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UPS already tried doing this a few years ago in Brooklyn,[1] but not Manhattan apparently. I was subjected to this a few years ago. Instead of being greeted a

UPS already tried doing this a few years ago in Brooklyn,[1] but not Manhattan apparently. I was subjected to this a few years ago. Instead of being greeted at the end of the day with my shiny new $300 phone, they left it in a pile on the filthy floor of a local bodega three blocks away. Then, after finding it, I have to wait in line and have my ID scanned and sign for it. And I paid for overnight shipping but if I don't rush home, I have to wait until the next day. My neighbor hated it more than I did. So, she started "stealing" her packages from the bodega. It turns out that if you don't sign for the package, they return it to the sender after a week and you get a full refund. So you can easily double dip by not signing for it and also getting a refund. And the local business is responsible for package being lost. After two months, the local bodega stopped hosting packages, presumably because they were having to eat the cost of losing packages. Since there were no other businesses nearby willing to do this, UPS was forced to resume delivering to our building. While this is an effective way for people to shut this kind of thing down, I'm sure it must be illegal. At least if you get caught, it is fairly deniable, since the package has your name on it. But it is probably illegal to interfere with a package being delivered. Please do not do this. You are stealing from the merchant. [1]: https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/e-commerce/b2c-delivery-solutions.page https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/e-commerce/b2c-delivery-s...

coliveira 7y ago
This only shows the lack of character of some New Yorkers compared to people from Paris. They resort to stealing to get what they want. It is a shame, and very difficult to create a civilized world in this situation.
oogali 7y ago
Are you talking about UPS Access Points? If so, that is definitely available in Manhattan as I’ve had packages routed to them willingly (I requested it) and unwillingly (driver was too busy to complete deliveries that day). It started out with the access points being fairly ubiquitous and available at local bakeries, coffee shops, etc. But in recent years, it’s been scaled back to the local UPS Store locations. But it’s definitely still a thing available in Manhattan, and I’d wager all the boroughs.
- delfinom 7y ago
  >But in recent years, it’s been scaled back to the local UPS Store locations. Alot of it is due to UPS Stores. They are franchised. Many owners got extremely upset, betrayed and were threatening to quit because UPS was making them pay all the fees for franchising and proceed to start screwing them over by involving others for basically free.
smelendez 7y ago
Taking the package and claiming a refund is obviously fraud but it sounds like the business was also not properly safeguarding the packages. Why not keep them under the counter?
- apostacy 7y ago
  No, you don't claim a refund. She showed me that her Amazon tracking number showed that the package she didn't sign for was listed as returned with no signature, and she was given a refund. It seems like something that can easily happen by accident. I can understand why she was frustrated. After being on a crowded subway, I hated having to go into a crowded store and wait on line to get my package. But I did not agree with her knowingly exploiting this to get free stuff. I know that she told other people in our building how to do this. I don't know if this led directly to the bodega not receiving packages anymore, but I'm sure that someone had to pay for it. I would not be surprised if these access points were a major vector for mail fraud. At this particular bodega, not just did we have to wait on line, but sometimes we'd have to wait for the clerk to deal with other customers on a different line. So I can easily see how she would have made off without signing. I never had a choice in the matter. I think it was theoretically possible to opt out, but I would have had to make a UPS account, and even then it was not a guarantee. I personally really resented how the shipping status would be changed to something like "For your convenience, we will be delivering to an access point instead". Even on Saturdays when I was home and able to receive, they didn't even bother sometimes and would just drop it off at 7PM at the bodega. Not convenient.

coliveira 7y ago

This only shows the lack of character of some New Yorkers compared to people from Paris. They resort to stealing to get what they want. It is a shame, and very difficult to create a civilized world in this situation.

oogali 7y ago

Are you talking about UPS Access Points? If so, that is definitely available in Manhattan as I’ve had packages routed to them willingly (I requested it) and unwillingly (driver was too busy to complete deliveries that day). It started out with the access points being fairly ubiquitous and available at local bakeries, coffee shops, etc. But in recent years, it’s been scaled back to the local UPS Store locations. But it’s definitely still a thing available in Manhattan, and I’d wager all the boroughs.

delfinom 7y ago
>But in recent years, it’s been scaled back to the local UPS Store locations. Alot of it is due to UPS Stores. They are franchised. Many owners got extremely upset, betrayed and were threatening to quit because UPS was making them pay all the fees for franchising and proceed to start screwing them over by involving others for basically free.

smelendez 7y ago

Taking the package and claiming a refund is obviously fraud but it sounds like the business was also not properly safeguarding the packages. Why not keep them under the counter?

apostacy 7y ago
No, you don't claim a refund. She showed me that her Amazon tracking number showed that the package she didn't sign for was listed as returned with no signature, and she was given a refund. It seems like something that can easily happen by accident. I can understand why she was frustrated. After being on a crowded subway, I hated having to go into a crowded store and wait on line to get my package. But I did not agree with her knowingly exploiting this to get free stuff. I know that she told other people in our building how to do this. I don't know if this led directly to the bodega not receiving packages anymore, but I'm sure that someone had to pay for it. I would not be surprised if these access points were a major vector for mail fraud. At this particular bodega, not just did we have to wait on line, but sometimes we'd have to wait for the clerk to deal with other customers on a different line. So I can easily see how she would have made off without signing. I never had a choice in the matter. I think it was theoretically possible to opt out, but I would have had to make a UPS account, and even then it was not a guarantee. I personally really resented how the shipping status would be changed to something like "For your convenience, we will be delivering to an access point instead". Even on Saturdays when I was home and able to receive, they didn't even bother sometimes and would just drop it off at 7PM at the bodega. Not convenient.