During the 2 years I had a small business, I never used UPS for shipping. But somehow, a year after I closed my business, they are giving me a headache.

I opened a UPS account when I first started my retail website, thinking I would use them for shipping. It turned out to be easier for me to just set my website up with the United States Postal Service, so I decided to stick with them and look at adding UPS later. After the birth of my first child, I decided to close my business before I got to the point of expanding shipping options.

I never thought to cancel my UPS account….I just figured it would go inactive eventually, since I never used it. (Christy’s Mistake #1).

On May 8, 2010, I received an invoice charging me $55 for shipping, when my business had been closed for 5 months. When I received the invoice, I called UPS to dispute the charge. The shipping document lists a sender in Arizona a receiver in Oregon. I’m in Tennessee. Presumably, one of these other companies should have been charged the shipping costs. I called UPS on May 14, 2010, and spoke to a representative, who told me that she took the charge off of my bill and sent it to the correct customer. She mentioned that it looked like the charge had already been paid, presumably by the correct account.
I received another invoice dated June 19, 2010, with an additional charge of $10.00. Apparently, the shipping cost had been charged to my business debit card. I closed by business bank account in 2009 when I closed my business, so the charge was declined, and I was billed an extra $10 by UPS. I called the UPS customer service number again, and this time I was referred to Accounts Receivable. I spoke to a gentleman in Accounts Receivable who said that the representative to whom I had spoken previously had credited my account for $55.78 but had not applied it to an invoice. The A/R guy said that he would apply the credit to my account and ask that the $10.00 fee be waived. He also said that he would request that my account be canceled, since my business was no longer in operation.
I received a Past Due notice from UPS dated June 29, 2010. The notice listed my account balance as $65.78, so apparently previous attempts to remove this incorrect charge had failed. This time the representative suggested that I fax a letter of authorization to this number, asking that the incorrect charge be billed to another account. The representative also said she would try to fix my account from her end.
I faxed my letter explaining to situation to UPS on July 19. I received a phone call a week or so later from someone at UPS saying they were going to refund the amount to my debit card. Unfortunately, I was shopping with my toddler in Whole Foods at the time, so I found it hard to carry on a conversation. I explained to the UPS representative that my card no longer existed because the business was closed and the account was closed. Thus, they could not refund any charge on my card — in fact, they never charged my card at all; that’s why they added the extra $10 fee! The representative said okay and hung up. I figured if they were wanting to refund my account, everything must be resolved.
And here I must point out Christy’s mistakes #2 and #3. I wish, wish, wish, that I had asked the representative if I could call her back at a better time when I could take notes. I wish I had asked UPS to send me a letter stating that my account was clear.

Actually, that brings me to Christy’s Mistake #4. I let the whole situation slip from my mind. Of course, that’s because in early August I started having pregnancy complications and had to go into the hospital, and then on home bed rest. I was a little distracted. Hope you’ll forgive that one.

So imagine my surprise last Thursday when I received a bill from a collections agency for my UPS account. A collections agency? What?! 

I called UPS on Thursday and left a message, and I called again on Friday when I didn’t hear anything. The person in Accounts Receivable to whom I spoke said she would have the person who handled the dispute call me back in an hour. I never heard anything.

Today, I called UPS again. The representative to whom I spoke said the person with whom I had that conversation in Whole Foods noted that the card had been refunded and belonged to an ex-employee. The rep today said that I needed to go after the ex-employee who owned that card. Um, no, I was the only employee of my business, and the card was destroyed! The account is closed! I never shipped anything with UPS!.
“Oh, you never shipped anything with UPS? Well, let me check with the people who refunded your card and get back to you tomorrow.”

Sigh. Right. Tomorrow.

Just in case, I called my bank to confirm that UPS could not, indeed, refund money to a closed account. They confirmed that UPS tried to do something to my account, but neither a charge nor a refund would be able to take effect on a closed account. 

I’ve also been trying to call the collections agency to let them know I am disputing this charge, but they aren’t particularly apt to answer the phone. I assume they would rather me just pay the charge and leave them alone.

I only have a few more days’ patience with UPS. This already has been a five-month journey. I don’t know. I guess I should call the Better Business Bureau?

At any rate, I don’t recommend UPS for any small business owner. Don’t even open an account. You may come to regret it. 
P.S. — Advice welcome! How do I get UPS to set things right?

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