Yeah, there’s always an influx of packages at the start of the semester. It’s made worse in the Fall because students are getting their P.O. Box keys as well, and staff have to explain all the details (which is really time consuming). During the semester there are also peak times (usually holidays) where UPS gets backed up, both in getting packages ready for pickup and backed up with long lines for pickup. They’re also sometimes training new staff… and good luck with them.
The easiest way to avoid those is to go either when they open or about 15 minutes before they close (any closer and you risk them closing early: the staff the last few years I was on campus had a habit of closing by 6:25 when they were “open” until 6:30pm).
When they’re backed up, the staff have a bigger tendency to be rude, yes. When they’re empty sometimes the staff are just glad they have a customer and aren’t sitting around wasting time, so they’re more friendly.
As always though, alert your child to check their packages when they get them. Sometimes the workers accidentally grab the package next to yours in the bins and don’t catch it. I can’t count how many times I was given someone else’s mail, so make sure to check it just in case.
One thing, if you have things shipped to campus via UPS Mail Innovations, UPS SurePost, FedEx SmartPost or DHL Global Mail- basically anything that gets sent cross-country by someone other than the USPS and then is given to the USPS to deliver- there is often a delay or two in the tracking number being marked delivered and the UPS Store actually getting the package. For some reason the packages get marked as “delivered” when they reach Tallahassee sometimes and are handed over to the USPS to deliver, instead of being marked delivered when they’re given to the UPS staff. It’s most common with those packages that get delivered on a Saturday (UPS Store doesn’t process packages on the weekend because they’re usually short-staffed), and your kid doesn’t get them in their mailbox to pickup until Monday or Tuesday. Don’t freak out, that’s actually pretty common in my experience.
Lastly, on the day something is delivered, don’t expect notification that it’s delivered and ready for pickup until about 3:30 or 4pm. Going any earlier will usually result in not being able to pick up the package anyway. They take several hours to process packages. Yes, it is a pain.
A lot of their issues though could probably be taken care of by hiring an extra staff person or two, or training the staff better. But they probably aren’t interested in doing it because of profit reasons.
