What can you do when UPS shipment greatly delayed?

[ObviouslyNotAGolfer]

I ordered a ***very important document*** to be sent to me via UPS. I paid extra for next-day air. It was supposed to be delivered on 2 July, and I tracked it all day. After 9:30 PM on that day---nothing! Now, four days later, the UPS site STILL lists the document as "in transit", still stuck in the same place as it was four days ago. The document had to traverse distance of about 35 miles from its origin to my house--no borders, no customs, just crossing the vast, irredeemably-ugly, toxic, and pointless hellscape of Southern California! 

I have used UPS, FedEX, USPS, etc. etc. for decades, and I have NEVER seen anything like this. I'm suspecting this may be COVID-related.

I tried their "Ask UPS" virtual chatbot a few questions, and, as strongly supected, it turned out to be completely worthless.

How can I get some action on this without waiting on hold for 28 hours? ("experiencing unusually* high call volumes")

*"unusually" meaning, of course, the same volume they've had since 1997.

Any ideas? Thanks?

[MoseyingAlong]

According to my mailbox place in Tucson, the delivery companies have been hit hard by drivers getting sick and/ or calling out to reduce their exposure. The rumor is there are trailers full waiting on drivers.
So even if the rumor is half true, the call volume is probably actually unusually high.
No helpful advice. Maybe more patience??

[ObviouslyNotAGolfer]

Thanks--interesting information, and probably closer to truth than what I read on the UPS site:

The majority of our services continue with the same expected delivery timeframes our customers have come to expect.  While we have suspended our Service Guarantee in light of  overall Coronavirus uncertainties, we remain committed to providing timely and reliable service.

In any case, patience is a problem here for me at this point because lacking this document is potentially going to cause me a major hassle. Hopefully, those waiting to cause me this hassle will have some patience with me as well... but probably not!

[Dollar Slice]

Just call them on the phone. The wait times probably aren't that bad, everyone has that standard message discouraging phone calls because phone calls are expensive for them.

You can try sending an e-mail or Tweet or something, but phone will be faster.

[Systems101]

Just call them on the phone. The wait times probably aren't that bad, everyone has that standard message discouraging phone calls because phone calls are expensive for them.

Also call who sent the document and ask them to (1) Refund the shipment money [as they can likely get money back from UPS] and (2) open an investigation into the location of the package.  The shipper (not the recipient) has that investigation power and it can un-stick things at times... If they are a commercial client they may also have a better chance of getting someone at UPS to answer quickly.

Then again, sometimes things get lost.  I have a (ground) package that is still in the UPS system 45 days later... The company has sent a replacement item that was received a while ago, but someday that original package may show up!

[Dicey]

Just call them on the phone. The wait times probably aren't that bad, everyone has that standard message discouraging phone calls because phone calls are expensive for them.

You can try sending an e-mail or Tweet or something, but phone will be faster.

Agree with Slicey. I got a similar message twice this week and the wait time turned out to be minimal. Just give yourself something to do while you're on hold. It sucks that this happened, though. It is so frustrating!

[maisymouser]

Any updates OP? Did you get it?