Convenience Amplified for UPS Customers

Mississagua, ON, November 24, 2011

Customers Gain Convenient Alternative, End-to-End Visibility With New Solution

UPS Canada has announced a change in the way it delivers packages to some residential addresses that will provide consumers a new level of convenience.

Canadian consumers now will be able to pick up their residential packages at a nearby retail location if delivery cannot be made to them directly at home on the first attempt. Delivery information notices, left behind by UPS drivers, will inform consumers where they can pick up their package the following day. This will provide added convenience and flexibility to those who want to pick up their packages on their own schedule.

Consumers will still have the option of deciding where their package is delivered.  If they missed the first delivery attempt and prefer not to pick up their package at the location listed on the information notice, they can have the package redelivered to their home or an alternative address by making a request on ups.com.

Participating The UPS Store® locations - which offer convenient daytime and weekend hours - will serve as pickup sites for the residential packages.  As UPS continues to expand this program in Canada, additional pickup locations will be added to the network.

"The change in service is a direct response to feedback we've received from private consumers and businesses targeting these customers," said Wayne Bosch, vice president, UPS Canada Customer Solutions.  "It's a great way to help our customers receive their packages when it's most convenient for them and helps contribute to environmental efficiencies by reducing the number of return trips a driver makes to an address."

The new program was successfully implemented earlier this year at The UPS Store locations in Kitchener and Montreal, generating positive feedback from customers. 

If UPS normally leaves a package at a residence on its first delivery attempt, that service will continue.  If the customer currently lives in an apartment or condominium complex where packages cannot be released if no one is at home, the package will be moved to the nearby pickup location.  Packages will be held at the pickup location for seven business days before returning to a UPS centre for final disposition.

The use of additional technology will provide customers with complete visibility of their shipment's delivery - in real time. This will allow The UPS Store locations to scan packages and capture signatures upon pickup, which will then be uploaded to UPS systems.  This improved convenience will be available in select locations on qualified packages to residential customers. All commercial customers will continue to receive three delivery attempts as usual. To find out more about participating The UPS Store locations, please email customerservice@theupsstore.ca.