UPS My Choice – I had no choice :(

I encountered several problems with UPS My Choice today.  I wish I could say that the service was great and how it saved me time and money…but I CANNOT say that about my experience.

You can access the website at http://ups.com/mychoice
The chart of options available are listed at:  http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h434/whatabout_it/70-ups-my-choice-chart.png 

Things to be aware of:

1.  It’s not really free!  There is no free trial version but there are some options that you get,  like alerts and tracking.

2.  Some senders are classified as “restricted” and the delivery information cannot be changed.  This means you cannot use My Choice to adjust the shipment for these types of shipments. 

3.  It may take up to 90 minutes before you can access your premium account once paying for the option.

4.  The addresses you sign up with on UPS must also match the address listed on the shipment.  UPS My Choice may not recognize the package and you may not be able to adjust the shipping details of your package. 

My personal experience:

I had ordered a package from Sephora and I wasn’t aware that they used UPS for shipping.  I try to avoid UPS/FEDEX because I live in an apartment and I often miss my packages.

I was notified that I missed my package on Friday and waited until Monday to attempt to have UPS ship to a local UPS store.  The representative informed me over the phone that I need to now request that through UPS My Choice and I can only sign up online.  I remember that in the past I was able to request over the phone to ship to a closer address but I guess that has changed.  I signed up thinking it was free, like the website says but I got stuck after putting in my Info Notice number*. 

   *  If you want to see details of how to register check out my other blog posting – TBD

To use the other features I decided to sign up for the yearly subscription for $40.00.  I thought I would be able to use the service right away but there were not hints on how to start my service.  I clicked on the “Tracking” option and tried to change delivery but the only option I got for free is to “Ship to Sender.” 

I called UPS and they informed me that I needed to wait 90 minutes.  I waited 2 hours to call again and they told me that it should be working now but it’s possible that my package and my address I listed in UPS do not match.  They told me to call again when I can confirm my address when I’m at my computer.  I waited an additional 2 more hours hoping that I would be able to change the shipment to a local UPS store today but that still didn’t happen.  After speaking with 4 representatives, I’m finally informed that I CANNOT change any shipping requests because the sender is a “restricted sender”  (only the sender can make changes).

I was upset because I paid $40 to use the service that wasn’t working.  I requested that I get a refund but I had to speak to another representative in billing. 

I spoke to the billing department and they said that I need to cancel my subscription and then contact my bank.  Supposedly there was nothing that UPS could do after I verified that my bank account already showed the charge.  I get to contact my bank later today and stop a payment. (yay)

***Partially resolved – I got a hold of the vendor and they had to request the package to be held by UPS.  I get to drive through the snow an hour away in traffic to pick up my $50 package.  My bank has also put in a dispute for me and I hope to receive a credit within 10 business days.

US Bank Free Checking – No longer Free!

U.S. Bank customers should be aware that effective billing periods July 2011, some checking account types will change and U.S. Bank has applied maintenance fees from $6.95 for online statements and $8.95 for paper statements.  This means U.S. Bank no longer has FREE checking accounts.

If You Have:	Here’s What to Expect:
Free Checking Balance Checking Exclusive Checking Express Checking Interest Checking Interest Plus Checking Relationship Checking Value Checking Workplace Checking	Your account will become Easy Checking.
Elite Checking	Your account will become Premium Checking.
Silver Package Checking Gold Package Checking Platinum Package Checking	Your account name will not change, but some features will be modified.
Student Checking Silver Elite Checking	Your account will stay the same.

(Retrieved from U.S. Bank site: http://www.usbank.com/checking/choice.html )

Options to Waive the Monthly Fee for Easy Checking Accounts:

• Combined monthly direct deposits totaling $500+, OR
• Average account balance of $1,500¹²

^{(Retrieved from U.S. Bank site:  http://www.usbank.com/ICWeb/productComparison.html?productCode=DDA}) 

My Personal Experience: 

I don’t use my U.S. Bank account often for many reasons but I received a letter in the mail from U.S. Bank on August 17, 2011 stating that my account has had a negative balance for over 5 days and I may have not been aware.  It’s true!!  I didn’t know that I had a negative balance since August 8, 2011 and actually thought someone may have stolen my information.

I checked my U.S. Bank online account right away and it was true, my account had a balance of -$4.50.  I checked the activity and it showed that U.S. Bank charged me a “Maintenance Fee” of $6.95 3 weeks earlier.  That means my account was negative for over 3 weeks before I actually received a letter from U.S. Bank.  Some people might have just accepted the fees but I wouldn’t allow U.S. Bank take my money.

Dispute Process:

I called U.S. Bank right away and disputed the transaction.  The customer service representative informed me that letters were sent out of the change in account names.  I was not aware of the change and demanded for a copy of the letter to be sent to me.  The customer service representative then said that brochures were sent out and she’d need to talk to a supervisor to get a letter.  The only thing available was a brochure and I told her that I could get all the information from the internet but I was never notified of the switch by mail. 

How was I supposed to know that my account changed when I haven’t used my account for over a year with no notification?

I asked what the procedures were to close my account and the rep. informed me that I must have a positive a positive balance or wait for two more weeks for my account to automatically close.  I was not going to wait two weeks for my account to close and possibly go into collections.

Resolution:

I knew I couldn’t get anything resolved over the phone so I was prepared to dispute the charges at an actual U.S. Bank retail branch.  I had the last 6 months of statements printed out and requested to speak to a personal banker.  I explained to them that I should not be responsible to pay for the fees because I was never notified.  The banker explained the same thing as the customer representative that supposedly letters were sent out. 

I showed him my statement that I subscribed to online statements and none of the last 6 statements informed me that my account would be changing.  The only announcements U.S. Bank made to me was to buy gifts for my mom (no joke!). 

I also showed the banker that the only thing that changed on my statements was the words “Free Checking” was changed to “Easy Checking.”  It would be very difficult for anybody to catch this.  My online profile also does not tell me what type of checking account I have, it only states that I have a “Checking” account. 

The banker started looking at the statements and my profile on his computer and he had nothing to come back at me with.  He said that he’d remove the charges and I asked for him to also close my account.  The resolution took me less than 15 minutes and I did not have to pay for any fees.

Summary:

I feel extremely lucky that I didn’t use my U.S. Bank account between this time because I would have been charged additional fees.  The reason why I didn’t get charged additional fees was because the maintenance fee is what made my account negative and U.S. bank will not charge me for that.  If I had charged my card between the beginning of the month then I would have been charged overdraft fees for every single transaction posted, $25.00 a day for a negative balance and possibly get my account closed (to be sent for collections)

I suggest anyone in the same situation as me to dispute the charges and be prepared to dispute the charges.  U.S. Bank really did a poor job disclosing this information.  1 more thing you could use to get your problem resolved if you’re an online customer and subscribe to ONLINE STATEMENTS.  Make sure you let the banker know that you are not satisfied with the US Bank 5 Star guarantee and you deserve to receive a credit for the outstanding balance. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you may have.  If people request for screen shots of what I pointed out then I will most certainly post it up.

Today is the day….

I wish I could find some type of subject that I could stick to but I I’m not an expert in any certain topic. 

I like to help others and I plan to post information about things that I learn that I hope also educates others.

I will post mainly information about things I’ve done wrong that you can read about so you can avoid it!