Four franchised UPS stores in Eagle and Summit Counties have been unable to process and ship packages since Friday, Dec. 1. The Vail, Avon, Edwards and Dillon stores, which all have the same owner, will continue to operate all other regular services as before, though some stores may see changes to hours. When the stores will be back to shipping packages is unknown at the moment.
“We are aware that there are a few franchise locations of The UPS Store in Colorado that have temporary reduced operations,” wrote Casey Sorrell, community and public relations manager for UPS, in an email to the Vail Daily. “We are working closely with the franchise owner to return to full operating status as soon as possible.”
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, these locations are unable to process UPS packages,” Sorrell said in an interview.
A sign posted on the door of the Avon UPS store, and others, provides one version of an explanation: The fault in service may result from an issue between the franchise owner and UPS.
John Christian, the manager of the Avon UPS store, said he did not create the sign. He said a manager of one of the other four franchised stores crafted it. However, Christian said he thinks UPS will not allow the stores to schedule pickups due to a discrepancy between the franchise owner and UPS.
“It’s a miscommunication between the two — the owner and the franchisee — and once they get together and have a real conversation, stuff will work out,” Christian said. “The majority of people don’t know that 98% of UPS (stores) are all franchise(d).”
Corporate UPS has the final say on store operations, “so depending on how the franchise owner is running the business is (how corporate UPS decides if) that one can stay in business,” Christian said. “You’ve got to be doing all the UPS required things and make sure that you’re up to standard at all times to keep your franchise label, and if anything happens, they control if you can get pickups, if you can get anything. Right now, with all (four stores) being franchise-owned, with the same owner, that’s the reason why they’re all being affected.”
At the moment, the only service down at the four UPS stores is the ability to ship packages, including Amazon and other returns. The stores remain open for other services.
“Our incoming mail is not affected. We still get shipments from UPS, FedEx, post office, and everything like that,” Christian said.
All the other services that each UPS location typically provides should still be available, including notary, printing, scanning, shredding, faxing, passport services, email and others.
But at the moment, the franchised stores are unable to schedule pickups from UPS.
“The only thing we really can’t do is process a label to ship out, and we can’t do any drop-offs and returns, just because, with us not being able to schedule a pickup, it’s just going to sit here,” Christian said. “We could process packages and take packages, all day long, if we wanted to. We could fill this whole store with packages. But we feel like it would be a disservice to the people because we don’t know — it could leave the store tonight, it could leave the store next week.”
Stay up-to-date on all things Summit County. Get the top stories in your inbox every morning. Sign up here: SummitDaily.com/newsletter
Sorrell was unable to provide further insight regarding the claim on the sign that the stores’ reduced services are due to “ongoing financial problems.”
“I don’t have any information to share about that,” she said.
Christian rejected the financial concern, hinting that the problem is likely more related to the franchises needing to adhere to current UPS standards.
“It’s not an issue as if we can’t keep the stores open. Even in the slow months, when we aren’t bringing in a lot of money, (the franchise owner) covers the money out of his own pocket to keep them open for the community,” he said.
“Most of (the stores) are outdated, when it comes to cosmetics, so they all need some kind of work put into them, and that might be where the issues come in. The systems are out of date, (and UPS) want(s) us to comply,” Christian said. “We work for UPS, so they want to make sure we’re abiding by their rules.”
He added: “As of right now, none of (the four stores) are going to shut down.”
“What I got from our operations team was that they’re trying to get this back up and running as soon as possible,” Sorrell said.
The franchise owner has been in touch with the store employees, Christian said.
“He sends us emails, and he calls us and checks on us. He didn’t abandon us. He’s definitely keeping us aware of what’s going on and just having us be patient. He reassured us that he already has a plan to work it out, he just has to execute it,” Christian said.
It’s unknown when the stores will be fully operational again.
“We’re projecting soon, and we’re just preparing for the long haul,” Christian said. “Hopefully it’s fixed before Christmas and the week before, so people can get their packages where they need to, but other than that, we’re just crossing our fingers and hoping as soon as possible.”
How to ship packages
Sorrell recommends that people wishing to ship packages through UPS visit the store locator to find the UPS store nearest to them.
“We do understand that this is an inconvenience to our customers, and again that the UPS store is crucial to a lot of our customers. So we’re working to try to get this resolved as soon as possible,” Sorrell said.
“There’s a UPS store in Glenwood (Springs) and in Steamboat (Springs). Copy Copy and Ace Hardware in Gypsum take pre-labeled (packages) — you can’t go in there with a QR code,” Christian said.
Those wishing to make Amazon returns have another option, as well. Keep the box from the package, and submit a request for a return label to Amazon.
With a label, UPS will pick up packages from homes. “People can — if they have UPS packages — request pickups to their home if they’ve got their access, and I think there’s a $6 charge, and they’ll pick up all your packages,” Christian said.
In the meantime, all four stores will remain open with reduced operations. According to Christian, the hours for the stores may be slightly reduced as the problem is resolved. He anticipates store hours at Avon, and potentially the other stores, to be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We’re here for the people. Avon’s going to be open,” Christian said.
Christian had one final request of the public: Take it easy on UPS store workers.
“All I ask is that if they can, if it’s possible, I know it’s frustrating, but please, try not to blame us personally for it,” he said.