I am a startup company. We were told UPS was the most economical and reliable shipping option for us. I received a customer order yesterday for a shipment of our products from Madison, WI to a residence in metro Fargo, ND. We package the order, which is a perishable food item, in a 14"x14"x14" shipping box from Uline. Inside the box is a cold product shipping liner, 28 pounds of solidly frozen meat and 2 solidly frozen ice packs. Shipping label was created and dropped at a UPS store in madison wi today (4/2/25) at 2:35 pm. I paid for 2nd Day Air as for the shipping option. This is Wednesday. Imagine my surprise when I received the tracking information for this product showing it will be delivered MONDAY APRIL 7 2025. I am now approaching my 3rd hour of being on hold/speaking with customer "service" for UPS. I am told 2nd day air means DAY 1 is the first full day UPS Has the package (Thursday April 3 2025) AND Day 2 (2nd day air) would be Friday April 4 2025. Because Saturday is not a business day our 2nd day air delivery will be delivered on MONDAY April 7 2025.

I get that Saturday the business does not operate but isn't DAY 2 Friday? So what is REALLY MEANT with the 2nd day air offering is 3 BUSINESS DAY AIR doesn't it?

What am I missing?

I shipped a 2-Day Air package on Wednesday to arrive in time for Mother's Day, and now it's delayed until Monday. In looking at the tracking, it's clear that the package was not sent via air, despite what I chose (Seattle to San Jose. It has literally made every pit stop between here and there over the last three days).

Is this common? Am I naive to think that if I choose and pay for air service that's what I should receive?

Is second day air a guaranteed service? I know it usually doesn’t deliver on Fridays and especially not this coming federal holiday, but do I have any recourse? Why did this happen??

So, I started to ship and receive next day and 2nd day air packages since November last year. As the package got delayed again today I figured I might want to do the math and see if I can find anything interesting, and here we are. 13 packages since November last year and 4 of them got delayed… That’s like 30% of my packages! Yes you may say it’s only 13 packages, but I’m doing all those stuff as an individual, and that’s my experience. Keep in mind all of them are air, not ground. Most of them went to OH and KS, and I’m receiving at Seattle. One of them only got delayed for a day after 3 hrs phone call with customer service and express critical. Two of them got delayed for about 4-5 days including weekend. And I’m sitting here writing this post as the last one was rescheduled to deliver tomorrow. Since when UPS became so unreliable? Should I just spend the extra money with FedEx to have my packages arrive on time?

Paid for two day shipping, ups picked up the package on Friday. Still haven’t received it. It’s supposed to show up tomorrow (Wednesday). How do I get a refund?

Hey! I was wondering, will packages that ship on Thursday arrive on a Saturday or Sunday when shipped with Second Day Air? And what are the odds that packages that ship on Thursday arrive on a Saturday or Sunday when shipped with Second Day Air? I'd really appreciate some replies!

I ordered a package Wednesday at 1030am using 2nd day air because I need it before Sunday. The company promises to get your package in same day if ordered before noon (it was), the tracking has said Monday since the first update & when I emailed the company they said sometimes UPS overestimates during the holidays.. would I be able to go pick it up from distribution or somewhere on Saturday?

EDIT: TWO things happened!

1. UPS edited/updated the last few times scanned & the delivery date

2. It shipped at 5am. And delivered on a Saturday…

Had no clue they would be delivering on Saturday since it explicitly says weekdays only

Hello!

I am hoping to get help with deciding between air and ground. Accidentally running behind for holidays and I want the package to be there by the 25th. I will ship out the package the 22nd and it is 2 states over. Currently UPS 2 day air and Ground say it will be delivered 12/24, there is a $10 difference.

I was going to go with air, however after reading some older posts it seems it may be shipped ground anyways. Not sure if anything changed and air is the better option now (is 2 days guaranteed)? Please let me know what you recommend.

Thank you!

Someone explain the 2nd Day Air process to me please. Walk me through what a package may experience during this shipping method?

Shipping from Atlanta to Phoenix — temperature is important here, don’t want the package to be too hot for too long. I’ve timed it so it delivers on the coolest day Phoenix has to offer this week.

I've seen a bunch of posts here where people mis-understand "business days", however I'm not really understanding what qualifies as "Days" here. I shipped a package 2nd day air on Wednesday the 8th from central Virginia. It was picked up and accepted on the 8th. It is now the 10th and the package just shipped out of Chicago with estimated arrival Monday the 13th.

Am I wrong to think Thursday should have been day 1 and Friday is Day 2? When I printed the label it explicitly stated it would arrive by Friday the 10th.

Ups is a disaster. The amount of times I’ve received 2 day air packages days late is too many to count. I’ve never filed a claim for the guarantee. The one time I need my package on the actual delivery day, and plan to file a claim for once, they suspended the ability to do so? “The money back guarantee( also known as the ups service guarantee) is suspended for all packages either shipped from or delivered to the United States until further notice.” Whats this about and what’s the issue with UPS. Plane crash aside, ups has always been terrible in my opinion.

I have ordered a new phone and it is UPS 2 Day Air delivery. I ordered it Thursday the 25 and it shipped at 12:16am on Friday the 26th. It says it departed Louisville Kentucky and is on the way. I know that's not far when it's traveling by airplane. So I was wondering if I would get it early today. It had a estimate of Delivery for Monday the 29th but I usually get my packages a day early when using 2 Day air. so does anyone know if they deliver on Saturdays with this type of delivery??

(The following isn't just a mild rant, but an example of all the pitfalls involved in UPS-related purchases that don't initiate on a Monday or Tuesday!)

... So Let's say that on Wednesday you negotiate with a company to buy something. It will usually take them until the next day to drop it off to UPS or for UPS to grab it (Thursday) and enter it into their system (This is an East Coast to West Coast example; Roanoke, VA where this particular distributor (even though the purchase was made from Utah) has an outlet, which you have to believe is near a flight to take it out of there..... and heading into Silicon Valley (San Jose Area)). So you now have a record that at 9 PM on Thursday, UPS sends you out a message that the delivery phase has started and grabbing of the package has ended.

So now you wait, getting a number of messages, saying the package finally made it to Sacramento (I presume the end of the "flying" phase because it's the second night of flying, but maybe not and one more hop to good, ole San Jose!). Nonetheless, your package arrives at 7 AM on Saturday for San Jose processing (at a location that isn't open on Saturdays, so forget about redirecting or picking it up, for all practical purposes) ... By the way, Saturday was considered a "Business Day" when I searched other people's experience, but it may not be, anymore ... Also note that apparently there is a check box when the seller orders the Second Day Service, to allow for Saturday Delivery, so refuse to make the Wednesday purchase with the buyer unless they check the box (if you really need the residential item/package)! They may get charged more for allowing it, but you saved them the embarrassment that they lied to you when your package will really arrive!

Let's summarize ... UPS processes your package on 3 business days, T-F-S (if indeed Saturday is still considered a business day to them) and your package is going to sit in their destination facility starting from 7AM Saturday, to be delivered sometime (possibly) Monday Afternoon, or 5 days. Why does it sit there on Saturday when UPS delivers to residential customers on Saturday? Most likely, the UPS Truck Delivery Person loaded up their truck at <=6 AM, to make their Saturday Deliveries!

How do I know all this to be roughly true? ... I'm here without my package on Saturday (about 2:30 PM local time) and there is no indication that the package is "out for delivery" and the estimate is still Monday Morning/Afternoon. I even caught the person that does the local route in my area on Friday, and asked them about 5 day delivery of second day air service (they handle the route Saturday, too!), with a dumfounded facial expression. I even told them I would like to see the 1lb package on Saturday if possible, knowing this would be the fate/outcome.

... If it really arrives Saturday, I will modify/append this post. Did I end up really needing the package on Saturday? No, but I wasn't sure of that until USPS didn't deliver something I really needed more!

... I hope this gives a number of you an idea when you'll receive something UPS Second Day Air! ;)

If I mail something 2 day air on Friday. Will it get to its destination on Monday or Tuesday?

Mailing from east coast to Midwest.

I know this isn't technically the fault of the drivers, but somebody make this make sense.

I'm receiving a package that's "2nd Day Air"; It was sent out on the 6th from Florida, received and processed on the 6th, further processed to one location here in Louisville, KY on the 7th, moved to yet another area here in Louisville on the 8th, was "On the way" all day yesterday despite saying it'd be delivered by 7PM (after already saying 10:15 AM - 1:15 PM).

This didn't update until Midnight, to say it'd be delivered today, and updated to Out for Delivery at the same time, 10:15 AM - 1:15 PM. Delivery never came, time didn't update after 1:15 but the driver was close by so I kept watching and refreshing the map. They turned around opposite from my direction to go to Burger King, I assume for lunch. Proceeded to sit at Burger King for an hour and a half (give or take a few minutes), then proceed to drive even FURTHER away from my destination despite having been coming my way prior.

The map seemingly stopped updating a little after that so I refreshed, and all of a sudden my time has been change to 7 PM, 5 minutes later I get a text saying my package will still be delivered, but it's been delayed, and I have no hope that it will actually show based on the fact it's been 3 days (if you don't count Saturday) of the supposed "2 day" delivery time frame, and because the driver started coming this way, decided to get lunch, sat at Burger King for an hour and a half (I doubt any place, UPS or non, offers an hour and a half), and then went the opposite direction, and then updated my delivery to "by 7:00".

I know UPS has a routing system and it's supposedly "better" for UPS logistically, but how the fuck does any of this make sense? (And who'd eat at Burger King for an hour and a half? Gross.)

EDIT: Maybe I'm misunderstanding how this works, I just already had to deal with the shipper not sending out the product until 5 days after receiving my money because they didn't actually have the product and didn't tell me before taking my money, and so I've waited over a week and I'm just frustrated with the delays after spending nearly $1k.

hi! my package shipped today. it says on the ups website that its in new york and i live in georgia. can i expect to get it on saturday?

I shipped a package on Sunday morning at a UPS store. I understood Sunday would not count, but now my 2nd day air package is showing an estimated delivery date of this Thursday. Seriously UPS, Sunday to Thursday from Portland Oregon to Southern California for $50 for a bubble envelope car keyfob to get shipped? That's what you call 2nd day air? Now the recipient is pissed off at me. And from what I've read only 2nd day air AM delivery is covered by a guarantee so I can't even get a refund on my overpriced shipping, is this true?

Hey!

Hoping for some advice on how best to go about handling this. I placed an order with a small business cross-country on Wednesday morning last week, & shipped it 2nd day air because I needed it as a birthday gift for that weekend (which has now already passed).

Initially there was no delivery date showing AT ALL for 2 whole days; tracking showed that it had been “dropped off at a UPS access point” on Wednesday morning, and then… nothing; not even so much as a “We have your package.” I connected with UPS customer service twice during that interim and was initially told by the first agent I spoke with that it was showing up on his end as slated to be delivered on Friday 5/16 (as promised!) and that the info should populate on my end the next day; when it failed to do so, I called back and was then told that they had NO info at all (weird change), and that the business I ordered from would have to file a claim for a missing package (Noteworthy: the agent was also frustratingly obtuse, and didn’t seem to understand I was primarily upset because I’d paid a substantial amount extra for the rush aspect of the shipping… and that even if they could “find” my item, it was now still arriving after the date that I’d needed it, which had of course been the whole point of my having paid $99 for shipping).

Before I had a chance to contact the business directly, however, the tracking info finally updated to say that it was now due to be delivered on Tuesday, 5/20 — a full 6 days after I initially placed the order.

TL;DR questions:

1. Do I have to ask the business to contact UPS, or is there any way I could just handle it? (Asking only because they’re a very small, independently-owned liquor store, which is why I’d rather handle it directly than have to involve them, if possible)

2. What area of the UPS website is best to use for this situation? (since “File a claim” seems geared towards shipments that are missing entirely, instead of just delayed, as far as I can tell)

3. What the heck was up with the package sitting at the UPS Access Point for 2 full days before UPS even apparently had the package in their possession? 🤔 Is this normal?? …Shouldn’t items be picked up, like, multiple times per day if UPS is promising to deliver packages as soon as the next day?

I’d love to get my whole shipping amount refunded, of course (since it kind of ruined the whole birthday-weekend point of the gift), but would settle for just getting a refund of like $60 (or whatever the exact difference was between normal shipping, and the insane amount that I paid for 2nd day).

Any advice is much appreciated; thank you!!! 💖