NEW CANEY, Texas – When Michelle Gasaway of New Caney needed new plastic shrink wrap bags to package her homemade goat soap, she placed an order online and said she paid extra to have two-day delivery through UPS.
"It should have been here on the 18th. It never showed up so I was tracking it online," said Gasaway.
She said the online reason was an emergency situation and bad weather. She said there was no emergency or bad weather. She said she emailed UPS.
"We've gotten deliveries in the past. For the last eight years we've lived here and we've received deliveries regularly from UPS and FedEx and regular mail," said Gasaway.
Gasaway said the UPS social media team responded with the following message, "Thank you for emailing our team. I am sorry that we have not been able to deliver this package. The local center is stating that we have had 3 break downs trying to go down this undeveloped section in Roman Forest. Unfortunately, UPS is no longer able to deliver to that area of Little Mexico due to these road conditions. If you would like, I can reroute the package to a different address if that would be more feasible for you than driving to the facility."
Gasaway said the reference to "Little Mexico" was too much.
"My mouth dropped right open and I said, 'I cannot believe she said that,'" said Gasaway.
KPRC 2 drove a broadcast truck into her New Caney neighborhood with no issues. There were a few a potholes and at times the roads were single lane. However, our crew arrived safely at Gasaway's home.
Her plastic bags were returned to the sender, the second of her family's packages returned to the sender, she said, by UPS in just the last week.
"I would like to see that they deliver my packages especially when I've paid extra for it to be here," she said.
UPS issued a statement in response to Gasaway's concerns, stating, "What's most important is a sincere apology from UPS for the inappropriate reference in the email. The local delivery center management promptly responded when we found out what had occurred. Discussions are taking place with local employees as well as with our customer support responders. Your viewer expressed concerns about a change in service, which UPS began the middle of this month. Road conditions in Roman Forest have become extremely hazardous. UPS made this decision after we reviewed multiple serious vehicle damage issues on this route. We've learned the New Kings Colony Property Owners Association is working with Montgomery County Precinct #4 Commissioner Jim Clark to address road issues. UPS will continue to monitor progress and re-evaluate delivery options.
"Until that time, we will communicate our delivery changes to New Kings Colony residents with posts to their community message board and web site. Packages will be held at the delivery center 9649 Pozos Lane in Conroe for pickup 2:30-7:30 pm. Consumers also can register for UPS My Choice (www.ups.com/mychoice), which will pre-alert via text or email that a package has been sent to their residential address. They can set delivery preferences online to re-route to a nearby address where we have safe access if they do not wish to go to our center. This may add one additional day for processing to the new destination."
Gasaway said she does not want to drive to Conroe to fetch her packages that were to be delivered in two days. She said her bags are now scheduled to be delivered by another carrier.