read all of what you are signing. One of the items is a separate form from USPS that you have to authorize the UPS store to accept your mail. If the UPS store neglects to report they no longer have that authorization, they are stealing the mail. In the same way, it is stealing if you keep mail addressed to a previous owner of your house. You are supposed to return it. Inquire with USPS as to the procedure. The USPS and only the USPS can decide what to ultimately do with incorrect mail. By keeping it, you have stolen it. With letters I think you do something like write "no such addressee" and drop it in a mailbox, but you would have to check to be sure. By the UPS store not refusing the mail, they are stealing it, as the authorization form the customer fills out is the only document that allows USPS mail delivery. Without it, no matter who takes the mail, if it isn't you, they have stolen it. I spent hours arguing back and forth with mine over several days because a USPS Delivery Confirmation package arrived and they claimed it hadn't. The UPS store even suggested the Postal Carrier must have "not delivered it." Although the Carrier is adamant they did. The package was confirmed delivered by USPS, and after a week the UPS store finally agreed it must have been delivered there. I have even spoken to the owner of the UPS store I am referring to. He said that his store hands out all delivered packages to boxes by "remembering who the customers are" (2 employees said they didn't recognize one of my family members but still asked for no ID). The owner stated he relies on the box customers to return packages addressed to a box other than their own. This is also the same person who wasted a bunch of time trying to give us someone else's box bill, and could not understand the words "this [pointing to number on bill] is NOT MY BOX NUMBER!" which was repeated over and over and still he could not understand. My UPS store charges double the PO box rates. And I found out you CAN receive USPS packages at a USPS PO box! I occasionally paid for fax service (not any more) and they have faxed to the wrong number (and I am talking local instead of long distance), they have faxed the back of documents instead of the front. Bottom line: I trust USPS more. I have never had them not deliver a package. If a USPS worker steals a USPS package, they risk Federal Prison. If a UPS worker steals a package, they risk listening to complaints by the customer. Also, I may have to argue about what service with USPS, but with the UPS stores their in-store shipping was 3 times the same service on the UPS web site (reason: even though it is the same timeframe, same package, same weight, same named service, it is not actually the same). Checking the web site to going in was less than 1 hour apart. I spoke to another UPS store who admitted that they are allowed to tack on a random extra charge for shipping if they want to. The delivery drivers for UPS start delivering my packages to other addresses if more than a few packages a week come to my home also. UPS SHOULD be responsible for the UPS stores. They are either a part of UPS or not. I have seen a store that UPS deliveries are sometimes routed through! And if they are not UPS, UPS needs to quit scamming people and remove their name off of the UPS stores! Franchises have parent companies, it should be their responsibility if the franchise owner is incompetent.

Stan, If you wanted a "P.O. Box" you should have gone to the post office....However...YOU CHOSE to have a "Street Address" for your "start up" business. The UPS store and other establishments of the like are NOT post office boxes. They are PRIVATE MAILBOXES. I have been using these for about 15 years, and I can tell you I have a current PRIVATE MAILBOX at a UPS Store. AND, when I opened it, the agreement I READ and signed clearly stated the terms including mail forwarding. You need to ACTUALLY READ these agreements BEFORE signing them! AND they are close to the same price as the Post Office box rentals, and sometimes cheaper!. I have a large box that costs $15 a month. At the Post office, that same box is $18 a month. Why not just keep the box open a month or two extra while you change addresses with your friends and business associates? I don't see the Rip Off here. I think you are a victim of yourself for not asking the right questions AND reading the terms and conditions of the rental.

I have had a mailbox with my local UPS Store for over 8 years (they were known as Mailboxes, Etc when I started) and I have no complaints about this company, only praises and compliments. I pay $138 every six months for one of their biggest boxes (aka suites). I have never had any problems with my mail. The staff is professional, courteous and efficent. They call me whenever I get a UPS, DHL, FEDEX, Airbourne Express package, etc. They sign for the packages and call me. I haven't had any problems with not getting my mail. These people do everything they can to be helpful. They know me on personal level, we talk about our children and careers and I notice they do that with all their regulars. My 6 year old son wants to work there when he turns 15 and they have prmoised him a job. As these places are franchised, you cannot judge all UPS Stores by the experiences of just one person. I am sorry that the OP hasn't had good experiences (I wish he could have been a customer at the store I frequent because he would definitely have been satisified) but I want him to know there are some great UPS Stores out there. I know, because I am a customer of the best. I also know there are some crummy ones because when I have travled and gone to different UPS Stores, I have left some feeling very angry at the crappy service. Anyway, my point is please don't give up on The UPS Stores. Interview the Owner(s) and find out what level of service they are offering..... most want to provide excellent service.