I've had a mailbox with this UPS Store for over 6 years. The original owner for over 5, and now the current one, Paul, for almost a year now.
I see there's a curt and sour one star review of this business, and I have to set the record straight.
When there was the ownership change, I was concerned that Fadi set such a high bar, that it would be hard for the new owner, Paul, to maintain. After almost a year since the management change, I can say I'm still very pleased with the service I get here. And, I have other options, like a closer UPS store, but I prefer to stay and support this store, and get treated well in return.
Paul understands how important customer service is, and how, it makes or breaks your business. The only, minor, hiccup I had, was, with Paul, and the other staff at the store, I met them each on separate occasions, so they each had asked me for ID when I first came in to retrieve a package.
This is nothing different from the times I've had to chase down mail at Canada Post addressed to my home, when the sidewalks were torn up, and I had to chase my mail down at the depot. Same for the time that Purolator tried to to deliver to my PO Box at 6am (before business hours). I'd rather my mail, addressed to me, goes to me, and not someone claiming to be me.
I suspect that the person giving the bad review either didn't have a PO Box with the store and didn't bring ID with them, or worse, they may have tried to claim a package not addressed to them.
They seemingly as a rule, bend over backwards to make sure you're happy with their service.
I get notification quicker than I do from the mail and courrier companies that ship and track items to me.
The store emails me, after discovering an odd quirk where their business Telus phone would not send calls or texts to my Telus-owned-Koodo phone.
All the small packages and envelopes end up in your own mailbox if you get one with them.
You can access the mailbox 24/7, and you make arrangements to have the key for the larger package box used for an item you know you have to get past the store hours.
You can phone or text or email the store to have them check for mail or packages you're expecting.
And a few times there were customs duties on packages sent from the US, they signed and paid the duty to release the package to them, which I quickly paid them back for.
Every major courrier and Canada Post delivers to the store.
The original owner looked up the correct mailing address to deal with the CIC (immigration) when I dropped in to mail that off, years ago.
This sort of peace of mind is worth more than just one time chasing down a "Sorry we missed you" door hang, and the hour(s) you'll spend retrieving a package from a depot on a day you can finally have time to get there.
The only recent experience I've had with this, was a package a courrier claimed to attempt delivery at *6am* at Paul's store, hours before they were open. It was a chore to dig up which depot it was at, find their hours, head there, wait in line with 5-6 other people also waiting for their package, and presenting ID to a disinterested clerk. How much longer would that line be... around Christmas?
A coworker of mine had bought a laptop, and to be delivered home. The courrier left it with a neighbour. Which one? He had to knock on 6 doors to find out, and that was 3 days later and MANY phone calls to determine what the courrier did.
The choice was, and is easy for me - I'll stick with a PO Box at UPS Store 419, and avoid all of that hassle.
Frankly, other business owners should drop by, **repeatedly**, to Paul's store to see and learn how stellar customer service is performed.
