The UPS Store

I travel back and forth between the LA area and San Diego area for work. My satellite office is in El Cajon, and though this is not the closest UPS store to my office — its the best in the area. I have a mailbox here, and ship things often, mostly overnighting documents — at least several times per week when I am in the area.
The people who work here, and the owners who also work there all the time, have always been very helpful and friendly. The man who owns it is a funny guy, I enjoy chatting with him and chuckling. The lady owner is the sweetest woman. Not to mention their store is one of the tidiest/​cleanest I’ve ever been to — and I end up at many of them while travelling for work.
I’ve had problems with shipments from time to time, and I know that this is not the fault of the store itself, but rather UPS. On the rare occasion I do have a problem, the employees have always helped me get to the bottom of things, and I always leave satisfied.
And on top of all that — Machos is right next door, so I can get a great lunch!

Funky things seem to happen to my review, so I’m starting all over again.
UPS Stores are allowed to charge a «surcharge» when you take them a package to be mailed and they slap a postage sticker on it. How much of a surcharge? In my case, it was nearly $ 8.00 over and above the cost of the actual postage for a small, 3-​pound package. That’s over a 60% markup. I don’t have a problem paying for convenience, a couple of bucks certainly makes sense. But this is exhorbitant. There is no mention made of this during the transaction, BTW. I found out completely by accident when the recipient sent me a picture of the package (which disappeared in the bowels of the postal system for over a week).
My package was (falsely) indicated on the receipt to be Priority Mail. It was not sent Priority Mail, just regular first-​class mail.
I complained to the corporate office, they passed the buck by sending my complaint to the store and I got a very snotty reply from somebody named Rich (owner? manager? no idea, he didn’t identify himself further) who said, among other things, «all retail has markup». I don’t know about anybody else, but I don’t equate dropping off a package to be mailed on the same level as going to Macy’s to buy a dress. Basically his attitude was «what’s *your* problem lady?». The error concerning the shipping method on the receipt was completely shrugged off. He was extremely rude and disrespectful.
After much back and forth, I was told by «corporate» that I would receive a refund. I still don’t know if the refund is for the $ 8 or the full $ 20-​some dollars, because I am still waiting for it three weeks later.
Long story short, the motto here should be «We reserve the right to gouge our customers» and then get huffy about it when questioned.

This UPS store isn’t closest to my home in El Cajon — but I come here for one BIG reason. The people here at the Avocado Blvd. store don’t groan or complain when I drop packages off that I’ve packed myself. The guy who runs the UPS store in Jamacha Road /​2^nd Street in El Cajon actually confronted me and said he makes no money when I drop packages off, saying he preferred if I would bring my stuff so they could package it for me and thus charge me for it. What nerve! UPS designates stores which are «drop off» points and this guy is whining about taking my packages.
Conversely, the people here at the La Mesa /​Rancho San Diego store on Avocado Blvd. are friendly and helpful and always greet customers withe a cheerful attitude. I even told the people there about what happened to me at the El Cajon UPS Store and they were a little surprised. Finally, when it DID come time to get something packed that I could not do myself — I went ahead and CHOSE this store to do it for me. In otherwords, because they’ve always treated me nicely when I dropped my pre-​packed items for pickup, I brought my packing chores to them. (I had them pack a 22-​inch flat panel TV into a humongous box with lots of cushioning!). Great people at this store, A+!

I had a problem with one of my shipments that was suppose to come to my apartment. It said it was delivered, but I never received the package. I called the customer service line and got no where with that. Then I went to The UPS Store in Spring Valley, just off the 125. I got terrible service there and was basically ignored.
I came here to this location to see if someone else could help me. I was greeted by one of the two owners. At first, Debi (?) said that there was nothing I could do, but after over hearing our conversation, her husband came and greeted me. He helped me further by trying to get more information from one of the drivers. In the end, I lost the package and had to have another sent out, butter owner was so helpful and went out of his way to help me out. So glad I came up here, and will be more than happy to drive out of my way to give this store business next time.

I go to this store all the time because it’s near my house. I ship a lot of stuff for work and also ship stuff for personal. Right before Christmas I had to overnight my son’s ID to him in the Bay Area because he was flying home and I thought he needed his ID. I paid $ 35 to ship it and on the day of his flight (2 days after scheduled delivery) find out the package didn’t arrive yet. Turns out he didn’t need it anyways but then I had the hassle of trying to get his dad to mail it back to me! I was busy with Christmas and New Years and then my fiancé left for deployment on the 15^th. I went in to UPS last week on the 18^th to ship a package to him on the ship and get my $ 35 back for the package that didn’t arrive to my son. The guy that works there (I forget his name) is super cool and always helpful had to have the owner help me. She looked up my info and did see that my package didn’t arrive as scheduled so said she would call me on Monday about the refund. I didn’t hear from her Mon, Tues or Wed so I went in Thursday to ask about my refund. She obviously forgot to follow-​up as she promised because she had to «check» again. She came out and told me I only had 15 days from the promised delivery date to claim a refund. Apparently she didn’t know the policy since she had to check with UPS to find out what it was. After all the business I do with them she told me I was «too late». Maybe she should learn her own policies so she can inform the customers. Anyways, she was very rude about the whole thing and unprofessional for not calling me as she promised. So… hope you’re happy to keep my $ 35 because you’ll never see another cent from me!

I sell lots through EBAY and know the protocol pretty well.
Recently, I sold a juice machine and took it right to these guys to
get sent. The clerk was annoyed that I interrupted his discussion with his buddy
and kind of a smart ass but promised to «take care of it «for me so I left it.
a week later, I get an email and pictures of a well demolished juice machine
and a call from UPS La Mesa that they weren’t covering it, because the machine was «Improperly packaged» WTF? YOUR store did the packaging!
I now have to pay for a full refund because of their incompetence.
FUCK YOU UPS, I hope Obama doesn’t bail you out when you go under for not
treating people well

This is the WORST place ever. The owner Debi was working, I asked to get a box to send my package b/​c of its weird shape… She took the item, which ALREADY had 2 layers of bubble wrap on it, and she put it in a box and added some peanuts i guess. without ASKING ME FIRST… or telling the cost… I would expect a few dollars for the box… the cost a WHOPPING 18 dollars …9 dollars for a box… A BOX! 6 dollars for peanuts!!! I already had it wrapped it needed nothing. and then 4 bucks to do this service… what a JOKE!!! I think you might want to tell someone it will be 18 dollars in packaging next time, the box wasn’t even big (24×16 X 5in) and once she comes out of the room, she overcharges me and nothing i can do about it now… this PLACE IS A HUGE HUGE rip-​off… NEVER GO HERE!

Love these guys … Owner Debi worked her for the previous owners before she and her husband bought the business a few years ago. They know how to provide great customer service and I’ve found their employees to be very helpful as well.